ViVid Strike! Anime General Discussion Thread

[Key Board]

It's a weird feeling seeing old franchise like Doom, DragonBall, CardCaptor and Nanoha trying to make a comeback

It's as if my life cycled through and entire lap and now I'm at a start line again.

Interesting

[RDNexus]

Too bad not all those returnees are coming back in their prime or best...
It only shows how the passing of time can affect stuff we once loved.

[Hiss13]

Still no Force anime, huh.

Well, at least this one will be done in-house unlike the Vivid anime. Not sure how to feel about the Nanoha franchise losing it's iconic title character...

[Triple_R]

After sleeping on this, I feel a little less upset about it.

Nanoha Takamachi is an all-time favorite anime character for me, and the idea that we've now seen the last of her in anime format is depressing, especially given past movie announcements and the like. I'm also not sure how much I'd be invested in a spinoff from Nanoha that doesn't feature Nanoha herself at all...

All of that being said, the promo image for ViVid Strike is suggestive. That's not Vivio's typical hair color. Vivio's typical hair color falls somewhere between blonde and ginger, whereas this ViVid Strike promo image features a girl with brunette/dark brown hair. Hair much closer to Nanoha's in color. In fact, this ViVid Strike promo girl looks like a cross between Vivio and a teenage Nanoha.

Perhaps Seven Arcs is going for a hard reboot here. Perhaps they're going to make Vivio look and feel more like the Nanoha of the original series and Nanoha A's, in order to appeal to fans of the character and make any transition to this Nanoha-less universe smoother. Perhaps ViVid Strike will have a look and feel and tone more like that of the first two Nanoha series' and less like the Vivid anime.

If so, maybe that's all for the best. It could end up being a show that I'd enjoy watching, and that some other Nanoha fans enjoy watching. Perhaps this franchise could use a fresh start anyway.

[Key Board]

Originally Posted by xrick

Too bad not all those returnees are coming back in their prime or best...
It only shows how the passing of time can affect stuff we once loved.

Doom was great, and I'm having fun with Super. Bad production values, but I'm entertained.

Originally Posted by Triple_R

.

Perhaps Seven Arcs is going for a hard reboot here. Perhaps they're going to make Vivio look and feel more like the Nanoha of the original series and Nanoha A's, in order to appeal to fans of the character and make any transition to this Nanoha-less universe smoother. Perhaps ViVid Strike will have a look and feel and tone more like that of the first two Nanoha series' and less like the Vivid anime.

The two characters listed in the cast list (placed above Vivio and Einharts) names are new.

[LoweGear]

You know, as much as Nanoha is the face of the franchise that bears her name... I don't really feel that losing her as a character would be to the detriment of the franchise as a whole. The Nanoha franchise as a whole has become so expansive in its setting that it is very much capable of supporting a story that doesn't have Nanoha herself as the focus... and in fact, Nanoha herself arguably hasn't been the focus of the franchise since A's - yes Nanoha was the main protagonist then, but the actual focus of the story was Hayate and the Wolkenritter, whereas StrikerS had Subaru as the main protagonist, and ViviD had Vivio as the main character. That's 3 out of 4 TV series where Nanoha herself isn't the focus of the story, and this is in her own franchise no less.

Thus, them dropping Nanoha's name, and even character entirely from a spinoff isn't really that bad I feel, considering that the setting of the world has become such that Nanoha herself isn't really important for stories to be told in that setting, which ViviD handily demonstrates.

[Triple_R]

@LoweGear - I think you're overly downplaying Nanoha's role in the anime franchise that bears her name.

Really, StrikerS had 4 co-main protagonists - Subaru, Teana, Nanoha, and Fate. From both a "main POV" perspective, and a screen-time perspective, I remember things being divided pretty evenly between all 4. I also would argue that StrikerS' most memorable moments where dominated by Nanoha and Fate - the three moments that stand out the most in my mind involve Nanoha or Fate blowing somebody away. Nanoha and Fate also had a very strong presence in the recent Vivid anime.

But this actually ties into why a fresh start hard reboot might be for the best for ViVid Strike. Perhaps adult!Nanoha's absence is for the best if you want to build up a new magical girl main protagonist - A case can be made that Subaru and Teana and Vivio were all hurt by being caught in the shadows of Nanoha and Fate.

However, this means that Fate should be leaving as well. Go back to the classic magical girl setup where its about the young magical girls, and their parents are fairly minor supporting cast characters or not around at all.


All of the above being said, it's still sad to see Nanoha (and possibly Fate) leave. She's certainly had a good run, but I think there was still another good anime story or two they could have told with her. But I guess it's best to focus on the silver lining.

[vic-vic]

Foe extra dark (and excuse for their absence) Nanoha and Fate could have been killed during Eclipse incident in the Vivid-Strike timeline... thus making Vivio adopting more of her original mindset.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

@LoweGear - I think you're overly downplaying Nanoha's role in the anime franchise that bears her name.

Really, StrikerS had 4 co-main protagonists - Subaru, Teana, Nanoha, and Fate. From both a "main POV" perspective, and a screen-time perspective, I remember things being divided pretty evenly between all 4. I also would argue that StrikerS' most memorable moments where dominated by Nanoha and Fate - the three moments that stand out the most in my mind involve Nanoha or Fate blowing somebody away. Nanoha and Fate also had a very strong presence in the recent Vivid anime.

But this actually ties into why a fresh start hard reboot might be for the best for ViVid Strike. Perhaps adult!Nanoha's absence is for the best if you want to build up a new magical girl main protagonist - A case can be made that Subaru and Teana and Vivio were all hurt by being caught in the shadows of Nanoha and Fate.

However, this means that Fate should be leaving as well. Go back to the classic magical girl setup where its about the young magical girls, and their parents are fairly minor supporting cast characters or not around at all.


All of the above being said, it's still sad to see Nanoha (and possibly Fate) leave. She's certainly had a good run, but I think there was still another good anime story or two they could have told with her. But I guess it's best to focus on the silver lining.

It is still a downer even with the possibilities. Honestly, it's just a strange thing in general. This universe has great potential to move well beyond the main cast, but they also made the franchise with the main character's name in the title which made it hard to ever really move away from her .

StrikerS was an odd situation really. I agree those 4 really dominated the focus though. My condolences to Lightning which was majorly ignored outside of Fate getting a few moments. Did more than they could handle with that one. I just hope with any new show that they don't get overwhelmed and try to tackle more than they can handle with a cast too large to handle.

I tend to agree if you want to branch out then you kind of need the original cast not hanging over them. That can often lead to the original cast being the one you'd rather be seeing when you have both hanging around and also can lead to them taking over in shows that should have been about passing the torch.

It's just a tough thing and depends on how they handle it. This is a weird situation really. They have to be incredibly careful or they'll kill any interest in this thing before it even comes out. Clearly making an effort to distance themselves from the Nanoha name-sake. Can understand wanting to try to establish a new franchise title so they can move on. I still think they need to be careful in removing Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate from this since I expect them all to be gone.

I do think the franchise has always had the potential to go beyond Nanoha herself. It's an entire Universe. I don't know, makes me think of Star Trek in a sense. You could go anywhere and focus anywhere if you really wanted, just keeping the connection that it happens in the same universe with the same tech. I just hope they transition properly. Sure, get the feeling they want to transition to a new lead with that picture. A very teen-Nanoha feel in a sense.

Also, what is with the focus in the show now and this cute animal devices? In the good old days we just had talking gems .

Originally Posted by vic-vic

Foe extra dark (and excuse for their absence) Nanoha and Fate could have been killed during Eclipse incident in the Vivid-Strike timeline... thus making Vivio adopting more of her original mindset.

I wouldn't recommend that tactic though. If you want to get your new start on a franchise off on the right foot, murdering the original main characters in an incident we never see isn't a good way to get the good will of viewers. Especially with behind the scenes issues, it will just seem lazy and disrespectful.

[LoweGear]

Originally Posted by Triple_R

@LoweGear - I think you're overly downplaying Nanoha's role in the anime franchise that bears her name.

Really, StrikerS had 4 co-main protagonists - Subaru, Teana, Nanoha, and Fate. From both a "main POV" perspective, and a screen-time perspective, I remember things being divided pretty evenly between all 4. I also would argue that StrikerS' most memorable moments where dominated by Nanoha and Fate - the three moments that stand out the most in my mind involve Nanoha or Fate blowing somebody away. Nanoha and Fate also had a very strong presence in the recent Vivid anime.

I did say 'arguably', though the case of Nanoha's importance is pretty much due to the fact that in all the series I mentioned, Nanoha herself isn't the actual driving force of the larger plot: yes, she's important in ways as a viewpoint, and in StrikerS Nanoha herself was Subaru's inspiration and as Vivio's adopter, however never has the plot actually centered around Nanoha herself as an element. Unlike in the original series where the conflict and relationship between Nanoha and Fate was the central story pillar of the show's plot, in A's and StrikerS she's more or less just a protagonist caught up in much larger machinations (incidentally, both of said machinations involved Hayate), and in ViviD Nanoha is more or less a side character, since the focus of that particular series is Vivio's growth.

Nanoha herself of course is an important character in the franchise, but she's the type of protagonist where you can remove her and still have a story revolving around elements already established in the setting. Hell, the entire Nanoha OC Thread in the subforum more or less established the ability of the franchise's setting to support stories that didn't focus on Nanoha - just the entire backstory of Ancient Belka is ripe with story opportunity, let alone the larger multiverse the TSAB covers.

Thus, it doesn't feel weird to me to see a story set in the Nanohaverse that doesn't have Nanoha in it, which appears to be the direction this particular show is going to take it seems.

Originally Posted by vic-vic

Foe extra dark (and excuse for their absence) Nanoha and Fate could have been killed during Eclipse incident in the Vivid-Strike timeline... thus making Vivio adopting more of her original mindset.

This feels very unnecessary for something like this. Given that Vivid Strike seems to be focusing on an entirely new character as the main heroine, it's not really necessary for them to display Nanoha or Fate in any capacity in order to tell the story they want to. Even in the Nanoha franchise itself, we get people like Momoko and Shirou, aka Nanoha's own parents, whose fates aren't really covered by the TV series after A's... and yet their absence didn't affect the story of StrikerS or Vivid one bit, and nobody's putting forth the theory that they died in those particular periods. If a character doesn't need to be shown within the context of a story, then there's no need for them to show unless done so as fanservice.

[Triple_R]

I completely agree with FlareKnight's last post. I think it's only normal for many of this franchise's fans to be emotionally attached to Nanoha's character and hence sad at seeing her leave like this. But at the same time we can be cautiously optimistic towards ViVid Strike.

[Sagitta Luminis]

I miss Nanoha and Fate. I'd be much more interested in an anime about badass magical women soldiers in space.

[vic-vic]

Well, maybe killing off a bit TOO dark, I admit. Still Nanoha and Fate could have been put in hospital after the Eclipse incident and Vivio visit them as often as she can. I thought about this NOT as a tool to push new charas in the spotlight. ut rather as a meaning to show that everything got much more serious since the Strikers.

The usage of the technology of war from the ancient Belka, together with strains of the Eclipse virus, get more and more rampant and mage sof Bureau forced t use new equipment more and more. The scenes of the savage battles (which become more and more similar to those from the times of Belkan Empire) became a catalys for awakening of the memories of Vivio, Einhart and other descendants of the Belkan royal families and nobles.

[Sagitta Luminis]

Considering the direction Vivid went in, I doubt it will be as dark as the previous installments.

[relentlessflame]

Originally Posted by aers

I assume you're basing this off the new OP/ED singers being signed to King Records, since there's no mention of the production committee on the website, or in the extended staff listing given out as PR

Well, King Amusement Creative also tweeted it, so I think it's safe to say they're involved. The website itself was registered by Seven Arcs, so they're probably producing it too. But yeah, the full production committee hasn't been listed anywhere yet, aside from these hints.

[Sage Shinigami]

Just...a potential suggestion: if they can't use Yukarin, what're the odds that they simply recast Nanoha?

[xizro345]

Those things generally don't work. And in this case it would mean immediate backfire. I mean, despite being a minor franchise, a lot of people were ticked off when Komugi was recast in Komugi-chan R.

[vic-vic]

On other hand, Motoko Kusanagi's VA shift from Atsuko Tanaka to Maaya Sakamoto was meet without a mahot fret (in Russia at least)

[Rising Dragon]

From what I've seen (and my experiences are limited), female VAs in anime are only recast if they retire from voice acting entirely, come down with a debilitating illness, or die. Japanese fans are way too diehard when it comes to idols and voice actresses, and recasts without a good enough reason (for them) can ruin ratings.

[xizro345]

Sometimes it happens when some characters are voiced by the same VA (except for things like Kancolle, of course). In certain games it happens, but I l believe they're the exception (Jam was recast in the Guilty Gear Xrd series but I think that had to do with something with her old VA).

Plus Yukarin is still way popular, despite her falling out with King Records and her own depression. Changing Nanoha's voice would really be a bad a idea and would risk destroying whatever they're trying to build with this series.