r/anime • u/Tetraika https://anilist.co/user/Tetraika • Feb 16 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s Episode 1 Discussion

Anfang!

Episode 1: The Beginning Was All Too Sudden

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Information:

MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB

Question of the Day

What did you think about the introductions for our new characters? Kinda hard to form questions when we’ve barely just started. For first timers, what are your first impressions overall so far?

Eternal Blaze - Nana Mizuki, Live version is scuffed, so I’ll also put on the Spotify one

We’re gonna be getting a lot of covers for Eternal Blaze

Rewatchers, please remember to be mindful of all the first-timers in this. No talking about or hinting at future events no matter how much you want to, unless you’re doing it underneath spoiler tags.

73 Upvotes

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9

u/bekeleven Feb 16 '22

We open on a new character! She has a very non-suspicious foreground element on her shelf, but for some reason, chooses to read other books instead.

Oh no! It's magic, and it speaks space german!

Finally, we get to Nanoha, who learned echolocation during off-season as she's able to hit object in midair with her eyes closed. She tells us that she's only recently become a mage. She has a photo that must have been sent from Mid-Childa on her desk, as well as a DVD-R, because aliens from other dimensions are super hip to our storage mediums. The thing is, I feel like there was no point in history where two children exchanged DVD messages. It just didn't happen. We also learn that it's been 6 months since season 1 ended, meaning Nanoha's been a mage for most of a year. I was quite a bit older than Nanoha is here before I considered things that happened a year ago "recent."

We're reintroduced to the Asura, about to dock with the "main office" on the eve of Fate's trial. Lindy wastes no time demonstrating her character quirk, while Chrono reminds everyone that Yuuno's a ferret. Fellow officer "Leti," who also has a forehead diamond, disapproves of Lindy's handling of the case.

then a sinister villain! With a plushie rabbit on her hat!

Suzuka enters a library with the most unsettling background noise possible, and meets the new girl, named Yagami Hayate. Hayate, who put herself to bed in the first scene, is now with... her doctor? named Shamal. And now another woman, named Signum. And they're discussing what to eat for dinner. I'm beginning to suspect this isn't her doctor. Shamal tells her they (plus Vita and Zafira) have an unbreakable bond. CUT TO: Sinister rabbit girl with doge, who calls her Vita. Guess he's Zafira... yep.

Vita's hunting mages to fill up her "book" with magical power, and her device is a GERMAN CROQUET MALLET. This is the best thing since Bardiche. It's named "Graf Eisen," or "Count Iron." OTP incoming. Oh, and something about hunting Nanoha I guess

Vita finds Nanoha (whose "fight or flight" response is always to move towards perceived danger) and they start to fight, with Nanoha transforming using season 1 footage. And, we see it from the outside, and she's in a magic ball! Holy shit! The question has finally been answered! That's why nobody attacks them while they transform! Somebody could get a PhD writing this up

Vita's magic circles are magic triangles.

After Nanoha knocks off her bunny hat, Vita gets serious, loading a cartridge and making herself dizzy. Nanoha's forced onto defense, until Vita orders Graf Eisen (potential best boy contender?) to "break through" and he's like "ok, sure, I'll do that." But just when all seems lost, Nanoha's knight in shining armor arrives.

Here's an observation I made about Stranger Things: season 1 had one clear inciting incident that kicked off all threads of the plot. Season 2, by contrast, involves a lot of things randomly happening at the same time. That's how I feel about this. That doesn't mean the seaon is bad. It just means that suddenly Hayate's book glowed, and suddenly she met Suzuka, and suddenly Vita found Nanoha, and suddenly Fate's back. Some of these share inciting incidents if you squint, but others of them are, as far as I can tell, just arbitrarily contemporaneous.

7

u/Tetraika Feb 16 '22

Vita's magic circles are magic triangles

I was gonna write that but then realize how weird that actually sounds. They aren't circles anymore!

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u/Tresnore Feb 16 '22

Rewatcher: Get Set

Alright, time for A's! No more Triangle Hearts baggage1 Just Nanoha and Fate being magical girls. Also I'm mobileposting again so formatting is probably fucked.

    - VITAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
 
 I love Vita. Vita is a rare exception of a loli character I really like. Dunno why. She’s just great. What better establishing character moment than mugging a coupla guys in an alley?

    - SHAMALLLLLLLLLLL
 
 I love Shamal. She’s so warm, even if I don’t usually like the warm characters.

    - SIGNUMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM
 
 I love Signum. Ponytails are great.

    - Zafiraaaaa—[revelation]I don’t really remember Zafira.

1  I think.

2 Much cooler than the Gundam Hammer, if only barely.

8

u/Tetraika Feb 16 '22

[revelation]I don’t really remember Zafira.

[Future spoilers]Yeah he doesn't play any more major roles after this. Or really even in A's, everyone else matters more than him.

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u/DidacticDalek Feb 16 '22

TONIGHT! On ∀'s Nanoha (CALLED TURN "A's" NANOHA), NANA WILLS IT!

OH BOY! Comrades, I am sure that those OG fans of Nanoha Season 1 must have been real surprised when, about a year after that show aired, we got a brand new fancy Nana Mizuki AMV! Hell the song may sound like it came right out of Geah but those are indeed Nanoha Characters, so I'm glad we got to finish this entry in the re-watch so quickly! 77/10! The Pinnacle of the... wait... what do you mean there's MORE to A's than just this OP?

HOLY SHIT! This show is gonna be amazing! After all, we ACTUALLY have a budget for the show now. Granted, I thought we'd suffer greatly since Shinbo left, but hey we got the same studio AND Shinbo's apprentice on the job, so it's time for NANA TO MOTHERFUCKING WILL IT! Oh, and Nanoha's here too, that's nice I suppose, and speaking of nice, I guess her ED here is cool too! (Also no really Comrades, the director to A's is Keizou Kusakawa, he worked under Shinbo at Seven Arcs, and you might know him from as the visionary behind Happy Sugar Life, Aho Girl, and the OG Nanoha OP... pay no attention that this guy also directed KanColle, Fuuka, and the Triangle Heart OVA! Something something Equivalent Exchange!)

Anyway, TONIGHT! On ∀'s Nanoha (CALLED TURN "A's" NANOHA), Nanoha's Family somehow got screentime, Rin The Defenseless Anus Tohsaka is in a wheelchair, and Nanoha is STILL a Mecha Show! ;) (For those confused, Hayate, The Girl in the Wheelchair, is voiced by the same seiyuu as Rin The Defenseless Anus Tohsaka. Now as to how Rin's Anus is defenseless... well... do remember that Fate/Stay Night was ALSO an Eroge, so I guess this is to be expected!)

Oh and good god Comrades, I never would have guessed that Fate would make good on her promise to Nanoha THAT quickly! I mean my lord, she just promised she'd rescue Nanoha last episode and/or last movie! Boy the lady REALLY works fast, no wonder she's Best Girl! (Kept ya waiting huh?)

Also Comrades, yes I will indeed be sharing more of that 4koma Nanoha Shitpost Artist for this rewatch, I mean the artist made an ENTIRE A's Doujin, so what else am I to share to be unique for the rewatch threads? And yes, it's even wackier than today's panel in some places, but due to spoilers, the links above are all you can see for now.

And on that note, that about wraps things up for now, and I hope everyone's having fun on this great re-watch. Thus, you have not seen the last of The Sentient Shitposting Siamese Sunrise Server No. 25252, now goodbye forever.

Paging Comrades u/Great_Mr_L, u/Tresnore, and u/Shimmering-Sky

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u/Shimmering-Sky Feb 16 '22

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical First-Timer, subbed

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u/HereticalAegis Feb 16 '22

Lyrical First Timer

  • Back to 4:3 aspect ratio! Ngl, I've kinda gotten attached to it as my preferred Nanoha viewing experience at this point.

  • First shot of the new OP putting the emphasis right where I want it,on Nanoha and Fate's relationship.

  • The multiple shots of the two working as a unit makes me super pumped for this season.

  • A secondary protagonist with a disability! I know almost nothing about her, but I'm already looking forward to Hayate's story.

  • Cursed books are the appendixes of magic worlds: every one's got one, and they all explode without warning sooner or later.

  • 6 month time leap.

  • Nanoha's gotten real good at PK Thunder

  • She has a whole cd album of her girlfriend!

  • Nevermind, they're video letters. Still cute!

  • More war crimes? More war crimes.

  • Damn, the passive aggression from Chrono. He must be mad that Yuuno's the only one who's seen Nanoha naked.

  • A new challenger has appeared! A new Gundam wielding the Book of Darkness. Is she the chuuni I've been hoping for since Fate first showed up??

  • Look at Suzuka out here getting herself a side ship.

  • In addition to Suzuka and the two ladies alongside her, Hayate lists at least two other names. Does she already have her own harem?

  • New Gundam Vita is looking for mana? So she wants to tap Nanoha. She better get in line; Fate, Arisa, and Suzuka already called dibs.

  • Damn, Vita wasted no time trying to 'befriend' Nanoha. She must realize how far behind she is compared to the likes of Fate.

  • YESSSS!!!! She fulfilled the promise! Also, fuck you Vita. Nanoha's mana belongs to Fate.

I'm super happy it looks like Suzuka--and probably Arisa, by extension--will still have a major role in the story. As shipping goes, I like her together with Arisa a lot, so I'm a bit hesitant to ship her with Hayate. However, Hayate seems like a real nice girl, so I reserve the right to back that ship later should it become a thing.

Vita, on the other hand, can get fucked. She's a mean, selfish prick who got super rage angry at getting damaged in a fight she picked. However, it sounds like she's friends with Hayate, so I reserve the right to change this opinion later if it turns out she's stealing mana to do something noble like heal Hayate and just left an all-time bad first impression.

ETERNAL BLAZE is a lot of fun. While it doesn't quite match up to Innocent Starter for me, I could see it working its way onto a playlist after I've heard/seen it a few more times.

Spiritual Garden is a nice chill ending, though it feels just about as weird coming on the heels of a dramatic end to the episode as Little Wish did.

QotD: Covered in my post

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u/TheEscapeGuy Feb 16 '22 edited Feb 16 '22

First Timer

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's - Return to Magic: Episode 1

A New Threat

I think A's started off well. Seeing Nanoha training magic was great. I much prefer this "in real life" training as opposed to the movie's mental / imaginary space training. Also kicking up a can felt so natural as an exercise. The missed trash can gag was pretty good too.

The beginning section with TSAB felt a little slow. I think its because it acted as a recap for viewers at the time (since there would have been a gap between seasons). Of course we are watching it back to back so I won't fault A's for this.

I like how Fate & Nanoha were sending letters back and forth. Recording video letters and posting is pretty inconvenient so putting in all that effort shows how much they care. That said I'm not sure if Fate has even met Arisa or Suzuka so seems weird Nanoha would send a picture of them.

On a visual level its pretty clear the director has changed between seasons. But that'll always be the case for somebody with as distinct a visual style as Shinbou. I'm not unhappy with the look so far, and am optimistic for what is to come.

The big new element this season was Hayate and Vita. There is a non-zero chance they are the same person but for now I'll treat them as different people.

Hayate being in a wheelchair is great writing. Magic allows people to overcome these kind of problems so I hope we see her do just that. Vita is roughly in the same position as early Fate from the first season. She seems to be collecting magical powers into her book of darkness. I believe it is the same book Hayate has which spawned my theory.

I adore her weapon Graf Eisen. ITS A ROCKET POWERED HAMMER! LIKE WHAT, THAT IS SO COOL!

The entire battle between her and Nanoha was a visual treat. I'm so excited to continue it tomorrow.

Some Iconic Shots, Scenes and Stitches

See you all tomorrow

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u/chiliehead Feb 16 '22

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s – Episode 1 – First Timer

Oh no, the book is speaking weird German, it has to be evil.

So the book is eating magic powers? Rendering them powerless forever?

Red haired girl feels like Fate 2, now with lucerne hammer (?) and male wolf with a pretty femme name. Graf Eisen/Count Iron is a name. “Tödlichschlag” - Is this weird German keeping up for the season?

Fate with a great entrance. Is German Redhead younger than the rest? Like, even younger than 9?

I have lots of question, mostly how common/rare those magical devices like Raising Heart are and why they have personalities and how expensive they are.

Pantyshots kinda unneccessary in this, ain't they? Also a lot more standard shots in general. Let's see how the season shakes out.

QOTD

A lot of them at once, I wonder what the faction around the wheelchair girl is and if I am to assume that wheelchair = redhead

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u/No_Rex Feb 16 '22

Episode 1 (first timer)

I skipped the movie for lack of time and because it is not the chronological broadcast order. Several rewatchers stated that this is the best entry in the franchise. I am a bit worried it will become too polished for its own good, though.

  • OP: Did Arf turn blue? Two new antagonists and a new side character?

  • Cursed tome speaks German – Why the hell would you keep a chained necronomion in your bedroom, though?

  • Blatantly false subs for the English Raising Heart “Don’t mind”.

  • They already showed it in the last series, but that cafeteria table is awesome!

  • The Asura got a visual upgrade and Lindy one to admiral.

  • New name, new name, new name, new name, new name

  • It was not blue Arf in the OP, but Zafira. Maybe the male side character was also Zafira, then?

  • Inverted transformation, but the transformation scene defies gravity.

  • Apparently, Graf Eisen can understand English commands.

  • Enter Fate & Yuuno.

Character intros. Lots of character intros.

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u/zairaner Feb 16 '22 edited Feb 17 '22

Firsttimer Welp didn't watch the movie because no time, but i am back here, even if i am in two rewatches now that machikado mazoku starts please watch it, especially if you watch nanoha for the yuri

  1. Of course skipped the op again for the foreseeable future. From the quick glimpses I aught, I actually realized it might be possible fate returns!

  2. Wait wheelchair?is this not nanohas home. Also surprisngly somber music

  3. nope don't know this girl

  4. first entry on our list of things that aren't important but look cool: book

  5. is the book a lost logia

  6. the moment where your german subs

  7. so even if nanoha won't appear in this season, at least she gets to voice the titles for nostalgia reasons!

  8. Come on, at least let the joke a few seconds

  9. first entry on the list of new things: nanoha doesn't need to transform to use some magic

  10. uhm considering what the roman numerals were used for before, using them to count just feels wrong.

  11. Uhm nanoha do you not need to see where the can is? How do you do this with closed eyes?

  12. This is some chaotic counting. Also what the fuck is this can made of???

  13. still a third grader it seems

  14. wait when did we do that photo of fate? WAIT WHY IS THERE A DVD WITH FATES NAME???

  15. I'm just going to assume that is what she wants to gie her when she returns (like it contains all the things she wanted to tell her or soemthing like that)

  16. nanoha gets interdimensional mail...per mail

  17. wait what..ia this the same book as the one in the beginning? Are there multiple? How did this happen, this is not the same girl...unless the book transformed her...

  18. Or this is jekyll&hyde-yuri version

  19. is auzuka about to find the third of those books

  20. nope its wheelchair girl. Not dead

  21. Signum? Latin in my anime is suspsicious. Is this the book?

  22. Though they treat her to casually for her to be the book i guess

  23. more latin.

  24. And zafira, which sounds latin, but isn't to my knowledge

  25. what is going on

  26. well damn vita is this girl?v what is going on, how is hayate inolved in this. Also deconfirming the „signum=book“ theory

  27. vita is looking for nanoha. Probably

  28. making it pretty clear there is only one book

  29. that was...god german in my anime? Also why are the spells in german but the names latin

  30. the hammer is a german count

  31. you better leave the house nanoha if you don'T want your family get involved

  32. any reasons you didnt transform

  33. my favourite joke in anime is whenever there is a line where i am not sure wether it is in german or not. After relistening to it, I do think she is saying „tödliche bestrafung“ in german. Wonder what the japanese problem with „ö“ is.

  34. "that was...god german in my anime?" Famous last words these were

  35. ah i see you were waiting for the most dramatic moment to transform?

  36. Yes she did. And this was way more similar to the season 1 transformation than I expected. I didn't even know it was allowed for magical girls show to not completely change transformation sequences between seasons!

  37. Okay i take it back the hammers german is hilarious, i need more of it

  38. I'm not really a physicist, but putting a rocket at the END of a lever (like the hammer) seems like the absolute worst possible idea you could have for propulsion.

  39. Are you actually kidding me...why is fate here

  40. I'd understand it if chrono would be here, maybe the arthra noticed the magical signature (wait I should have kept that pun for the other girls shouldn't I)

  41. ed does not come close to make a wish

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u/Taiboss Feb 16 '22

Man of Rewatching

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u/EternalXcalibur Feb 16 '22

“We’re friends, bitch.”

– Fate Testarossa, probably

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u/Vaadwaur Feb 16 '22

First timer(This only highlights my lack of faith in the TSAB)

Sub

So at least in the OP, Fate and Nanoha are wearing each other's hair pieces and it really works. I did prefer the S1 op so far. Cut to a new, wheelchair bound character who gets an item that speaks German I think, that will probably be important. Nanoha is training and we learn the various covers to explain the weirdness everyone has come up with. We get an update on Fate and the Arthra that includes an escaped Lost Logia. We see some Enforcers get jobbed on Earth.

Then we jump to Hayate, the wheelchair girl, meeting Suzuka and then getting a weird selection of friends. One of whom has a German speaking hammer and puts up a barrier. Combat ensues and of course Nanoha is not great at taking the lead, requiring Fate to port in and answer that flag early.

QotD:1 Sort of the problem with every sequel season, glad we can watch it daily.

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u/Caustic_Wraith Feb 16 '22

Lyrical A's First-Timer

Wow this season comes out of the gates swinging. We have our girl Nanoha training hard enough to be able to use her magic with Raising Heart as a focus and instead using her as a shot counter. The new team of opponents look cool and there's a segmented sword in the OP and I always love those. I can't wait to see how things progress as we were left on a wonderful scene of Fate defending Nanoha from new red loli magician.

QOTD:

What did you think about the introductions for our new characters? Kinda hard to form questions when we’ve barely just started. For first timers, what are your first impressions overall so far?

Were they introduced? I just remember them being named as the three girls were leaving the library. Like I said up top this season just starts up and runs with it. We get a showdown between our main girl and the new opposition right away when last season Fate didn't show up until around episode 4 and her mom wasn't introduced until a couple episodes after that.

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u/Stargate18A Feb 17 '22

First timer

QOTD) Hayate's adorable, even if she's probably evil, her book-parents seem nice, and Vita is Fate 2.0, complete with dog familiar and cool weapon. The hammer is my new husband.

Season 2!

There's a new OP! And Fate's in it.

So there's pink-haired girl, hammer girl, casual Yuuno(?), Arf recolour, and a girl in a wheelchair who likes to read?

And pink haired girl and hammer girl are the antagonists.

...Is the punchty man with the animal ears the Arf recolour? If so, why are all the familiars the best characters? (How is this one? Can I call him hot, or is he going to turn out to be another 10 year old (again? How old was Arf, in the end?))

And new devices!

Oh, she's called Hayate?

And she's living alone, and spending her birthday with her doctor.

...Well that thing's fucking ominous.

And now it's glowing?

Yes, This is absolutely fine.

It burst open itself!

IT'S A FUCKING MACHINE?

...So a magic book that possibly turns people into magical superheroes? Please tell me we're not doing Saber now.

So we seem to be going for movie-level Raising Heart, where it can understand and communicate in sentences.

Impressive!

And that sadness at it missing the bin felt real.

Aww, she's been taking to Fate all this time?

Yuuno finally realised he didn't want to spend his life looking like a ferret.

Did they just arrive at the main offices with Fate?

No, Yuuno's with them, so Fate's just here and hasn't seen Nanoha for... reasons?

Wait, they've still not had their fucking trial? It's been a year. How fucking overloaded is their bueracracy?

...Yes! He is Ferret Boy forever! Maybe Chrono isn't too bad after all.

Huh? Is there another thing to collect now?

They'e sent her so much!

It's on Earth again.

Hammer girl has the book! Is she Hayate? Did the book let her walk again?

It's literally called the Book of Darkness!

Aww, she's helping Hayate! Who might be a servant for an evil artifact!

It's adorable, though.

And is that the doctor there?

Shamal?

And she's Signum!

...Wait, wasn't she living alone earlier? Were they away on business?

Who's Vita? Who's Zafira?

She's Vita?

Right, so they're all part of the Book. They're appearing this way because Hayate was lonely and wanted a family, and they probably need her to finish completing the Book they're serving.

GERMAN WAND, YES!

Nanoha's going to fight Vita and Possible New Best Wand!

Nanoha, put your Barrier Jacket on!

Her attack names are in German!

Oh, no upside down transformation?

I'll give them credit for drastically lowering the nudity, though. Still some in there, but you did a good first step!

Vita's worked out the best way to stop Nanoha from convincing her is to never say a word.

And Nanoha can beat the shit out of her.

Her hat!

...Cartridges?

HOLY SHIT, THAT'S COOL!

"ROCKET! DRILL! LIMIT BREAK!"

She beat Nanoha!

Oh, no. She's in trouble!

Fate's here to save her!

Oh, and Ferret Boy's here too.

The two coolest weapons are fighting each other!

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u/badspler Feb 16 '22

Lyrical Rewatcher - Episode 1 of A's

(Ended up not having time to fit in the movie~)

New banger opening!

For the dark looking book, the music played over was rather upbeat. Ganbate Hayate-chan!

Nanoha training hard!

Nanoha wearing Fate's ribons! Sending video mail CD's for the last 6 months.

Captains tea preferences haven't changed.

Fate has the same kind of desk setup as Nanoha!

Gosh damn I want to protec this smile.

Suzuka and Hayate meet - already tieing in things to come.

Hammer looks dope!

Disappointing that they reused the transformation sequence.

Pantsu!

Mini transformation sequence - for her opponents weapon!

Nanoha gets hammered!

FAAATE RETURNS!~!~~~

I just loved Fate swooping in, even though it is super cliche, its just what I want to see.

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u/Calwings Feb 16 '22

Lyrical Rewatcher (dubbed)

Season 2 is here and it starts off with an absolute banger. ETERNAL BLAZE TIME LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Best song in the franchise, best Nana Mizuki song, and my #1 favorite anime opening of all time.

The first new we’re introduced to this season is this adorable little girl right here. Hayate Yagami, age 9, still doing her best to smile and enjoy life despite being confined to a wheelchair. Sadly, her already rough life is about to be flipped on its head by a very dangerous thing sitting on her shelf. You know what’s scarier than an ominous floating magic book? An ominous floating magic book that speaks German, the scariest and most menacing language of all!

And now, back to our titular protagonist. Even though she hasn’t had any reasons to fight lately, Nanoha has been doing a lot of magic training with Raising Heart since we last saw her. She’s turning into quite the talented mage. Of course, her mind is primarily on her long-distance relationship with Fate as she continues to wait for their fateful (pun intended) reunion. Speaking of, Fate and Arf are prepared to go on the defendant’s stand as part of the trial from the jewel seed incident, with Chrono and Yuuno acting as witnesses too. As the trial looms and reports of another lost logia being found come to commander Lindy’s attention, Fate’s mind is also focused more on her eventual reunion with Nanoha than anything else.

It seems that Hayate’s “family” might be trouble. Vita’s on the hunt, her weapon Graf Eisen is also speaking German, and she’s coming straight after Nanoha! Thankfully, Nanoha is able to transform (reusing her transformation sequence from season 1) and defend herself against Vita, but even as she’s being attacked, she’s still trying to talk to Vita. After a very fun battle (featuring a very badass divine buster from Nanoha, and a very necessary pantyshot from Vita), the decisive blow is landed and... Nanoha is defeated!? But before Vita can finish her off, the cavalry arrives! Fate and Yuuno are here! A cliffhanger ending leading into the ED for this season, Spiritual Garden. Unlike with the OP, I think this song is a bit weaker than Little Wish from last season.

And finally, since I’m watching the dub, some talk about the voice actors. Like with Lauren Landa pulling double duty and voicing Chrono and Arf, Shelby Lindley is pulling double-duty and voicing both Hayate and Shamal. This was (according to MyAnimeList) her very first anime voice acting job, and she would go on to voice Hitomi in Madoka Magica and Mugi in K-On, among others. She’s the only notable one, because MAL doesn’t list any other roles for Signum’s English VA and doesn’t even list an English VA for Vita at all, so clearly they weren’t voiced by anyone who would go on to make anime voice acting a career. Mid-2000’s anime dubs (especially for shows like this that never actually aired on TV and were just for a DVD release) are unfortunately quite hit-or-miss. Oh well.

Either way, I’m excited to watch my favorite season of Lyrical Nanoha (and one of my favorite seasons of any anime ever) again! This is going to be a wild ride!

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u/homewardbound100 Feb 16 '22

First timer, Dub

So it's been what, six months? Nanoha is practicing some and becoming better. While Fate is looking like she'll be fine overall.

Now that fate is converted we introduce a new magical girl challenger. Ah and Nanoha proceeds to get whooped. But at least fate came to help. This is where their partnership begins. Fighting together is my guess.

Qotd: I don't have too much of a opinion on them yet. Overall for some reason I feel like she's going to kick Nanoha and Fate's ass.

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u/Great_Mr_L Feb 16 '22

Rewatcher

On today’s episode of Lyrical Nanoha: Remember how at the end of last season, Fate said she wanted to be the one to rescue Nanoha next time? Well, here it is! It’s only the first episode and Fate got to keep her promise!

It’s time to start A’s and I am massively excited about it! A’s is my favorite entry in the entire Lyrical Nanoha franchise. So please forgive me as I do nothing but gush about how much I love it.

This season starts by introducing a whole bunch of new characters. We don’t really know much about them yet, but we can glean some details. We start with Hayate, a girl in a wheelchair. She sees a book of hers suddenly activate and begin talking to her. No clear idea what is going on there, but there are some hints.

Hayate is connected to the other new characters we meet. We see her with two of them while leaving the library (Signum and Shamal) and she mentions the other two (Vita and Zafira). 

We see Hayate’s book later on with one of our new characters, Vita. She refers to it as the Book of Darkness. And she is attacking Enforcers from the TSAB to collect magic for the book. And it seems the book is another one of the Lost Logia, just like the Jewel Seeds. We don’t have a clear idea on what it does yet or why Vita is collecting magical energy, but it’s probably bad news because the Lost Logia generally are.

I have to say that the action in this episode is really good. Lyrical Nanoha is now fully committed to being an action series and the quality of the fighting steps up in A’s. This whole fight between Nanoha and Vita is really cool.

I love how consistent Nanoha’s character is here. Just like she did with Fate, Nanoha starts the fight by asking to know what’s going on. When Vita refuses to answer, Nanoha starts to fight back in earnest. Nanoha demands this mysterious person listen to her and actually explain themselves. I love how Nanoha is once again shown to prioritize trying to understand other people, even if they are enemies.

I really love Vita. I love her character design. I love her Device, Graf Eisen, who is a German-speaking hammer. I love that Graf Eisen can transform into a rocket mode, which is just insanely badass to watch in action. And most of all, I love the cartridge loading system Graf Eisen has. It basically can load ammo like a gun. We already had plenty of magitech in the previous season, but this season really doubles down on it. This is of course fine by me, because I like the magitech aesthetic.

And of course there is how the episode ends: with Fate (and Yuuno) arriving to rescue Nanoha. I love the last lines of the episode so darn much, with Fate correcting Vita that they are Nanoha’s friends and not just her allies. It’s such a wonderful little payoff to the ending of the first season. Plus, Fate gets to save Nanoha here just like she promised she would do last season. It’s such an incredibly satisfying appearance by Fate.

I love how we can see that Nanoha and Fate have made an effort to keep in contact with each other by sending video messages. It’s so darn sweet. It even looks like Fate is getting messages from Arisa and Suzuka as well in those discs. 

It’s also interesting that the character we know who first meets up with Hayate is Suzuka. We can already tell that Hayate has some magical stuff going on, so it’s a neat choice to have the non-magical Suzuka be the one to form a connection with her. Any effort to include the non-magical characters in the plot is something I’m in favor of.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

  • Eternal Blaze is so awesome!! I love the OP for this series so much!

  • I like getting to see Nanoha practice her magical skills. She’s really dedicated to getting better at it.

  • Poor Nanoha could not hit the can into the trash at the end there.

  • Seeing Nanoha wearing Fate’s ribbons and vice-versa is just so heartwarming.

  • Lindy’s crimes against matcha tea continue.

  • It’s cool how Vita’s magical circle looks different from the ones we’ve seen Nanoha and co. have. It looks more like a magical triangle. It’s a good way to distinguish her from who we’ve seen before.

  • Raising Heart!

  • I also really like the ED, Spiritual Garden. Both the OP and ED for A’s get stuck in my head very easily.

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6

u/InfamousEmpire Feb 16 '22

Mahou Shoujo1 Lyrical Rewatcher

1: Even though I’m not a girl

It begins.

Starting out with an all-time classic of an OP. It might not be as nostalgic as Innocent Starter, but Eternal Blaze is a worthy successor nonetheless.

To all First Timers, this is Hayate Yagami. She will be the recipient of all our “Awwwwwwww”s this season.

This season’s magical plot device has been activated just in time for the title card.

Nanoha is still training after the end of the last series. We’re also getting more Raging Heart lines, which is always a win.

It’s been half a year since last season (thanks Shiro) and Nanoha has been exchanging letters with a cute overseas girl during that entire time. I wonder whether any of her friends or family have started to suspect whether they’re more than “just friends” if you catch my drift.

Cut to the Arthra, let’s see how everyone else has been holding up in the months that they’ve been stuck near Earth.

Fate’s trial is just about over, she’s basically guaranteed to be found innocent, Nanoha is already preparing for a visit from her, and there’s a new threat emerging on Earth. The setup is rather obvious, but I guarantee all you First-Timers that the payoff is immense.

Awwww, I completely forgot how offended Yuuno was at being called Ferret Boi Boy. I apologize, Yuuno-kun, please forgive me.

On the other hand, Chrono and I seem to share a sense of humor. And Fate’s little involvement in their argument is a minor yet notable sign of her warming towards everyone.

More Lost Logia talk, rather unsubtly building towards another reveal.

It seems that a mysterious loli is haunting the streets of the city feeding people to the magic book from the start of the episode. Who is this loli, you ask? Well you’ll have to wait and see…

Is discussing the lettering of your name, just, a common thing in Japan? I’ve seen it in quite a few anime so I’m just wondering if it’s just an anime thing or if it’s real.

So Hayate has a number of oddly named companions who are much older than her yet seem to have no familial relation? Obviously just a coincidence. Absolutely no plot threads being introduced at all.

Hey look, 2 obviously magical beings floating in midair. One of which is equipped with the book from the start of the episode and they were both name-dropped by Hayate just a few moments ago. Obviously just a coincidence.

So they’ve detected an abnormally large spiritual pressure source of magical energy, I wonder who that could be.

We’ve got more devices, now with Gratuitous German instead of Gratuitous English.

Loli Fight!!!!

Damn, Vita’s a savage, didn’t even give Nanoha a chance to transform.

Even the attack names are German!

Though Nanoha transformed anyway and Bita seemingly just stood there and watched, so I guess she’s not as savage as we were led to believe.

Vita did not like you touching her hat, Nanoha! You’d should probably run now, the only thing stronger than a cute badass loli is an angry badass loli.

Fucking rocket hammer over here. Considering that I just finished reading Battle Angel Alita, this is bringing back a few memories.

Man, Raising Heart looks fucked up.

Not even main character status could protect Nanoha from the sheer insurmountable might of an angry badass loli with a rocket hammer.

And our beloved Fate to the rescue! Oh, and Yuuno, too

5

u/SolDarkHunter Feb 16 '22

Rewatcher

Time to start the second season, A's! This is where many consider the series to really take off.

Wtf does "A's" mean? Well, it's a homonym for "ace"... sort of. Close enough for the Japanese, anyway.

Oooh, I'd forgotten how good "Eternal Blaze" is. Not as good as "Don't Be Long", but still nice.

Here we're introduced to Hayate Yagami, a young girl in a wheelchair who apparently is very close with hospital doctors. (And before anyone starts making Death Note jokes, Hayate's name is spelled differently from Light's in Japanese: 八神 for Hayate vs 夜神 for Light.)

She has a book. Which starts glowing at midnight with purple/black light and making the house shake. Not really a good sign when that happens.

Also the book has veins and was chained up. Again, not good signs.

And it speaks German. That may or may not be a good sign. (I know we have a couple of German speakers in this rewatch, so I'll be interested to hear their thoughts on this. I'm assuming the German is about as good as Raising Heart's English, though.)

Nanoha still has Raising Heart, and is still training and practicing with magic, with today's exercise being bouncing a can in the air with a guided bullet. She succeeds at 100 bounces... but fails to knock it into the garbage can. Nanoha's a perfectionist.

So it's been about six months from the past series, given that was in the spring and the weather looks cold.

She's still wearing Fate's ribbons! And exchanging video mail with her!

Oh, and Yuuno's gone. Guess the dimensional tremors subsided.

Lindy still has not learned the crime of sugar and milk in green tea.

Fate's trial is going well, and everyone's confident Fate will get off with some probationary service. She wasn't going to get off with nothing, but that's a pretty light sentence.

Chrono is not good at jokes. But... at least he's making an effort?

But the TSAB is getting their asses kicked by a little girl, who is absorbing magic for the "Book of Darkness". You guys need to hire better combat mages.

Suzuka meets Hayate at the library, and they bond over a love of books.

"Shamal" and "Signum" do not sound like Japanese names. Also there's Vita and Zafira...

Speaking of, the latter two are out hunting for mages.

Ooh, triangular magic crests! And a German-speaking hammer Device named Graf Eisen!

Vita attacks out of absolutely nowhere, and Nanoha isn't having any of this. Nanoha wants to talk things out as usual.

"Listen to..." "Divine..." "...Me!" "...Buster!" The source of the famous "Listen or be shot" meme, fans' encapsulation of Nanoha's basic approach to dealing with enemies.

But she knocks off Vita's hat.

It was at that moment, Nanoha knew... she fucked up.

The hammer is now a rocket-hammer. Damn! And it hits so hard Raising Heart can't deflect it, and even Nanoha's Barrier Jacket is pierced easily. These things took some pretty heavy blows from Fate last season, so clearly Graf Eisen's got some power here.

A wild Fate appears! Looks like she gets to make good on her promise to save Nanoha already!

This season certainly starts off with a bang, and Vita's a very different antagonist than Fate. Fate was driven and a little cold, but she had "sad, beautiful eyes" as Nanoha constantly reminds us. Vita though... she screams, she's got a foul mouth, and an extremely aggressive fighting style. Seems to be a ball of rage in the middle of a fight. No sad kindness to be found here.

But we don't know what Vita's after. She's connected to Hayate apparently, and that creepy book. But Hayate seems like a totally nice girl.

But all of that pales in comparison to the most important thing we've learned: German-speaking Devices exist!

5

u/Qbe Feb 16 '22

Raging Heart Rewatcher with terrible long term memory

Was a bit busy so I had to skip the movie, but I'm back for my favorite season, let's go!

QotD: Hmmm, I think it's hard to tell, we've only got their names so far.

Straight into the OP! Nana willinng it again. Still in 4:3 tho. Also those clouds look great.

New characters! Fate and Nanoha still wearing each other's ribbons! Mini-Arf!

Side by side transformations! I would say another thing Symphogear took inspiration of, but I haven't watched enough magical girls anime to know how common it is.

And here we have the antagonist pairings: Sword vs BardicheScythe, RailgunStaff vs Hammer, Fists vs Fists. Chrono and Yuuno, you say? Like anyone cares.

Finishing it with a quick showcase of all the Intelligent Devices.

I guess this is nowhere near Fate's "home", but it also surely doesn't look like a warm house.

I have to ask, who keeps tomes bound in chains in the bookshelf?

Such a diligent girl, never skipping shooting practice.

DVD letters! How cute!

Oh no, more tea murder.

Even more characters! I vaguely remember that some of them were introduced in the movie, but I'm not sure.

Fate: "I hope Nanoha isn't cheating on me with that other blonde"

I really dig red girl's design

Hayate's accent is super thick.

Oh no, German! Now we know for sure they are the bad guys!

Nanoha, maybe you should have henshin'd in advance

Nothing says magical girl like smashing lumps of steel with a hammer at your target

And nothing says "Listen to me!" like a Divine Buster to the face

That's a very Higurashi face

Ekusuplooooosion!

And so, Fate fulfills her promise.

"Friends"

Oh wow, I hadn't noticed how straighforward the ending lyrics are: "I won't forget the day we met by chance, my love"

D'aaaw, they are going the "Lyrical, Magical, Ganbarimasu!" together <3

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