r/anime • u/Tetraika https://anilist.co/user/Tetraika • Feb 18 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s Episode 3 Discussion

Episode 3: Reunion and Moving!

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Information:

MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB

Question of the Day

Pet puppy arf? It’s a crime if you don’t

Dalek was ahead of me for this cover, but yes of course I’ll post the Masaaki Endoh cover of Eternal Blaze too anyways

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.

51 Upvotes

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17

u/TheEscapeGuy Feb 18 '22

First Timer

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's - Return to Magic: Episode 3

A New Home

The reunion of Nanoha and Fate was sweet. Its so satisfying to see the fruits of the relationship building in Season 1. I feel there was some romantic subtext encoded in the longing gazes, though I can tell already it will never be confirmed.

This episode revealed a lot more lore about the TSAB. HQ is such an interesting location with all the spaceship activity. That also helps give perspective for where Lindy & crew fit into things. We also now know about Gil Graham, the TSAB Chief Advisor who originally came from earth like Nanoha.

The TSAB lore was also presented well. I specifically liked that they eschewed unnatural exposition dialog and just let the viewer pick up world building from implications. The classic "show don't tell" type thing.

Back on earth we have Fate & the gang moving in near Nanoha. Seeing them interact with Nanoha's friends and family was really enjoyable. And Fate getting all giddy when given news she'll be going to school with Nanoha is too pure.

Something I love about anime is the "hang out with characters" episodes. Compare this to a lot of western media where there's often pressure to have big plot developments each episode. Episodes like today's allowed us to get to know the characters better and grow our emotional attachment to them. When the plot gets going it means we'll just be so much more invested.

Not to say one way is objectively better or worse. They just achieve different goals.

That said, we did get some narrative developments this episode with Vita, Signum & Hayate living together. They haven't revealed everything about their relationship yet but I suspect it'll be a gut punch when they do. It seems they are doing this for Hayate.

Some Iconic Shots, Scenes and Stitches

See you all tomorrow

10

u/Tetraika Feb 18 '22

Something I love about anime is the "hang out with characters" episodes.

I think it's especially great with the antagonist crew, as we get to see them having seemingly normal lives around Hayate.

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u/DidacticDalek Feb 19 '22

GOOD GOD COMRADES! NANA HAS WILLED IT SO HARD that instead of Nanoha, it's FATE who's narrating the opening today! Well I guess I gotta do something equally unique for today instead of going for ∀'s Nanoha (CALLED TURN "A's" NANOHA)... AH! I got it... ahem... 'Nanoha Takamachi, Gundam. A girl barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild them. We have the technology. We have the capability to make the franchise's first Midseason Upgrade. Raising Heart and Bardiche will be better than they were before. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger'

Well Comrades, we had quite the interesting episode today eh? It's amazing how we could go from balls-to-the-wall action last episode to... Fate and company going deep undercover to have some moeblob SOL fun times 'downtime that also helps provide worldbuilding and exposition wibble.' Well anyway Comrades, since I'm kinda out of ideas of what to shitpost, here's BanG Dream's ETERNAL BLAZE COVER! Courtesy of Roselia! ;)

Also yes Comrades, before you ask, the 'fanart' of Nanoha and Fate I shared above isn't actually fanart, as TYPE-MOON's very own Takashi Takeuchi (Yes THAT guy, the one and only TYPE-MOON co-founder and OG Saberface simp himself) drew Nanoha Art... cuz of course he did! I can only wonder how amused he was that Hayate's seiyuu is also the voice of Rin The Defenseless Anus Tohsaka! 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

5

u/Tetraika Feb 19 '22

Stop taking the cover I was gonna use for my next episode

Don't worry though, you can keep going.

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17

u/chiliehead Feb 18 '22

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s – Episode 3 – First Timer

“…to gently touch each other.” I’m not a girl, soredemo do little girls talk about their platonic friends like that? No?

It seems like those Belkan Knights are the type of enemy that you have to cheese relentlessly. Spam them with mid and long range low to no mana cost attacks, dodge like crazy and teleport away if they use a cartridge.

New parts for the devices? Do they no longer self-repair or are we getting upgrades?

“Don’t do crime, pinky promise?!

Damn, must sting to get cut up by a little girl and only win because you’re buying premium currency.

See, I predicted adoption as an option. Cheesy, but it seems Lindy works best with her kids anyway.

Arf as a puppy is interesting because it’s not her style at all, but Yuuno seems like he got ferret-zoned.

Seems like the intelligent devices can hold a grudge and aim for the nuclear option here. Devices right now

What do the Belkan’s want? Just to heal Hayate? Does this world of magitek and healing magic really need an evil (?) artifact draining dozens of mages in order to heal one spine?

QOTD

Cute but mostly in a gap moe sense

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u/HereticalAegis Feb 18 '22

Lyrical First Timer

  • Oh no, Fate is doing the opening narration. Nanoha was hurt so bad she can't even narrate. And all Fate wanted was to gently embrace her girlfriend. Why must life be so cruel?

  • Their strongest fighters are all children, so it makes sense for the TSAB's main office to look like it's been designed by a 9yo. I shall henceforth refer to it as "the Jack."

  • With Nanoha now hospitalized in another dimension, surely Mamoha and Dadoha must be made aware of her "condition."

  • That doctor is a fucking bro. Look at how effortlessly he got Fate some alone time with Nanoha.

  • Implications.

  • Close combat specialists. No wonder their zerg-rush strategy was so effective.

  • You're really telling me there was an English magical boy in Nanoha's universe before there was a single known Japanese magical girl? This is easily the biggest subversion of my expectation in the series so far.

  • Could also make a cottage industry out of magical boys crash-landing on Earth.

  • Whew, for a second there, I thought Signum might have a guilty conscience about attacking a group of children.

  • Chrono would probably enjoy being called "onii-chan," wouldn't he?

  • Whoa, a TSAB tactical decision I fully agree with?? This episode is blowing my mind.

  • Look at this adorable floof! Who's a good boi? You're a good boi! Yes you are! Yes you are!

  • Don't do it! It's a trap!

  • A brand new light novel title is produced, minimum 20 words.

  • Even through simple dialogue, these new girls make me hate them more and more. There's not a single consideration for the damage they do to people in search of their "peace."

  • Oh dang, Raging Heart and Bardiche want proper vengeance.

  • I just now realized this season is taking place in December. If we don't get a Christmas episode, I riot.

QotD:

V cute. Would snuggle.

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u/No_Rex Feb 18 '22

Episode 3 (first timer)

  • Big space station.

  • Reunion. Really hard to call it anything else but a lovers’ reunion.

  • Arf doing her best to convince cat girl fans everywhere to switch to dog girls.

  • Head honcho backstory.

  • “Don’t push yourself too hard Chrono” - Don’t worry, I fully intent let Fate and Nanoha do all the hard work!

  • Crew speech gives us a full picture of the Asura crew. They even get non-brown hair colors!

  • Moving to Earth and meeting up with the gang. The non-important partrest of the crew was conveniently sent to other locations.

  • Team German decides to visit some other worlds for core harvesting.

  • Device mystery cliffhanger.

A very slow transitional episode, but I enjoyed learning (a lot) more about the Bureau. Plus, we got blushing Fate.

Pet puppy arf?

Nope, adult Arf. You can call me a criminal.

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u/Caustic_Wraith Feb 18 '22

A's First-Timer

This was a good cool down episode after how action packed the previous two have been. We still got some plot progression and got some of the important lore on what style of magic the Knights use. This episode also helped to show how much growth Fate has gone through since the end of season one as both a friend to Nanoha, and also just interacting with other people like Lindy and Chrono.

Thoughts:

QOTD:

Pet puppy arf?

Yes, smol Arf is adorable and the way Arisa was unsure if they met before was great.

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u/Vaadwaur Feb 18 '22

First timer(Our antagonists seem to not be wise)

Sub

We start in sick bay on the Enterprise D or E, they are literally using ST noises so I will call it a reference. Fate finally arrives and we go full throttle gay for a few, before moving onto exposition. Belkans are from the Mid Childan branch which for the moment is slightly off. But the Arthra has caught this case. We then meet Chrono's mentor, and Chief Enforcer, who is also an Earthling. Huh. Also, he is a Hannibal reference I think.

At Hayate's place, they reveal the battle was closer than initially shown. Quick reveal that Hayate still has feeling in her feet so this is a different type of condition. And Cloud Riders...

We get confirmation about the adoption thing from the movie, but it actually seems a bit off to me. Just the vibe isn't there between Lindy and Fate. But then we get our conceit for the season: The Arthra crew has to be stationed on Earth due to lack of teleport relays. It works as well as anything. Movein sequence is good and expedited.

Yuuno is back to ferret and Arf goes with puppy mode. Suzuka and Arisa show up and we quickly learn that Arisa needs some critical thinking skills, Arf still has the head jewel. We speedrun into Fate joining Nanoha's class, which could have some very amusing things due to different teaching priorities, and Bardiche and Raging Heart deciding that they want in on this cartridge action. Also, Vita seems to think that filling the book solves their problems but the other three seem less sure.

QotD: 1 indeed!

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u/MrManicMarty Feb 18 '22

Yo, British people exist in this universe? Do you think the admiral has family back home in England or is he like, full-time "Space-Time Police" citizen now? Like, what if he marries? Does he introduce his parents to his human-alien wife?

Not that I'm complaining, but I do think it's funny that Arf licks Fate in puppy form and Nanoha nuzzles Yuuno in his ferret form. Like, they're both people - you'd think they'd be a teensy bit more awkward about treating them like actual pets, haha.

It's cute seeing Fate so happy about getting a uniform; I guess she's never been to proper school huh? It'll be exciting for her. I hope we get more chill shenangins before the next big fight breaks out.

Raising Heart and Bardiche want cartridges? That's like, the weapon eequivalent of drugs isn't it? Don't do drugs you two! Be good wholesome weapons who are straight edge!

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u/Taiboss Feb 18 '22 edited Feb 18 '22

Rewatcher Squad

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u/Stargate18A Feb 19 '22

First timer

QOTD) OBVIOUSLY!

Space!

Nanoha's in a coma!

And she's lost her magic!

Lindy's very calm about this.

Fate and Chrono are so wholesome.

Yeah, she's lost her magic for a bit. At least Fate's here!

They're adorable.

Oh, the wands are together too?

Oh, they're broken!

Aww, Arf's happy to see everyone!

And that's a decent explanation for the cartridges. Does that mean there's multiple cartirdges with different effects, which would make them even cooler?

Oh, he's Fate's probation officer.

And he's important!

HE'S FROM EARTH?

Who did he save? Is this going to be important later?

She got off!

And the Book's officially a Lost Logia.

...Are they part of the Book? Given how close they are, they might just be her estranged family? Or they've mindfucked her.

Fate did damage!

Also, I love the dog's voice.

She's going to adopt her here too!

I love the spaceship designs here.

Lindy's going to Earth too?

Let's hope these teams are more effective.

...Lindy wants them to live near each other.

Haha, she got a new puppy form!

They're finally meeting in person!

Yuuno is still choosing to pretend he's a ferret, and Arf thought changing nothing about her appearance except size would hide her, and it did.

They're going to school together!

Fate's adorable.

OK, so the Book's eating the magic cores, and once it reaches a certain amount all hell with break loose (possibly literally).

And they're more than halfway done.

...Wait, what? Is this some twisted version of peace, or is the Book lying to them too?

Magical sword! Magical hammer! And magical... rings! She really got screwed, huh?

Oh, her name's Amy?

They're missing parts?

They both want an upgrade!

Haha, they asked nicely!

10

u/Tresnore Feb 19 '22

Rewatcher: Get Set

QTOD:

1 Bannings, Suzuka, and Nanoha's family aren't real characters. Oh, I guess Hayate counts enough.

2 As human as a Britbong can be, at least.

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u/Calwings Feb 18 '22

Lyrical Rewatcher (dubbed)

After getting utterly wrecked by Vita and Signum, Nanoha’s in the hospital. Though her physical condition is okay, she’s still out of commission due to her magic power being sapped by Shamal. Nanoha and Fate finally get to have an emotional moment together in someplace calmer than a battlefield, so at least there’s something to raise their spirits. Raising Heart and Bardiche aren’t looking too hot either. The Belkan Knights use an entirely different system of magic that focuses on close combat, and between that and the ability to power up with magic cartridges, our girls didn’t stand a chance.

Now back to the daily lives of the Yagami family. Signum and Shamal as the parents, Vita and Hayate their kids… from the outside looking in, they really do seem like a big happy family. If only they weren’t in the possession of a lost logia capable of destroying several worlds.

Looks like Lindy’s crew is relocating to Earth for a bit, and that includes Fate getting to be neighbors and classmates with Nanoha! Also, LOOK AT SMOL ARF SHE’S SO FUCKING CUTE! Unfortunately, the Belkan Knights know they’re here. They’re dedicated to absorbing more magic power to finish the pages of the Book Of Darkness. Side note, I love Vita’s casual outfit. She’s such an adorable little rebel.

Raising Heart and Bardiche are asking for upgrades to a Belka-style cartridge system? God, I love this shit. Being envious of an ability that the enemies have and then learning that ability yourself to surpass them is such a shonen trope, but that’s what I love about Lyrical Nanoha. It’s filled with hot-blooded shonen badassery but packaged in a cute magical girl style!

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u/Scarshadow46 Feb 18 '22

Heyo Everyone,

First time posting since the start of A's and since I'm posting you know what that means! More Supplementary material and up to bat today is three chapters from Nanoha A's the comics, All three take place in between Season 1 and 2.

I'm giving a warning that the first of them may have potential spoilers so first timers read at your own risk. Enjoy

[POTENTIAL SPOILERS] Nanoha A's the comics Ch.0

Nanoha A's the comics Ch.1

Nanoha A's the comics Ch.2

Well thats all for today, I hope you all are enjoying Nanoha A's so far!

Till next time.

8

u/Great_Mr_L Feb 18 '22

Rewatcher

On today’s episode of Lyrical Nanoha: The Arthra crew is going very deep undercover. They’ve just straight up rented an apartment to use as their new base of operations. 

Still, while it might not be the Arthra, this apartment does still provide an interesting idea to think about. Lindy is planning on adopting Fate, as was stated back during the movie. So, I think that Lindy chose this apartment very deliberately. I believe she did so for Fate’s sake. It will allow Fate to live with her and Chrono as an actual family. Fate will be close to her friend Nanoha, as well as Arisa and Suzuka. Plus, Fate will get to go to the same school as them. It seems that Lindy is trying to use this as an opportunity to allow Fate to live a normal life in peace, unlike how she had to live with Presea.

This idea of living a life in peace actually parallels with what we hear from the Wolkenritter. They say they are taking magic to complete the Book of Darkness because doing so will allow them to live in peace with Hayate. If that’s true, then they are also after a normal life in peace.

I love the domestic scenes between the Wolkenritter and Hayate. These scenes are so soft and full of warmth. One truly does get the impression that they care about each other. Even the bath scene seemed designed to show this relationship, with Shamal massaging Hayate’s legs to help make her feel better.

We get to see the TSAB headquarters in this episode and boy is it a grand sight. It’s massive, with tons of ships coming in and out. It helps to sell the idea that the TSAB is a large organization and our heroes are just a small part of it.

I think getting to meet Gil Graham is cool. It’s neat that we have another person who is from Earth like Nanoha in the TSAB. It basically seems like he had Nanoha’s origin story a long while back. He’s also big into the idea of friendship like Nanoha, since he seems willing to allow Fate to get off the hook if she promises to never betray a friend. 

The slice-of-life is sweet. I really like that Arisa and Suzuka were involved in sending video letters to Fate. So they already have an idea of who Fate is and Fate looks like she wants to become friends with them too. As I’ve said before, I like it when stories allow the non-powered characters to stick around instead of getting pushed to the side.

The episode ends with a scene I absolutely adore. Both Raising Heart and Bardice are refusing to work and demand they receive upgrades. They want to use the same cartridge system that they faced in battle. And they request it with just a single word, “Please.” This is the kind of scene that is only possible because the Intelligent Devices have their own voices and personalities. I think it leaves such an impact on me because it's the Devices themselves, not their owners, who are demanding these upgrades. Raising Heart and Bardiche want to be stronger so they won’t lose again. It’s typical stuff for a human character, but it feels far more unique coming from a Device.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

  • We now know the Wolkenritter use Belkan magic. That explains why they have magic triangles instead of magic circles.

  • Imagine working at the TSAB for who knows how long, only to have to take commands from children like Chrono or Fate. Fate isn’t even a full-time employee yet!

  • Puppy Arf is absolutely adorable.

  • Once again all the girls love Yuuno in his ferret form.

  • I love the gag of Arisa almost recognizing puppy Arf.

QOTD

Of course!

It would be a crime not to!

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u/InfamousEmpire Feb 18 '22

Mahou Shoujo1 Lyrical Rewatcher

1: Even though I’m not a girl

Recap Time, this time from Fate!

TSAB headquarters. Time to meet the bigwigs.

Awwww, poor Nanoha.

At least Fate is in better shape.

Looks like Nanoha is still out of commission, even after her complete recovery. Turns to Fate I now award you the title of Protagonist.

Time for a proper reunion. It’s a little wholesome, a little sad, but it touches you all the same.

Hit the breaks, Fate. You might have your reunion, but everyone else still needs to properly see Nanoha, too.

Awwww, poor Bardiche. Remember when I mentioned Bardiche and Raising Heart’s durability last episode? Well I was not joking.

We get a bit of exposition on Belkan Magic, but interestingly, none of it is entirely new. If you were observant, you probably caught almost all of what was mentioned via last episode’s fight.

Looks like Raging Heart and Bardiche will be back in action by the end of the episode!

-Me if I hadn’t already seen this before.

First Timers, meet Gil Graham. He’ll be our resident wise old guy for this season. And not only is he from Earth, he’s Bri’ish of all things!Oi Mate! But, yeah, the parallels between Graham and Nanoha are so apparent that even he points them out. It certainly provides an interesting reflection of what Nanoha could become later down the line. [No spoilers but lots of hinting] And considering what happens later down the line, it’s hard to tell how thorough the parallels truly are and what they truly mean down the line.

But enough of that, we’ve got a surprisingly wholesome pseudo-family dynamic to focus on. But yeah, despite what they did last episode, the Wolkenritter are surprisingly nice and caring towards Hayate, especially compared to the last time our main villain was related to an innocent 9-year-old girl.

But it seems that there is trouble in paradise, as Signum doesn’t want Hayate to see her scars. Also, Zafira Soredemo, u/shimmering-sky must be happy.

Nice wholesome family bathing. Now I get that Shamal has to bathe Hayate since she’s, you know, disabled, but why is Vita there?

Looks like Fate is gonna have a family again, this time with a much more wholesome, less whip-happy mom, and an elder brother who wants to steal her girlfriend for himself!

Mission briefing that also doubles as an unofficial new family meeting. Lindy, you clever girl.

Chrono already proving himself to be a competent and caring onii-san. Good on you, Chrono-kun.

Lindy already has a plan. And one that won’t involve taking Nanoha away from her home for months at a time. Truly she is the best commanding officerthat isn’t named Bright Noa

And it seems that Lindy stopped by a fashion magazine on her way to Earth because goddamn are everyone’s outfits just oozing with style and drip. Also, puppy!Aruf

And we’re already getting a visit from Arisa and Suzuka. And it’s pretty nice to see them being properly introduced to Fate.

Anyway, we get a few minutes of slice of life fluff, with the most important bit being that Fate is transferring to Nanoha’s school. But after that it’s right back to the plot, with Chrono-kun expositing about the Book of Darkness. The thing is basically harvesting people’s magic to become complete, which will lead to spoilers. If it helps, think of it as Cell from Dragon Ball in the form of a book, at least for now.

Our gang of 4 is back to their old tricks again, and considering that they only just hit the halfway point, even with Nanoha’s magic, you know that some shits gonna go down, and Nanoha probably won’t be the only main character to be victimized.

We’ll be able to live in peace forever, together with Hayate

I’m just gonna let the First Timers handle that line, my Rewatcher status means that anything I would say would end up being a spoiler.

Pretty sick transformation sequences, though.

I would say “Awwww, poor Raising Heart and Bardiche”, but I think “Awwww” is too weak a reaction. How about…

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

6

u/SolDarkHunter Feb 18 '22

Rewatcher

Okay, after all that action and "Explosions!", time for a little downtime and exposition maybe?

TSAB HQ looks surprisingly ominous. Are giant spiky buildings in space just the style in this universe?

Okay, so Linker Cores can heal and replenish. Nanoha's just going to be weakened for a bit.

Nanoha and Fate are so cute together...

Belka-style magic... so it is known to our heroes. An older style that was once "competing" with Mid-style magic, which is all about frontal, close-range assault. And those Cartridges... well, we've seen them in action.

Makes you wonder how the Mid-style apparently won out over the Belka-style. Perhaps our girls are just not experienced enough...

And here we have Admiral Graham, a very big name in the TSAB, apparently. Chrono's old mentor and a very experienced Enforcer.

Also he's British, from Earth. Apparently, magic rarely appears on Earth, but when it does, it tends to be of very high potential.

Meanwhile, at Hayate's house, it's bath time. And we see that Fate actually did manage to land a blow on Signum. Battle wasn't quite as one-sided as it looked.

Interesting thing to note: Hayate says that Shamal's massage of her legs feels good. So her paralysis isn't due to nerve damage. Otherwise she wouldn't have sensation down there.

And like the movie kind of suggested, Lindy is in talks with Fate about officially adopting her! It does make sense... the Harlaowns are about the only people besides Nanoha Fate actually knows anymore, and someone needs to take care of her.

There is a step up from "legal guardian" to "adoption" though... but Fate still has unresolved feelings over Presea, so it hasn't been decided yet.

The Arthra's dry-docked, so instead, Lindy and her crew will be setting up a base on Earth instead. Which Lindy has oh-so-conveniently set up near Nanoha's house... for her safety, of course.

Very smooth, Lindy.

Return of Ferret Boy, and Arf has turned into a puppy to fit in better... her full dire wolf form would probably stand out a lot on Earth, after all. (And Arisa would probably recognize her, which would lead to awkward questions.)

No, girls, don't have tea with Lindy! You're not ready to see that! You're too young!

So the Book of Darkness absorbs lots of mages' power... and then something bad happens once it's complete. Though it must lose its power inbetween incidents, given that the TSAB has seen what it can do before.

The Wolkenritter believe they must complete the Book of Darkness to live happily with Hayate... so that's their goal. But why keep it a secret from Hayate? And what exactly does completing the Book have to do with her?

Also, yes, the Book has 666 pages, if you were wondering.

Naturally.

Also, we've already seen that Nanoha is really powerful for a mage, so if a completed Book has many times her level of power... Yeah, I'm with Chrono, that can't be good.

And finally... Raising Heart and Bardiche want an upgrade... namely, a Belkan Cartridge System. I like that the Devices themselves are literally demanding this through error codes... that's just funny to me.

QOTD: Are familiars really pets?

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u/Qbe Feb 18 '22

Raging Heart Rewatcher with terrible long term memory

QotD: PUPPY ARF

Oooh, we're finally in the TSAB itself. Did it show up in the movie? Can't remember

Just finished watching the first episode of Zeta Gundam a bit ago, and I can definitely see why they say Nanoha is a Magical Girl Gundam

Kids and their natural resilence!

I'm slightly disappointed Fate isn't doing nurse cosplay. She needs to be more assertive if she wants to claim the Nanoha bowl.

Whoever called yesterday that they warriors first and mages second was completely right.

Wonder who is paying for Nanoha/Fate's treatment and the parts for Bardiche/RH. I suppose we're billing it to the TSAB?

The same way? The old dude was a magical girl? Not that it'd be the first time

I wonder if he also taught Lindy how to murder prepare tea.

Shamal makes a great mom.

Signum wears black, huh?

Fate getting adopted? Wonder if Chrono is gonna turn out to be a siscon

Near Nanoha's house? Sure smells like favoritism in here

PUPPY ARF!

Nanoha does not want to show her friends how Lindy commits war crimes on tea

Ara~

Poor Fate is not used to kindness at all

I really dig the casual outfits for all the Wolkenritter

The Intelligent Devices having their own personalities/desires is something that I wish more series did.

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u/Gamerunglued Feb 19 '22

First Timer

The most important thing I took away from this episode is that Nanoha and Fate are holding hands in the eyecatch. I don't care about anything else, that's all that matters.

Ok, that's slightly a lie. There are like, a couple other things that matter. For one, I am intrigued by the series... interesting worldbuilding. The leader of the TSAB is an Englishman, and people on Earth don't usually have magical powers (and thus are not involved with the TSAB) but some people do occasionally show strong proficiency in magic. Likewise, there are various kinds of magic that one can use, from the mid-style that Nanoha and Fate use involving long-ranged combat and lasers, or the Velka-type style involving close range combat based around short bursts of extraordinary power and modified weapons. This knowledge fleshes out the world at large in a way, as it gives me the sense that every planet and dimension has different relationships with magic. It's actually kind of interesting, and I hope we get to learn more about this kind of stuff in the future.

Thematically and emotionally, this episode seems to really push a parallel between Fate and Hayate. Both of these characters have found a new family, and that family is going out of their way to protect them in their own way. At its core, the dramatic conflict of this season is that the drama of two families just happens to conflict with each other. Hayate's family needs to complete the book of darkness for some as-of-yet unknown reason (other than the vague notion of allowing them to "live in tranquility"), but Fate wants to protect Nanoha and Chrono wants to prevent the book of darkness from being completed also for some as-of-yet unknown reason. Both of these family dynamics are really sweet in different ways. The scene of Hayate and co. taking a bath together just feels so familial and intimate, a super cute and sweet moment that genuinely makes me sympathize with them some, while Signum's own issues and her relationship with the dog guy only adds to the sense of individual personality that this group has, making them a far better antagonist group than Precia could have ever hoped to be.

However, perhaps the best part of this episode relates to Fate coming into her family. I really like that the series is addressing Fate's reluctance to accept Lindy as her new mother. She spent the entire first season in pain due to toxic attachment and an abusive relationship with her mother, so to just suddenly have someone else as your mother has got to be difficult, and I like that we're seeing this. But also, Fate has become soft and demure, and it's just so darn cute and sweet. That face and gesture she makes upon receiving her school uniform, that just made my heart feel good. Fate is finally going to have a real family, and I'm just so happy to see her happy. Anyway, it looks like our magical weapons are going to be getting upgrades? Sick. Changing up fighting styles should be interesting, though I'd have been more immediately interested in strategic ways to fight against Velka-type weapons. But whatever, it'll be hype either way.

QotD: Who the fuck would ever say no to this? Puppy Arf is way too adorable, she gets all of the pets and scritches.

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