Mahou Senki Lyrical Nanoha Force Manga Discussion

[Rising Dragon]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

Whoa there, has it been confirmed that those are automatons instead of, say, ordinary mage soldiers enhanced with cybernetics benefiting Scaglietti's research, or even just ordinary mage soldiers with Crysuit advanced power armors?

What little translation we've got for the Raptors thus far confirm that they're autonomous machines.

[Mirron]

There's little to support Tsuzuki really liking the Huckbeins. He's established them as a threat. That's... kind of a requirement for being a villain. You can't be a threat to the main cast unless you're able to challenge them somehow. Yes, they're beating up our favorite heroes for the most part, but it's not only... you know, a logical thing, given the circumstances, but it's needed in order for them to be a threat.

While some of the Huckbeins will doubtless become good guys, that doesn't mean they'll kick the Wolkenritter out of the picture. Sadly, for Shamal and Zafira, it's the same issue with Yuuno and Arf. They're mostly support, so they just don't get even a remote amount of attention. Hayate, Vita, and Signum are still ongoing and major characters though.

And Signum did... well, what she could do in the situation. It wasn't a smart move, but it was the only option she had available to her. She didn't have the gear she needed in order to take them out, and was in a situation where she had to act. It was as simple as that.

[Justin_Brett]

Blame it on the slow pacing. They've gotten more screen-time than Touma, the supposed main character, at this point (not counting Touma's body, anyway).

I personally would have liked seeing a scene with him in his head, since they seemed to be setting up for something like that.

[Key Board]

Jail is kinda like Bian Zoldark from Super Robot Wars by now
They were major antagonists, but their actions served as a valuable wake up call that jump started a new era

Without the JS incident, they would have been very unprepared for things like Dividers

Now all he has to do is pull an Aeolia Schoenberg and admit that he did all of this to prepare humankind for contact with Incubators... err.. aliens

[00-Raiser]

Only Bian did it intentionally. Jail just wanted his own little place where he could experiment on life without the ethics board breathing down his neck.

[Akiyoshi]

inb4 another clone of Zest with a mask and identity issues will appear to challenge the current parties xD

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

What little translation we've got for the Raptors thus far confirm that they're autonomous machines.

Really? Interesting. Because for this scenario,

Originally Posted by Keroko

Mages get trounced -> new androids are 'the only choice' -> new androids beat enemies -> celebration -> Caledfwlch backstabs TSAB -> mages defeat Caledfwlch, proving that mages are superior -> once again mass-based weapons are bad. -> status quo restored.

writes usually intentionally design the androids inhuman-like, so the viewers won't be too emotionally attached for them (remember how no one gives a damn about the Gadget Drones).

Why shape them like a human?

Is it because they're coming to stay? Which means either the above scenario is unlikely or only partially correct (Half betrayed them, half stayed loyal, possibly due to exposure with the goodness of human heart yadda yadda yadda)?

Or will Force really end up like Revenge of the Sith, where it's the clones, not the robots, that ended the Jedi?

Heh, if Precia turned out to be still alive (and masterminding this entire thing), maybe she can seduce Fate to the Dark Side to be family and have her go Anakin on the others?

[Akiyoshi]

And now they're throwing Star Wars into Nanoha xD

CW CEO: Arise! Lord Avenir
Tohma: Where's Lily
CW CEO: Unfortunately ...in the middle of your rage, you killed her...
*Tohma groans, room starts to shake*
Tohma: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!

[Justin_Brett]

I was actually calling them Gadget Droids for like four chapters in Section Thirteen, and nobody called me on it. Hopefully these guys will be a bit more memorable.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

writes usually intentionally design the androids inhuman-like, so the viewers won't be too emotionally attached for them (remember how no one gives a damn about the Gadget Drones).

Why shape them like a human?

Until they're introduced as characters and take of those UFO helmets, there's little to get emotionally attached to.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Until they're introduced as characters and take of those UFO helmets, there's little to get emotionally attached to.

Well problem is, the "betrayal" scenario includes the mages finally defeating the androids. Now technically they're mecha mooks like the Gadget Drones, but it's gonna be tricky to draw the heroes slicing, hacking, blasting or inflicting any other form of unpleasantness upon them without potentially giving disturbing thought of the heroes "killing". And there's no "non-lethal" solutions, since even set-to-stun magic could tear machines (or even battleship platings)

[Akiyoshi]

Well, Signum actually killed a living human opponent but is spared probably because of the circunstances. So, if the raptors go wild and they end up being just androids i think it will be enough ok for the heroes to attack them with lethal force.

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

Well problem is, the "betrayal" scenario includes the mages finally defeating the androids. Now technically they're mecha mooks like the Gadget Drones, but it's gonna be tricky to draw the heroes slicing, hacking, blasting or inflicting any other form of unpleasantness upon them without potentially giving disturbing thought of the heroes "killing". And there's no "non-lethal" solutions, since even set-to-stun magic could tear machines (or even battleship platings)

Why would they need to slice, hack or blast them to pieces? Befriending beams, remember? Shoot to disable.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Keroko

Why would they need to slice, hack or blast them to pieces? Befriending beams, remember? Shoot to disable.

If by disable you mean "blow up their arms and legs", since like I said, the non-lethal settings only works for organics. Remember how the heroes mauled the Gadget Drones with magic or even drill a battleship?

[Rising Dragon]

Robots typically don't like it when copious amounts of electricity are applied to them... and RF6 has two people on the team capable of pulling such stunts.

[Tiresias]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

Robots typically don't like it when copious amounts of electricity are applied to them... and RF6 has two people on the team capable of pulling such stunts.

And what would the rest of the squad do? Stand back and watch?

[Rising Dragon]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

And what would the rest of the squad do? Stand back and watch?

They might even pass popcorn, provide commentary, and give ratings.

[Akiyoshi]

Don't forget Subaru, her Cyborg IS is actually super effective against any kind of robot, cyborg, android and the like. Erio and Fate have lightning but Subaru have robo-killer powerfist xD

[Keroko]

Originally Posted by Tiresias

If by disable you mean "blow up their arms and legs", since like I said, the non-lethal settings only works for organics. Remember how the heroes mauled the Gadget Drones with magic or even drill a battleship?

There's always a handwave ready for these sorts of things. For example, Rein technically isn't organic either, but she can be knocked out as well.

And that's assuming that Force, which already has shown to be more brutal in this regard, doesn't just go for the dismembering. Cypha is human after all, didn't stop her from getting her arm lobbed off. The androids have the advantage of 'as long as you leave [critical part X] intact, they'll be alright.'

[aers]

And we have a picture of the NEXT. I'm sure someone will post the bigger one before I wake up tomorrow but it hasn't made its way to a public location yet.

Spoiler for NEXT - CW-AD X Raptor: