Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

Given that Precia theoried that they had the technology to resurrect the dead, I'd peg them as an Ancient Egypt-like culture. It'd be interesting to see whether or not Al Hazard still actually exists, either as a ruined planet in a far off dimension, or a Zanarkand-like civilization, trapped in the very deep corners of dimension space.

On another note, for those who had watched the movies, what is the general opinion about them?

My reasoning basically went "Al-Hazard" sounds like "Al-Hazred", as in "The Mad Arab, Abdul Alhazred".

edited 23rd Jun '15 9:45:46 PM by EvaUnit01

It is a place that dwells in the memory of those who still dream of its ancient glory. A world revered for it's beauty, mystery and danger. On a planet of endless adventure such a land is known as El-Hazard.

edited 24th Jun '15 12:38:49 AM by KnightofLsama

Would you...hazard a guess???

I think it still exists.... deep in subspace.

Got up to episode 5 or 6 of Strikers. Pretty good so far, none of the characters are horrifically annoying yet. The antagonist has had maybe 30 seconds of total screentime and he's already creepy as balls. The huge dude and little girl that seem to be his minions are clearly going to get befriended as hell.

One thing I did notice: apparently the Bureau has rules for how many mages of what power level are allowed to be attached to a specific unit. Presumably powerful mages are a limited resource that they want to distribute efficiently; makes sense. Except that Nanoha and co apparently get around it by... wearing a Power Limiter that artificially lowers their mage rank to the appropriate level, which just seems silly.

The math of mage ranks also makes my head hurt. Nanoha is naturally rank S+, but gets limited down 2.5 ranks to AA. And Hayate went down three ranks from SS to A (why do they limit the commander to a lower level than a squad leader, anyway?). Presumably the plus is the half-level in Nanoha's case, so how does Hayate, a half-level above Nanoha and limited a half-level more, end up a full rank below her? It works out if Hayate was actually limited four ranks down... maybe I got a bad translation. Or just Writers Cannot Do Math.

Because Hayate has considerably less finesse in how she can apply her magic. It literally ranges from "carpet bombing run" to "tactical nuclear strike".

Besides, mage rank is not necessarily reflective of actual prowess in combat or the mage's status.

I think the canon explanation for it (that was explained somewhere which I don't remember where) is that placing power limiters on powerful mages when they are placed in the same unit serves as a security measure in the event that these mages decide to go rogue. Nanoha and co. didn't get around it, it was required of them to have power limiters in order to be allowed to be in the same unit. Presumably, the process of even getting the people Hayate wanted for Riot Force 6 took a few years, only expedited by the fact that she's supported by 3 high ranking TSAB officials.

It is a bit shaky, but the first thing to remember is that mage ranks are not just indications of how powerful a mage is, but also how proficient a mage is in a certain field. According to the Nanoha Wiki, there are 3 classifications of TSAB specialized ranks (Air, Ground, and Composite/Synthetic). Nanoha's S+ rank is under Air, since she's one of the best TSAB aerial Mages while Hayate's SS is classified under Composite, a support mage/ a mage with a rare skill. Presumably, the math between these ranks are different from each other.

Edit: According to the Nanoha wiki again, limiters are placed in powerful mages when they work together because their combined magnitude can endanger the fabric of time-space and alternatively, as a way to prevent them from overstraining themselves from magic use.

edited 24th Jun '15 6:17:58 PM by Hoki

Is there any information on whether ViVid is split-cour? Because it just ended right in the middle of the tournament arc, so it certainly looks like it is.

Split-cour it seems to be. There's no way they are just gonna leave things hanging.

And apparently the ending dialogue said something about an "interval".

edited 24th Jun '15 7:59:11 PM by arahman56

Regarding rank math, turns out that I'm just an idiot. The subs do say that Hayate was dropped down four ranks (SS to A), I just misread the first time. So presumably the ranks are A, AA, AAA, S, and SS. Hayate goes down four (SS -> S -> AAA -> AA -> A) and Nanoha goes down two and a half (S+ -> S -> AAA -> AA), so that all works out.

Yeah it did. Vivio said something about stopping for an "interval" or something like that, i.e. for a while.

It's not a specific unit, it's a specific rank of officer. Hayate, as a Lieutenant Colonel, is only permitted a certain aggregate amount of mage rank under her direct command. Given that she has an excess of the Bureau's best and brightest and the fact that existing limiter technology probably doesn't work on the Wolkenritter, her faux-battalion consists of under twenty active combatants.

Genya Nakajima, another Lieutenant Colonel with a regular army unit, has a whole actual battalion of mages; but none of them are ranked anything worth writing home about or flight-capable to our knowledge.

edited 24th Jun '15 11:12:48 PM by Night

When did flight capability become a special thing, anyway? Up until Strikers, flying around just seemed a standard part of having magic. Everyone and their dog — literally (here's looking at you, Arf and Zafira) — could do it without it being remarked upon. Now in Strikers, it's treated like a special talent, rather than a standard ability or even something you can do with a spell.

I suspect the answer is "it became special as soon as they decided they wanted a character whose gimmick was roller blades + power fist".

edited 24th Jun '15 11:24:48 PM by NativeJovian

...for what it's worth, we never did see Precia or Lindy fly. Nor anyone else in the TSAB who actually wore a uniform (Chrono's Barrier Jacket notwithstanding), although it'd be kinda silly to have trained soldiers zooming around the hallways in a military installation.

The accompanying manga for MGLN actually made this point, I think. It's been canon for a long time; most mages don't have the power output for flight. You have to be B or up to even think about it and lot of B-rankers can't.

Precia can float and given that Linith taught Fate how to fly, we can safely assume that Precia can as well. Also don't think Lindy's wings are just for show.

There are, of course, mages below B-rank that can fly, such as Corona. Although in Corona's case, she said somewhere the manga that she just started learning how to, so she can't fly as well as the others.

edited 25th Jun '15 1:39:46 AM by Hoki

So I watched episode 11 of Vivid. Raw, of course.

Hum. I hoped for the best, and it delivered! The Einhart/Corona bout was well done! Good job, animators!

Maybe I could get someone to look at and review the three chapters of this?

It has Yuuno as a main character, Arf being important in the third chapter, and what I'm informed are quality action scenes.

Hey, which trope applies to the Innocent manga's upsizing of the already-busty girls' chests? Fanservice Pack, or Adaptational Curves?

edited 27th Jun '15 9:10:16 AM by MarqFJA

Given that it's an Alternate Continuity, I'd surmise that Adaptational Curves is the relevant trope.

Episode 11. In which the main battle of the season takes place. Sort of.

Pawnch.

What's the down count based on? Her saying she's ready again? Getting out of the hole and standing in the right place?

So, if she reacts automatically, use attacks that aren't standard.

"If her attack is powerful enough, that shouldn't matter." It's kind of the other way around. If the timing is wrong, power doesn't matter.

Digging the music.

The puppet master awakens.

Spiral finger. Well, if you can follow it up with a Divine Buster...

Episode 12. In which they kind of try to end a season that has no real end.

She's got a point about who the nervous one is.

She totally has a crush on her butler.

I prefer the Silver Curtain. Although there's nothing wrong with the black one.

The one throwing confetti is cool.

People who brag about driving usually shouldn't, and usually don't have a cause to brag in the first place.

Yeah, this better come with a real conclusion. Didn't get to see the best fights.

Concerning Yuuno, all he'd need to kick some serious ass is a little bit of spring water. From a spring where a girl once drowned.

So I got bored and decided to see just how many members of the Nanoha cast also voiced Pretty Cure characters, and then wound up making a chart out of the result.

Namely this one.◊ (BIG IMAGE WARNING)

So FFFansubs just announced that they dropped ViVid. Did anyone else sub it?