Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

Like Gundam Seed and its second season, Gundam Seed Destiny.

A's and StrikerS are really meant to be appended to the end of the full title Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, but it's just quicker not to.

Nanoha doesn't get REALLY good until the second season.

The first season is a complete mess. There are some very good elements (the action choregraphy is impeccable throughout, the mid-season switch to SF drives the plot in an interesting direction, the torture scene is chillingly effective...), but it suffers from very dull characters, horrible planning (you DON'T switch plot directions twice in six episodes : it doesn't work), and three full Tastes Like Diabetes episodes of Card Captor Sakura knock-off at the start that are really painful to watch. Also, the Hot Springs Episode is terrible.

On the other hand, the second season starts more or less In Media Res, with the first episode alone having more awesome fighting that all of the first season combined. The plot is much more compelling, with antagonists that completely steal the show (and do have a point), and a genuine sense of impending doom. There are still some flaws (the actual ending is a bit disappointing, and Nanoha is dull as ever), but on the whole it works.

I have to say I wasn't that impressed with the fighting choreography either, and having watched several video clips of it, that includes the second season. Not that it's bad, but I've seen plenty that I thought was much better; it wasn't anywhere near where it would have to be to carry the show.

Also, I'm confused as to why almost everyone seems so impressed with the torture scene. I found it incredibly dull and overdone. Limyaael has a rant on child abuse as characterization that I think the writing staff would have benefitted from reading. Besides being a hamfisted attempt to apply emotional leverage, that was also the point I realized that Fate was going to turn out not to be Precia's real daughter, a plot point that hadn't already been spoiled for me. For an allegedly original show, it was upsettingly predictable .

I think Desertopa has some extremely good points that I never thought to think of before.

I guess it was original as a mecha/Magical Girl show, but...Outside of that limited circle, not very much so.

And while the fight scenes were pretty to look at they aren't the best-choreographed I've seen.

I'm not quite sure it's entirely accurate to say that a lot of people were impressed with the torture scene. Some found it uncomfortable, some say it's Fetish Fuel, but I haven't heard anybody tout it as a defining moment of anime or anything like that. I also think it's fair to say that almost everybody would have guessed that Precia wasn't Fate's mother before she even appeared on screen; it's a stock device, after all.

Hamfistedness is hand-in-glove with melodrama, unfortunately, but it's not like subtlety is always needed or wanted. Tosca (and frankly quite a number of Luigi Illica's libretti) is along the same kind of lines: replace child abuse with rape or tuberculosis and you pretty much end up with more than half of nineteenth century operatic repertoire.

edited 1st Aug '09 12:48:51 PM by zeroplusalpha

Well, I can't speak for anyone else, but the torture scene works for me because it's the first time the show managed to make a character relatable. Not Fate, of course ; she's hopeless, and the Abusive Parent backstory doesn't help one bit making her any less dull.

But it gave me a hook to understand Arf (and to some extent, Bardiche), who's in complete despair as she watches her master being abused and refusing to let her help (Stockholm Syndrome in full effect)... Well, it resonates with me somehow.

When I think about it, it's the only time the first season does any sort of competent characterization. Which is damning it with faint praise, I realize.

Again, A's managed to do the same trick much better and upgrading it to the main plot, with the Wolkenritter. That's why it works much better.

Strikers is the first time the series manages to make any of the protagonists relatable (with Teana), but it completely dropped the ball with the antagonists. It's one of the many reasons it's really a completely different show.

Who ever said/though Nanoha had good writing?

It's fun show for just sitting back, enjoying the spectacle. If I'd actually try to critically think about it, I wouldn't be done tomorrow counting everything I think is wrong. I start thinking critically when watching Monster or GITS, not a fucking show about magical girls with mecha beam weaponry.

Also, I don't think it's Stockholm Syndrome that affected Fate, but rather the fact that she had the memories of Alicia in her, which speaks a lot about how much Alicia loved her mother.

edited 2nd Aug '09 4:49:28 PM by Smokie

I have to say that Strikers was my favorite season of Nanoha, mostly because I liked the new characters (protagonists, I agree with everyone on the villains being unremarkable at best), I liked the idea of a organized military-like force of magical girls, since people never seem to utilize them that way, and the battles were more engaging. I missed Yuuno, though. We need more male Staff Chick types.

In the end, I enjoyed the whole show, cute, fun, had lots of Les Yay, but I wouldn't say that it breaks new ground. Nor would I say there's much in it that makes good snarkbait.

GA-GA-GA GA-GA-GA GAO GAI GAR!

I would probably have given up on Nanoha earlier if I hadn't been led to believe that something more than spectacle would be forthcoming. It was hyped up as an intelligent, thought provoking and emotionally compelling magical girls series, with great action.

The only one of those that I agreed with was that it was indeed a magical girls series.

^That.

It was hyped up as an intelligent, thought provoking and emotionally compelling magical girls series

Ahahahaha, really?

I can't get over how Narmy those rollerblades are.

I kinda liked the rollerblades.

I did go "Wtf?" when I saw them. Then again, Nanoha is sort of Narm Charm for me.

I actually think there's a reason for her having them, that is to make her more of a steam locomotive. It all looks like she's about to crash through any wall. That engine-like appearance makes sense since she's a robot.

The first season did try to make some points about alienation and making a purpose for ourselves in life. It mostly dropped this by the climax, and the sequels never really did anything similar, so...

The rollerblades are also a nod in the direction of things like Air Gear; rollerblades as combat apparatus is more common in anime than you'd think.

edited 4th Aug '09 6:32:17 PM by zeroplusalpha

Man this makes me glad I rarely watch anime apart from Widget Series.

Well I haven't seen a profusion of combat rollerblading in a lot of western works, so...Widget by default, no?

Wow, you sure mustn't have grown up in the late 80s/early 90s like I did.

That's partly why it's narmy. I remember when having neon-pink wheeled rollerblades was THE COOLEST.

I'm actually older than you (you're 27, if I remember correctly from your "musings on how anime got so gosh darned popular" thread).

So why do I not remember the pink rollerblades you're talking about?

EDIT: Probably because I was in boarding school at the time. Not a place that welcomes pink rollerblades. Actually not a place that welcomes at all.

edited 5th Aug '09 6:10:17 AM by zeroplusalpha

Heh,I partially watch anime for the WJTs - Nanoha delivered on this count. Child mage with overpowered Beam Spam? Bring it on. Motorised semi-sentient rollerblades? Sweet.

I was bored today so I created this alignment chart◊. Pretty cool, huh.

I get the feeling that if it weren't for the whole Lharynx Dissonance issues, I'd probably really enjoy making an abridged series out of Nanoha.

FFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU

Hey zeroplusalpha, where is the thread where I wondered whether I'd scored my first convert?