Blast from the Past: Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

I'm actually pretty free this weekend, so today, I'm going to be posting about one of my favorite series ever, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. Now, if you haven't seen this before, this is a pretty epic series. Three seasons, a freakin' movie (not just an OVA, a movie! It's pretty awesome), countless drama cds (they call them 'Sound Stages), and manga for each season and the movie as well as two new manga storylines. Pretty epic, considering that the idea is actually an AU of an H-game. >_>

*cough* Anyway, this post will be about all three seasons, possibly some of the manga, even less of the sound stages, and none of the movie, since it isn't coming out on DVD until summer T_T. If you haven't seen this before, I urge you to go watch it. You might be thinking, "With a title like 'Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha'? No way!" But even though it's called that, you'll quickly see that this isn't a normal magical girl show. Oh no. It's even better. Still need convincing (and aren't afraid of spoilers)? Read on!



Edit: Long post is long. If you're in a hurry, I basically summarized the three seasons and talked about main characters. And if you're looking for a reason to watch this:

That is why.

Setting and Story
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha is set sometime in the early 2000s in Uminari City, Japan, if I remember correctly. Takamachi Nanoha is a normal, 9 year old girl with a happy family and good friends. The problem is that her family gets along a little too well, her brother and sister pairing up, and her parents still acting like newlyweds. Her friends, both rich, have a pretty clear idea of what they're going to do when they're older. And here is poor Nanoha, feeling a little bit like an outsider in her own home and with little to no idea what she'll be doing later in life. Never mind the fact that she has another 9 years to find something she's good at... But then, BAM! She has this weird dream (a la Card Captors) about a ferret, and she actually finds it! It turns out the ferret is collecting these magical items called 'Jewel Seeds' and needs her help! Being the enterprising young girl she is, Nanoha agrees, and gains a magical artifact - called a 'device' in this world, 'Raging Heart.' (It's later changed to 'Raising Heart,' but 'Raging Heart' was what they used in the first episode, so...) She successfully defeats the monster and captures the Jewel Seed. It seems there are about 20 more out there, so she'll have to do her best! The next few episodes read like a regular 'Magical Girl' show - she captures jewel seeds, and finds out she has a rival in trying to gather them! The girl's name is Fate Testarossa, and with her is her familiar Arf (apparently, official is 'Alph' or something, but Arf is closer to the pronunciation, I think) and her device Bardiche. Nanoha falls in love at first sight is intrigued by this girl with the kind, but sad eyes, and wants to become friends. Fate is having none of it. So the two go on and oppose each other, Nanoha getting beat like the n00b she is. Except that, unlike regular Magical Girl titles, she actually gets better quickly. She also ends up being a magical genius! Cool, eh? Eventually, you find out that Fate is following orders from her cruel mother. How cruel? How about 'She whips her own kid' cruel? Yeah, it's bad. Anyway, Fate and Nanoha have a 'final confrontation' type battle, only to be stopped by an officer of the TSAB (Time-Space Administration Bureau), basically the galaxy patrol. Nanoha joins up with them and Fate is again punished. Eventually, it all gets out that Fate is actually a clone of her mother's real daughter, and her mom was just using her so that she could get the real daughter back. Cue angst. But it's OK, because Nanoha is here to save the day! The bad guy lady is defeated, and Fate, though a victim, is asked to go to court so that they can legally say she was. Or something like that. Cue sappy scene as Fate and Nanoha part. End of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's is set approximately 6 months after the first season, in the same place. Someone's been going around attacking mages and draining their power. Of course, Nanoha, being the prodigy she is, is targeted, and we find that these new enemies, the Wolkenritter, totally outpower Nanoha. Oh noes! But Fate is here to save the day! Except not, because the enemies are haxx and just have to be within sight range to steal a person's magic. They just have to be in one place and BAM! They're goners. So Nanoha gets her magic drained. We find out that the enemies are stealing magic to help fill a magical book called "The Book of Darkness." But lo and behold, they're doing it to save their master, 9 year old paraplegic Yagami Hayate. The book is draining Hayate's magical power, but since it has been doing it since she was born, it's also taking her life force. The Wolkenritter hope that, by filling all the pages, the book will stop relying on Hayate's life force. This and that happens, Fate and Nanoha get upgrades, and we find out that the book is actually cursed. It was originally called 'The Tome of the Night Sky,' a compendium of magic spells. However, over the years, it was reprogrammed by one of its masters, but that guy was a shitty programmer and so the Tome of the Night Sky became warped into the Book of Darkness. The Wolkenritter are programs of the Tome of the Night Sky meant to protect the master, but because of the programming, they believed that they're main objective was to gather pages. More stuff happens, and we find that the Book was actually planted with Hayate in the hopes that when it activated, it would be simple to defeat it. That guy, for all his good intentions, gets taken down, and Hayate join Nanoha and Fate and everyone else for some good ol' magic whoopin'. There's angst and cool battles, but those details are just a little too much for one post. So go watch it yourself. The last episode has an epilogue where everyone joins the TSAB.

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS is set 10 years after the first two seasons. The location has moved to the base planet of the TSAB, Mid-Childa. Hayate has become a high enough rank within the Ground Forces of the TSAB to request the creation of a new division that will be more able to respond quickly to incidents involving the magical artifacts 'Lost Logia.' With some help in high places (Fate's adopted Admiral brother and basically Hayate's sister who just happens to be the head of the church), they manage to get it worked out. Now the old crew is all together again! Hooray! Nanoha, now an ace instructor for the TSAB Air Force, is asked to train a hit squad for the new division (Lost Property Riot Force Six, or Mobile Division Section Six - not quite sure because of wiki >_<). Fate, a top Enforcer (investigator for the Navy), is also called in to help with cases. And Hayate, of course, is the head of the entire thing. It's difficult to compress this season, as it's 26 episodes rather than the 13 of the previous two, so a lot of things are going to be cut out. Actually, a lot of fans disliked this season, as most of it was Nanoha training the n00bs to become non-n00bs. Also, there was a lot of military politics, which, while interesting, is not really something you want to see when you're used to the pretty pink explosions of the previous two seasons. Anyway, the big bad in this is a guy named Jail Spaghetti Scaglietti, an evil scientist who worked with the cloning project that created Fate. He has backing from corrupt military officials, who asked him to build weapons to aid in defense. Of course, he takes those funds and goes in the complete opposite direction, using the DNA of the last Sankt Kaiser, the true head of the Church, to grow a little kid that can control the Sankt Kaiser's ultimate weapon, the Cradle. The little kid, Vivio, is found by Riot Force Six, and they take her in. She's particularly taken with Nanoha, who helped calm her down after she woke up confused and scared and needing to find a bathroom. Eventually, Nanoha 'adopts' her, with some help from Godmother Fate. And just when things seem peachy and keen, Scaglietti decides to show his cards at last, prepares a trap for the entire military, but mostly Section Six, and kidnaps Vivio. He then gives her a Lost Logia that changes her into an adult that can control the Cradle but is also under his control. Cue epic rescue plan. Cue epic battle scenes. And then, finally, he's defeated and everyone is happy! Yay! There's an epilogue in this too, but it focuses on the new characters, who I don't really care about (except for 2!) so I'm not going to tell you.




Holy Shit that took a while. Um, the tl;dr version is... Uh. Nanoha = magical girl, saves world(s). With her friends. The end.

Well, let's move onto something a little more interesting, yeah?

Characters
Captain Takamachi Nanoha
One of the main characters, Nanoha is voiced by the awesome Tamura Yukari. From her beginnings as a normal 9 year old to the feared 'White Devil' of the Air Force, Nanoha has some great character development. Her family owns a bakery, but in the original, Triangle Heart 3, they were actually ninjas bodyguards. In Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha, they kind of touch on this background, as Nanoha's dad got into an 'accident' and was critically injured. Since her mother had to take care of her father, and her older brother and sister had to take care of the newly opened bakery, poor Nanoha was left alone a lot as a kid. Because of this, she grew to be self sufficient and emo. But once her father got better, they were able to be a family again, so she wasn't anti-social. So now, Nanoha has the ability to fight by herself, but also with others. Add that to the 'prodigy' title, and you've got one hell of a character. There's a running gag that Nanoha gets her friends by beating them up. Here's the tally:

Arisa Bannings - best friend before Fate showed up along with Tsukimura Suzuka; got slapped by Nanoha because she was bullying Suzuka
Fate Testarossa - best friend and lovers!!!; got hit full on by her most powerful attack, Starlight Breaker
Yagami Hayate - best friend; was trapped in the Book of Darkness and Nanoha blasted it with Excelion Buster to get her out
(Yagami) Vita - probably also Starlight Breaker'd, but I can't remember at this point

Along with the fact that her motto is basically 'Full Power All The Time,' Nanoha is one scary bitch. No wonder they call her the 'White Devil.' Well, that and she basically told Vita that if Vita didn't listen to her, she'd just have to beat the answer into her. Her device is Raising Heart, and she is a bombardment/shooting mage.

Enforcer Fate Testarossa-Harlaown

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-

*cough* I'll try to keep my enthusiasm for Fate to a minimum, but it'll be hard. Please forgive run-on sentences if I start giving details about why she's so awesome. Thank you.

...Ahem. Um, this is Fate Testarossa-Harloawn. She's voiced by my favorite Mizuki Nana!!! She first showed up as Nanoha's enemy, but it's quickly apparent that she doesn't really want to hurt Nanoha - just gather all of the jewel seeds. Her mother, Precia Testarossa, was a scientist involved with an illegal cloning experiment, Project F. An explosion at the lab caused the TSAB to find out about it, as well as kill her real daughter, Alicia. Precia created Fate at first as a way to 'bring Alicia back to life.' However, she quickly made up her mind that Fate could not measure up to Alicia, and so started using her as a pawn to find the Jewel Seeds. Fate was saved from this existence by Nanoha, for which she is eternally grateful. Kind and strong, she became an Enforcer to help those people who were in situations like her own, being controlled by those they trusted, or in some cases, simply thrown away. She was adopted by Admiral Lindy Harlaown after the events of the first season. She has a lightning affiliation and is accompanied by her device, Bardiche, and her familiar, Arf. She's a bombarment/melee fighter.

Lieutenant Colonel Yagami Hayate
Voiced by the prolific Ueda Kana, Hayate is the last of the main three. The master of the Tome of the Night Sky, she started out as sort of an unwitting villian, you could say. She is at least technically a criminal, since her charges, the Wolkenritter, went out a stole magic from people. Her parents died when she was extremely young, but she was able to survive thanks to the help of some of 'her father's friends'. (The reality is that the admiral who planted the Book of Darkness in her home felt guilty that he was doing it and wanted her to live a life of ease before he killed her.) When the book activated and the Wolkenritter released, she was just happy to have a family. Although she is introduced in a wheelchair, that is actually because of the magic drain from the Book of Darkness, so after the corrupted part of it is defeated, she regains her ability to walk. There's a running gag that she's obsessed with cosplay... and breasts. That last part might have actually been confirmed in one of the sound stages, but I can't quite remember... Anyway, Riot Force Six is basically 'Hayate's Lesbian Army' to the fans, as there are only... 3 males in it, not including Zafira and the pet dragon. Her device is Schwertkreuz, and she can do a 'unison' with Reinforce Zwei to become stronger. She also has all the spells of the Tome of the Night Sky in her repetoire. She's a bombardment/wide area affect mage.

The Wolkenritter: Signum, Shamal, Vita, and Zafira
The Wolkenritter are Hayate's slaves personal bodyguards, but because they are an asset in magical power and tactics, they were also contracted to the TSAB. Well, that and to atone for their crimes. They, along with Hayate, use Belkan style magic, which uses a cartrige system. It's much stronger than the Mid-Childan style, as the cartriges are pure magic power that augment the user's abilities. Of course, Mid-Childan style has its advantages... What they are is a different question, but I'm sure there are some! Signum, the Sword Knight, is the leader of the Wolkenritter, and uses a sword, Levantine (alternate, Lævatein), that can transform into a chain-link mode (much like Ivy from Soul Caliber) and also into a bow. Shamal, the Lady of the Lake, is the healer of the group and can also scry with her device Klarer Wind, Ring of the Breezes. Her scrying ability is what allowed her to take Nanoha's linker core without physically being next to her. Vita, the Iron Knight, is the forward attacker of the group with her device Graf Eisen. She ends up becoming Nanoha's main rival. Zafira is the Shielding Guardian Beast and, like Shamal, is a defensive type. He carries no device and attacks much like a familiar, though he technically is not one. The Blessed Wind, Reinforce I and II, seen in the first picture, are the main control programs for the Tome of the Night Sky. Reinforce I sacrificed herself to make sure that the berserk defense program of the Book of Darkness did not regenerate and cause the whole mess of problems from A's to occur again. Reinforce II looks like the first, but has a vastly different personality.

Takamachi Vivio
Nanoha's adopted daughter. She was created to control the Sankt Kaiser's Cradle, but after it was destroyed, she's just a normal little girl. Well, as normal as a girl can be when one has the DNA of the Head of the Church in one's veins. She has heterochromia, as you can see, with her right eye green and her left red. A manga series, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha ViVid, is based on her life after the events of StrikerS. Fate is her godmother, but young Vivio got a little mixed up, so now calls them both 'Mama.'

Pairings
You can't talk about pairings in Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha without having the inevitable shipping war. In this case, the battles are between the shippers of NanoFate (Nanoha x Fate) and Yuunoha (Nanoha x Yuuno). I'm just going to say, right here, right now, as a yuri shipper, of course my vote goes to NanoFate. HOWEVER. I will not bash Yuunoha. Maybe Yuuno, because he's a ferret, but even Chrono does that, so it should be OK, right...? >_> Fans choose whatever pairing they want. We do NOT need to ram our preferred pairings down other people's throats, nor do we need to give reasons as to why such and such pairing will not work. Here's a hint, guys. IT DOESN'T MATTER. If you like a certain pairing, fine. You read it, stick with it, and you don't go batshit crazy on anybody who doesn't. Get it? Got it? Good. Now on to the good stuff.

Nanoha x Fate, a.k.a. NanoFate
7Arcs, the production company for the Nanoha series, has been teasing us with the NanoFate idea from day one. Well, OK, from the first episode Fate appears in, which would be day 4 or so. I mean, even when they're nine freakin' years old, Nanoha's all, "ZOMG, FATE, YOU HAVE PRETTY EYES, BE MY FRIEND." And then after the events of the first season, Nanoha is naturally the person Fate would be closest to (besides Arf). Follow that with a sound stage where Fate promises to protect Nanoha forever and ever (or something to that effect), the fact that they live in the same room and sleep in the same bed... Yeah, 7Arcs is just playing with us. For all that they're playing me, thuogh, I don't care. As long as the NanoFate doujin come out! XD

Man, that was a long post, wasn't it? I have nothing else to say... Any other characters would require a huger post from me, and I don't find them interesting enough to include anyway. So that's it for me. Oh, wait, have this picture, then I'll leave. See ya next time!