Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

"It was a small incident that happened to me, Nanoha Takamachi, a girl who was supposed to be a third grader." ~Nanoha Takamachi, at the start of every episode of this series. If this is a 'small' incident, I'm rather curious as to what defines a 'large' one. Let us break this down. Note: For clarification, I will refer to this series as 'Lyrical Nanoha'. The titular character, I will refer to as 'Nanoha'. I hope this will ease confusion. Story: 6/10 Lyrical Nanoha's story is simple. There is no way around this fact. But in it's simplicity, it works quite well. Our main character, Nanoha, comes across an injured ferret-like creature named 'Yuuno' with a strange bead, after thinking that she 'hears' it calling her. After a 'small incident', she ends up working for said creature to capture Magical McGuffins, known as Jewel Seeds. Using aforementioned bead, loaned to her quite generously by Yuuno, she is able to access typical Magical Girl clothing/armor and abilities, allowing her to more vigorously chase after said McGuffins. But she soon comes across another Magical Girl who also is pursuing these Jewel Seeds for her own reasons, which are unknown to Nanoha. While this new girl is quite quick to battle, Nanoha is reluctant, wanting instead to use diplomacy to see if the two can work together. Even after getting her ass handed to her. And thus, Nanoha continues to try and break the cold outer shell of this new girl with 'sad eyes' and her familiar, to attempt to form a friendship. Oh, and about midway through the season a Space-Navy ship shows up to destabilize the show. Between this, and one (two, depending on how you think of it) surprise turns in the middle-to-closing stages of the show, sums up the majority of Lyrical Nanoha. By being simplistic in nature, it leaves itself little room for failure, and in addition, little room to actually break out in an amazing way. The 'twists' are dark and jarring, yes, but they are aimed more toward the characters and changing them then altering the overall story. Art: 4/10 I was actually surprised as my rating for the art and animation for this series. Because all in all, it's not bad. But it never really shines. While the battle scenes are impressive, such impressiveness is based more around the characters and soundtrack. The animation never downright fails either, but it never really takes off. In addition, as this original series is now 12 years old, it's age is actually showing. And not in the 'graceful' aging way either. Sound: 7/10 To make up for the mediocre art, the soundtrack kicks ass. The opening theme will burn into your mind during the short 13 episodes you spend with it. Nana Mizuki, who is the singer behind the opening, brings an energetic and anticipatory rush to your mind every time a new episode starts. This would become commonplace in this series, as many of her works pop up in the Lyrical Nanoha franchise as a whole, each of them shining in their own way. Sadly, on the other hand, the ED lacks any real memorability. OP and ED aside, the in-show soundtrack not slouching. While it wouldn't exactly be fantastically memorable on it's own, it is well mixed into the show, emphasizing moments of combat wonderfully, subtly adding to the drama whenever a sudden reveal occurs, while setting the viewer at ease for the more relaxed sections. And it's a great supporter of the 'less is more' concept. The 'sudden twist reveal' in Episode 11 is musically built with faint piano keys and other moderately soft instruments, used more for subtly punctuating the first reveal then drawing on in an unrealistic silence, all the while staying quite calm. So while the soundtrack itself is only slighty-better then average, it's execution is wonderful. Character: 6.5/10 The issue of Character in the Lyrical Nanoha franchise's first installment is something that could easily come hotly under fire. Interpretation of character development, depth, and backstory varies from person to person. One might view the titular character as a realistic 'everygirl with honor' thrown into an otherworldy scenario, while Fate would be an edgy 'Anti-hero' left-over from the nineties. Another person might view Nanoha as a two-dimensional heroine that would feel more at home in an action Shounen then a Mahou Shoujo, while Fate is a stunning portrayal of a girl with massive power cracking, and eventually breaking, under surmounting pressure. (My personal viewpoint is that Nanoha is a simply written character for a simple story. No need to make a convuluted hero in a mostly simple story. Fate, while going through typical expected motions of a young girl in her scenario, goes through them with quite a level of believablity.) The supporting characters become more bland and dull the farther they are from the main story. Yuuno and Arf, the secondary characters, are written quite well, as is the overall 'big bad'. Nanoha's family and friendS are more placeholders then anything else, filling in her 'normal' life without really adding anything, save for the typical 'Main character seems divided from the real world' occurrence that shows up in Magical Girl shows. (BUT HEY, HER PARENTS ARE SOMEWHAT INVOLVED IN HER LIFE! THAT'S AN IMPROVEMENT OVER 90 PERCENT OF ANIME RIGHT THERE!!!) . The Space-Navy's members are really...flat. This would get fixed in the following season, but they really have nothing behind them to make them memorable as characters. Enjoyment: 8/10 Lyrical Nanoha nails it with it's enjoyment factor. By setting up the characters and music well, each confrontation is made amazing and memorable. The sudden twists have their effects punctuated with it's execution. As a moment of badassness occurs, one will likely find themselves fist-pumping and gasping as it occurs. The cutting points for each episode stradle that boundary of 'wanting more' and 'being satisfied' just right. Granted, this enjoyment factor can easily go the other way. Someone who is overly familiar with Magical Girl tropes and/or is well versed in anime will likely be more detached from this series, seeing it just go through the motions. Overal: 6/10 In short, Lyrical Nanoha survives more on great execution of it's spectacle and show then actual depth. And you know what? That's perfectly okay. As an individual show, Lyrical Nanoha is something that will likely excite you at first, and for some time you'll think 'danm, that was awesome'. After the initial awe finally wears off (assuming you didn't immediately jump into the next seasons, something I didn't have the privilege of doing), your recollection will be tempered, but upon review, all the small things that add up, along with the soul of the show, will make you recall why exactly you enjoyed this so much. Would I recommend this series to others? I would, and I have. This isn't a waste of time. Sure, it's not 'over the top' like Kill-la-Kill, or 'deep and edgy' like Neon Genesis Evangelion. But it doesn't need to be. It sets out to tell a 'small' incident that occurred to a third grader, and executes it quite well. The payoff, however, isn't from this first season. This first season establishes characters and makes them familiar. They become much more enjoyable and personable in the following two seasons, and there is where the payoff is, as they become much more fleshed out, people that you can recognize beyond their archetypes and tropes. It's a good start to a great franchise. So my final word is: If you even somewhat liked Lyrical Nanoha, jump into the next season(s). That's where the payoff comes in.

Lyrical Nanoha (season one), in a few words, is a series that's very difficult to recommend, but if you can deal with the negatives, it could be worth investing time into. Let's start with the positives. The series starts as a typical magical girl series with a focus on a "collect the items" mission and turns into something different by the end. There are a lot of great visuals and original songs here, and character designs tend to be mixed; Nanoha and Fate look great, but other characters fade into the background. The series somewhat mixes the slice-of-life genre with the magical girl aspect by giving Nanoha a rival in Fate, though this is later subverted. For what it's worth, Fate makes a great character for a variety of reasons; her character arc is extremely interesting and she gives many of the series its best moments. Her morality is genuinely questionable and human at times, and all of the actions in the series feel like they take place for a reason. Even Arisa and Suzuka are subverted early into the series and play a good role at providing an emotional core. Nanoha's key goal (to become Fate's friend) is a very simple and innocent one and tells much of both girls' character through their reaction to the events in the series that unfold. It's also interesting that we see that despite being Nanoha's alleged rival, she doesn't seem to be battling out of freewill, nor out of resistance, and the reasons why become more complex as the season progresses. Unfortunately, Lyrical Nanoha (Season 1 at least) is subject to a few issues that call into question the aforementioned positives. The show deals with mental and physical abuse at times, which can be disconcerting as some scenes are very graphic. There's also a considerable amount of nudity and fanservice given the young ages of the protagonists, which could be a factor that deters away some audiences as well. Nanoha also suffers from pacing at times; despite being only 13 episodes, there is a great quantity of exposition in the series, as well as some filler episodes that don't really amount to anything or at worst, a minor character development that's never brought up again. However, I believe that Nanoha was able to pick itself up by the end, and episodes started to somewhat improve in various aspects. The first season receives a 6/10.

The "Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha" is very unique, some might say that it was genre-bending at the time of its release. Before "Lyrical Nanoha" made its debut, the only place that you could really expect to find magical girls and spaceships in the same continuity would be on a videotape... playing an obscure, '90s OVA. This series made the idea of arcane magic having a scientific equation more of a mainstream idea, and lead to more technologically-enhanced mahō shōjo shows, like "Senki Zesshō Symphogear" and "Vividred Operation"! ⚠️ This review of Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha and Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 1st will contain spoilers ⚠️ —Story/Characters Right off the bat, I would suggest skipping to the film version of Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha, if you don't want to commit to a full-length series. I, myself, watched the TV version of the "Lyrical Nanoha" story first, and aside from the catchy melody of the opening theme ("Innocent Starter") — the film retelling is better in every way: better animation quality and a cohesive visual direction, deleted scenes that make the series more poignant, and ※superior audio quality, plus it trims some of the episodic fat off of the runtime of the series! ※I watched the Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 1st BD and the 2K visuals are mind-boggling! Especially, the reframing of the last battle between Nanoha and Fate was really, really good! The movie adaptation is like a video game that has less fetch quests! So now, let's dive into the narrative of the first "Lyrical Nanoha" series! Nanoha Takamachi is an average girl that gets granted magical powers by an inter-dimensional ferret. Yes, that's actually the plot. Like the story of "InuYasha" (except exponentially shorter), Nanoha and her rival, Fate Testarossa, battle to collect "jewel seeds" — Fate engages in conflict on behalf of her evil scientist of a mother ("Sailor Moon S" inspired?) while Nanoha is trying to help her talking, ferret friend (who is part of a Time-Space Bureau). Along the way, Fate and Nanoha begin to fall and love, and Fate — knowing only a life of physical abuse and neglect, begins to question what she's really fighting for. It turns out that Fate is a clone of her mother's ("Precia Testarossa's") real daughter, and that she had made Fate in a desperate attempt to replace her deceased daughter, Alicia, but while a human body can be cloned, a soul cannot. This leads to Precia forcing Fate to fight deadly battles in order to collect the "jewel seeds" and form the Philosopher's Stone, so that she can resurrect her daughter from the dead! She doesn't have any feeling of love or affection for Fate, but Fate sees her as a mother, because she's the only family that she's ever known. There's a dream scene with Fate, in Episode 12: "When Our Fate is Sealed" — while in the "Garden of Time," Fate imagines a life where her and Alicia are both living as sisters, and Precia is what one would imagine to be a normal mother. In the film version of this scene, I cried like a baby, it was so sad! The story ends with Precia's plot being foiled and her loudly declaring that she never loved Fate. Another very sad moment. And then a woman ("Lindy Harlaown") working for the Time-Space Bureau decides to adopt Fate. Living in separate dimensions, Fate and Nanoha exchange ribbons to remember each other by, ahem, like the last episode of "Mahō Shōjo Madoka★Magica"! Akiyuki Shinbō's fingerprints are all over this plot, without the grimdark edge of Gen Urobuchi looming over! For an anime that is an alternate universe, spin-off of an eroge series ("Triangle Heart")... it has a really good scenario and a cast of memorable characters, despite that! Luna's Favorite Works by Each Respective Creator = ✅ Akiyuki Shinbō (director of "Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha"), notable works: * 3-Gatsu no Lion (series) * Arakawa Under the Bridge (series) ✅ * Cossette no Shōzō * Denpa Onna to Seishun Otoko * Detatoko Princess * Fate/Extra: Last Encore * Ginga Ojō-sama Densetsu Yuna: Shin'en no Fairy ✅ * Hidamari Sketch (series) * Katteni Kaizō * Kōfuku Graffiti * Kubikiri Cycle: Aoiro Savant to Zaregototsukai * Mahō Sensei Negima!: Mō Hitotsu no Sekai * Mahō Sensei Negima!: Shiroki Tsubasa Ala Alba * Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha ✅ * Mahō Shōjo Madoka★Magica ✅ * Mahō Shōjo Madoka★Magica (film series) ✅ * Maria†Holic (series) ✅ * Mekakucity Actors * Metal Fighter Miku * Monogatari (series) ✅ * Natsu no Arashi! (series) * Negima?! * Nisekoi (series) * Ojōsama Sōsamō * Paniponi Dash! * Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei (series) ✅ * Shihaisha no Tasogare * Shin Hurricane Polymar * Shina Dark: Kuroki Tsuki no Ō to Sōheki no Tsuki no Himegimi * Soredemo Machi wa Mawatteiru * Soreyuke! Uchū Senkan Yamamoto Yohko (series) * Tenamonya Voyagers * The SoulTaker: Tamashii-gari * Triangle Heart: Sweet Songs Forever * Tsukuyomi: Moon Phase * Uchiage Hanabi, Shita kara Miru ka? Yoko kara Miru ka? ("Fireworks") Commentary: Mr. Shinbō's work on the first installment of "Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha" is less of a reflection of his contemporary resume (with Studio Shaft), and more similar to his work on past ventures, like "Galaxy Fräulein Yuna"! There are semblances of his distinctive style, especially in areas that are given more financial leeway, like with the OP and first episode storyboards. Some of the intimate facial shots would later become an iconic, Shaft staple, and some of the "transformation scene" techniques — with all of their glitz and polish, were then, later reinvented in Mr. Shinbō's more famous magical girl series, ※"Mahō Shōjo Madoka★Magica"! Mr. Shinbō paved the granite walkway for the franchise; he and his team made the first series a success, so that the successors could have a chance to shine! I personally thought that Mr. Keizō Kusakawa handled the series better (with the films and A's), but Akiyuki Shinbō was pivotal for the show to gain traction! Iconic director, great job with the first season! ※Kind of strange when you think about it, because Nanoha and Fate have a similar dynamic to Madoka Kaname and Akemi Homura in "Mahō Shōjo Madoka★Magica"! Keizō Kusakawa (director of "Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 1st"), notable works: * Action Heroine Cheer Fruits * Ahiru no Sora * Aho Girl * Akuma no Riddle ✅ * Asura Cryin' (series) * Campione!: Matsurowanu Kamigami to Kamigoroshi no Maō * Dog Days (Season One) ✅ * Fūka ✅ * Genei wo Kakeru Taiyō ✅ * Happy Sugar Life ✅ * Inukami! ✅ * Inukami! The Movie: Tokumei Reiteki Sōsakan Karina Shirō! * Jūō Mujin no Fafnir * KanColle Movie ✅ * Kantai Collection: KanColle ✅ * Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha A's ✅ * Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS ✅ * Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 2nd A's ✅ * Mondaiji-tachi ga Isekai kara Kuru Sou Desu yo? ✅ * Rō-Kyū-Bu! ✅ * Rō-Kyū-Bu! SS ✅ * Rō-Kyū-Bu! Tomoka no Ichigo Sundae ✅ * Sekirei * Sekirei: Pure Engagement Commentary: Mr. Kusakawa is less celebrated than he should be; the man can direct some very visually striking animation scenes — if you haven't watched the "Kantai Collection" film, I would suggest giving it a try, it is a gorgeous, hour-long slice of animation! I would say that his lack of popularity with English audiences is partially due to his focus on leading very niche projects, that are more popular with the "moe otaku" crowd, rather than appealing to your everyday, run-of-the-mill, anime-watching normie. The original GAME for "Kantai Collection" has never even received an international release, and I doubt that it would garner much of a following if it did, since "Azur Lane" has already wormed its way into the hearts of EN players! Despite being a very talented director, he doesn't normally land projects with highly-skilled animators or writers; that's the whole reason why "Akuma no Riddle" sunk! And he is typically designated to lower budget studios, but when he is granted a large sum of expendable income, like with the repackaged "Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha" films, his finesse really shows…

Story: It's another magical girl anime. Story begins with a normal 3rd grade school girl finding a ferret named yuno, which gives her red jewel seeking her spiritual power as assistance. But to yuno's surprise her powers are greater than he imagined and so her maneuvers with the magic staff. Yuno explains her that due to his fault he lost some jewel shards, which can emit lot of destructive energy. So she says will help him. Later on she owns the search for the safety of her town's people but not only for yuno. Characters: The only strong character for me in this anime is Chrono of Time-space bureau. He seems to be a child but his knowledge and composure were out of his age. Art: It's the only plus point of the anime besides music. I am not at all satisfied with this anime for the following reasons: 1. lot of Fanservice. There is no need to show naked girl while transforming and the clothing of most of the female characters is awkward. 2. The protagonist and all other characters which have significant role to play in battles are mere 8 year old children. 3. The story seemed to be rushed so that it could be wrapped up quickly. Here again crying for some one (fate) who just become a friend like crying for departing a loved one. 4. Story is not explained well (for example one of the school friend's of Nanoha has heated argument with her and their relationship and liking for one another is also weird.) 5. Nanoha leaves her parents with saying WHAT REASON ( the narrator just says something as her explanation for leaving to her mother ; but we are not sure what she actually told her mother even at the end)? it's not clearly showed in the anime. Her father says from now on you do not have to worry about me since i will only be the cafeteria owner. What and why are they worried? Nanoha's brother and sister's proximity seems a puzzle. So far in Japanese anime that i have seen brother and sister maintain some distance right. Finally i think this season is not so important and is DEFINITELY NOT WATCH WORTHY with kids as the animator deliberately showed too many awkward scens, nude images that despised me but the only thing kept me watch it till the end is my mom who ( also despised these scenes) wanted to see how the story will unfold at the end. But the end is not satisfactory.

As a old and long time magical girl fan I can say this series isn't intended for magical girl entusiasts because in the first 3 episodes the series does the generic and clliché things in the story (sometimes imitating a lot Cardcaptor Sakura) but after that is very clear this is a series not intended for everyone but mainly for boys because it shows soft fanservice and the main focus in the story is the action and the fighting not the drama and romance someone is expecting in magical girls series. The characters are fine for an action series but not so deeply developed sometimes they feeel a little generic being similar to some stereotypes in shounen series. If you look it as shounen action series it's enjoyable by its action and visuals, the character designs have its own style but the characters besides the protagonist sometimes look alike. In sounds nothing spectacular but it uses the stock SFX in shounen anime very well with some "Engrish" used for the magical powers. The story seems that it could had gone further and deeper making it more complete but I suppose because the short length of 13 episodes they had to resume and end the story very quickly. In conclusion don't watch it if you're looking for a standard magical girl series, watch it if you're looking for a magical girl series turned shounen action series.

bence biraz çoçuk işiydi sihirli kız türünde gene de ii iş çıkarmışlar karakterler felan epey cool du hele ki fate epey iyidi onun dışında savaş sahneleri hoşuma gitti zaten büyü çemberi meraklısı olduğum için izlemeye başlamıştım hemencecikte bitirdim sıkıcı değil hatta diğer bölümde ne olcak diye merak ettirdiği sahneleri de var

it was incredible. the writing, the pacing, all the characters were well developed, and i love the story. it has so much depth to it, and it exceeded my expectations. it starts off one way and you think it's going to be this cute magical girl anime, but it gets really dark actually. and the plot and how it's written is better than anything i could've imagined it to be. even the fights were cool. they weren't dragged out, weren't overpowered, it was the perfect balance of everything. there is nothing that needed improvement. all the characters contributed to the plot and had a part in what made it what it was. like some shows, if you remove a character from the show, nothing would change. but with this show, the characters are all a necessary puzzle piece and removing one would destroy the writing, plot, and the way that characters were influenced by other characters. if you removed yuuno, nanoha never even would've became a magical girl in the first place.

I watched two old shows from 2004 this year. Mai-Hime and just recently, Nanoha S1. While Mai-Hime was an outdated show that wasn't easy to sit through, Nanoha can be described as a certified classic and one that deserves its reputation and legacy. I never knew anything about the series beyond "it's that show with the lesbian couple and daughter" and only really watched the Reflection and Detonation movies (and not really liking either). The humble beginnings of the series from an eroge spinoff that actually has a half-decent plot and enjoyable characters (I hated everyone in the two films) was surprising to say the least. There's a charming simplicity to S1 that you don't really see anymore, be it in the same franchise or otherwise. This leads to a good focus on what the show wants to tell you. The first half is pretty much a bait-and-switch introduction slice of life thing before the genre shift in episode 7. I love it, even the calm OP and ED remain the same, leading to great moments where a cliffhanger ending cuts straight to the super happy cheerful ED. There is a lot to appreciate in this, from direction to scene composition, the show remains interesting to watch today as it was back then. Attacks are slow and weighty, which is honestly surprising coming from Symphogear and Reflection/Detonation. Of course, watching this after having experienced Symphogear does warrant a lot of unfair comparisons but its easy to see where Symphogear (and even Madoka) took its inspirations from. From something as simple as Nanoha and Fate exchanging ribbons, to character behaviours and archetypes, Nanoha really set the standard for all and its influence can be felt in other shows even today. That said I'm not the biggest fan of the show. The scenes can drag on for too long and I dislike how they handled the climax leading to a weak resolution of plot. Again, Symphogear really gave me impossibly high expectations for what a mahou shoujo/mecha can do, and it does a lot of things Nanoha does but a lot better. Still, as a pioneer and a trendsetter, Nanoha is certianly an interesting curiosity at the very least and a definite classic for dark mahou shoujo stories. 6/10

This review applies to the entire series of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha (MSLN) which includes the second season (A's) and the first two movies as it's been nearly a year since its most recent release. If curious, my watch order would be Nanoha (1st season) -> Movie 1st -> Movie 2nd -> StrikerS (3rd season) for the main canon (skipped A's series because I feel the movie does a better job). Story (8/10): It's not a unique story by any means, but it is one that I find is executed well and gets its message across. Character arcs are satisfying to watch to their conclusion and the plot in general is fairly focused where new elements don't seem completely out of place. Art (8/10): Try not to notice that the hair is done the same for most characters. But aside from that, designs are simple but endearing. Consistent quality as it's the same character designer / manga artist for most of the series. There are some parts where the idea is bigger than what they could draw, but it seems like the concept of what they were trying to achieve gets across. At no point did I feel un-immersed by the art. Sound (9/10): Series-wise, it's used okay in terms of direction. The soundtracks themselves are great, but its use could be better. A couple of hard sfx here and there that seem to disturb the flow of the show. However, movie-wise, the direction is vastly improved. Sorta wish I had more to say here, but not really. Good music overall, direction in the show is okay, and direction in the movies are great. Character (8/10): Designs are unique enough that silhouettes can distinguish all of them (and there are a lot later on). Personality sort of fluctuates with each season/movie; mains in the movie with less screentime in the show showcase less personality for example. I suppose that could be a common occurrence, but if anything, their personalities are consistent and entertaining, but sometimes it gets stale. Enjoyment (10/10): As long as your not trying to tear the plot apart looking for holes and power levels, expect a fun and exciting ride! Although this is a Magical Girl show, its demographic is like a pseudo shoujo/shounen and I daresay Seinen/Josei could be appropriate as well. Tbh, people of all ages could like it. It tackles some serious and "grown-up" themes that you may not expect, but doesn't take them so far as to make it not appropriate for children. Action sequences in the show are done okay, but the movies are where it executes them the best, they are a MUST WATCH. If you're the type to deep dive plots and want a fully explained and fleshed out world dictated by rules and logic, this probably isn't the best watch for you. On the other hand, if you want a show that gets your friendship power pumped up and want to cheer for the main characters' victory alongside with them, then I highly recommend. P.s. there are some fan-service-y scenes and questionable angles for elementary school kids, but it's not like it's uncommon in the vast medium of anime. Just get a laugh out of it and move on, it's not like it focuses on making it weird. Overall (8/10): Tl;dr, an excellent fusion of Magical Girl with more Shounen aspects. If you enjoy action like Hero Academia and writing like Cardcaptor Sakura, I guarantee that you'll quickly attach yourself to Nanoha and her world. My recommended watch order is ... Season 1 -> Movie 1st -> Movie 2nd -> StrikerS/Season 3. (The plot of Movie 2nd is far enough from season 2 that I consider them separate despite them having the same ending) If not emphasized enough, PLEASE WATCH THE MOVIES. They're more than mere recaps for mortals.

First things first. My "reviews" system is explained on a blog entry. Which can be found through my profile. ------ ✦Story A trademark magical girl anime, I liked it. Especially considering I have soft spot for magic that consists of circles and runes. And aside that soft so charm type magic but thats another topic. Anyhow, the story was okay. It wasn't anything special or bad. It was fine, maybe back when it aired it was great, but I picked this franchise up just recently so it didn't impress me as much. Probably biggest complaint of the story was, that it felt quite moronic at times. ✦Art&Sound Again, not sure how it was for the date it aired, as there are lot of better art/animation anime at this point and on top of that considering how much Anime I've seen it might be hard to impress me at certain styles of animations. Anyhow, the animation and art was okay. Art was derpy at times but animation felt nice. Magic was also nice to look at Sound, Nana Mizuki, enough said. Good music, OST with presence and overall felt quite nice. ✦Character Bright and happy-go-lucky family and cheerful friends with counterpart of "evil" and one dimensional "dark" characters. Wasn't bad, wasn't good. Just nothing special. And I'm not fond of overly energetic and happy-go-lucky squad. ✦Enjoyment&Overall Should have watched this magical girl anime many years ago, now I feel spoiled a bit. It's a trademark magical girl anime with cool magic circles and runes with animal familiars and talking weapons. In it's simplest and rawest form, a good magical girl show. Point being, it almost got 7 for me, but somehow It didn't amuse me enough. Nevertheless, enjoyable start of a franchise that I'm going to binge watch.

Quick review: ========= Story starts generic and then gets quite interesting (3rd episode on). Animation quality is very good. Characters and backgrounds are fairly well detailed. The combat sequences on are par with higher quality fighting anime. Audio was also well done. I really enjoyed the OP and am trying to find the soundtrack. Overall: A hidden gem of a series. Well worth watching. Detailed review: ============ Standby Ready. This series popped up as a recommendation when during my quest for Cardcaptor Sakura and I immediately noticed similarities. My initial response was "meh at least I bought it as a discount." And then something strange happened... The more I watched it the more I liked it. I went from watching the first two episodes over a couple of months...to one a week...to the last half in one day. I'd expect certain generic mediocre themes...and the show would almost always surprise by doing them differently and better. Even the combat sequences are more than just the "wave the magic wand and it's done.'' In fact I'd consider this more shounen than shoujo. There are several nice touches. The OP "Innocent Starter" is a light-hearted, yet touching piece (sung by the voice actor for Fate by the way) that captured the essence of series. The main characters are very well developed. There isn't enough time to develop the supporting characters sadly but the show did well with the time frame they had. Overall I'd say the series is quite short (13) yet the show accomplishes far more than being "just another magic girl" saga. The series doesn't need dozens or hundreds of episodes to develop, tell, and bring to a conclusion a well written story. And the writers do this without being contrived or cliché. A final note: I'd strongly recommend the second season (Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's) it's even *better*

a show that doesnt feature maybe as much of the content id expect from a magical girl show, relatively little in the ways of action scenes and very little actual interaction between nanoha and the overarching villain. generally for most of the show, she very much plays the ichigo, ending all of her earlier fights by blasting the foe with her divine shot. as the show progresses, she gradually incorporates what she sees into her fighting style, but between her and fate, her enemy through the show, neither really use all that many techniques. still, you have a competently enough put together show, and a good timecapsule of its era. the worldbuilding can be a bit suspect. certain things like the vet's wall exploding in episode 1, or half a city being destroyed in episode 2 are handled with the gravity and care of texas talking about a hurricane hitting mexico. if you hunt for reasons to complain, you'll find them, but its enjoyable and the production quality is consistently high, especially for its time. as a last addition, i've seen people complain about fanservice, there isnt very much of it, it's all at the start, and its all rather tame. not that i think there's any need to put up a preemptive defense, with mushoku's continued popularity, i just have to assume most ecchi outrate is larp.

I haven't watched a lot of Magical Girl up until this point. This is probably my first hardcore, no gimmicks, straight up magical girl series that isn't trying to subvert the genre in some way. What do I think of it so far? Meh. I've seen the tropes that they use here made fun of and subverted in so many ways in so many other series that going back and seeing where it all started is actually kind of neat. In that sense it's refreshing to have a show just be what it is rather than use the genre parody as just a hook for the real gimmick. I find myself getting bored with it though for those same reasons. Nothing it does can really surprise me, it's the kids show that comes on in other anime that the younger character is obsessed with, but unironically. I have to give it a 7/10 though because it has a little something for everyone.

I know it seems like just another magical girl anime. Yes, there are lots of similar shows out there with comparable power systems, but that doesn't stop this one from being an absolute gem. I believe it is exceptionally well written, has great, memorable characters and is very joyful to watch all in all. It may not be for everyone, but if you enjoy wholesome little stories about friendship or magical battles with cool power ups, I highly recommend this series. Do not expect a superficial fight of good against evil, as neither of the sides are inherently selfish. It nicely depicts, that there is often an underlying cause for actions viewed as 'wrong', stemming from unfavorable circumstances the opposing side might find itself in. Nanoha teaches us from the start that we should always stop to think about why someone is acting the way they are, instead of just condemning them straightaway. The second season (A's) is arguably even better, introducing new struggle and new antagonists. It largely follows the ideas of S1, so if you liked the first season, your satisfaction with A's is guaranteed.