Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha [Archive]

Secca

2004-10-05, 01:57

http://img28.exs.cx/img28/9895/Nanoha2.jpg . http://img82.exs.cx/img82/9484/Nanoha1.jpg

http://www.nanoha.com/

Watching the raw right now, basing on episode 1 so far looks very interesting, it's mahou shoujo but somewhat darker with an RPG element in the begining. The character design kinda reminds me of Triangle Heart ~sweet song forever~, and I swear Nanoha's older brother and sister looks just like the main characters in Triangle Heart and they were practicing kendo. Maybe coincidence? ^^

The story so far introducting of the characters around Nanoha and how Nanoha become a mahou shoujo. Cannot tell yet where this series going. Somewhat serious and light hearted. Another interesting part is the animation. It's quite fluid. Specially the 2nd half of the episode. It was quite amazed when they were animating Nanoha family coversation during dinner.

Gona look forward for episode 2. ^^

http://img35.exs.cx/img35/4534/Nanoha11.jpg . http://img35.exs.cx/img35/4862/Nanoha12.jpg

http://img35.exs.cx/img35/8161/Nanoha13.jpg . http://img35.exs.cx/img35/7048/Nanoha14.jpg

http://img35.exs.cx/img35/8504/Nanoha15.jpg . http://img35.exs.cx/img35/9876/Nanoha16.jpg

http://img35.exs.cx/img35/6025/Nanoha17.jpg . http://img35.exs.cx/img35/9741/Nanoha18.jpg

Spuffy

2004-10-05, 02:06

These kinds of shows are not really my thing, but I kind of liked the animation. I wasn't that fond of the character designs in Triangle Heart, and the same goes for this one. But it's not going to hurt trying a few more eps of it.
I really liked the "BE QUIET" though, that one got me.

sarcasteak

2004-10-05, 02:30

The character designs for all the non-loli don't really appeal to me, but I kinda like the main character so I'll stick with it. Oh, and haven't seen you for a while, Secca. ^^

Secca

2004-10-05, 03:01

The character designs for all the non-loli don't really appeal to me, but I kinda like the main character so I'll stick with it. Oh, and haven't seen you for a while, Secca. ^^
Lol yeah just got back from vacation after finals, so been busy taking care of real life stuffs. Need alot of catching up in animes, alot of new series. ^^ And I just finished watching this one, it looks interesting for a mahou shoujo. I really tought that this series maybe has connection with Triangle Heart story, but maybe it just me. ^^

bluemist

2004-10-05, 04:01

Lol yeah just got back from vacation after finals, so been busy taking care of real life stuffs. Need alot of catching up in animes, alot of new series. ^^ And I just finished watching this one, it looks interesting for a mahou shoujo. I really tought that this series maybe has connection with Triangle Heart story, but maybe it just me. ^^

You are right, it 'is' a spinoff of Triangle Heart.

^danshi^

2004-10-05, 12:43

I'm looking forward to seeing this fansubbed. *cough cough* :D

JaXter

2004-10-05, 14:37

damn this looks strangely alot like Shamanic Princess lolz :)

ChibiDusk

2004-10-05, 15:01

Triad will be subbing this, so we can expect a garde A job :) hopefully they do one of those extra-special endings for this aswell ^_^

I've been awaiting this series since I first heard news of it.

Timeless Enigma

2004-10-09, 20:14

For some reason this reminds me a bit of Cloud Captor Sakura... probably just because of Nanoha's staff.

AnimeNFO says that this indeed is a spinoff of Triangle Hearts ~Sweet Songs Forever~.

Another interesting bit is that the main character and her family share the same family name as the two siblings in Triange Hearts.

EDIT: Nevermind, those two siblings, Kyoya and Miyuki ARE the same ones in this anime. I wonder how Triangle Hearts and this is connected, maybe the earlier years? Who knows.

KoopaTroopa

2004-10-18, 10:45

I was just wondering...did any group pick this one up??

zalas

2004-10-18, 14:04

I was just wondering...did any group pick this one up??
I'm pretty sure at least one group is working on it as we speak.

wigaboya

2004-10-18, 18:13

I've been waiting for this one for quite a while and was just wondereing if it was gonna be released here. Well, From what's posted here, I guess it is going to be released, so I am happy!

I am happy because Nanoha is... :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)
Since I didn't like Pita-Ten that much...

wigaboya

2004-10-18, 18:30

AnimeNFO says that this indeed is a spinoff of Triangle Hearts ~Sweet Songs Forever~.

Another interesting bit is that the main character and her family share the same family name as the two siblings in Triange Hearts.

EDIT: Nevermind, those two siblings, Kyoya and Miyuki ARE the same ones in this anime. I wonder how Triangle Hearts and this is connected, maybe the earlier years? Who knows.

I looked it up on the internet really quick. Nanoha is originally a Triangle Hearts character. I'm not sure about the original games, but she's in the OVA series. Here's a screenshot from the OVA.

http://www.th-rstage.com/_gallery/_th3_ova3/122/122.htm

LK_LoA

2004-10-20, 08:56

Nanoha needs someone to be her 'Tomoyo'. XD

Kensuke

2004-10-22, 10:32

First episode is out! Thank you Triad! :bow: Downloading...

Dragosmore

2004-10-22, 11:43

Yep, Triad's finally finished episode 1~ Such pretty art, good OP song, etc. Don't be turned off by the name, it really is good :o... The name makes it sound really bad, but it strangely has a good plot and stuff and yeah T_T! Expect episodes 2-3 soon~

Leo_Otaku

2004-10-22, 18:07

I really like this show its VERY cute. I LOVE the character designs...there is nothing not wrong or not to like 0_o. Shamanic Princess was a really bad anime IMO 0_o. And as for Cardcaptor Sakura only thing that looks the same are the wings on her feet (the jump card).

Caern

2004-10-22, 18:56

Leo_Otaku

2004-10-22, 20:32

I had high hopes for this one, its got cute designs and great aninimation.That dinner scene, the way the characters hair moved as they talked was very cool. But... , its got these weird panty flashes and total nude transformation sequence, of a nine year old girl. I havn't seen a lot of magic girl anime, but I have seen some of Cardcapter Sakura and it wasn't like this. This series fails the "can I take it home and show the folks" test.

I did find it odd that they used such a transformation scene. The body isn't detailed so its almost like sailor moon. (in the last episode she is a nude angel for almost the whole episode). I didn't notice any emense amounts of panty shots tho 0_O. Cardcaptor Sakura does not have transformation scenes of clothing. I see what you mean, like this is aimed for girls right? or is it 0_O. But its cute ^-^

Yamano667

2004-10-22, 20:40

well this anime seems to be a mix of CCS (cardcaptors) and triangle hearts +loli
animated characters. If you liked CCS ..you can like this anime

bluemist

2004-10-22, 21:31

I have a feeling that this is not aimed for girls...

...considering that this came from a bishoujo game, and just trying to be a mahou shoujo anime.

dkellis

2004-10-22, 21:54

Actually, it reminds me a bit of Pretty Sammy.

The animation is kind of inconsistent. At times it's amazing, while others... meh. Nothing horrible, and in fact quite decent, but still a bit odd after seeing the obvious high quality just a few seconds before.

Rotweiler

2004-10-22, 21:59

It looks crappy to me. Definitely not on the same level as CCS. And unlike CCS, this one seems to be pandering to the Lolicon group. Ick.

mememe

2004-10-22, 22:28

Why the hell do they think I want to see a nine-year-old naked? What is the time slot its airing in in Japan?

LordBrian

2004-10-22, 22:36

Why the hell do they think I want to see a nine-year-old naked?

They obviously don't. You see, this show airs in Japan, not Australia.

If they were catering to you personally, it would be airing in Australia.

Kanna

2004-10-22, 22:49

If you liked CCS ..you can like this anime

I OBJECT! Nanoha doesn't even begin to compare with CardCaptor Sakura. Nanoha's like a ripoff of most of CCS's ideas, except CCS doesn't have a stupid engrish speaking staff and Sakura's star key is infinitely better than that dumb jewel seed. Kero-chan will own that ferret anyday. Besides, the monsters in Nanoha will never be as cute as Sakura's Sakura Cards.

Why the hell do they think I want to see a nine-year-old naked?

Why the hell did you watch the show then? I'd say it's more of your own fault than theirs. If you don't want to see it, turn it off.

What is the time slot its airing in in Japan?

It airs between the 24:00 and 27:00 slots, so it's doubtful little girls would be tuning in.

Dragosmore

2004-10-22, 23:18

Kanna

2004-10-22, 23:21

Says the guy who thought cosprayers was good...

Ayu-ayu

2004-10-23, 05:07

I too say reserve judgement. So far in eps 2 and 3, Nanoha shows more competence and creativity than any other magical girl I've seen in ages. She can multi-task, invent new attacks on the fly, and doesn't need anyone to instruct her to do so either. And I'm really curious about the nature of this techno-magic's origins in Yuno's world.

Sakura took forever to learn how to use her own original techniques, had to be led by the hand by Kero-chan, and once she got really adept, she never really did anything with her powers that was interesting, it was always about catching stray cards or passing Eriol's arbitrary challenges. It would have been nice to see what Sakura could have done with her abilities after she mastered them all, but CLAMP flaked out and cut it short just when things seemed like they could actually go somewhere... It's not like we really see Sakura take on many real adversaries or such.

I'm not saying Sakura didn't kick ass. I love CCS and it's one of my favorite shows in the genre. I'm just saying that in 3 episodes, Nanoha is already breaking some new ground and the series seems to have lots of potential. It's just a damn shame it's only 13 episodes planned. I can't wait to see the rival magical girl to be introduced in episode 4...

And yes, it's a spinoff of the non-H Triangle Hearts OVA (not the H series, which was a different story) which even so in turn evolved from some earlier H games, so I guess some fanservice was inevitably inserted for the loli crowd. But henshin animation sequences did evolve from the 1970's Nagai Go shounen anime Cutey Honey, which was a big influence on the creators of Sailor Moon (especially character designer Tadano Kazuko), and parodied by Pretty Sammy and so on, so the theme of stylized nudity (without surface details though, which would make it, well, truly pornographic) is well entrenched as part of the heritage of symbology in the heroic mahou shoujo genre. I agree they went overboard showing the undergarments, though... @_@; So much for my attempt at defense, lol.

Kensuke

2004-10-23, 10:17

Secca

2004-10-23, 13:26

Ayu-ayu

2004-10-23, 14:58

Like dkellis said, I also noticed how the animation changed during this episode. Most of the time it was like in Triangle Heart, but when that dinner scene came where Nanoha is asking can she keep that ferret I was like "Woah! What happened to the animation?!" and then it changes back and forth between two styles.

Its been a while when I last time watch mahou shoujo -series and first episode was good, and what you people have said about coming episodes sounds intresting.
Light-hearted series that has some serious themes? I like those.

(I have to think something so that I can keep up with the series that I'm following and actually know what I'm talking about.)

I suspect that these cuts were done by a particular studio or directly handled by a key animator seperate from the rest (as happens a lot in anime, but usually less noticably--see Animation Runner Kuromi-chan for details). Perhaps one of our Japanese members has heard an explanation...? :) The contrast was really odd, but the look was quite cool.

babbito2k

2004-10-24, 01:18

Just because of the transformation sequence, you're damning the series.That's not the only thing that bothers people about the show. It's fake mahou shoujo and gives off a creepy voyeuristic feeling. It doesn't pay off with the same things a mahou shoujo series does. It doesn't even look right. I think a lot of CCS fans would dislike this show.Actually, it reminds me a bit of Pretty Sammy.An apt comparison -- Pretty Sammy is another fake mahou shoujo series.

Ayu-ayu

2004-10-24, 02:19

That's not the only thing that bothers people about the show. It's fake mahou shoujo and gives off a creepy voyeuristic feeling. It doesn't pay off with the same things a mahou shoujo series does. It doesn't even look right. I think a lot of CCS fans would dislike this show.An apt comparison -- Pretty Sammy is another fake mahou shoujo series.

Pretty funny calling both MAHOU SHOUJO Pretty Sammy and MAHOU SHOUJO Lyrical Nanoha "fake" MAHOU SHOUJO series, given that they are among the few that actually use MAHOU SHOUJO as part of the title.

Pretty Sammy was a spoof, fair enough (although the TV series was told fairly straight and had an interesting storyline). Komugi is a spoof and a half, for that matter. But Nanoha isn't, in fact after seeing four episodes, I'd say it's one of the more serious treatments I've seen in a tv series of the subject. I think it would be fair to call it a "fake" shoujo series, as it is emulating a shoujo appearance while clearly derived from a male oriented series. But as far as mahou shoujo goes, it's about as real as it gets...Nanoha and Fate are true madoushi with sorcerous powers and are an evolution of the traditions of the genre, which while mostly based in shoujo anime and manga, has occassionally crossed over into shounen territory, or even both (Mahou Tsukai Tai had both a shoujo manga series and a shounen manga one...the shoujo one had the better story, the shounen one the more anime-faithful art, for one example).

Just as shounen fans should get over their prejudices over shoujo, the opposite could be said as well. Last I checked, mahou shoujo means simply "magical girl" and much of the founding entries in the genre were either shounen anime (early 1970's Cutey Honey invented the transfoming superheroine with magic powers) or created by cross-genre creators such as Mitsuteru Yokoyama (Sally the Witch, perhaps the first "true" magical girl, along with his more typical shounen works Giant Robo, Tetsujin 28, Babel 2, etc) and Osamu Tezuka (Fushigi na Merumo--the definitive girl using her power to change to an older identity, along with his many establishing works in both shoujo and shounen).

daft27

2004-10-24, 21:07

I've only seen a few episodes of CCS so I'm not sure how qualified I am to say this, but Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha don't feel similar besides the fact that CCS and MGLN both have the magical girl element and they both have to collect/find stuff. The animation styles used in MGLN can differ from scene to scene (as other people have said earlier) and the music is definitely not lacking. Considering how formulaic other mahou shoujo animes can be, I really hope that MGLN doesn't fall to the same "start -> random fluff for 15 minutes -> transform -> action for 5 minutes -> end".

NekoYousei

2004-10-24, 22:12

I knew nothing of this anime before watching it, except that it was mahou shoujo. I was hesitant at first because I wasn't sure how good this would be, the Japanese website doesn't do the character design justice.
This is probably the best animation there's been for a mahou shoujo anime, imo. I was surprised to see actual *blood* on the human ferret-girl/guy-person in the beginning. I was like "Wow!", purdy cool. And then the opening animation was really great, disappointed by the ending animation though. :P
And I admit, I was a bit turned off by seeing way too much of a third grader than I needed to in the transformation sequence, but I did not toss it aside, oh no. The animation and characters were too wonderful to do that.
So, in other words, I can't wait to see more of it. ^___^

Also, whoever did the screen caps, it would be greatly appreciated if more were made. X3

Kempis Curious

2004-10-24, 23:22

I'm a big fan of Shamanic Princess (I think it's an oft-overlooked classic), and I too was thinking how cool it would be if the sidekick weasel and magic were from that anime. :) Didn't turn out that way. :( I was going to put it on the so-so list (for being too recycled) when the transformation scene took place... the clothes->undershirt->panties removal was a goddam strip tease on too young of a girl. :mad: Anime like this and Rizelmine are going to give anime a bad reputation... worse than the "it's all just violence and sex" reputation it had only 7 or 8 years ago. :frustrated:

-k

curious

babbito2k

2004-10-24, 23:30

...I think it would be fair to call it a "fake" shoujo series...I consider mahou shoujo anime to be a subset of shoujo anime. It's clear that this show doesn't make any effort to connect with a young female audience. Nanoha may be more "serious," less "formulaic" etc. and more attractive to people who don't necessarily like mahou shoujo, but it's also missing stuff. I don't begrudge anyone's liking the show, but it's not the same thing.

Just as shounen fans should get over their prejudices over shoujo, the opposite could be said as well.I have no interest in "getting over" my "prejudices." Shounen or seinen anime never lack an audience, and have been absorbing and reconstructing various elements of shoujo anime for a few years now (as in the present case). But shoujo anime offers something unique and I don't want to see it disappear.

Ayu-ayu

2004-10-25, 00:54

I consider mahou shoujo anime to be a subset of shoujo anime. It's clear that this show doesn't make any effort to connect with a young female audience. Nanoha may be more "serious," less "formulaic" etc. and more attractive to people who don't necessarily like mahou shoujo, but it's also missing stuff. I don't begrudge anyone's liking the show, but it's not the same thing.

I have no interest in "getting over" my "prejudices." Shounen or seinen anime never lack an audience, and have been absorbing and reconstructing various elements of shoujo anime for a few years now (as in the present case). But shoujo anime offers something unique and I don't want to see it disappear.

I wasn't neccessarily refering to you by that statement (though it came across that way, sorry), I was thinking more of how folks on both sides of the fence often miss good stories due to prejudices as I describe, and I am just cautioning against dismissing a show out of hand because its first episode crosses some lines.

It's been more than just a few years... let alone when mangaka or their assistants who have worked on shoujo make the switch to shounen works. There was a lot of heavy influence on shounen manga back in the eighties as well...and probably earlier, but I'm less familiar with cases of it prior to then.

Anyway, what you say is fair enough, but then should we discount shoujo anime that absorb shounen genres? Sailor Moon absorbed a fair amount of Cutey Honey and sentai elements, and is one of the first "fight the baddies" magical girl series. Rayearth borrows from the shounen fantasy-RPG and Mecha genres heavily. Cutey Honey F was a mahou shoujo series based upon the classic formulative shounen original. Manga and anime constantly cross-pollinate ideas, it's all part of how the entire medium grows and evolves. It gets even more complex when we account for the fact that production staffs on a series can be people with experience mostly in one genre or the other. There certainly was a stir when it came out that Anno Hideaki, after Evangelion was over, had come on board to direct the shoujo anime KareKano...

Heck, even some series like Magical Emi and Creamy Mami had some fairly creepy voyeur moments inserted in them by the directors back then, and those WERE shoujo series. I mean, wtf...!?

Anyway it is true that there is a solid niche of shoujo anime (and manga) that is mahou shoujo and makes, oh, probably over 90% of the core of all series in the genre. But on the other hand, there are some mahou shoujo stories from shounen magazines that are entirely done in the shoujo style, are non-H, and often by female mangaka even...admittedly not many such manga get made into anime, but what would you call Magical Nyan Nyan Taruto for one example, then? The original manga was published in a shounen manga magazine and drawn by Kaishaku. But the anime is totally done within the confines of the shoujo-style mahou shoujo genre, as far as I can tell...in fact much of it seems a tribute to the shoujo manga/anime classic, Wata no Kunihoshi. I often see people mistake this series for a shoujo one as a result...

Then again, I also see people make similar shoujo identification errors about other non-mahou shoujo series, such as Kokoro Toshoukan, which comes from Dengeki Daioh, for one example among many, so perhaps that's not so much an argument as just a demonstration of how blurry the lines can become in general.

I'm just saying that if a show is about a magical girl, has "magical girl" in the title, and follows most of the conventions of the general genre (episode 4 practically could have been a CCS episode for the most part, for that matter), then there's no reason to say it isn't technically a mahou shoujo series due to a gender-orientation bias. If it is neccessary to differentiate it, then label it a "shounen mahou shoujo anime", or "not a shoujo series", but I think it's a slight bit incorrect to flat out say it's a "fake mahou shoujo series", that's all. I could see calling something like Komugi or Puni Puni Poemi that, though, as both really pretty much are self-conscious deliberate phonies, as it were. :D

Anyway, that's all just IMHO. It's a topic that interests me a lot as I like most mahou shoujo stories in general and their history in anime and manga, for either gender (hence some of my examples), and I think overall it has a positive influence in the long run on shounen stuff to adopt more of the conventions of shoujo manga and anime. :)

Secca

2004-10-25, 03:00

Also, whoever did the screen caps, it would be greatly appreciated if more were made. X3
I already took some screenshots for ep 2 and 3, but in favor of Triad release, I'm gona post it around the same time Triad release the episodes. Also not to get too far ahead of everyone watching the fansub because right now it's already aired up to episode 4. ^^

Thany

2004-10-25, 07:17

Why the hell do they think I want to see a nine-year-old naked?Obviously you didn't notice that this show wasn't made just for your own taste :P
That show seems interesting IMO and since The Triad is subbing it, it's sure is gonna be pretty interesting to watch it :) Now got to find a way to download it... ^_^

NekoYousei

2004-10-25, 20:02

I already took some screenshots for ep 2 and 3, but in favor of Triad release, I'm gona post it around the same time Triad release the episodes. Also not to get too far ahead of everyone watching the fansub because right now it's already aired up to episode 4. ^^
Okay! Cool! ^__^ Thank you in advance!

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-10-26, 05:58

I'll offer up this video if it works.

http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/dragnfly/Nanoha-test.avi
for people who can't download the anime for some reason. Now, this was thrown together and works fine on my system. It hasn't been tested on others.

I'm a huge Nanoha fan now but looking around on message boards I see quite a few posts are downright hilarious. Like this extract:

"**** you stupid CCS bastard. Nanoha could beat her bloody before her dumb loli ass would know what's going on."
followed by
"Are you some sort of **** stupid **** wanker? Sakura would ram that ferret through Nahoha's empty brain and drink her blood!"

Honestly, I didn't expect to see stuff like this. I'm not that big of a Mahou Shoujo fan but there have been some I've liked (Pretty Sammy for one) and I find Nanoha is just doing everything better than all the others I've watched.

And as for the transformation scene, I guess I just didn't notice her nakedness. I thought the staff forming and such was pretty cool though. Pretty much every transformation scene I can think of off the top of my head has nudity or simulated nudity though. Just shrug it off. It's not like it's there to turn you on.

bluemist

2004-10-26, 07:24

No way. They're like comparing apples to oranges. Both are delicious but it really depends on the 'fetish' of the person.

I may be biased, but CCS is miles better. I think they need to extend Nanoha to more than 13 episodes. Watching the first episode and seeing the extremely detailed character introductions to Nanoha, her family and friends, all those descriptions will go to waste. Those kinds of long descriptions are supposed to be for long series.

Ayu-ayu

2004-10-26, 14:02

I'll offer up this video if it works.

Interesting watching that clip frame-by-frame. The first cut is fully CG, and the skirt and legs that are shown running are cel-shaded....at first I thought they might just be hand-airbrushed for the semi-realistic lighting, but the motion blur on the legs at times looks too real to have just been arbitrarily added in, while an easy effect in CG, plus the background in both cuts is definitely 3D, so it would be easy to match the movement of the pavement with cel-shaded legs.

The second cut shown is a CG background (for the power lines) with a hand-drawn, 24 FPS (very rare in tv anime) run cycle on Nanoha (looks about 16 frames that repeat in the cycle, so it wouldn't have taken much time at least) that has been composited in, given a little bit of "bob" to match the leg motion, and a small blur added to give a sense of her moving in and out of the focus. The 24 FPS animation looks like it was all done by a key animator, so perhaps this is also the person that did the meticulously animated "Can I keep the ferret, Mom and Dad?" sequence as it has a lot of the same kind of detailed secondary motion in it.

The animation style consistency issues seem to only have been in episode 1 so far though (I've watched through 4 of the raws). The animation seems pretty standard TV animation after this point for the most part. In some ways I kinda miss the experimental stuff, it was very good, but also a little distracting from the show itself. Maybe it will show up more later though...?

rothgar

2004-10-26, 22:37

And as for the transformation scene, I guess I just didn't notice her nakedness. I thought the staff forming and such was pretty cool though. Pretty much every transformation scene I can think of off the top of my head has nudity or simulated nudity though. Just shrug it off. It's not like it's there to turn you on.

The way I see it, I think in this series it is there supposedly to turn you on, it's just that you specifically aren't getting turned on. This series is a spin-off of an ero-game, and that's where the fan base is gonna come in. It's aired at midnight, when no kids are watching. Of course not all naked transformations and nudity in other series are supposed to elicit a sexual response, but in this case, I think that what the makers of this series are aiming for. It's an adult parody of CCS and SM, and should not be compared to them. Like somebody else said, apples and oranges.

daft27

2004-10-26, 23:16

Interesting watching that clip frame-by-frame. The first cut is fully CG, and the skirt and legs that are shown running are cel-shaded....at first I thought they might just be hand-airbrushed for the semi-realistic lighting, but the motion blur on the legs at times looks too real to have just been arbitrarily added in, while an easy effect in CG, plus the background in both cuts is definitely 3D, so it would be easy to match the movement of the pavement with cel-shaded legs.

The second cut shown is a CG background (for the power lines) with a hand-drawn, 24 FPS (very rare in tv anime) run cycle on Nanoha (looks about 16 frames that repeat in the cycle, so it wouldn't have taken much time at least) that has been composited in, given a little bit of "bob" to match the leg motion, and a small blur added to give a sense of her moving in and out of the focus. The 24 FPS animation looks like it was all done by a key animator, so perhaps this is also the person that did the meticulously animated "Can I keep the ferret, Mom and Dad?" sequence as it has a lot of the same kind of detailed secondary motion in it.

The animation style consistency issues seem to only have been in episode 1 so far though (I've watched through 4 of the raws). The animation seems pretty standard TV animation after this point for the most part. In some ways I kinda miss the experimental stuff, it was very good, but also a little distracting from the show itself. Maybe it will show up more later though...?
Excellent analysis.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-10-27, 06:43

Ayu-Ayu, that's pretty good work. I too looked over the video carefully (although I wish I had a pure source. The video is only exported at 24fps because that's what the source video was at)

That's an intelligent view, Rothgar. It's against my better judgement but I'll watch through the episodes I have (raws of this I've noticed are relatively difficult to find in comparisson) and specifically look for.... Nanoha.... *ulp* fanservice...

Christ I can't believe I just said that.

Well, in the good news I managed to get a bunch of people at work addicted to the music:)

Thany

2004-10-28, 09:05

That's an intelligent view, Rothgar. It's against my better judgement but I'll watch through the episodes I have (raws of this I've noticed are relatively difficult to find in comparisson) and specifically look for.... Nanoha.... *ulp* fanservice...I just watched the show yesterday and all what I have to say is that this show isn't ecchi.
The transformation is just like you could see it in Sailor Moon, etc.
People who say that this is disturbing fanservice obviously didn't watch much Mahou Shoujo animes. This is just a basic transformation which might be taken badly if you are really very sensitive, but it's not like it were a show like Rizelmine :P
Of course, I just watched one episode, it could change, but I don't think it is going to be some sort of ecchi show :P

mechazawa

2004-10-28, 09:27

Dragosmore

2004-10-28, 11:10

So what do you all think is the TRUE SPELLING of "Reijingu Hahto"?

a. "Raising Heart"
b. "Rising Heart" (I think this would be "Raijingu Hahto" though)
c. "Raging Heart"
d. any other one

Oh, please call Nanoha "my master," Reijingu Hahto!

It's most definitely Raging Heart. Raging Heart is the name of Nanoha's staff which is basically that red jewel thing~ When you meet Fate in episode four, you'll find out Fate's is called Bardiche (like the type of axe)

Ayu-ayu

2004-10-28, 13:29

Thanks, Daft27, Dragnfly. I like to look for stuff like that in shows. It really amazes me what kind of subtle stuff folks are doing in post production on anime these days now that everything's digital instead of cel.

Regarding the ecchi factor, it is kind of interesting that people have less issue with standard direct-to-nude style henshin sequences, but by adding undergarments into the equation it suddenly becomes indecent, a virtual striptease (along the lines Go Nagai originally created the Honey "Flash" for in the first place, ironically). Thany makes a good point; while I think it is clear that the loli fanservice is added in all too arbitrarily (much like the stuff back in the Creamy Mami days with the long nude bath scenes and panchira*), it's an added and unneccessary gimick that has nothing to do with what the show's actually about. Were this an ecchi-oriented series, we'd probably get Aika-style upskirt detailed panchira in every other action shot...bleh.

As for it changing or getting worse, well the story gets more interesting, the henshin stays the same, and there is one brief pajama-changing scene in ep 3 that will probably get attributed as more loli voyeurism (but somewhat amusing at Yuno's expense). Other than that, nothing more ecchi than that in the first 4 episodes.

(*panty flashes)

LordBrian

2004-10-28, 14:44

Other than that, nothing more ecchi than that in the first 4 episodes.

People will always read far too much into certain things, and disagree with you no matter how reasonable an argument you make. For example, people will take exception to the following things in the first 4 episodes, not counting the pedo changing scene: bathtime fun with father/daughter, heavy-handed incest between Kyouya/Miyuki, and bestial fondling involving Nanoha's friends and the ferret!

If someone really wants to be offended, they will search long and hard to stuff to be offended over...whether or not it actually exists in the show intentionally. ;)

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-10-28, 17:11

Well said, Brian.

I just don't see much different in this show from other magical girl shows assides from content.

rothgar

2004-10-28, 17:40

Well said, Brian.

I just don't see much different in this show from other magical girl shows assides from content.

The biggest difference is japanese target audience, which in nanoha's case is ero-game players. I don't think it's a very ecchi show, but you have to wonder about about the extra panty shots, changing scene, etc. You can't compare a show aired today to a show like Creamy Mami that aired 20 years ago. Stuff like panties and school sailor uniforms have became a lot more sexualized and "naughty" since then. In the early 80's you couldn't buy used school girl panties in vending machines like you could in Japan until it was made illegal recently. I can't think of one recent mahou shoujo series for kids right now that shows panties. The whole nekid henshin scene is almost a whole different case, as weird as that sounds. Scenes like these have become so normal, it's not considered that naughty. There are certain situations where nudity in Japanese society is acceptable. If you are not getting turned on by this series, then more power to you. I'm just saying that the intent is there. Of course this is all my humble opinion.:)

Ayu-ayu

2004-10-28, 18:51

The biggest difference is japanese target audience, which in nanoha's case is ero-game players. I don't think it's a very ecchi show, but you have to wonder about about the extra panty shots, changing scene, etc. You can't compare a show aired today to a show like Creamy Mami that aired 20 years ago. Stuff like panties and school sailor uniforms have became a lot more sexualized and "naughty" since then. In the early 80's you couldn't buy used school girl panties in vending machines like you could in Japan until it was made illegal recently. I can't think of one recent mahou shoujo series for kids right now that shows panties. The whole nekid henshin scene is almost a whole different case, as weird as that sounds. Scenes like these have become so normal, it's not considered that naughty. There are certain situations where nudity in Japanese society is acceptable. If you are not getting turned on by this series, then more power to you. I'm just saying that the intent is there. Of course this is all my humble opinion.:)

I agree with your main points, but disagree on the part about anime 20 years ago being more "innocent", as an anime fan back then myself, I would say that the sailor fuku and panchira were already quite sexualized for some time already even by that point (perhaps in some ways more so, I think the whole "maid" thing of recent years was meant as a surrogate after the seifuku fetish got too much flak), enough so to get made fun of in early Urusei Yatsura (around '83), and only a bit later in the early H-anime Cream Lemon Pop Chaser around '85 and then brought to a head in Project A-ko in '86 (note also the Mami parody in A-ko...of course, Moriyama worked before with Studio Pierrot). Go Nagai's 1970's Harenchi Gakuen manga (and later contemporaries) was all over seifuku fanservice, too, come to think.

The thing was, anime wasn't as diverse in the earlier 80's, and otaku choices of stuff to watch was more limited in the range of material. The staff (mostly male) on shows like Mami and later Emi took advantage of both the more permissive views then toward bath-time nudity and panchira (before a wave of PTA-related complaints) to cater to their partial male, loli, otaku audience...Emi actually made something of a production out of the panchira, IIRC. It was actually the early 80's that encouraged what was perhaps some of the first loli-themed fan-made parodies of a lot of the magical girl stuff. Heck even Daicon III features a loli-patterned schoolgirl heroine ("upgraded" in Daicon IV to Sadamoto's famous bunny girl). And actually there was enough loli-themed "service" in those old shows to get some PTA-related attention (and that's WHY you don't see that kind of stuff in kid's shows as much these days, with a few exceptions--Gakkou no Kaidan's episodic panchira--harassment?--come to mind there).

Anyway, I agree on your other points. I wonder on the ero-game thing though; Nanoha is a spin off of the non-ecchi Triangle Hearts OVA (as opposed to the earlier ecchi one)...was the game that corresponded to that more recent OVA ero though? I don't know much about the origins beyond the OVA stuff. Did Nanoha or her siblings ever appear in an H title?

One other point, and that is the Japanese (aside from a conservative minority) do not see sexuality itself with quite the same taboos and stigma as puritanical westerners (cough, Americans, cough) do...for example, Sailor Moon creator Naoko Takeuchi's first complaint upon seeing the US production was that "they removed much of the sexual imagery", knowing full well her target demographic was pre- and early adolescent girls...

rothgar

2004-10-28, 19:47

Anyway, I agree on your other points. I wonder on the ero-game thing though; Nanoha is a spin off of the non-ecchi Triangle Hearts OVA (as opposed to the earlier ecchi one)...was the game that corresponded to that more recent OVA ero though? I don't know much about the origins beyond the OVA stuff. Did Nanoha or her siblings ever appear in an H title?

From what I understand, Nanoha first appeared in the 3rd Triangle Hearts game. A spin-off fan disk featuring Mahou Shoujo Nanoha had some ero scenes with an older Nanoha.
That was an interesting read about Mami, tho. I didn't know PTAs were so vigilant back then. :)

Maceart

2004-10-29, 00:13

You all disgust me :P Just because of the transformation sequence, you're damning the series. The plot is actually quite good when you actually learn of things on whats going on come episode 2 and the art is amazingly awesome. I wouldn't throw it away so fast.

yes. nanoha seems to be a cream of the crop mahou shojo (most of the times these shows are like a train wrech waiting to happen), but i must admit this one has potential.

Of course, the best anime ever, and prolly the only mahou shojo i'll ever see, is Ojamajo doremi with it's 200+ episodes of awesomeness

Ayu-ayu

2004-10-29, 01:19

From what I understand, Nanoha first appeared in the 3rd Triangle Hearts game. A spin-off fan disk featuring Mahou Shoujo Nanoha had some ero scenes with an older Nanoha.
That was an interesting read about Mami, tho. I didn't know PTAs were so vigilant back then. :)

Ah, I see, I thought it might be something like that. Weren't her parents in the second one, or is that just a totally different continuity...?

Yeah, actually Go Nagai ran REALLY afoul with them in the late 70's (he even made them into the ultimate villians in Harenchi Gakuen, IIRC), too, and actually had his work banned from TV for quite some time due to "violent and indecent material" (that's why his stuff dried up in animation until the Devilman OVA). @_@ I don't think Mami in itself was seen as a real problem, btw, it's more that it just aired before the bout of stuff that did get attention during the time and reflects what was acceptible to show before that point.

It comes and goes...there was waves of censorship and loosening of censorship through the 90's too (TV Tokyo being the most guilty after the Pokemon incident of abusing control over the shows and a number of creators protested).

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-10-29, 07:20

And again Aya impresses. It's good to see there are older otaku here too.

I remember when my girlfriend and I were watching Iczillion (not exactly old-old but it was down there) and she was totally agast at the transformation scenes. I explained that kind of thing was very common in anime and only weirdos would freezeframe (on jumpy VHS) to get some joy out of it. She was a huge sailor moon fan and hadn't made it up to the final episodes yet but when she did she was pretty cool with it. I can't help but think it might have been cushioned by the earlier viewings of transformation scenes.

Oh, and I did review a few episodes of Nanoha with some of my friends. I'll just assign each a number and report their opinions.
1- 22 years old, female otaku for +\- 5 yrs. Thought it was great. Didn't seem to notice the fanservice
2-19 yrs old, male otaku for +\- 10 yrs. Thought it was great. didn't seem to notice the fan service
3-24 yrs old, male otaku for +\- 15 yrs. Thought it was great. Made it clear the loli stuff freaked him out
4-24 yrs old, male otaku for +\- 7 yrs. Thought it was great. Looked away when the panties came off and compalined about it for a long time.
5-25 yrs old, male otaku for +/- 15 yrs. Myself. Love the show. I noticed but didn't think anything of it.

Two friends were omitted because they collect Gunslinger Girl doujin and such anyway.

Although I think we broke #4 somehow as he started obsessing a bit too much on "how unrealistic it is for a 9-year-old to be built like that".

We did however learn that a lot of various groups can like Nanoha:):) So so far my experiment is giving far from workable results:(

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-10-29, 07:23

Another thing I did notice too is that the audio during that transformation scene on the raw I have of episode one is exceptionally nice.

bluemist

2004-10-29, 22:38

I saw episode 5 screencaps and it has LOADS of fanservice.

Mahou shoujo no more?

And different kinds of animation again.

mememe

2004-10-29, 23:26

Originally posted by Kanna
Why the hell did you watch the show then? I'd say it's more of your own fault than theirs. If you don't want to see it, turn it off.

i didn't
I was responding to the comments of other people on this thread, trying to find out whether i should watch this series or not, so i was reading the comments before watching it!

Ayu-ayu

2004-10-30, 02:09

I saw episode 5 screencaps and it has LOADS of fanservice.

Mahou shoujo no more?

And different kinds of animation again.

Oh whee. The mandatory bathhouse sequence. Guess it had to happen sometime.... :twitch:

I still say the show's story has been really good for the first four eps, I wish more would get fansubbed soon so people can judge it by the story, not just by the fan service stuff (heck, ep 2 had NO henshin sequence in it at all nor any fanservice that I can recall at least). Still, I admit to being a little dissapointed that they would do this when they have only 13 episodes to run the show in...hopefully the episode isn't totally subverted, at least....I'll watch episode 5 with a little anxiety now. :uhoh:

Anyway, like I said earlier, it's a shounen mahou shoujo series, like it or not. It's not like exposure to some sentou scenes is going to sap all the magic out of Nanoha (I hope not, at least!!). :eek:

soloista

2004-10-30, 07:38

Hi there, and sorry to be on such short notice, but I need pics of Fate's wand taken from various angles.

Leo_Otaku

2004-10-30, 11:42

yes. nanoha seems to be a cream of the crop mahou shojo (most of the times these shows are like a train wrech waiting to happen), but i must admit this one has potential.

Of course, the best anime ever, and prolly the only mahou shojo i'll ever see, is Ojamajo doremi with it's 200+ episodes of awesomeness

I agree all the way and I agree with Doremi! WOOT

I don't understand why people compare cardcaptor sakura to this anime they aren't that similar 0_o

Rotweiler

2004-10-30, 12:15

My problem comes from the fact that this is a show that is built around a 9 years old character and yet targeted to lecherous, horny older men, thus the late night time slot. If the target market was teens and kids alike, I can sort of ignore the fanservice. But as it is, the idea just squick me too much to enjoy it. I was trying it in the hope of finding something along the lines of CCS or Princess Tutu. But this is definitely not in the same category as CCS, let alone Princess Tutu.

Dragosmore

2004-10-30, 16:27

Ayu-ayu

2004-10-30, 17:08

Let me point this out as the translator for Triad as this series, I picked this series out of the fact it was a Mahou Shoujo show, and that it was a spin-off off of Triangle Hearts. People like Momotato Daioh go for the more ecchi screenshots in the episodes and post them on their websites showing it off because some people like that kind of stuff. Yes there is a naked transformation sequence in Nanoha. Yes there are RARE, might I bold out RARE panty shots and such that appear, but other than that, the plot of this show is truly something as is the artwork. For the beginning parts of episode 5, since they go to hot springs, yes, there's of course some ecchiness, but not much. The plot that they have going in this series beneath all of that when they don't do that is keeping me going. It's so intense and with Fate's character adding in so much more, the series just keeps on getting better and better. I cannot wait for episode 6 and for those of you who drop this because of the little fanservice and the naked transformation, I pity you for missing out on such a great series. Just my two cents. I hope some of you turn your heads now.

Edit: P.S. By the way, for those who are waiting for the next episodes and the good plot to come in them, 2-3 should be out very shortly. Hopefully within this upcoming week. 4 and 5 soon after I hope~

EXCELLENT news, thanks Dragosmore, and for your support of the show and hard work. I just watched epsiode 5 also (which I goofed on, it's a ryokan's onsen sequence, not a sentou), and the Momotato screencaps take place over a really, really short set of cuts that are more about Yuno's amusing predicament, is all. Again it wasn't the focus of the episode (which again also eliminated Nanoha's henshin sequence--perhaps they have a fanservice quota, lol) which was actually yet another rather well-plotted epsiode.

The animation eccentricities in this were overstated...there's some lower budget animation in this one, but it's nothing very drastic. No more of the higher frame rate stuff with the secondary animation that I've noticed, as yet.

One thing I DID feel was out of character for the show though is the character of Aleph, who seems a bit too much more like a buxom shoujo anime character and a little arbitrary. But that's just a minor gripe.

I do think Bluemist's blogpost had the perfect description for this kind of series though, as a "bishoujo mahou shoujo series"...with both the positive and negative things that implies. :/ But the story is really, really good, IMHO, I've been looking for a mahou shoujo series to go this kind of direction since, well, I don't know, maybe Rayearth, I think. :D

Dragosmore

2004-10-30, 17:43

Ayu-ayu

2004-10-31, 02:03

Well, there's a lot more to Arf (Named Arf because well... she's a dog familiar no matter how you look at it :P) then just her sexy cool human form. You find out in the episode she's Fate's familiar that she made and she basically serves her. Why Fate's mother wants the Lost Logias (jewel seeds) is still unknown, but because her mother wants them, she will gather them~ I dunno, Arf is a pretty cool character. Looks cooler and stronger than Yuuno despite they could fight each other equally in the ep ;o...

Ah, you're right, I misheard it as "a-re-fu" not a "a-ru-fu", but the credits clarify that. I do like Arf's familiar form, actually. I suspect some of the dialogue I missed mighy make me like her more. :) I can understand a good chunk (which is why I watch the raws, and I can add to my vocab as I go), but some of the more involved discussions can leave me behind...

I do hope the series leads into the backstory and Yuuno's world a decent amount. I like the techno-magical motifs.

Yamano667

2004-10-31, 20:17

no this series is NOT cardcaptors hehe there is not panty shots on the CCS series
hehehe :D

I agree all the way and I agree with Doremi! WOOT

I don't understand why people compare cardcaptor sakura to this anime they aren't that similar 0_o

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-11-02, 19:36

Darnit. Grabbed episode 5's raw from Winny and wound up with an error at 55%. The error itself was a 55. Due to all the number 5's involved I blame poltergeists.

Oh, well. Triad, it's up to you guys now. God bless.

Dragosmore

2004-11-02, 20:32

No worries about that. All of Nanoha will be released by us, especially considering all the eps are t/led so far ;)

aceleader

2004-11-02, 20:44

Edit: P.S. By the way, for those who are waiting for the next episodes and the good plot to come in them, 2-3 should be out very shortly. Hopefully within this upcoming week. 4 and 5 soon after I hope~

As someone who works on these episodes, dont exactly count on drago's 'estimates'. They're usually off, alot. :)

Dragosmore

2004-11-03, 19:35

And there you are! episode 2 is out. For all of those who watched it for fanservice, watch this episode and see the plot really begin to unfold. So good :P

Kanna

2004-11-03, 20:25

Get it while it's hot!

http://premium.uploadit.org/soujiro/ep02.jpg

Ayu-ayu

2004-11-03, 21:15

I really loved this epsiode when I saw it raw...look forward to the sub. I particularly like the way that Nanoha can talk to Yuuno telepathically while participating in class and talking with her friends without tripping up even once! I totally expected the cliche of the teacher catching her spacing out, but that doesn't happen...she just keeps talking to Yuuno and takes it in stride.

DaFool

2004-11-04, 05:13

And there you are! episode 2 is out. For all of those who watched it for fanservice, watch this episode and see the plot really begin to unfold. So good :P

Yess! Oh, yess!!

bluemist

2004-11-04, 23:06

Just watched episode 2. Thanks to the Triad guys!

It's nice! The animation is now a bit consistent, and the 'instant big plot' giveaway assures more plot twists and turns.

And Nanoha is just as cute as Sakura (oof don't compare... don't compare...)

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-11-05, 08:18

The clincher for me in this series are Nanoha and Fate's weapons. Damn those things are cool. I want one. It reminds me of Judge Dredd's gun.

Naturally, Nanoha and Fate would still look cool using that gun but Judge Dredd wouldn't look so cool after the swap.

And having it in english must make it simple for the Triad.

I've seen to up ep5 (I think all that's currently aired) and I really want to see just how much cool stuff they end up doing.

Normally I prefer my animes in the 13ep range but I'm feeling a bit sad over this.

Hopefully I'm not obsessing too much but I did dream there was a Sony-system game (3D action with graphics and animation identicle to those high scenes in episode 1) and although I can't remember the details I do remember the controller had three shoulder buttons on either side and each was assigned to hotkey the attacks and such, making for some very rapidfire gameplay.

Then Helena from DOA sold my TV on Ebay and I also remember my friends and I being lost in a sinking cargo ship.

Kanna

2004-11-05, 14:20

And having it in english must make it simple for the Triad.
How wrong you are. It hurts my ears to no end.

And about your dream: I'd think it'd be better if you used a SNES controller to do the fighting. It's also better to dream of a gekiganger 3 fighting game. It'd be kinda like virtual on except you have the cool stuff like GEKIGAN BEAM, GEKIGAN CUTTER and GEKIGAN SHOOTER.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-11-05, 23:06

I'm sorry for how horribly written that last post was. It was made before much-needed sleep was taken.

Anyhow, see, I said it was a Sony system because the controller looked just like a PS/PS2 controller only with an extra shoulder button on each side which allowed for the extra quick attacks. An SNES controller doesn't have enough buttons to accomplish this. And I find them far less comfortable so again it would've been less likely to have been in the dream. How dreams tend to work is they rely on things which were in your thoughts close to the time you went to sleep for 90% of it's content.

I like the Bardiche/Raging Heart's voice moreso because of detail. I think it's pretty cool. Having it in a more mechanical style and english makes it seem more otherworldly and I tend to go for the whole "technical magic" thing.

I find the low-dialogue talking machines in anime (take Tenzan from Tristia for example) sound silly in Japanese most of the time.

It's all mainly a matter of opinion. Yet one more thing I like about this show.

Ayu-ayu

2004-11-07, 19:00

Excellent episode...nice serious one, too.

I also noticed the director is Akiyuki Shinbo, who also is directing Tsukuyomi Moon Phase this season (busy guy) and did shows like Soul Taker, Petite Witch Cosette, Yamamoto Yohko, Metal Fighter Miku, Yuna Returns, and many others (if you google him, note that sometimes his name is misread as "Shinfusa" so he tends to get split up in databases, but it's the same guy, just a misread kanji is all). Pretty interesting and experimental director overall, he likes to use color pretty dynamically and unusual camera angles and screen composition.

otakujohn

2004-11-07, 19:12

This series rules. It's kind of a CCS clone, but it still rules.

KoopaTroopa

2004-11-08, 15:19

Episode 3 is out :)

Onizuka-GTO

2004-11-09, 13:51

OMG!!!! ITS CARD CAPTOR SAKURA XII !!!!!!

Ah NOOO!! this threatens to bring out my Lolicon otaku side!! i banished that demon when the last CCS movie came out...

*sob*

WHY MUST YOU TORTURE ME AGAIN???!!!

And what a sickingly innocent family full of love.
That makes me wanna throw up.

*downloads Episode 2 & 3*

Nanoha is so moe~

ehehehehehe.....

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-11-09, 16:39

I'm strongly awaiting episode 7 because... well... Episode 6's cliffhanger made me punch my monitor.

Is anyone skilled enough to get just the sound effects of the transformation scene with no BGM?

Onizuka-GTO

2004-11-09, 17:32

I'm strongly awaiting episode 7 because... well... Episode 6's cliffhanger made me punch my monitor.

Is anyone skilled enough to get just the sound effects of the transformation scene with no BGM?

I feel sorry for your monitor.

:heh:

Dragosmore

2004-11-09, 19:30

Episode 6 was incredible. I, too, can't wait for 7. Also for those waiting to meet Fate, you'll see her soon ;)

???

2004-11-10, 03:47

There's 2 things that i like about this anime:

The animation and the magical wand stick thinggy. As for the story... ummm well it needs more originality honnestly.

The music is ok and character design is not in my kind of taste...very standardish style... I dont feel like im going to hug the show just like i did with CCSakura many years ago and Preutty Cure... its just... well IT NEEDS MORE CUTENESS DAMNIT !

Cummon... japanese animators can design better then this ?

I hope this will not go into a Sakura VS Nanoha debate.
Anyways, ill just give a try just for the animation.

Trax

2004-11-10, 09:22

Decent series, nice animation, cute characters. But highly predictable and I don't really like the mechanical aspect of the magic. Kinda kills the magic feel imo. Also, Nanaho is a little *too* much of a natural at magic, would've been much more interesting to see her struggle with it more. Now it seems like a cakewalk for her (at least in the first 3 episodes).

SleeplessHeart

2004-11-10, 09:57

Yes, I am surprised too to find myself enjoying this anime.
A simple (in fact, childish) storyline, however the animation quality is excellent.
It borrows the character designs heavily from Card Captor Sakura and Triangle Hearts.
After you begin to like this show, you will be sad to realize that it will only have 13 episodes.

otakujohn

2004-11-10, 15:09

After you begin to like this show, you will be sad to realize that it will only have 13 episodes.

I was wondering about that. Rats... :sad:

Dragosmore

2004-11-10, 16:13

One thing I dislike and like about this show is crammed together as one. Before the opening in every episode, they always have a small synopsis with a few lines changed here or there, which I think is kind of nice. The problem is for half of the animation they use, its from the last episode, and for the second half it's from the episode that you're about to see which might spoil a few things.

Timeless Enigma

2004-11-11, 17:13

After seeing this anime, I realize that at least to me, it would make a great console game. I'd love to play some sort of RPGish game using that magic system.

I never saw Card Captor Sakura (save for 2 episodes), but I'm really loving this, and I've always been a Mahou Shoujo fan since Sailor Moon.

Dragosmore

2004-11-12, 10:11

And there's Fate in episode 4! Meet emotionless-black-mage with some hidden twisty plot behind her @_@

SleeplessHeart

2004-11-12, 11:08

Believe me, after her introduction, the following episodes will get interesting and emotional. Fans can rejoice to discover the magic of Card Captor Sakura again.

Timeless Enigma

2004-11-12, 13:25

Somehow I was expecting some singing in the anime though... I suppose the "Lyrical" part of the title is meaningless.

Ayu-ayu

2004-11-12, 16:09

Somehow I was expecting some singing in the anime though... I suppose the "Lyrical" part of the title is meaningless.

Especially considering it's based on Triangle Hearts. But as far as I've seen, it only seems to refer to the magic words she came up with on the fly. Given the format as it's played out though, I'm not sure it would really fit. So yeah the name is rather odd. I assume it's just a holdover from the original Nanoha joke in the game (game involving a singer, spinoff magical girl, name needs to have a music reference...)

I've seen complaints (not just here) about these and the Triangle Hearts character designs looking "standard" or "too generic"...maybe it's because I'm a relative oldtimer, but I don't really see it myself...I really liked the character design style in both shows (although the highlights were a little odd in Triangle Hearts, come to think). If they look pretty and are well-designed, than that's fine with me.

Streetor

2004-11-12, 16:45

From the Triad webpage

In keeping with Triad triadition of making the mistake of letting Drago pick our shows, we now bring you Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha! If you remember Triangle Heart, you already know that Nanoha was that little Chiyo-like girl who worked in the coffee shop. Well, now she has her own show, for some reason. This one's pretty much your standard magical girl show, so if you like that sort of thing, you'll love Nanoha. If you don't, well, you won't. Though the other Triangle Heart characters are in the show as well, so there's still a chance of badass sword fighting scenes to come in future episodes.

haha Drago, it seems you are the butt of the jokes at the Triad homebase.

Dragosmore

2004-11-12, 17:40

Yes yes, but I'm their t/ler so they can't do much and Nanoha is actually proving to be quite a good show because its overflowing with awesome plot and char. design

LordBrian

2004-11-12, 23:15

Somehow I was expecting some singing in the anime though... I suppose the "Lyrical" part of the title is meaningless.

Again, dictionary.com is your friend. While the word "lyrical" does pertain to songs and singing in some definitions, the very first definition is Expressing deep personal emotion or observations, which has nothing to do with singing. I would say that the show doesn't lack for any sort of emotional expression (except maybe on the part of Fate, but I'm sure that will change in a few eps), so that part of the title is hardly meaningless.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-11-13, 08:41

Episode 7. That gave Fate enough umph for me to push her into my top 15 anime antagonists list.

And there's not enough twisted minds in the entire universe to come up with a painful enough death for Fate's mom. I can imagine her ending up like Xenosaga's Albedo to me (I'd get angry just seeing him on screen)

Thanks for the sub of ep4 BTW guys. Good work.

Ayu-ayu

2004-11-14, 02:31

bluemist

2004-11-14, 05:09

I just watched up to ep. 4 and I'm still loving it!

I still don't know if I like or hate how they present the system of the Bardiche/Raging Heart magical weapons. On one hand, it allows freedom that (almost) any kind of magical spell can be thought of, which makes it nice and not boring to watch because of the potential variety. On the other hand, it allows too much freedom, to the point that I could not measure anymore the extent of Nanoha or that other girl's powers.

You know, this kind of stuff is usually found in shounen anime. When the hero is in a pinch and near-danger, suddenly the hero gains powers 'out of nowhere'. Then, what I call the 'shounen commentary' characters talk and be surprised at this new power. This is the style of Nanoha right now, and the shounen commentary character is none other than Yuuno-kun, who always praises Nanoha on her magic potential.

Anyway it's just me nitpicking again. I should like the magic for what it is, and I guess I don't have to think about it too deeply like that.

DaFool

2004-11-14, 06:50

I like this so far, and the fighting style is very shounen, what with phaser blasts, angst-filled moments, and mecha-like weapons.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-11-14, 07:34

I like the technomagic because it's relatively fresh. Any magical girl can wave her wand and shoot rainbows at the monster of the day. Very few can convert it into a cannon and rain fiery death from the heavens in a lightshow that puts the most lumescant final fantasy summons to shame.

Exaggerations on my part, of course. But the fact remains that if Fate or Nanoha wanted to do such a thing they could. I have no problem not being able to judge their powers because that just enhances the, what I call "shat hits the fan effect". This most often involves a city/country/planet blowing up.

I do get a good chuckle whenever Yuuno gives one of his play-by-plays. It just reminded me so much of a long-ago 2-episode OAV called Battle Heat which featured many visually fight-worthy characters but only three fought. The rest just broke the fight down for us. Because, you know, if they didn't the fight would be 5 attacks long.

Onizuka-GTO

2004-11-14, 08:27

well shag me silly. i KNEW i seen those two chracters BEFORE!

(The brother and sister)

they look so familiar! triangle Heart, well well.....

:heh:

Nanoha is stil lkawaii and moe~!!

too bad its only 13 episodes...but maybe they will bring out a new series? :D

daft27

2004-11-14, 23:01

If you add everything up, this show is probably a shounen instead of a shoujo. It seems a bit too much male oriented for a typical shoujo. (c'mon, just look at the transformation sequence and the random pantsu shot in ep 1)

Ayu-ayu

2004-11-20, 18:28

Jeez that was an intense one. I'm getting some Pretty Sammy TV flashbacks here with Yuuno-kun , but much earlier in the storyline... :D And I'm digging the twist that's been added with a certain third party's involvement now...

Can't wait to see what happens next!

Thany

2004-11-21, 04:56

LordBrian

2004-11-21, 11:26

You weren't looking very closely. (http://toufqb.free.fr/momotato/pics/nanoha03-3.jpg)

Thany

2004-11-21, 11:53

You weren't looking very closely. (http://toufqb.free.fr/momotato/pics/nanoha03-3.jpg)Damn I have very bad memory, I thought this one had happened in the 4th ep >.>
Well then I'll say there are no fanservice in EP2 and EP4 :D (not like I'm complaining about it)

Onizuka-GTO

2004-11-21, 20:24

You weren't looking very closely. (http://toufqb.free.fr/momotato/pics/nanoha03-3.jpg)

Oh come on!!! That was a pretty tame shot, (those are big pantsu by the way) pantsu shots that are considered fanservice (in my opinion), is the shot "between the legs" cos it's just so frigging suggestive and don't make me explain this, you should know what im talking about, unless your not male or have no sexual thoughts EVAR. (you freak!) :rolleyes:

Dragosmore

2004-11-23, 16:49

And there you are~ Episode 5! Meet Arf :o... Lots of people complained about the art in the episode, but I think the battle stuff in the end was done really well, with everything. Before that, it indeed was a bit meh-ish, but overall I don't think it was that bad when comparing it to some other anime shows :P Anyway~ Episode 6 will bring a cliffhanger and lots of new plot and stuff as truth of the Lost Logia's and Jewel Seeds slowly begins to come clear to us and stuff, whee :D!

Oiseau

2004-11-23, 22:46

There is something unusual about the artwork in Ep 5, as if the episode wasn't drawn by the same people who did 1-4 and 6. The contrast is immediately obvious in the intro sequence before the OP, where scenes from Eps 4 and 5 are shown together, and again in the Ep 6 preview, where everything seems "back to normal". It's good to know I wasn't hallucinating. ^_^

DaFool

2004-11-24, 11:05

Yeah I noticed the crappy stick-figure-like animation during the bathhouse encounter.

But the fight at the end more than made up for that... THUNDER SMASHER! BOOOOM!! DIVINE BUSTER! BOOOOOOM!

It's the same appeal as Mai Hime: girls doing some major ass-pounding like there's no tomorrow. :heh:

Trax

2004-11-24, 14:34

Well at least we got the "mandatory" bathing episode out of the way... And Nanoha lost again. :/

GHDpro

2004-11-24, 14:51

Yeah I noticed the crappy stick-figure-like animation during the bathhouse encounter.I noticed that too. Damn, that looked awful. And that while you had that "ultra animation"
segment in the first episode that looked out of place because it looked TO good IMHO.

But it could always get worse...http://gerardkr.fastmail.fm/captions/Ultra_Maniac_04a.jpghttp://gerardkr.fastmail.fm/captions/Ultra_Maniac_04b.jpg
(Ultra Maniac, screenshots taken within 10 seconds from eachother... count the differences :))
Well at least we got the "mandatory" bathing episode out of the way......which also reminds you again at what time this shows airs (and who it is aimed at -- not children).

Kensuke

2004-11-24, 15:35

Aru

2004-11-24, 15:49

... but should her name be Alf since it is written アルフ (Arufu), I think Arf would be something like アーフ (Aafu), correct me if I'm wrong about this.

http://www.nanoha.com/charactor/arf.html

Leo_Otaku

2004-11-24, 15:57

This guy looks cool I wanna see him soon ^-^

http://www.nanoha.com/charactor/crono.html

Trax

2004-11-24, 16:35

According to that site, Arf is 16? (that number was the only thing I could read, I assume it's the age) Well perhaps she is physically, but in terms of existence she can't be that old can she? Seeing as how she was conjured into existence as a familiar. Or is it more of a summoning from some other dimension? It's a good thing her name is translated as arf, she is related to a doggie after all. Arf! Does that mean it's ok to call her a bitch now? :heh:

NoSanninWa

2004-11-24, 16:36

Just watched episode 5, I love those fights. :D
Good that we finally meet that fox girl from the opening, but should her name be Alf since it is written アルフ (Arufu), I think Arf would be something like アーフ (Aafu), correct me if I'm wrong about this.

Anyway, even with bad animation, rather surprising episode (after the bath scenes of course :heh: )
I didn't even thought that she could transform to that strange animal which is in the opening too, or that she would be with Fate.
And the plot seems to kick in too, Fate is just working for her mother. First episodes showed how strong Nanoha is, but Fate seems to just playing with her.

Actually, I really like the way that Fate beat Nanoha so easily twice. Nanoha could have won based purely on power, but this show is more complicated than that. Fate's superior experience in battle is what won her both victories. This is actually more realistic than most Shounen shows, let alone Mahou Shoujou.

The first time Nanoha lost because she never quite got the idea that they were fighting and then she got distracted. The second time she lost because she fought reactively and Fate changed tactics faster than Nanoha could adapt. Hopefully she'll learn more about how to fight. It seems to be that in the second fight she had learned the lessons of the first so perhaps the third battle they'll be able to fight on equal terms.

I'm actually glad that Nanoha has to learn how to do this in contrast to every other Mahou Shoujou show I've ever seen where it seems to be either instinctive or unimportant. (I was rather amused in Pretty Cure at the way that they were surprised by their own ability to fight skillfully.)

Dragosmore

2004-11-24, 16:53

アルフ can be turned into Alf or Arf, depending how it's seen. It's up to the name romanizer or such. In this case, we chose Arf, because well, she's pretty much a dog :P Anyway, yeah, it says Arf is 16, but I guess she's the equivalent of age 16, since Fate indeed did create her. As for Crono, he's not so cool as you think him to be. I hate the VA for him and he's a bit of an annoying character but meh, to each their own :P

Trax

2004-11-24, 16:59

Actually, I really like the way that Fate beat Nanoha so easily twice. Nanoha could have won based purely on power, but this show is more complicated than that. Fate's superior experience in battle is what won her both victories. This is actually more realistic than most Shounen shows, let alone Mahou Shoujou.

The first time Nanoha lost because she never quite got the idea that they were fighting and then she got distracted. The second time she lost because she fought reactively and Fate changed tactics faster than Nanoha could adapt. Hopefully she'll learn more about how to fight. It seems to be that in the second fight she had learned the lessons of the first so perhaps the third battle they'll be able to fight on equal terms.

I'm actually glad that Nanoha has to learn how to do this in contrast to every other Mahou Shoujou show I've ever seen where it seems to be either instinctive or unimportant. (I was rather amused in Pretty Cure at the way that they were surprised by their own ability to fight skillfully.)

Well that was in fact one of the things I didn't like in the first couple of episodes. Just out of the blue she starts using powerful magic that the ferret guy (forgot the name) can't even use and hasn't even explained yet. But at least now she'll have to put more thought into her tactics, so that's definately more interesting. She has the power, but still lacks the experience.

Oh and there's another reason I'm glad about the name Arf, the other translation would have kept me thinking about a certain furry alien. ;)

NoSanninWa

2004-11-24, 17:03

Yuuno basically explained that magic comes from her heart so the Raging Heart will simply interpret her desires = instant magic ability. Fortunately tactics require more thought.

Though it seems that Yuuno does know magic that Nanoha doesn't even know how to wish for yet, so she still has some things to learn on that front as well.

Timeless Enigma

2004-11-24, 18:35

Uh... was I the only one who thought that Nanoha's father isn't exactly... normal?

Maybe I'm just over examining things as always, but the scene with Nanoha's parents, and Nanoha's dad saying "Don't worry, fron now on I'll just be the Midoriya owner," or something to that effect immediately gave me a clue that he MIGHT be from Yuuno's world. That and... where exactly did Nanoha get her magic potential from?

Of course, I might be on crack.

Oh, we get some Fate panty shots in episode 5 as well.

Budweineken

2004-11-24, 18:51

A question to those who have watched Triangle Hearts... it might help answer Timeless Enigma's question

How are Kyouya, Miyuki, and Nanoha really related... i had the feeling that they are not really siblings... at least they dont have the same parents... can someone remind me?

NoSanninWa

2004-11-24, 18:52

Oh, we get some Fate panty shots in episode 5 as well.
Of course we do... This has got to be the most perverted Mahoushoujou show I've ever seen. And that's saying something! Never before have I seen a transformation where the girl is stripped to her underwear before the underwear is also removed. The familiar creature practically gets nosebleeds everytime Nanoha undresses in front of him. (Which happens a lot!) This show is absolutely drenched in incipient sexuality. Sometimes I'm just gaping at its blatantness.

Of course we get Fate panty shots. I'm expecting a lot more of them. :heh:

Best action sequences of any Mahou Shoujou also.

Dragosmore

2004-11-24, 18:55

About Nanoha's dad... that line he says in episode 5 is referring to his previous action you might find in the Triangle Heart series. I figured this is okay to say not in spoiler tags since it's never discussed in series (at least not yet o_O), but in triangle heart, he's a big head of the swordsman dojo you see in the anime every now and then and basically a bodyguard for people, always doing dangerous stuff. If you saw Triangle Hearts ~Sweet Songs Forever~, he was basically what Miyuki and Kyouya were in that. General guard who protects people with coolass action skills who probably got quite a bit cut up along the way (remember that bath scene from an episode or two ago where you saw all the scars and stuff on his body?) That's basically it :o

Timeless Enigma

2004-11-24, 22:41

Damn, I forgot about Triangle Hearts and Nanoha's dad's role in that one (how could I ask such a dumb question?). But here's another dumb one: what's the official word on how this relates to Triangle Heart? Is it an AU spinoff or a prequel? Because... if my memory is not acting up again, Doesn't Shiro (the dad) die?

Budweineken. Kyouya, Miyuki and Nanoha are siblings. If you look at the appearance, Nanoha got most of her mom's physical traits whereas the other two got their dad's. In Triangle Heart ~Sweet Songs Forever~ Nanoha does a cameo in... I forget which episode.

EDIT: Nanoha, Momoko (the mom), and S... uh... well, I can't remember names well today. Kyouya's girlfriend aka Nanoha's friend's older sister also appears in Triangle Heart ~Sweet Songs Forever~. They all work (at that time) at Midoriya.

Budweineken

2004-11-24, 22:45

But i remember 2 instances in Triangle Hearts were they talk about their parents and so on... one was towards the end when Kyouya was saying that the Coffee Shop owner raised him as her own son and that he loves her like his real mother... and in the first episode after the training the Chief of the Hong Kong Squad was talking about some wierd relationship they had...

I have those episodes somewhere... I'll rewatch them and update

Timeless Enigma

2004-11-24, 22:51

I think you might be right... damn. I'm tempted to rewatch it now too, but I'll leave that to you :)

EDIT: Well, I'm reviewing it anyway, check out episode 3, the very beginning.

EDIT again: Well Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha is definitely an alternate reality/alternate universe spinoff since in Triangle Heart Shiro dies when all of the siblings are at a very young age.

Well, that's to be expected.

Budweineken

2004-11-24, 23:12

Yeah that spoiler is true...

OK i checked the 2 instances i told you about in Triangle Hearts... make of them what you will...

In episode one the Chief of the Hong Kong Civil Defense introduces Miyuki as her daughter and Kyouya as the son of her elder brother

In episode 3 Miyuki talks to Ellis and tells her that their real mother is the chief of the Hong Kong Civil Defense... and that the Coffe Shop owner was the one who raised them along with Kyouya's dad who is married to the Coffe Shop lady...

This is all the info provided from sugar-cube subs... make of them what you will... but some things that might trouble you...

Do Kyouya and Miyuki have different fathers...
Did Shino and the Chief have Kyouya/Miyuki together (incest)
Did Kyouya have a different mother than Miyuki...

And where does Nanoha fit in all of this....

now they always refer to each other as brother and sister... how much of it might it because they really are brother and sister... and how much of it might be because of being together for so long.... I don't know... maybe someone else has a better answer

Thany

2004-11-24, 23:26

The familiar creature practically gets nosebleeds everytime Nanoha undresses in front of him.Well, actually Yuuno is the same age as Nanoha according to the main site! (well I would have though he was way older :uhoh:), so this might explain that...

Dragosmore

2004-11-26, 16:53

I'd like to point out, now that the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Sound Stage 1 is out, that it will be subtitled. Yes, I know how weird that sounds. The majority of the soundtrack are minidramas that are all connected for the equivalent of an episode 2.5 in the storyline. This will be subtitled, but it will take a bit longer than the normal episodes because well, it'll be a picture/sort-of animated sub. Through screenshots and animation we find in the anime, we'll be producing a sub of the drama. So yeah. Expect it at some point :P

NoSanninWa

2004-11-26, 16:58

Awesome news!!! I look forward to the sub of this audio drama!

I'll have to add this info to the series page of Nanoha so that I know what to do with the subbed CD when you're done with it.

BonBon

2004-11-26, 18:38

This show gets more and more ecchi all the time.

Still believe fully that it's aimed at kids, though. Even with the timeslot. Kids have VCRs. And TiVo!

It's just not as shocking to have nudity and fanservice in kids' anime in Japan...

Anyway, as for the show itself, it's better than I expected. Not on my top anime of the season list by any stretch of the imagination, but certainly fun. Ferret-boy is cute and the shounen-style magic bouts really DO benefit from the fact that Nanoha does not win and win and win and win.

Ayu-ayu

2004-11-28, 06:35

WOW. Things are really picking up...lots of cool stuff goes down in this ep. The directing was a little odd though, it was definitely Shinbo in his weird camera angles, odd poses, and fisheye lenses mode (not to mention some of the most blantantly arbitrary panchira in the show, if that's possible still), but the animation and sense of drama was intense in this one. Some of the animation was reminiscent of the unusual key animation in episode 1.

So now all the Jewel Seeds have been found, so now what? The brief team up of Fate, Nanoha. human Yuuno and doggie-Arf in that giant magical maelstrom over the sea to catch the last six seeds was awesome. Actually the stuff before that with Yuuno in human mode assisting Nanoha was cool too (other than the "let me flash my butt for no real reason whatsover" cut). Is it just me though or did the ship design for Dimensional Cruiser Ashura change significantly (for the better)? It really cracks me up whenever the captain adds sugar to her green tea and Nanoha winces--for all her Japanese cutural decorations and such, she's still a baka gaijin, it seems (I have a relative that does this, too, and it drives me nuts so I empathize with Nanoha here!).

Yeesh, four episodes left to do the climax...this looks like its gonna be great!

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-12-02, 20:45

I'm expecting the next episode to be major story stuff, the first half of the next ep to be build-up, then fight in the second half, fight continued in the following episode's first half, then ending for the second half and then the last episode be a wrap-up. I'm just basing this on the directing styles I've seen. This director seems to know full well that a climax should be above and beyond what has been in the series thus far.

Episode 9 had the first panty shots I noticed first time though (not counting transformation of course) and yes, it was totally uncalled for. Not even in a realistic sense. But we can come to expect at least a little service from anything based on anything based on an H source.

Similarly, I added that Megami magazine pic of Fate and Arf as one of my random wallpapers and I have to keep telling guests they're just friends.

Marine-RX179

2004-12-02, 21:17

Well, I'm actually more interested in getting my hands on Mizuki Nana san's 'innocent starter' (the OP song) more.....she's also the CV for Fate if people didn't noticed...
Currently I only have her first album 'Supersonic girl'...

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-12-03, 07:55

It's around on the net for sale and for plunder. The best place for buying such things that I use is either cdjapan or amazon.

I personally want PVC figures. Or at least gashopon. A game would be nice too. Come, Japan! Floor me with your insane merchandizing!

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-12-05, 04:38

Just finished episode 10. The only spoiler-free things I can say are

Alright, Arf! Way to go, Arf!

and

Woah. looooooooooooooooots of story.

and

Atmosphere... so.... cool...

Marine-RX179

2004-12-05, 04:57

Still no subbed version further than Ep5 :sad:

Dragosmore

2004-12-05, 09:47

Encoder's comp is partially broken, but he said it was getting fixed this weekend so you should see 6-7 soon :P

cdpinoyx01

2004-12-05, 17:20

Ohhh... Mahou SHoujo Lyrical Nanoha takes place three years before Triangle Hearts ... Shes in grade 3 in Mahou Shoujo whereas in Triangle Hearts shes in 6th. Same with Miyuki, shes in college in Triangle HEarts.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-12-05, 17:43

I'd still go with saying that it's in an alternate universe setting.

Ayu-ayu

2004-12-13, 04:17

I'd still go with saying that it's in an alternate universe setting.

I think so far they've given enough evidence to support the "same world" theory and have also stayed away from saying outright that it is the same world, allowing either view to remain plausible for now. I lean toward the "same world" one myself, though.

In any case, anyone see episode 11?! WOW... looks like the ending is going to be pretty intense.

Korb

2004-12-13, 07:20

In any case, anyone see episode 11?! WOW... looks like the ending is going to be pretty intense.
I've been too busy praying for the WoW servers to crash and stay down so that we might see more subs released. :bash:

Taoku

2004-12-13, 19:25

I just started watching this series.I just finished watching episode 3.What did Nanoha do that was so bad?

justsomeguy

2004-12-13, 22:35

I just started watching this series.I just finished watching episode 3.What did Nanoha do that was so bad?
She sensed a Jewel Seed, but failed to do anything about it until it was too late, and people got hurt.

justsomeguy

2004-12-19, 16:39

Woohoo! Next week is the final episode! I'm hoping that they will finish the battle (and escape) from this week, so that the last ep is not just a wrap-up.
I just wish I understood the conversation between Fate and her mother... *wink,wink*

NoSanninWa

2004-12-20, 00:38

Raw watching show-off. Use [spoiler] tags if you want to post about what happens in those episodes.

justsomeguy

2004-12-20, 02:14

Raw watching show-off. Use [spoiler] tags if you want to post about what happens in those episodes.
I wasn't aware that I said anything worthy of spoilers. And I know how to use the tags, you know. :p

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-12-20, 20:09

I just finished seeing episode 11 (about to watch 12. BAH! Xmas season backlog)

That was the best squareoff ever. Period. See, a spoiler can be avoided by being really vague:)

I wonder if the Triad folks need help with that drama CD thingy. I wouldn't mind helping but my skills are purely media related. I wouldn't trust my japanese skills with something to be seen by other people.

I wish I could find more Nanoha art. I have the Fate/Arf and Nanoha/Yuuno posters but have yet to find other artworks.

Budweineken

2004-12-20, 21:13

it's not a matter of being vague or not... all comments and opinions of raw watching, IMO, should be put on spoiler tags

justsomeguy

2004-12-20, 22:49

it's not a matter of being vague or not... all comments and opinions of raw watching, IMO, should be put on spoiler tags
Even if it has absolutely no information content? B___S___. The point of spoiler tags is to avoid giving away what happens in a new episode. If this information is not stated or implied, there is no need for spoiler tags. Unless you want something like this:
OMG I watched a raw the episode was great! :fingers:

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-12-21, 09:02

I've always followed spoilers to mean events and information which is not readily apparent. For example, stuff which is on the official website out in the open (Like Arf's two forms) or blantantly obvious things like "Nanoha fights a monster" shouldn't count as spoilers.

Saying something like Nanoha is Darth Vader's daughter, if it were actually true and not completely moronic, would be more like a spoiler.

Dragosmore

2004-12-25, 13:58

Leo_Otaku

2004-12-25, 14:10

*looks around* i can't find it :(

Kensuke

2004-12-25, 18:28

Merry Christmas! Nanoha 6 is out :P Sorry, it's a bit of a cliffhanger but hopefully 7 will be soon to follow. Nanoha13, the last ep, aired today and it was also really good~ So it's a Merry christmas for all!
Thank you! Christmas present from Triad :D Just watched episode 6, this series is really getting better and better.
First thing I noticed was how Nanoha's tone of voice had changed when she speaks before the opening. Previously so happily, and now a lot darker mood.
I liked how they really emphasised how reliable and responsible Nanoha is, like how her siblings trusted her that she could solve her own problems.
But on the other hand, now she has to do all by herself.

What I really want to know is more about Fate, I that hope they can cover enough background story, even thought it seems that third mage is going to appear in the next episode. But more screentime for Fate, this episode and the preview of the next showed that she has gone throught pretty rought times.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-12-30, 09:53

Yeah, Fate's deffinately a tragic antagonist. And it just goes down hill too. I find the addition of a majorly tragic character helps flesh out the semi-realism of the show and keeps it enjoyable. Although sometimes it does make you cringe.

Actually, Fate and Arf frequently make my wallpaper.

I ordered that game Nanoha first appeared in. Hopefully it'll be here before to long.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2004-12-30, 10:14

Actually, just now I was looking for more Nanoha wallpaper you -don't- have to pay or register to download when I came upon a pretty good Nanoha resource site.

I hope this isn't against the TOS in any way but do watch out for spoilers as there are some screenshots.

http://lolip.hp.infoseek.co.jp/list/review/nanoha.html

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2005-01-04, 20:53

Just finally got around to seeing the last episode. Something to look forward to: It was the first anime watched in this particular viewing group to recieve an ovation at the ending. That's right, we clapped and we clapped proudly.

A favour I ask to anyone with the anime version of Triangle Hearts -Sweet Songs Forever- handy. I'd check myself but my copy is on a DVD loaned to a friend and I'm not downloading a new copy just to check this.

When Nanoha appears in this, what colour are her hair ribbons? This will solidify the prequel/AU discussion and make the "I hope Nanoha doesn't loose her temper" part all the more funny.

Spuffy

2005-01-05, 05:39

A favour I ask to anyone with the anime version of Triangle Hearts -Sweet Songs Forever- handy.
See for yourself:
http://upl.silentwhisper.net/uplfolders/upload2/nanoha01.jpg

You might also want to have a look at theese shots from Triangle Heart - Sweet Songs Forever - Sound stage:
First one (http://upl.silentwhisper.net/uplfolders/upload2/nanoha02.jpg) Up in the left corner
Second one (http://upl.silentwhisper.net/uplfolders/upload2/nanoha03.jpg) Looks similar, but staff is kind of lame.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2005-01-05, 06:40

Thanks, Spuffy. You saved me from a really annoying conversation.

I was just checking because (ep13 spoiler)

In the end Fate and Nanoha exchange hair ribbons and I was looking to see if she was wearing Fate's but I guess not. I just thought it would've been awesome unforseen foreshadowing if she were

However, thanks to your screenshot in the spoiler box I now see she looks a fair bit older.

As for the other screenshots, I've never seen those. This stuff runs so deep I'm always finding new stuff.

This one always cracks me up. My, Yuuno. You look so.... un-farret-like.
http://personal.nbnet.nb.ca/dragnfly/p5l243.jpg

Spuffy

2005-01-05, 06:58

In Triangle Hearts Nanoha is in 6th grade, and in Lyrical Nanoha it was 3rd grade, right? In that case Lyrical Nanoha takes place three years before Triangle Hearts.

And one more thing about TH
Isn't Nanoha's dad dead in Triangle Heart? Killed during a bodygard job? That would also explain why he still is around in Lyrical Nanoha. But it would've been nice if she would have worn Fate's black ribbon there. Guess you can't plan everything ahead.

Cute image you found there btw.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2005-01-05, 07:18

You're right. Sadly The Man is dead in TH. I didn't know they said a grade for Nanoha in TH tho. If that's the case I'd like to know what all the older Nanoha would be capable of. Did she stick with the magic as ep13 suggests? I want a 2nd series even more now. And I'd like to have seen her go through the loss which is coming to her. This director is amazing at handling emotion and, having lost my own father I find it's never done in a realistic fashion. I know this guy would do it right. The emotion in Nanoha and to a lesser extent TH (being shorter no doubt) is what drew me in. Well, that as the fast magic use.

Nanoha as a magical girl first appeared in some game I ordered which I then cancelled when I found this pic. I dunno. It frightened me.

That's it. I'm using -prevoew- with each posting now. I messed up the spoiler tag that time. My deepest apologize if anyone read that before

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2005-01-05, 07:47

Spuffy

2005-01-05, 08:01

They do state her grade in Triangle Heart
http://upl.silentwhisper.net/uplfolders/upload6/nanoha4.JPG

I really want a second season of this show. They did finished this one with a satisfying ending, while still having some open points that could be used for a second one.

It's kind of funny. I was having some serious doubts about this show when I watched the first ep, and while i got the eps I never watched them. And then it turned out to be one of the shows I liked the most 2004. The animation was, as always in my opinion, really good for a TV show. That goes especially for:
The Nanoha vs Fate final rematch. That was just great.

Nice cover art. Now to decide weather to get the Tsukuyomi or Nanoha DVDs. Or maybe both...
Would you happen to have a link for that Nanoha game?
Btw, when you've made the latest post, and want to add something like that DVD cover image, use the "Edit" instead. That way you avoid unnecessary double posts.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2005-01-05, 08:14

Thanks for the tip. I actually did mean to just edit the post but got wrapped up in the excitement. I'll combine them now. Thanks for reminding me. Actually, looks like I'm deleting it later. There doesn't seem to be a delete function availible right now, editing it to 0 characters gives a warning and I need to get to work.

For sales on TH/Nanoha stuff, a site I posted earlier (as a spoiler because it has screenshots which, if examined closely, may at some point lead to spoilers I guess. I'm a bit over paranoid on the whole spoiler thing)
http://lolip.hp.infoseek.co.jp/list/review/nanoha.html

At the bottom it lists stuff with links on the names to amazon. I've bought a lot from JP amazon and it's very reliable.

I got a chuckle out of that screenshot you put up just because she looks like a cardboard stand-in. I was reminded of an old joke about lazy employees using one and a tape recoder/sensor wire to rag out dumb customers and ruin a business. I half expect her to stay with the same pose and expression and fall over if shoved.

I'm gonna buy the DVDs just for the visual increase. I usually do, actually. Digisubs may be good but they're no substitute. Even the most legendary of encodes doesn't do it justice. I was totally blown away by Scrapped Princess on DVD. You don't even notice the computer effects and I wanna see those magic circles glow like the sun.

Actually, that site I posted here sealed the DVD desire for me. I mean, seriously. Think how beautiful all those attacks would look. Divine Buster and Starlight Breaker would rock. Again making me wish there was a game

Kayle

2005-12-31, 14:10

Triangle Heart 3 Lyrical Toy Box is part of an ero-game series by Janis/Ivory. The whole series, including Toy Box is available on a DVD, Triangle Heart 1.2.3 DVD Edition.

Linkage: Ivory (http://www.ivory.co.jp/product/game/trh123/trh123.html) Janis (http://www.sp-janis.com/soft/trh_dvd.shtml)

Additionally, there's a related 5-episode hentai OVA, Triangle Heart ~Sazanami Joshi Ryo~. Nanoha might appear in it briefly.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2006-01-01, 19:53

she doesn't. It's before her time.

porchoky

2006-01-09, 23:38

Vexx

2006-01-10, 01:16

Thanks for the tip ...
I'm gonna buy the DVDs just for the visual increase. I usually do, actually. Digisubs may be good but they're no substitute. Even the most legendary of encodes doesn't do it justice. I was totally blown away by Scrapped Princess on DVD. You don't even notice the computer effects and I wanna see those magic circles glow like the sun.

Actually, that site I posted here sealed the DVD desire for me. I mean, seriously. Think how beautiful all those attacks would look. Divine Buster and Starlight Breaker would rock. Again making me wish there was a game

Great..... now you've got *me* wanting the Nanoha DVDs ... I wasn't even a "magical girl" fan before this show. But you're right .... the effects will probably look magnificent on DVD ... and the orchestral electronica soundtrack was pretty damn good for a weekly tv series

Kensuke

2006-01-10, 05:18

I watched this a few weeks ago, but there's something that's been bothering me; in the episode (i think 1st or second) where her family is eating dinner and nanoha is asking about keeping the ferret, it seems really weird, like everyone is twitching around. is it just me, or is there a reason for this?
No, it is not just you, also when Nanoha is running down the street (in the first episode), animation quality is superb. It is weird how much the animation varies, too bad the whole series isn't animated like that.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2006-01-10, 07:37

Animation - the "hyper animation" as it's been dubbed is interspersed and you hardly ever notice it. A few of the previous posts explain it in better depth, even with technical breakdowns thanks to.... somebody. It was, like, a year or more ago. I don't remember.

DVD - The Nanoha DVDs are a true sight to behold. Apart from vast improvements in directing an animation quality, there's the visual boost and the funny special features. Like a voice-over session of some of episode 1 where they're basically heckling the black blob monster. I'm anxiously awaiting the A's DVDs, the first of which comes out the day after my birthday (jan25th)

If you can get a chance to see one of the Nanoha DVDs in action, go for it. It's amazing.

IchiKyo

2006-08-24, 12:35

I ask for Something
Can Someone know the title of the Background Music Of Episode 12, when Fate is awaking and everyone fighting?

Varion

2006-08-24, 12:49

I ask for Something
Can Someone know the title of the Background Music Of Episode 12, when Fate is awaking and everyone fighting?You mean the vocal insert song? If you do that's "Take a shot" by Nana Mizuki, off her Alive & Kicking album. If you don't, well, time reference? :)

madarabe

2006-08-24, 12:56

well, the bgm is called "daijoubu da yo" - track 10 from the ost.

IchiKyo

2006-08-24, 13:14

You mean the vocal insert song? If you do that's "Take a shot" by Nana Mizuki, off her Alive & Kicking album. If you don't, well, time reference? :)

I Think this is it
Now I have to Bought the Album :/, because there Is no Insert Song Single? Whereas Nanoha A's had one...
Thanks Valdra

well, the bgm is called "daijoubu da yo" - track 10 from the ost.

No this is not what i search but Thanks anyway :)

Sevaasu

2006-08-24, 20:32

if you ask me. it seems to be more like magister negi in some strange way

Varion

2006-08-24, 21:13

I Think this is it
Now I have to Bought the Album :/, because there Is no Insert Song Single? Whereas Nanoha A's had one... Nope, no insert song single, your only way is the album. And A's had a single for ONE of its insert songs, you still had to pay 3000 Yen to get the Sound Stage 2 CD if you wanted Snow Rain :)

They should release a Nanoha vocal songs best CD or something. I'd buy it.

Bloodseeker

2006-09-18, 01:18

mangatron

2006-09-18, 01:29

Just got done watching the first episode; I feel like making some comments, so I guess I will.

A ferret was a good choice for a mascot. Ferrets are badass, probably my favorite non-canine non-feline animal. (just for the record, my favorite animal is a wolf) I wish that they were legal in California...

It had me thinking since then, why a ferret? Is it because of the enlongated body? Is it because of the cute face? Or is it because it's easy to draw? Arrrr meine brain:heh: :uhoh: :heh:

Stupid Nanoha. The ferret tells you to make armor, and you make some weird looking clothes out of cloth. What part of "strong armor to protect your body" didn't you understand?

I get the feeling, I know what Nanoha was thinking. Think about it, she has had no experience in fighting or the like whatsoever. Of course she's gonna embroider the cutest looking outfit around! It's in a girl's mind to sew scarfs and ties and sweaters for their boyfriends :heh:.

I know. It's just me. LOL. :heh:

Kikaifan

2006-09-18, 01:40

Stupid Nanoha. The ferret tells you to make armor, and you make some weird looking clothes out of cloth. What part of "strong armor to protect your body" did you not understand?

It's the insidious taint of Dungeons and Dragons, subliminally training even young Japanese girls to believe that casters can wear nothing heavier than ordinary clothing.

Bloodseeker

2006-09-18, 02:14

Just saw the second episode... not bad. I liked that Nanoha actually thought to GTFO when she heard police sirens. The fights were kinda meh, but human vs. monster fights usually are. I'm sure that the fights will pick up once Nanoha actually faces a worthy opponent. (I heard that things didn't get really good until Fate was introduced anyway)

It's the insidious taint of Dungeons and Dragons, subliminally training even young Japanese girls to believe that casters can wear nothing heavier than ordinary clothing.
?

Baldur's Gate 2 might just be the most famous D&D videogame in history... Jireiha was able to wear metal armor, and while I barely used her, I'm pretty sure that Mazzy didn't have any armor restrictions. (my Kensai/Mage, Minsc, and Valygar more than took care of the brute strength factor in my party)

It had me thinking since then, why a ferret? Is it because of the enlongated body? Is it because of the cute face? Or is it because it's easy to draw? Arrrr meine brain
Its because ferrets are badass and Yuuno knows it.

Edit: I can see where people like Fate. Energy scythe (assuming that its not some girly color like pink or something) + flashy electrical attacks + black get up = cruise control for cool... Fate would have to be a pretty terrible character to mess that one up.

Edit 2: Just watched episode 5... Arf should have had a lower pitched voice. She's still hot though. :love: As are all of the non-loli purple haired girls and Nanoha's mom.

I like how Fate continues to kick Nanoha's ass. This little rivalry needs to end (after a while longer of things going in Fate's favor) with a series of events, OTHER than Nanoha (who hasn't even had any formal training from anybody that really knows what they're doing) finally kicking the assumedly-trained-her-entire-life-black-mage's ass (maybe Nanoha and Fate meeting under circumstances that prevent them from attacking each other and Nanoha forcing conversation on Fate), that result in the two talking it out (with Fate gaining a somewhat new perpective on life in the process) and Nanoha getting some formal training from the more experienced Fate (who sees loads of untapped potential in Nanoha) to meet their new mutual enemy. (I'm guessing that that's going to be Fate's mom?) Training arcs FTW. I'd be really surprised if it happened anything like that though... it'll probably be a generic shounen deal where Nanoha finally gets strong enough on her own to take down Fate and, with the help of whatever revelation that tells Fate that Nanoha isn't her enemy, manages to talk some sense into her post battle. Ugh.

Edit 3: From the looks of the next episode preview for episode seven, it looks like I got the general idea at least (defeat + talk between the protagonist and her rival + revelations about the real enemy = new friendship)... dammit. Nanoha shouldn't have been able to beat or match Fate without some real formal training to learn past the basics and at least a few months experience. I'd better stop watching for the night. If I stayed up all night watching it in a single sitting, it wouldn't sink in as much. I'm liking this show. They were right when they said that the show got good once Fate showed up.

Bloodseeker

2006-09-18, 04:07

BUMP! (just so that people know that I added more to my last post... there needs to be a delete post option so that people can BUMP when they added something to their last post when they were the last post in the thread without double posting)

houkoholic

2006-09-18, 08:04

I Think this is it
Now I have to Bought the Album :/, because there Is no Insert Song Single?

Buy it, you won't regret it if you like "Take a shot" since Mizuki Nana is an awesome singer and most of the songs she does are similiar in style to "Take a shot".

kari-no-sugata

2006-09-18, 08:21

I like how Fate continues to kick Nanoha's ass. This little rivalry needs to end (after a while longer of things going in Fate's favor) with a series of events, OTHER than Nanoha (who hasn't even had any formal training from anybody that really knows what they're doing) finally kicking the assumedly-trained-her-entire-life-black-mage's ass (maybe Nanoha and Fate meeting under circumstances that prevent them from attacking each other and Nanoha forcing conversation on Fate), that result in the two talking it out (with Fate gaining a somewhat new perpective on life in the process) and Nanoha getting some formal training from the more experienced Fate (who sees loads of untapped potential in Nanoha) to meet their new mutual enemy. (I'm guessing that that's going to be Fate's mom?) Training arcs FTW. I'd be really surprised if it happened anything like that though... it'll probably be a generic shounen deal where Nanoha finally gets strong enough on her own to take down Fate and, with the help of whatever revelation that tells Fate that Nanoha isn't her enemy, manages to talk some sense into her post battle. Ugh.

I don't think it's mentioned in the anime much, but shows up in the sound stages CDs for the anime (which I haven't seen/heard), but AFAIK Nanoha is doing quite a bit of training - with Yuuno making a good magic teacher. Not that Nanoha can directly pick up combat training from that though - but Fate's effectively giving her free lessons ;)

Apparantly, Nanoha actually enjoys training...

Vexx

2006-09-18, 10:15

Just got done watching the first episode; I feel like making some comments, so I guess I will.

A ferret was a good choice for a mascot. Ferrets are badass, probably my favorite non-canine non-feline animal. (just for the record, my favorite animal is a wolf) I wish that they were legal in California...

Stupid Nanoha. The ferret tells you to make armor, and you make some weird looking clothes out of cloth. What part of "strong armor to protect your body" did you not understand?

Actually, if I remember right, Nanoha's own comment and response to her armor was something like "what the hell is this?"

I kind of envy you ... this was the first "magical girl" series I ever liked and really got attached after the next couple of episodes you're about to see to find out Fate's background.

Bloodseeker

2006-09-19, 06:25

Dammit! For whatever reason, the browser transfered over to some Microsoft page while I was typing and I lost everything that I typed!

Actually, if I remember right, Nanoha's own comment and response to her armor was something like "what the hell is this?"

I took that as her being surprised at the fact that the "armor" that she had invisioned in her mind had suddenly materialized around her and replaced her old clothes.

Anyways, I just finished Nanoha. The power cord on the laptop that I usually use finally broke (the wire was breaking from my rolling over and stuff when I was typing on my bed... I've had to move it around to get it to work and it had been hanging my a mere scrap for a while; when the cord not only stops working altogether but also starts making shocking sounds whenever you move it, its time to throw it away), and I only had a minute left on the battery when the last episode's ED finished. :p That means no self-made screencaps or gifs for me though... :(

My final thoughts:

-The fights were the highlight of this show. All of the fights from episode 4 on were great.

-There needed to be a training episode after Nanoha arived on the Arisa. I still say that the relatively inexperienced Nanoha shouldn't have been able to be Fate without some formal training from somebody with lots of magical combat experience. Chrono would have been perfect for that role.

-On a minor note, I liked how the eye-catchers changed every episode to fit the situation.

-Another minor note... Nanoha looked crummy in the ED. (both the OP and ED were meh at best, IMO)

-Not the show's fault, but episode nine and ten were compressed very poorly. It was especially irritating because those episodes were vital to the story and the constant off-and-on pixelization (probably not a word, but you get the picture) was really distracting.

Characters:

Nanoha - She was alright... I liked that she saw her own ability and chose to get involved and enjoyed fighting, rather than the usual magical girl scenario where the lead gets dragged into the problem against her will and whines about being forced to fight.

Yuuno - Meh. Not much more to say than that. Points for choosing to take the form of a ferret though.

Fate - My favorite Nanoha character. Her weapon and attacks were the main reason why the fights were so cool. She was cute too, and she was the only one that had a real noteworthy backstory. How Nanoha beat her in the Saimoe Tournament is beyond me. Just more proof that 2chan (and the Japanese anime fanbase in general) is filled to the brim with tasteless bastards.

Arf - Hot. There needs to be more ecchi fanart and official art of her. And she looks kinda cool when she's fighting. That being said, I wish that she had had a larger role than comforting Fate and acting as a sideshow to Nanoha vs. Fate, and it was annoying when she kept interrupting the dialogue between Nanoha and Fate despite the fact that she wanted Fate to abandon her mission and ditch Precia. She did have one moment to shine though... I liked it when she finally got mad enough to bust into Precia's room and attack her, even if it did end in miserable failure.

Chrono - Eh, his attacks and weapon were better than Nanoha's but not as cool as Fate's. He should have mentored Nanoha (and possibly Yuuno) too.

Nanoha's dad - I'm probably going to get jumped on for this one, but am I the only one that he looked like Rin from Shuffle aged twenty years or so?

Precia - Having her die (maybe) by falling into a pit unassisted wasn't exactly what I'd call a satisfying end. She should have attacked Fate after she told her disappear for the second time, and then they should have had a nice 5-10 minute battle, ending with Fate killing her.

Nanoha was an enjoyable show, and I'm looking forward to watching A's once I get a new power cord. (though that might be a few weeks or maybe even a few months from now :frustrated: ) 8/10

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2006-09-19, 06:55

Glad you liked it. If you liked the fights mainly, then I strongly suggest watching A's, because there's more of them. Tho sadly Arf still gets shafted.

Then you can join the rest of us in HEINOUS ANXIETY awaiting StrikerS to air. Good god this has got to be the longest half year of my life!

As for her barrier jacket, she based it on her school uniform, which was the first thing to come to her mind. Well, so says the novelization at least.

And as for Shiro, Nanoha's dad, I agree. But of course he looks like El Generico dating sim guy. He's from one. Check out Triangle Hearts (they have two animes, one is H and the other is not) for more good fight scenes.

Bloodseeker

2006-09-19, 07:05

I didn't know that Nanoha was part of an extended anime universe... So I take it that those scars weren't all from the accident that the show mentioned?

:( @ Arf getting shafted... there's always season three though.

Varion

2006-09-19, 07:21

Yeah, considering how much happened during the first season they didn't really have time to allocate an entire episode to Nanoha learning stuff - you just had to take it for granted. Most Japanese people were probably listening to the drama CDs anyway.

Nanoha gets much better in A's though, I still prefer Fate to her but she has loads of moments to shine so having seen both seasons I'd hardly call people tasteless for voting for her :p So long as someone from Nanoha wins, I'm happy. Arf isn't in A's as much but I'd hardly call it 'getting shafted' - she does have some cool fight scenes with a worthy opponent, which is more than I can say for what she had in the first season. Plus A's introduces a crapload of new characters, most of which are very likable indeed. Precia's the only one I HATE in both seasons, but that's because I'm a hardcore Fate fan. Yeah. I can see why it would be unsatisfying (and in a way, it was), but as it stood Fate would've had a really hard time having a fight to the death with her regardless of what she'd said - she's still her mother and Fate never seems to stop caring about her, even after her resolution scene in episode 12. I'm not sure she would've been happy about Nanoha beating her either - so getting rid of her without anyone's input was probably the best way to do it.

Anyway, yeah - at least knowing roughly when you'll have A's will make the wait for Strikers easier. You'll love A's, I can guarantee it :) Awesome fight scenes from episode 1 ahoy!

Maximum Burst

2006-09-19, 07:52

Ah. I remember back a few months or so, I was like, "OK...who is this magical girl I keep seeing in fanart and stuff?" And with that, I soon downloaded both seasons of Nanoha in order to see what all the fuss was about. Needless to say, I was just sucked in.

Like most people, I saw the first few episodes as your typical Mahou Shoujo events, but as soon as they threw Fate into the mix, I was SOLD. The way that they were able to tell her side of the story was great. Also, one of the biggest selling points of an anime for me is when a cool bad guy becomes a good guy.

I'm glad you enjoyed the first season. Like Dragonfly said, you're going to end up being like the few of us who are (im)patiently waiting for StrikerS. Heck, I'm sure the slightest bit of news about it would make us generate 5 more pages to the topic lol.

Skyfall

2006-09-19, 08:53

I must say up untill i saw this show i never thought i could actually like this kind of stuff. But i must say that this exceeded my expectations by far. I like that Nanoha is strong-willed and doesnt hesitate and is no whining little girl and she actually shows a lot of initiative. And Fate...omg i truly love fate as a character. Never did i expect such a cruel treatment from her mother in this kind of show...that part was just wow. And god, did i end up hating her mother... i wanted for someone to actually kill her instead of that suicide thing.

The animation is actually superb for this thing, its one of the first things i noticed (no kidding :P). And it has a good plot and good fight scenes - both exceeded my expectations so in all i was clearly impressed by the show.

Bloodseeker - trust me, you will like A's even more than the original series, it also has an interesting plot and a lot of new cool characters, so by all means - go for it. I wont say anything more about A's not to spoil you, but you will surely like it.

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2006-09-19, 17:48

I saw a pic of Fate and Nanoha, along with the basic cover, in a japanese newsflier that came with a Megami magazine and I (being a student of character design) was instantly interrested. But that brown-haired girl was nagging me... I knew her from -somewhere-.

By the time the original topic was made I was all super interrested after happening to reinstall Triangle Hearts. I was like "They did the Pretty Sammy thing!"

Then after ep1 I was hooked. It didn't feel like mahou shoujo at all to me.

Alu

2006-10-12, 06:36

Skane

2006-10-12, 07:05

hmmm.. allright.. with so much talking going arround regarding a 3rd Season of this Anime.., I decided (and well.., because I currently don't have much to watch :p ) to give it a try and see what all the excitment is about :)

Its only natural that I start from the first episode on the 1st season, hence it will take me quite a bit to catch up...
However, since I am jumping into this right out of the blue.., I was wondering if some of you could tell me in just a few words what can I expect out of this Anime ?

Specialy related to storywise & character-wise aspects.., but well.., from the little I read here regarding them.., I don't think I will be dissatisfied (or at least I hope not, since I always look forward to these "Slayers" type of universes :) )
The first season can be considered to be a massive prelude. :p It introduces the main protagonists, Nanoha and Fate, and explains how they got together. The first season also establishes much of the background story of the Nanoha world.

Due to all these explaining and exposition, there is not much 'grand' combat in the first season as compared to the second season.

The second season has more free rein for character development as the basic exposition has been dealt with already in the first season. Due to this, there is also considerably more action in the second season.

One of the main appeals of Nanoha is that it is about Magical Girls beating/blowing the living tar out of each other. Hayate's story in Nanoha A's is also quite touching( she can be considered to be the 'sad girl in snow' for Nanoha :heh:).

Cheers.

Bloodseeker

2006-10-12, 07:10

hmmm.. allright.. with so much talking going arround regarding a 3rd Season of this Anime.., I decided (and well.., because I currently don't have much to watch :p ) to give it a try and see what all the excitment is about :)

Its only natural that I start from the first episode on the 1st season, hence it will take me quite a bit to catch up...
However, since I am jumping into this right out of the blue.., I was wondering if some of you could tell me in just a few words what can I expect out of this Anime ?

Specialy related to storywise & character-wise aspects.., but well.., from the little I read here regarding them.., I don't think I will be dissatisfied (or at least I hope not, since I always look forward to these "Slayers" type of universes :) )

Yeah, the first three episodes suck ass, so don't drop it straight off. Its typical magical girl crap (girl stumbles across mystical artifact that gives her the power to transform and shoot pretty pink death beams at monsters that typically go down after one or two shots) until Fate shows up, granted its with a more willing, motivated, reasonable, combative, and all around more likable lead than what you usually see with these types of shows.

But once Fate makes her first appearance in episode 4, it stops being typical magical girl crap and becomes all about hotblooded magical girls kicking the crap out of each other in awesome fight scenes. :D And the cast is pretty likable all around, too. Well, except for Fate's mom... she pretty much sucks. But the rest of the cast is likable.

IchiKyo

2006-10-12, 07:16

I don't really feel any suck ass emotion after watching 1-13 of the 1st season
After all, Nanoha begin as a real Beginner...
Don't really know how she really feel that Magic is powerful but how magic is difficult... Everytime she encount Some Souls who being infected by a Jewel Seed... Everytime that decision is really difficult... That she feel this when she encount Fate for the First Time and the First Time who personally... I feel suffering for Fate and Nanoha... Two of them have really good Reasons to support their causes... And That we have on A's... Support Fate/Nanoha Cause and Hayate/Knight Cause too...

Theclow

2006-10-12, 07:51

Furyou Miko

2006-10-12, 10:02

Yuelon

2006-10-12, 10:11

This may seem a little off topic but senice the're is no music thread what is the song that plays in episode 12 when fate gets up. I know it's a little confusing but I can't think of any other way to put it :heh:. This is in series 1 not 2 btw it's soemwhere between 12 mins and 14 mins into the ep. Thanks in advance.

The Song is a insert song of course and its called "Take a Shot performed by Nana Mizuki" really good and of course i have it but nth better than the one in MSLN A's
where Hayate inside the book or somewhere^^ that is "Snow Rain performed by Kana Ueda"

Both info taken form Here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Girl_Lyrical_Nanoha_A%27s)

Theclow

2006-10-12, 10:59

The Song is a insert song of course and its called "Take a Shot performed by Nana Mizuki" really good and of course i have it but nth better than the one in MSLN A's
where Hayate inside the book or somewhere^^ that is "Snow Rain performed by Kana Ueda"

Both info taken form Here (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magical_Girl_Lyrical_Nanoha_A%27s)

Ah thanks I finally found it.

Vexx

2006-10-12, 11:00

I agree in that I almost dropped the show in the first few episodes of the first season... but then Fate arrived... and then we got season two. One of the few shows where the character development and action was such that you could really believe these people were trying to kill each other.

There's just something about giving nine year old girls enough firepower to liquify continents :) and now they're going to be 16/17 yr old girls with enough firepower to blow holes through planets..... aieeee, don't forget to bring flowers regularly.

Theclow

2006-10-12, 11:02

Yuelon

2006-10-12, 11:05

Well u still see Yuuno kun there so that wont be a problem^^ i hope....
If not learn some defensive magic that a good option

Skyfall

2006-10-12, 13:45

I don't know what the song is, but... I remember someone here ages ago commenting that Fate turned out to be much nicer than expected after her first appearance.

If find that kind of odd, considering how obsessed Nanoha is with her "beautiful, kind eyes".

Nanoha was obsessed with "Beautiful, sad eyes", not kind. And the whole Fate thing...she sure as hell got the short end of the stick, after the first season all you want to do is give her a big hug :p

And yes, the first three eps sucked and i wanted to drop it, but i was immensly bored at that time, so i kept on track...then Fate arrived and i found myself quickly downloading all the eps and second season, which i have to say is truly awsome. The characters really are going at each other, not just mopping arround.

Alu

2006-10-15, 09:05

Well.., I have just finished watching Season 1 not but a few hours ago.., and I now have to say a few things..

But first..., Thank you.

It was thanks to your feedback here that I definitly decided to start downloading it and watch it ; after reading everything you said I was more then prepared in terms of expecting what I would find.

However.., something realy toke me by surprise..

You where more then right upon saying that the first 3 episodes realy lacked development and to the point that they in fact where rather "dull" & "boring"..., beeing the introductions of Nahona, Yunno & the aspects related to Nahona's magical power / how she obtained it and specialy how quickly she mastered it felt extreamly rushed..

But well..., then came episode 4...
..Fate...

And the story compleatly did a turn towards a more deep & phsicoligicaly heavy eviroment..., something that.. would go so much deeper into tragedy and drama that I could realy not have forseen..

Even having read all the comments & having made my expectations.., Fate's personality & story development brought this Anime to be almost in par to other titles that are so dear to me..
Beeing this realy what made Fate my favorite character of this Anime.., personality & development-wise.

In fact.., its thanks to this turn in the story and the incredible twist that it gaved us in the end that I found myself crying on some scenes during the last 2 episodes.

Overall I came to the conclusion that there is SO MUCH more to Mahou Shoujo then the cuteness of her characters.. ; after episode 3 the story definitly picked up and started to develop properly, giving then the more information we lacked about what the Mahou Shoujo universe consists in, and what realy are the facts in game on the storyline.

However I have to say a couple of aspects where left out.., somethings like the "origin" of the "Intelligent devices" like Bardiche & Raging Heart , how Yunno first obtained Raging Heart, and definitly.. why Nanoha holds such great power..

But well, these I hope are are things that probably Season 2 will answer ;)

Skyfall

2006-10-15, 10:06

Hehe, glad you liked the series. No one can resist the moeness of Fate ! :D Do watch the second season, its even better than the first one, and once again you will have characters you can feel for :) And it definitely has more going for it than just cute little lolis

as for the "origin" of the "Intelligent devices" and how Yuuno obtained Raging Heart...

This subject remains untouched, but dont worry - its easy to overlook that :P

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2006-10-15, 15:53

kari-no-sugata

2006-10-15, 16:29

Hmmm. I don't remember him being charged with the task of recovering the lost logia. Maybe he felt pressure from his tribe or responsibility, so he grabbed RH and ran. We already know he's the type to take things onto himself. So maybe he thought he could use RH himself but it was too much for him.

Yuuno dug them up, but the ship carrying them to a safe place had problems. Since he dug them up, he felt he should do something himself, despite not carrying any responsibility after handing them over to the authorities. So it's all his strong sense of responsibility, and there's no indication that anyone asked or put any kind of pressure on him to locate and "seal" the Jewel Seeds.

The thought occurs though - surely others would have known about the ship carrying the Jewel Seeds having problems, and an official team would have been sent. So why doesn't one appear? (The Asura seemed only to be responding to the dimentional quake side-effect from Nanoha and Fate's fight). Only logical explanation I can think of is Fate's mother was influencing things from the start, and the recovery team got whacked by her too - while Yuuno slipped under her radar, as it were.

Skyfall

2006-10-15, 16:33

Not sure about that . After all it was never meantioned that the archeologist group that Yuuno comes from is a part of any bigger organization, so they might as well only have one ship - the one that had problems so they might simply be incapable of helping.

Alu

2006-10-15, 19:17

The thought occurs though - surely others would have known about the ship carrying the Jewel Seeds having problems, and an official team would have been sent. So why doesn't one appear? (The Asura seemed only to be responding to the dimentional quake side-effect from Nanoha and Fate's fight). Only logical explanation I can think of is Fate's mother was influencing things from the start, and the recovery team got whacked by her too - while Yuuno slipped under her radar, as it were.

It does seem possible.. ; it also seemed rather strange to me that Yunno, who is not a very skilled magician either.. was the Only one who ventured into our world with the extreamly dificult task to recover All the Lost Logia (jewel seeds).

Hence I was left wondering through all the 13 episodes.., what realy did happen to Yunno's world & tribe...
Then.. in the last episode, Lindy menciones that Yunno's world is having some dimensional dificulty's, problems & whatnot.., but they seem to be of some relevance... ; so much that in fact.., its the reason why he cannot go home after the events aboard the Asura ceased with the suposed death of Fate's mother.

So possibily.., Yunno was just extreamly lucky in getting out to our world before anyone else did.., which, maybe due to some action on behalf of Fate's mother, made it impossible for others of his tribe to follow given some time..

The "Intelligent devices" now.., from what I understod they seem to be more related to the lost technology of Alzhared then something you might think could have come from the Asura for instants ; this because.., not only where Fate & Nahona who possessed one.., these "devices" seem to have a will of they're own, and not to mencione affection towards that who they determine to be they're master.

Which would make what kari-no-sugata wrotte about Yunno possibily having found Raging Heart in the escavations and having taken it as a last resort in order to help him capture the Lost Logia does seem a most reasonable explination..
..Clearly Yunno did not have the "connection" that Nanoha did, which means.., he is by far not on the same level to use one of these "devices" ; but still.., he thought it would help him either way so he decided to take it.

Now Nanoha is a great mistery here..., out of the blue she makes the connection with Raging Heart, who this immediatly assimilates her entire personality ; it is like.., the both connected perfectly..., so perfectly that in fact would explain how her skills rose so much in such a small amout of time, and not to mencione the effect this had on her power.

With well Season 2 (A's) not answering the aspects on what relates to Yunno's past (which is still rather vage) and the source of the "Intelligent devices" and to what realy are they..., I realy hope that at least they give some in-sight as to why Nahona has the power she does.

Overall I thought that the Character-wise development in Season 1 was good, specialy in what relates to Fate & Nanoha, both her backgrounds and even to how Fate met her friends where very nicely done..., somethings that.. when realy related to some aspects of the story such as the Alzhared technology, Yunno's background & the "magical capability" concept that exists where left a bit vague..

But well.., the dramatic aspects of Fate's story where what realy captured me in this Anime.., hence.., I realy look forward now to Season 2 in hope that it can surpass this...
..If such is even possible :)

~I just wish now that the torrent would go faster ^^~

panzerfan

2006-10-15, 19:27

I can answer the question on the origin of Bardiche. Precia commissioned Bardiche for Fate, at an astronomical cost, no expanse in spared in making this physically challenging weapon to wield. Fate trained in order to properly wield it. Raising Heart however is beyond me. I have no idea how Yuuno acquired it. Yuuno can use it but not well...

Skyfall

2006-10-16, 01:45

Maybe it has something to do with the actual magic power one has that determinates wether or not he can handle a device? I mean, only the ones with huge amounts of power have them - Nanoha, Fate and Chrno. (Remember, in one of the episodes Amy was telling chrno how unbelievably high power these two girls have, even surpassing Chrno, abeit not much. There were some numbers given but i dont remember them :heh: )

As for their origins...most likely they have been made looong ago by some powerfull wizards and what not. Reason i think this is because they are essentially somewhat similar to Tome of the Night Sky which was created that way - devices with minds of their own

panzerfan

2006-10-16, 13:10

Well, the discussion about creation of Bardiche in the soundstage though means you can't rule out intelligent devices being made in recent time. Bardiche is about as old as Fate...

Kikaifan

2006-10-16, 16:51

Yeah, but Precia had her archmage title or whatever (I'm assuming Precia made it, haven't seen a translation for the soundstage)- her creating one rules it out as a lost art, but not as the exclusive province of the most powerful magictech artisans.

panzerfan

2006-10-16, 19:13

No. Precia ordered it. She didn't make the device herself, but she did pay an awsome sum for it.

Kikaifan

2006-10-16, 21:00

Oh. Are there any translations for the soundstage around?

I guess if Precia couldn't make one they're pretty rare then.

I guess it makes sense... Durandal isn't even a full intelligent device and Graham had been working on it how long?

Alu

2006-10-17, 11:12

Finaly ! I have just finished downloading A's.., hence after the hours I spend watching it, I will then be able to catch up :D
I just wonder if I will like it as much as this 1st Season.., this despite knowing from the start that the action will go up a notch...., Fate's tragic story was what realy got to me so..

But anyway.., judging by all the comments, and I should realy know by now... I have nothing to worry about :)

Hence.. I'll be seeing you all in the other threads now ^^
..altough.., from what I've been reading..., where should I go ? A's or StrikerS ? ; this because alot of talk regarding Season 2 (A's) is s going on there instead :p

Thanks once more for all the feedback & help guys, I realy have to thank you all for giving me such good reasons as why to take a chance on this Anime..., something that now.. I wish I had done sooner :)

Skane

2006-10-17, 11:23

Well... if tragedy is your thing, you will get more of it in A's. ;)

Heh.

Deathkillz

2006-10-17, 11:48

nice one Alu...now go support fate :p
*cough* i think it doesnt really matter which thread to post in but just think about if its the right place...like if you decide to write an essay on A's you should do it in the right thread :p
btw is it me or is the title to this thread spelt wrong? :heh:

Kikaifan

2006-10-17, 12:32

Yeah. Lirikaru if it's gonna be romanized form of the Japanese pronunciation, Lyrical for the actual word.

Skyfall

2006-10-17, 12:50

Dont wory Alu, you will like it. And dont wory, tragic Fate gets replaced by Tragic Hayate (and yes, the title of this thread bugged me as well)

Vexx

2006-10-17, 13:35

It wouldn't be the first time whomever started a thread mangled words... even in English... it'd be nice if a Mod corrected the spelling to the agreed romaji form in case someone was searching by it.

Furyou Miko

2006-10-18, 05:10

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2006-10-18, 07:01

Well, there's a big difference between a possible translation and a "blantant obviously correct one".

Vexx

2006-10-18, 11:22

Unfortunatly, you can't say that, since there's at least three major accepted romanji styles.

On another note... wasn't one of the reasons Nanoha shocked Yuuno right at the beginning the fact that she could use Raising Heart's powers without long incantations? She just had to say "Raising heart, if you please?" and it would do the rest on its' own. Compare to the incantation he gave her to wake it up each time. Also compare Yuuno's long sealing chant to Nanoha's "Lyrical Seal, Jewel Seed Serial XXI".

The "best" spelling would be to take the katakana used in the title and directly convert into the equivalent modern Hepburn romaji ... or to translate it into the equivalent English word "Lyrical" and move on. Academically, the modern Hepburn style is most accepted though the other styles retain traction for either emphasis purposes or the "standard keyboard" still doesn't provide commonly needed modifications to letters without needing Alt Codes. It is true that sometimes people forget that romaji is just using alien phonetic symbols to *attempt* to record the sounds made in japanese. The classic "Peking vs Beijing" or phonetic attempts to record American Native languages also come to mind.... too much linguistic fun.

Yes... Nanoha, right off the plate, showed amazing natural talent --- one of those "tool and person destined for each other" moments.

Lost

2006-10-19, 10:38

And pretty convenient; having to chant that whole incantation with an enemy at your heels wouldnt be a good thing..

I am starting to like Nanoha S1 very much, it started off for me pretty slowly and I wasnt so taken in by the whole Mahou Shoujo aspect.. but episode 6 touched me by showing that this had more depth than just cheesy power ups/attacks, fancy costumes and incantation screaming.

And right now I'm in love with Arf.

Skyfall

2006-10-19, 13:48

^ you have no idea how often im hearing similar things about the series :heh: (ok, not often...but almost every person says the same thing once he gets past ep3 )

Deathkillz

2006-10-19, 16:11

I am starting to like Nanoha S1 very much, it started off for me pretty slowly and I wasnt so taken in by the whole Mahou Shoujo aspect.. but episode 6 touched me by showing that this had more depth than just cheesy power ups/attacks, fancy costumes and incantation screaming.

And right now I'm in love with Arf.

and soon you will become a supporter of fate :p
yea the story darkens pretty much...id guess the first few eps were to just let nanoha get used to her powers...

Kikaifan

2006-10-19, 17:04

And to get the necessary fanservice out of the way. :rolleyes:

Lost

2006-10-20, 10:42

^ you have no idea how often im hearing similar things about the series :heh: (ok, not often...but almost every person says the same thing once he gets past ep3 )
Nope, it was episode 6 for me.. Strangely, I found myself (and still do) tearing up at Nanoha's and Arisa's little fight scene.

Fate-o is okay, I find her intriguing but doubt I will be rooting for her as much as I am for Arf. Doesnt help that I love dogs too.

necessary fanservice
Oh thats always welcomed :o

Skane

2006-10-20, 10:46

Actually, I found the flashback of Nanoha's slap of Arisa hilarious, because it informed the audience that Nanoha was using violence to make friends( indirectly) even before she became a Magical Girl.

Heh. :heh:

Skyfall

2006-10-20, 11:02

And now that she has humongous firepower she can make friends with much greater eficiency :D

Lost

2006-10-20, 11:05

HA.. Fate eh. Well, it wasnt really the slap, it's Arisa's cry and rush at Nanoha after that that always gets me. :heh:

Kikaifan

2006-10-20, 12:58

And now that she has humongous firepower she can make friends with much greater eficiency :D

Or make much more powerful friends. And then teach them her ways... Fate's whole 'There's still time for that/you will be stopped' exchange with Signum was right out of Nanoha's playbook. :heh:

Dragnfly@Gamefaqs

2006-10-20, 20:09

I wonder if Nanoha and Galaxy Fraulein Yuna are friends.

JediNight

2006-10-24, 12:44

I just finished watching the first season of Nanoha and these are my thoughts:

I enjoyed it overall -- it's a good (more modern?) take on the magical girl genre. As opposed to a generic mahou shoujo series like Pretty Cure. The Magitech is nice and I liked how there was tactics to the fighting that most shows in the genre lack much of.

I did have some issues with the show:

To get through the material they wanted to, the show was evenly paced which is good. But the series really needed to be longer than 13eps IMHO. There were some relatively huge timegaps between episodes, and then a lot of explanation "after the fact" in the prologue to the episode.

Nanoha also has like the coolest mom ever: "Yeah mom I can't tell you who I'm going with, where it is, how long I'll be there, and it's going to be dangerous..." **Okay honey have a nice trip!** ?! WHAT? ^_^;; (Not to mention all the times she already just kinda comes and goes as she pleases at all hours of the day hehe)

Also, I know it's kinda hard to judge age in anime chars, but Nanoha seems older than 3rd grade. Her character design itself seems like 5th or 6th grade I would say, and then she waxes philosophic about communication in the prologues that is way above 3rd grade level LOL :) 3rd grade would be 8 years old... but I would say she looked about the same as Sakura from CCS who was what? 6th grade aka 10/11?

Last small complaint is the typical no practicing. She seemingly does no practice of the magic outside of battle, and yet rattles off all these attack names and does things on-the-fly. Even with innate ability, one has to practice -- and I hear that Nanoha actually supposedly DOES practice like 6hrs a day for 3 years between now and A's which makes it all the more odd...

Skyfall

2006-10-24, 13:06

To get through the material they wanted to, the show was evenly paced which is good. But the series really needed to be longer than 13eps IMHO. There were some relatively huge timegaps between episodes, and then a lot of explanation "after the fact" in the prologue to the episode.

Well there is a thing called budget - its not like they can do whatever they want. And the show was well packed for its 13 episodes, so im not complaining here. Nothing seemed rushed to me and episodes were nicely filled.

Nanoha also has like the coolest mom ever: "Yeah mom I can't tell you who I'm going with, where it is, how long I'll be there, and it's going to be dangerous..." **Okay honey have a nice trip!** ?! WHAT? ^_^;; (Not to mention all the times she already just kinda comes and goes as she pleases at all hours of the day hehe)

Remember - Nanoha is a spin-off of another anime - Triangle Heart. (Nanoha was a minor side character there with next to none screentime). Watch, and find out about their family - its not your ordinary run of the mill family ;)

Nanoha's brother and sister are extremely skilled swordsmen who work for police squad that doesnt follow any laws. They are nothing short of assasins capable of taking out entire police assault force with nothing more than a sword. Ability to dodge bullets and vampire speed included. Their father is the same, but he was out of commision for the whole series due to an accident.

Now, with a family like that im sure her mother is not so worried and quite used to things like these, ne ? :)

Also, I know it's kinda hard to judge age in anime chars, but Nanoha seems older than 3rd grade. Her character design itself seems like 5th or 6th grade I would say, and then she waxes philosophic about communication in the prologues that is way above 3rd grade level LOL :) 3rd grade would be 8 years old... but I would say she looked about the same as Sakura from CCS who was what? 6th grade aka 10/11?

I agree on this, but then again - would you watch a show where the main characters have IQ of a normal 8 year old?

Last small complaint is the typical no practicing. She seemingly does no practice of the magic outside of battle, and yet rattles off all these attack names and does things on-the-fly. Even with innate ability, one has to practice -- and I hear that Nanoha actually supposedly DOES practice like 6hrs a day for 3 years between now and A's which makes it all the more odd...

Well its not like she had that much time to practice - she was busy looking for the jewels the whole time, and Yuuno was not much of a help considering how quickly Nanoha outgrew him. And lets not forget that Raging Heart seemed like tailor made for Nanoha - lets not forget that Raging Heart hasa mind of its own, and probably most of the attacks come from it and are not some things Nanoha came up all by herself.

And we clearly see how experience and tactics come in play here. At first Nanoha is nothing short of a cannon foder for Fate, but over time she learns, gains experience and slowly begins to match Fate. Its not like she suddenly recieved a package of raw power and went head to head with Fate and bested her. Thats the things i like about Nanoha - the fights here are rather technical compared to a lot of fighting animes.