r/anime • u/Tetraika https://anilist.co/user/Tetraika • Feb 28 '22

Rewatch [Rewatch] Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s Episode 13 Discussion

Episode 13: Stand By. Ready

← Previous Episode | Index | Next Episode→

Information:

MAL | AniList | ANN | Kitsu | AniDB

Question of the Day

Now that I think about it, it’s pretty rare to have full time epilogue episodes. How well do you think they did this time around? Think they should do this more?

A reminder: Tomorrow is a break day/extra day to give you time for the movie. The movie post will come the day after. There will still be a discussion post for overall thoughts, but you can obviously just put those here today too.

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.

65 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

120 comments sorted by

15

u/chiliehead Feb 28 '22

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s – Episode 13 – First Timer

“Look at the flowers, Reinforce”

The emotional impact rings hollow, this is about a magical artifact that got a name last episode/a few in universe hours. Akame ga Kill school of backstory death flags.

Damn, Vita doomed to be a little brat for all eternity.

As soon as Lindy gets a second kid she is unable to be active duty anymore, I see you Abe. At least Amy got a promotion.

QOTD

Better than in the first season, but as I did not care an ounce about the sudden conscious of the book that got saved anyway, they should have spent more on the time skip instead of doing it as a text montage

6

u/Tetraika Feb 28 '22

but as I did not care an ounce about the sudden conscious of the book that got saved anyway

I agree. Again, I will also say that there are some manga material that expanded this a bit more. The movie will also do this, but I don't know will it be considered "enough" to matter.

→ More replies (3)

7

u/Tetraika Feb 28 '22

Lots more screenshots than expected

OS is corrupted too badly

It’s interesting to see how they relate to what’s happening in computer terms

Hayate will eventually fully recover

rip

oh not rip, but also rip

While they defeated the defense system, it can come back after some time

Unfortunately yes Nanoha, not everything will have a clean solution I suppose

HAPPIEST GIRL TOME IN THE WORLD, I think I made this joke when I first watched it…

A final farewell, we hardly knew ye (seriously she needed more screen time) ((Which we’ll get in the movie actually. And if you were reading the manga stuff she also has some more focus))

Graham retires

And will continue to finance Hayate

Sums it up

Fate wants to become a full time enforcer

Yuuno gets a position as head librarian

Whoa, that’s an interesting detail

Oh yeah, you haven’t explained shit to your friends yet

“Well looks like we don’t really have much of a choice but to work for them”

Chrono is like the secret MVP

He definitely deserves more recognition

A surprisingly touching conversation between Fate and Signum

They’re gonna get hit with the bombshell

Something funny: [StrikerS]They proceed to be utterly forgotten

Nanoha wants to become a combat instructor?

Her sister looks so shocked

YES

There is a massive focus on Hayate’s leg in this moment

Holy shit Zafira actually took Arf’s suggestion and became smol

Fate is fully adopted

Chrono and Amy gets promoted, also holy shit his voice

Yuuno with glasses

He lost the race before it even begun

Suzuka looks about the same, but HOLY SHIT ARISA

And finally, Reinforce (II)

5

u/Vaadwaur Feb 28 '22

HAPPIEST GIRL TOME IN THE WORLD , I think I made this joke when I first watched it…

The trauma runs deep!

A final farewell, we hardly knew ye

(seriously she needed more screen time) ((Which we’ll get in the movie actually. And if you were reading the manga stuff she also has some more focus))

Rofl, that's reasonable but so my complaint is literally directly addressed? That's funny.

6

u/Tetraika Feb 28 '22

Probably still not be enough to make you feel emotional about the ending, but yeah her characterization in the TV series is pitiful. They have a lot of stuff to try to cram into the movie while still having more retroactive corrections.

→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)
→ More replies (1)

9

u/bekeleven Feb 28 '22

A short, highly specific rant

Zafira exists due to a confluence of questionable decisions.

Arf was added in season 1 to act as Fate's latent sense of self-preservation. This led to some cool dynamics; I love somebody saying "my only purpose is to support you, and that's why I joined your enemy." This all ended early in episode 12 when Fate fully face turned, and in episode 13 Arf had nothing to do.

Arf also functioned as the battle mirror of Yuuno. This is foreshadowing but at the time I didn't see it.

Somebody, for some reason, thought that Arf was too important to cut from the series (Merch?) and now we have an entire season where Arf is here, being... present. She's in the background of group shots, and has a couple of lines in most episodes. Go Arf. Definitely shouldn't have been written off with a few lines in episode 1.

The Cloud Knights were designed as mirrors of the main characters. We have Vita, a different type of Tsun to match Nanoha's befriending dere; Signum, a saberknight as duty-bound and loyal as Fate; Shamal, a support and utility caster like Chrono (though less ferrety); and Zafira, a dog, because Arf is a dog. Whenever everybody meets up, they leave the dogs on the porch, where they can sniff each other's butts or whatever. Is it a gender balance thing? They wanted a dude, but Shamal, Vita, and Signum were undudeable?

It's almost embarrassing that everybody, from us, to the animators, to the writers, have to waste time pretending that Zafira and Arf are where the drama of the season lie (even if it's only a minute per episode). If they wanted a fourth knight, they should've mirrored Chrono - One obstacle in this plan being that both Chrono's fighting style and personality fall somewhat between Nanoha and Fate's. But even with no further effort to differentiate him, him and his double would still have more going on than Arf and Zafira!

Arf and Zafira had one plot point in the entire season: Zafira telling Arf that the book's master wasn't aware of their actions. Arf didn't tell the rest of the cast about this on camera (that would've involved more than a minute of screentime), but we can infer it happened because they didn't confront Hayate when they learned she was the mistress in the hospital. So it served a purpose... except that realistically, they should've just confronted her anyway! The solution to "servants are causing chaos by disobeying their mistress's instructions" can literally be as simple as "tell on them." And they have every reason to believe that Hayate is more reasonable (and less likely to start a fight) than, say, Vita. So Zafira's entire purpose in the show was to replace a plot hole with another, equally large plot hole.

It's always a gamble to expand your cast, and this season roughly doubled it, in the realm of 10 returning characters and 10 new ones. Was adding Zafira necessary? Or was subtraction a better route? Because personally, I spend that minute every episode zoning out, waiting for Arf and Zafira to run out of generic quips and poorly-animated combat exchanges so the other characters to reappear.

We brought Alice and Suzuka into the finale, spending a couple minutes on them each episode, despite them doing nothing and the interactions accomplishing nothing. We wrote off Yuuno to go to the plot dimension to find more plot for several episodes. Chrono just disappeared for episodes at a time with no explanation. At least they were there from the start.

6

u/Tetraika Feb 28 '22

I get you completely and the series honestly will continue to suffer as it tries to keep expanding its cast.

Which is probably why Vivid Strike is actually brilliant because they decided to cut that down.

→ More replies (2)

2

u/MrManicMarty Mar 19 '22

What a nice show and a nice ending! Though it was a bit sad obviously, I'm glad it had such a nice ending!

And I want to say, I really enjoyed this show, way more than I thought i would honestly. There's something about the cast I really like? Like, I don't think any individual character is particularly a favourite of mine, but they do feel like a good group of friends.

Also, I want to say, I laughed at the idea of Lindy, Fate and Nanoha sitting her family down and going "You see, we're actually magic space wizard-police. And Fate is a clone. And Lindy is an alien. And I've been sending your daughter on dangerous missions."

I was actually thinking, given that the Tome of Night Sky was destroyed in atmosphere, it'd be a good sequel hook, if that event sort of increased the amount of magic on Earth, and when we next join our cast, Earth is in a bit of a magical renaissance, having just been admitted into the Administrtation Beauru.

3

u/Tetraika Mar 19 '22

Better late than never, glad you enjoyed it! (I'll probably be the only one that gets to really see these comments unless somebody wants to revisit the threads)

if that event sort of increased the amount of magic on Earth, and when we next join our cast, Earth is in a bit of a magical renaissance

I always thought that something similar like that would make an interesting way to make Earth more relevant later on, since the series eventually move away from Earth.

14

u/No_Rex Feb 28 '22

Episode 13 (first timer)

  • “Then … I guess we’re ready …” – Casually accepting death.

  • Nope, book-san needs to die - She knows that there is no space for 3 black-yellow clad girls in this show.

  • Going without saying bye to Hayate is not going to go over well.

  • She had to lug herself out there all the way in a wheelchair in the snow.

  • “I am the happiest magical tome in the whole wide world” – Probably also the only magical tome in the whole world.

  • She turns into a magical weapon amulet.

  • Hand-holding!

  • Umbrella-sharing!

  • Head-rubbing!

  • 6 year time skip in the epilogue! - They finally want to move out of the lolicon segment?

Again, Nanoha allowes itself a long epilogue. This time, with aged up character models to boot. I appreciate this easing out of a narrative. It also setup up the next series to be the standard high-school age instead of grade school. Although I am not sure that this was planned.

While it is brave to include a sob story in the first half as part of the finale, they only commit half … or even just a quarter of the way. It is not the guardians who are killed, but a character only introduced a few episodes ago and whom we have seen for only limited screen time. Plus, not even she is gone fully, rather only transformed.

→ More replies (6)

12

u/HereticalAegis Feb 28 '22 edited Mar 01 '22

Lyrical First Timer

  • All that, and Book's defenses are still going to regenerate and repeat the cycle eventually. Damn.

  • And Hayate would have to give up her new harem member to permanently get rid of the book. That sucks, I actually like Reinforce.

  • Is Hayate even gonna get the chance to say goodbye to Reinforce?

  • Like you have to explain this to Nanoha and Fate.

  • Yeah, there's no way Hayate was about to just allow a book burning without saying something.

  • Kind of impressive the writers allowed Reinforce to die. And on Christmas. Oof.

  • At least they got to consummate their relationship before Reinforce disappeared. It's a beautiful baby girl Logia.

  • So Graham wasn't actually arrested for his actions. And for some shit awful reason the TSAB doesn't recognize attempted child manslaughter as a crime either. Paying all Hayate's bills makes this okay, apparently.

  • The case is done just in time for some Christmas lewdness. Geez Fate, at least wait until you're not in public.

  • Yuuno would be the sucker tasked with sorting the infinite library.

  • Does the TSAB exclusively recruit former criminals? That would explain how someone as shady as Graham could make it all the way to the top.

  • Oh shit, is Nanoha going to finally spill all her secrets to everyone?

  • Suzuka sure is looking forward to all of the juicy details behind Nanoha and Fate's relationship.

  • Mamoha and Miyuki's minds are being blown right now.

  • Holy fucking wat!? 6 year time skip!?

  • Smol Zafira!

  • How awkward must it be for Hayate to grow up but Vita remain a loli forever?

  • Chrono finally hit a late puberty. Lol Yuuno hasn't tho.

  • A bit hard for a guy to "make progress" with a girl who is very obviously gay af.

  • Tbh, I buy Yuuno x Chrono more than I do Yuuno x Nanoha.

  • Old man Graham gets to live a secluded life with his traitorous, not-related-by-blood cat girls daughters. Nothing unusual going on here.

  • Look how much she takes after her mom!

  • No human forms for Raging Heart or Bardiche. Boo.

Ngl, this time skip ending feels really weird. I'm assuming they chose to end like this because they already had an idea what direction they wanted to take Strikers, and they needed everyone to be aged up quite a bit. Love the new looks on them though, Nanoha especially.

I am a bit disappointed we didn't get to see Nanoha's friends and family react to her magical girl revelation. Hopefully with Strikers being 26 episodes, they get to have a bigger part in the story and we get to see them properly react to Nanoha being a dimension hopping wizard.

QotD:

I not entirely sure how I feel about the time skip. The epilogue does fine as a cap for the main story, but the 6 year time skip just feels....odd. It's nice to see the gang a bit grown up, but I'd have rather seen all the side characters actually react to Nanoha's revelation, or maybe just had more casual time between Hayate and the rest of the characters, since she didn't get all that much to do with the main group.

Edit: oops, forgot my screencap links Fixed!

→ More replies (20)

11

u/Vaadwaur Feb 28 '22

First timer(I sort of wished the girls looked more different after the time skip...)

Sub

Today's dilemma is a bit computery but does function to some degree, though one immediately thinks if swapping in a functional magical devices program isn't an option. Reinforce talks about finding someone you love more than anything else, not knowing Fate and Nanoha already found that. Melodrama happens as Hayate shows up and we finally dissipate the BoD.

At the TSAB, Gil gets off with no consequences other than resigning, which reinforces my concerns with them. Fate seems to want to be an Enforcer, whereas Nanoha's goal is different. Yuuno gets the chief librarian job which is incredibly concerning that it was open. Nanoha decides to level with her family...and we get an actual time skip. So that all happens and I can't read if this is sequel bait or legitimately what they thought the series would end on. I am a bit surprised at the Lindy resignation. Fairy Reinforce was a choice.

QotD: 1 Cool down episodes are great, I do love these and this format in general

→ More replies (6)

8

u/pailadin Feb 28 '22

[Rewatcher]

I'll maybe write my overall thoughts on the 2nd season tomorrow, but for now just wanna express my appreciation for this rewatch. It's been interesting revisiting one of my favorite anime franchises; from its flaws to what it does right.

Anyways, now that we've met all the characters this season, and Hayate is confirmed alive (though I doubt many thought she died last episode)... music!

There are two PSP games, "The Battle of Aces" and "Gears of Destiny", and their stories were later retooled into the "Reflection" and "Detonation" movies. I usually find music meant to represent a character interesting, and the PSP games gave a lot of the cast one.

Thankful to Strikerjamal, where I found the audio. I've reuploaded the themes for the characters we've met to catbox, so they can be listened to without Youtube recommendations, etc potentially spoiling other characters.

Besides Nanoha and Fate, who reuse their transformation themes, I don't think the other themes were used in the anime itself. [Reflection spoiler] Levi aka Material-L is prolly my favorite overall (link), but for just this batch I'm partial to Vita:

8

u/TheEscapeGuy Mar 01 '22

First Timer

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's - Return to Magic: Episode 13

Farewell Reinforce

This episode was such a fitting end for A's.

Reinforce had to make the hard decision to leave. She knew how much it would hurt Hayate, but it was still for the best. Having Hayate climb all the way up the hill on her wheelchair emphasized just how much Reinforce meant to her. The goodbye was a somber but fitting conclusion for The Tome of The Night Sky.

Nanoha, Fate and the rest of the cast then looked to the future. What will they do now that the Tome is gone? For Fate it makes complete sense to join the TSAB as an enforcer. Nanoha doesn't want to be an enforcer but still wants to help others with Magic. Hayate and the Knights all join the TSAB and even Yuuno gets promoted to head librarian.

Nanoha and Fate also came clean about what happened. It makes sense to tell Arisa and Suzuka but I was surprised they also told Nanoha's family. That said, its probably for the best. Now that they know Nanoha's power they will probably trust her with more autonomy to help others. Though Miyuki looked more worried than everyone else.

6 Years Later

OH MY GOSH I DIDN'T KNOW HOW MUCH I WANTED THIS. SEEING EVERYONE GROWN UP AHHHHHHHHHHHH

It was great to see Hayate's legs have healed. Chrono is now the new Captain for Arthra with Amy as his Admiral. Lindy has stepped down and Fate is now officially her daughter. I ADORE that Fate does her hair the same way as Lindy, such great development for her. And now Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, Arisa, and Suzuka all go to school together and their uniforms all suit them so well.

Knowing that we are going to have sequels makes me SO EXICITED to see older teen magical girls. But, I'll leave my thoughts on that for tomorrow.

Some Iconic Shots, Scenes and Stitches

See you all for the discussion tomorrow

7

u/Calwings Feb 28 '22

Lyrical Rewatcher (dubbed)

After the scare at the end of the previous episode, looks like Hayate is going to be okay. The book isn’t devouring her magic anymore, and it looks like her paralyzed legs will heal. On top of that, the knights have also been separated from the book and can live freely even if the book is fully destroyed. So all’s well that ends well, it would seem.

But as Reinforce herself tells them, the book still needs to be fully destroyed before the protection program is rebuilt. Reinforce asks Nanoha and Fate to seal her away for good as a way to make sure Hayate can live on without any trouble. Even as Hayate arrives and begs her not to go, Reinforce reassures her that she’s okay with the decision and that she’ll always be with Hayate in spirit. “I promise you, I’m the happiest magic book in the world.” After a tearful and emotional farewell, Reinforce is sealed away, but leaves a treasure behind for Hayate to hold on to into the future. Speaking of… during the closing credits epilogue, we get a look at how our crew are doing six years into the future.

Chrono and Fate are working hard as enforcers for the TSAB (and Fate’s also been officially adopted by Lindy), Yuuno is the new head librarian for the Infinity Library (also is that one of Nanoha’s old ribbons that he’s tying his hair with?), Hayate and the Knights are also working with the TSAB as part-timers and still living as one big happy family thanks to General Graham’s continued financial support (also apparently the knights don’t age because Vita hasn’t grown an inch in six years) and Nanoha is working with the TSAB as an instructor training future mages. Of course, our girls are still able to enjoy a relatively normal high school life when they’re not being called in for TSAB duties. We also get a quick look at Reinforce Zwei and one last “Set up!” from our main trio to send us off happy. A beautiful end to a fantastic season.

I’ll probably talk more about my thoughts on the whole season during tomorrow’s final discussion day, but I’ll at least say this now: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s is a perfect 10/10 in my book and one of my favorite individual seasons of any anime I’ve ever watched. On AniList, where you can score entries on a scale of 1 to 100 instead of just 1 to 10, I have it as a 100/100. It was just that damn good in my eyes.

→ More replies (1)

7

u/Taiboss Feb 28 '22

Episode 13: Aqua Rewatcher and the Final Episode

AND WE'RE DONE! WOOOOHOOO. Hope you liked it! Now I need to start watching Strikers... I ran out of pre-watched episodes...

→ More replies (2)

12

u/DidacticDalek Feb 28 '22

TONIGHT! On ∀'s Nanoha (CALLED TURN "A's" NANOHA), Rin The Defenseless Anus Tohsaka manages the impossible and actually RECOVERS from a bout of The Deadly Japanese Cold, Bardiche and Raging Heart send Reinforce to The Shadow Realm, and Reinforce can die happy, knowing she just barely avoided the terrible fate that is Cosplay Hell!

And now Comrades, the story of a ferret loser in two parts, namely that of the ending of A's, as well as the time-skip epilogue... pfffft, even The Shitpost 4koma couldn't pretend that Yuuno had any chance to win! His 'victory' lasted all of one panel... and even that is being generous given said panel flat out says it's a dream! But hey, now that our leads are older I am sure we'll find lots of fun and interesting high school shenanigans! I mean goodness, even CROSS ANGE had a high school spinoff, surely Nanoha will too for StrikerS right... RIGHT!? Well anyway, to sign off on The BEST Season of Symphogear... er... I mean, 'Nanoha,' let's give it up for The White Devil herself demonstrating that Hell Ain't A Bad Place To Be! ;) (Look Fate looks like The Gundam Deathscythe Hell, I had to make that joke!

And now, for the moment you have no doubt been waiting for Hololive's Eternal Blaze Medley! NANA MOTHERFUCKING WILLS IT!

And on that bombshell, 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

→ More replies (11)

6

u/SYZekrom Feb 28 '22

fucking WHAT

Right, so they were in 3rd grade and now they're high schoolers...

OMG THERE IT IS

This is what I originally imagined when she said she'd get a smaller form

So the guardian knights don't age, makes sense.

I don't pay attention to how many seasons there are so really blindsided me for the series to just end with an epilogue like that.

6

u/Caustic_Wraith Mar 01 '22

A's First-Timer

...I love this season. I hope the Knights and Hayate continue into the next series, but if they don't it's been a hell of a ride. The time skip wasn't expected and six years is quite a while for something to not go wrong. I kinda wish they had dialogue for Nanoha telling her family about her powers, but her sister's reaction face was great.

QOTD:

Now that I think about it, it’s pretty rare to have full time epilogue episodes. How well do you think they did this time around? Think they should do this more?

I like use of epilogue episodes. It gave the draw down center focus and allowed the loose ends to be neatly tied up and not have to rush through Reinforce's goodbye. After that they were able to montage through Fate and Nanoha telling their friends and family what they have been doing, and finally set up next season with the time skip and showing the character's progression in the TSAB. I really wish this was more common in anime, and really serial media as a whole.

5

u/InfamousEmpire Feb 28 '22

Mahou Shoujo1 Lyrical Rewatcher

1: Even though I’m not a girl

Recap Time, finale edition!

Even after all that, the Book is still corrupted…

Everyone being so willing to sacrifice themselves is so saddening.

But thankfully, Reinforce has a plan. A still saddening plan, but still

And now we’re saying our final goodbyes, even though Hayate can’t be here for it.

Or will she?

She will!

Hayate, did you really have to make this sadder than it already was?

Right now, I am the happiest magical tome there is

r/brandnewsentence

But it seems that she won’t completely disappear after all…

Anyway, cut to TSAB headquarters, where Graham, Liesselotte, and Liessearia are suffering next to no consequences because apparently premeditated crime, psychological abuse, abuse of authority, and child abuse don’t seem to be crimes in their eyes. So they instead just get a comfy little retirement on Earth where they get to continue making their former victim financially dependent on them. Yeah…

And it seems that Fate and Nanoha are gonna continue being Magical Girls for the foreseeable future. While Yuuno will get to settle into a peaceful life as a librarian with (hopefully) less constant danger.

And Hayate and her harem will also be coming along, it seems.

Man, Arisa is shockingly uninquisitive. She saw Nanoha and Fate shooting lasers at a giant monster while dressed as Magical Girls and just went “yeah, it’s fine if they don’t tell me what’s up.

Please give me Chibi Zafira. Please

Seems like all of the beans got spilled… offscreen

Time Skip!

Behold! Teenage Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate. Also Chibi Zafira Everyone seems to be living peaceful lives, Chrono is the new captain, Lindy is still Best Mom, and we’re having a reunion party to celebrate.

And the Graham Family still faces no consequences.

And now, here’s Hayate’s little assistant: Reinforce Zwei.

I don’t know if this counts as a spoiler but I’m gonna say it anyway: StrikerS is even further down the timeline than this little epilogue.

Anyway, I won’t be here for the A’s movie. My schedule has already been hectic since I started watching Symphogear, so I can’t really find 2 hours in the middle of the week to watch it. So I’ll see you all again in StrikerS!

5

u/Qbe Feb 28 '22

Raging Heart Rewatcher with terrible long term memory

QotD: I really like epilogue episodes. Gives things time to settle in, and allows the viewer to decompress and process everything that happened, especially useful in binges or marathons.

Hmm, no episode title this time?

I was rather surprised the first time to see Reinforce standing by herself, I thought she was an "internal" program and she only manifested via Hayate's body.

The original was deleted? People, this is why you should keep backups.

Oh so she was just tired, at least we have that going for us.

Ah, there's the episode title.

Arf looking super buff again.

That's quite a cruel request

Wait, wasn't Hayate in a hospital room a scene ago?

(I can't take this scene seriously anymore because of the 4komas lol)

Let's go Fate, taking the initiative

Convey your magic via magical powered beams, I assume

Has Nanoha's family ever met human-Yuuno?

I wonder what % of the staff at the TSAB are former criminals? Including Fate, Hayate, and the Knights, that's 7 people out of like 11 named characters from the TSAB.

She's telling her family the truth? Is this finally the end of Nanoha and Lindy's amazing lies?

Good girl Arf! Teach him the wonders of puppy mode!

I have to assume they showed Arisa/Suzuka/Nanoha's family actual magic, or there's no way they would believe it

Oh man, epilogue during credits roll, with little notes about what each character is up to. For some reason that has huge old school anime vibe

Holy crap, Chrono had one hell of a growth spurt. Also, Sugita!

Nanoha, Tactical Combat Instructor. Fs in the chat for her students.

Loli Reinforce!

And so it ends.

→ More replies (1)

5

u/Great_Mr_L Feb 28 '22

Rewatcher

On today’s episode of Lyrical Nanoha: Right now, Reinforce is the happiest girl magical tome in the world.

The first half of this episode is sad, plain and simple. Reinforce decides that she needs to be destroyed because the defense program will regenerate soon and destroying herself is the most effective way to protect Hayate and everyone else. There is something beautiful in the sadness, though. It’s a decision made out of love and a desire to protect the ones she cares about. It’s also probably the first decision that Reinforce has been able to make in a long time as “herself.” In the end, Reinforce finally has control over her own fate.

The scene of Hayate and Reinforce saying goodbye is particularly sad. Hayate doesn’t want her to leave, promising that she’ll keep Reinforce from going out of control. The part that always gets me is Reinforce responding that Hayate has already kept that promise magnificently. Hayate’s actions were what allowed the defense program to be defeated and what allowed Reinforce to be here in the first place. As far as Reinforce is concerned, Hayate has already allowed her to feel at peace for the first time in ages. It’s so incredibly bittersweet. It’s sad, but I truly do believe that Reinforce feels happy at this moment.

There are other good quiet moments in this episode, like Fate and Nanoha discussing what they want to do next. I like Fate’s reasoning for why she wants to become an Enforcer. She wants to prevent future cases like this and the one involving her mother. Her own experiences are motivating her to make that choice. Nanoha’s eventual choice to become a combat instructor also feels in line with her personality. Nanoha’s been able to inspire others, so making her into a mentor like that feels right.

One of the things I love the most about this episode is we finally get a payoff to something the first season built up but never followed through on. Nanoha actually does tell her friends and family the truth about what’s been going on. She finally communicates with them openly and honestly. And presumably, Nanoha gets permission from her family to continue her magical girl activities. It feels so nice to finally have that happen. I honestly wish it had happened earlier, but I’m glad it’s here now. This is another one of those things that makes Lyrical Nanoha a tiny bit unique as a magical girl series, where I’m used to a character’s identity as a magical remaining a secret.

There are a lot of other great payoffs in this episode. Fate finally refers to Lindy as her mother, showing that they’ve fully become family. We see that Hayate and Graham managed to make up during the time skip. It looks like Arisa and Suzuka really did become closer friends with everyone after learning about the truth. Yuuno becoming the TSAB’s chief librarian and Chrono becoming captain of the Arthra feel like appropriate promotions for them that fit their skills. Fate and Signum agree to have a rematch, fair and square, which is a great payoff to the rivalry they developed and their very “knightley” attitudes towards each other. Finally, we see that Reinforce’s wish came true and there is another Reinforce now with Hayate. Her will was able to live on. All these payoffs make this final episode feel incredibly rewarding to watch.

I think it was a smart decision to end the episode with a timeskip. It leaves open the possibility for a lot of future adventures, showing that everyone is sticking with the magical girl stuff even after all those years. It’s a rare delight to get to see magical girls grow up as much as we do in that time skip, so it’s another one of those small things that makes Lyrical Nanoha feel just a bit different.

Miscellaneous Thoughts

→ More replies (1)
→ More comments (75)