Rec post: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
Today, I’m going to talk about a show that everyone should watch - the anime Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.
What’s this, then?
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is a show about a nine year old girl who meets a boy/ferret from a different world, who is hunting magical jewel seeds (actually a kind of ancient technology). The boy was injured, so he gives Nanoha his magic device, Raising Heart, so she can fight monsters and help him retrieve the jewel seeds.
Sound a bit like…
No, it’s nothing like Inu-Yasha.
Nine-year-old magical girl? Sounds childish.
It’s not. MGLN is actually a seinen show - meaning it’s aimed at young men from 19 to 30. It’s actually been criticized for having too deep and dark storylines for its young protagonists.
Oh. It’s pervy.
Not really. There’s one episode in the first season, one panty-shot and a brief tentacle-shot in the second, and there’s the transformation sequences - which there are fewer and fewer of the further you get in the seasons. They’re not really pervy either, although they do show the characters nude (with Anime Anatomy - blank chests and crotches).
So what makes it seinen?
Seinen and josei (aimed at women between 19 and 30, rarely animated) is known for having deep, complex characters, profound relationships between the characters and not being idealistic about those. The latter is mostly josei, to separate it from shojo (aimed at teenage girls). MGLN is rather idealistic about its friendships, but it has the action of a seinen show. So the things that make it seinen are deep characters, profound relationships and lots and lots of explosions.
Explosions.
Yep. I’ve read that the director wanted to do a mecha show, but was told to do a magical girl show, so he compensated by giving Nanoha the firepower of a giant robot. The fans call her “The White Devil” in an homage to Amuro Ray of Mobile Suit Gundam.
Magical Girls and mecha, huh? I guess that’s why you like it?
Well okay, those are my two favourite anime genres, but it’s not just that. You know how in a lot of shows, the boys get the cool storylines, and the girls, who could technically kick ass if they’d only get the chance, don’t get any screen time? It’s the opposite here, and while I normally like a balanced cast, it’s so lovely to see it this way around for a change.
Okay. Tell me more.
Right. This will be spoilery, mostly due to which characters are in the later seasons. I won’t spoil any key plot points, though.
Season one: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, 13 episodes
Like I said in the beginning, there’s Takamachi Nanoha and ferret/boy (his name is Yuuno Scrya) hunting for the jewel seeds. Then the competition, a dark magical girl named Fate Testarossa, shows up. Fate has a familiar, a dog-woman named Arf who Fate created through magic, and they’re gathering the seeds for Fate’s mother. Half-way through the Space Time Administration Bureau shows up. The people we get to know here are the captain, Lindy Harlaown, her son and the top enforcer on the ship, Chrono, and a tech/science officer/bridge bunny, Amy. Side characters are Nanoha’s parents, brother and sister, and her two (female) friends.
This is the most gender balanced of the series. There’s slightly more female characters among both the supporting and the main cast, but both Yuuno and Chrono have fairly large roles, though the main focus is always on Nanoha and Fate.
Season Two: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s, 13 episodes
In this season, Fate and Arf have changed sides, and Fate is now a temporary mage for the Space Time Administration Bureau. They’re there from the beginning, and get bigger roles - Lindy because she’s acting as Fate’s guardian, and both Lindy and Chrono because the last time the villain of this season showed up, Lindy’s husband/Chrono’s father was killed.
The villain this time is the so-called Book of Darkness, a magical tome that gains power by stealing other people’s magical energy. Spoiling episode one, it’s come into the possession of a young orphaned girl, Yagami Hayate, who is suffering from a mysterious illness that is slowly paralyzing her. The people responsible for gathering the magical energy - who are living with Hayate as her adopted family - are the Wolkenritter: Signum, the swordswoman; Vita, the hammer knight; Shamal, the healer; and Zafira, the wolf man and only male member (a familiar like Arf, though he insists on being called a Guardian Beast). There’s also two mysterious masked men.
Also appearing are Lindy’s friend and superior, Admiral Leti (female), and Admiral Graham (male) and his twin (female) familiars - who, incidentally, were Chrono’s teachers in magic and combat.
The gender balance is more unbalanced in this season. The focus is still on Nanoha and Fate, with Hayate and the Wolkenritter (mostly Signum, Vita and Shamal) added in. Still, Yuuno has an important role in gathering information, and Chrono actually gets a subplot!
Then there’s a time skip.
Season Three: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, 26 episodes
This takes place ten years later, and Nanoha has moved to Mid-Childa, the world that Yuuno is from. Here, magic is common technology - the police are all mages.
Hayate has started a special strike team to deal with lost technology (called Lost Logia), like the jewel seeds from season one and the Book of Darkness from season two. She did this with the support of (now Admiral) Lindy, (now Captain) Chrono and a new character, the head nun of the Saint Church. There’s a big supporting cast that makes up mission control (two male and three/four (Rein goes with Hayate/Vita/Signum in the field at times) female named, lots of unnamed of both genders in the background), and the field agents (called Forewards) are Nanoha, Fate and Vita and Signum from the Wolkenritter (Shamal and Zafira mostly stay behind now). In addition, there are four new recruits: Subaru Nakajima, Teana Lanster, Caro Ru Lushe and Erio Mondial. Erio is the only boy. After a while, Subaru’s sister Ginga joins.
The villain this time is Doctor Jail Scaglietti (male) and the Numbers - thirteen female fighting androids. There’s actually a plot relevant reason why they’re all female. There’s also an old (male) knight, a small (female) fire sprite, and a small girl who summons beasts.
In episode ten, Caro and Erio rescue a small girl named Vivio, who was dragging a Lost Logia chained to her leg through the sewer. Nanoha ends up adopting Vivio.
Yuuno barely has three small cameos. Chrono has a slightly, but only slightly, bigger supporting role. Zafira spends the entire time in animal form. Erio has about as big a role as Caro, but much smaller than Subaru, Nanoha and Fate. While the two other seasons had some balance, in the third season, unless you’re Erio, the male characters are lucky to get a little screentime.
Personally, I find that a refreshing reversal from a lot of other shows.
So what makes it different from, say, Tokyo Mew Mew? Or Claymore?
(Dude(tte), it’s just wrong to put those two shows next to each other.)
In Tokyo Mew Mew, the villains and mission control were all male. In MGLN they’re both, with more female than male.
In Claymore, if I’ve understood correctly, the titular characters have to be female for plot-related reasons. That’s only true of the Numbers, here.
You see, there are two reasons that MGLN is more like a gender-reversed any-other-show than a show where all the fighters are female: Chrono and Erio.
Chrono and Erio are both mages who use devices - Chrono uses a Mid-Childa type, same as Nanoha, Fate and Teana, while Erio uses a Belka type, same as the Wolkenritter and Subaru. Chrono has less raw magical power than both Nanoha and Fate, but from the beginning he was more skilled at its application - he stopped both of them cold in his introduction. Erio has about as much raw power as Subaru, which is a lot.
It’s not that boys can’t use magic in MGLN. They can, and they do. It’s just that the show chooses not to focus on them.
I need more convincing.
How about a vid of all the openings?
Or some very spoilery videos: The final fight between Nanoha and Fate
Nanoha vs Vita
Subaru going berserk
Caro - the cute, sweet, nice pink one - showing why it’s a bad idea to hurt her home and friends.
Where can I find it?
Ah. Good question. The first two seasons were licensed and dubbed by Geneon, with FUNimation taking over distribution after Geneon USA went under. StrikerS hasn’t been licensed. The fansub isn’t bad, though.
What’s this, then?
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is a show about a nine year old girl who meets a boy/ferret from a different world, who is hunting magical jewel seeds (actually a kind of ancient technology). The boy was injured, so he gives Nanoha his magic device, Raising Heart, so she can fight monsters and help him retrieve the jewel seeds.
Sound a bit like…
No, it’s nothing like Inu-Yasha.
Nine-year-old magical girl? Sounds childish.
It’s not. MGLN is actually a seinen show - meaning it’s aimed at young men from 19 to 30. It’s actually been criticized for having too deep and dark storylines for its young protagonists.
Oh. It’s pervy.
Not really. There’s one episode in the first season, one panty-shot and a brief tentacle-shot in the second, and there’s the transformation sequences - which there are fewer and fewer of the further you get in the seasons. They’re not really pervy either, although they do show the characters nude (with Anime Anatomy - blank chests and crotches).
So what makes it seinen?
Seinen and josei (aimed at women between 19 and 30, rarely animated) is known for having deep, complex characters, profound relationships between the characters and not being idealistic about those. The latter is mostly josei, to separate it from shojo (aimed at teenage girls). MGLN is rather idealistic about its friendships, but it has the action of a seinen show. So the things that make it seinen are deep characters, profound relationships and lots and lots of explosions.
Explosions.
Yep. I’ve read that the director wanted to do a mecha show, but was told to do a magical girl show, so he compensated by giving Nanoha the firepower of a giant robot. The fans call her “The White Devil” in an homage to Amuro Ray of Mobile Suit Gundam.
Magical Girls and mecha, huh? I guess that’s why you like it?
Well okay, those are my two favourite anime genres, but it’s not just that. You know how in a lot of shows, the boys get the cool storylines, and the girls, who could technically kick ass if they’d only get the chance, don’t get any screen time? It’s the opposite here, and while I normally like a balanced cast, it’s so lovely to see it this way around for a change.
Okay. Tell me more.
Right. This will be spoilery, mostly due to which characters are in the later seasons. I won’t spoil any key plot points, though.
Season one: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, 13 episodes
Like I said in the beginning, there’s Takamachi Nanoha and ferret/boy (his name is Yuuno Scrya) hunting for the jewel seeds. Then the competition, a dark magical girl named Fate Testarossa, shows up. Fate has a familiar, a dog-woman named Arf who Fate created through magic, and they’re gathering the seeds for Fate’s mother. Half-way through the Space Time Administration Bureau shows up. The people we get to know here are the captain, Lindy Harlaown, her son and the top enforcer on the ship, Chrono, and a tech/science officer/bridge bunny, Amy. Side characters are Nanoha’s parents, brother and sister, and her two (female) friends.
This is the most gender balanced of the series. There’s slightly more female characters among both the supporting and the main cast, but both Yuuno and Chrono have fairly large roles, though the main focus is always on Nanoha and Fate.
Season Two: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A’s, 13 episodes
In this season, Fate and Arf have changed sides, and Fate is now a temporary mage for the Space Time Administration Bureau. They’re there from the beginning, and get bigger roles - Lindy because she’s acting as Fate’s guardian, and both Lindy and Chrono because the last time the villain of this season showed up, Lindy’s husband/Chrono’s father was killed.
The villain this time is the so-called Book of Darkness, a magical tome that gains power by stealing other people’s magical energy. Spoiling episode one, it’s come into the possession of a young orphaned girl, Yagami Hayate, who is suffering from a mysterious illness that is slowly paralyzing her. The people responsible for gathering the magical energy - who are living with Hayate as her adopted family - are the Wolkenritter: Signum, the swordswoman; Vita, the hammer knight; Shamal, the healer; and Zafira, the wolf man and only male member (a familiar like Arf, though he insists on being called a Guardian Beast). There’s also two mysterious masked men.
Also appearing are Lindy’s friend and superior, Admiral Leti (female), and Admiral Graham (male) and his twin (female) familiars - who, incidentally, were Chrono’s teachers in magic and combat.
The gender balance is more unbalanced in this season. The focus is still on Nanoha and Fate, with Hayate and the Wolkenritter (mostly Signum, Vita and Shamal) added in. Still, Yuuno has an important role in gathering information, and Chrono actually gets a subplot!
Then there’s a time skip.
Season Three: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, 26 episodes
This takes place ten years later, and Nanoha has moved to Mid-Childa, the world that Yuuno is from. Here, magic is common technology - the police are all mages.
Hayate has started a special strike team to deal with lost technology (called Lost Logia), like the jewel seeds from season one and the Book of Darkness from season two. She did this with the support of (now Admiral) Lindy, (now Captain) Chrono and a new character, the head nun of the Saint Church. There’s a big supporting cast that makes up mission control (two male and three/four (Rein goes with Hayate/Vita/Signum in the field at times) female named, lots of unnamed of both genders in the background), and the field agents (called Forewards) are Nanoha, Fate and Vita and Signum from the Wolkenritter (Shamal and Zafira mostly stay behind now). In addition, there are four new recruits: Subaru Nakajima, Teana Lanster, Caro Ru Lushe and Erio Mondial. Erio is the only boy. After a while, Subaru’s sister Ginga joins.
The villain this time is Doctor Jail Scaglietti (male) and the Numbers - thirteen female fighting androids. There’s actually a plot relevant reason why they’re all female. There’s also an old (male) knight, a small (female) fire sprite, and a small girl who summons beasts.
In episode ten, Caro and Erio rescue a small girl named Vivio, who was dragging a Lost Logia chained to her leg through the sewer. Nanoha ends up adopting Vivio.
Yuuno barely has three small cameos. Chrono has a slightly, but only slightly, bigger supporting role. Zafira spends the entire time in animal form. Erio has about as big a role as Caro, but much smaller than Subaru, Nanoha and Fate. While the two other seasons had some balance, in the third season, unless you’re Erio, the male characters are lucky to get a little screentime.
Personally, I find that a refreshing reversal from a lot of other shows.
So what makes it different from, say, Tokyo Mew Mew? Or Claymore?
(Dude(tte), it’s just wrong to put those two shows next to each other.)
In Tokyo Mew Mew, the villains and mission control were all male. In MGLN they’re both, with more female than male.
In Claymore, if I’ve understood correctly, the titular characters have to be female for plot-related reasons. That’s only true of the Numbers, here.
You see, there are two reasons that MGLN is more like a gender-reversed any-other-show than a show where all the fighters are female: Chrono and Erio.
Chrono and Erio are both mages who use devices - Chrono uses a Mid-Childa type, same as Nanoha, Fate and Teana, while Erio uses a Belka type, same as the Wolkenritter and Subaru. Chrono has less raw magical power than both Nanoha and Fate, but from the beginning he was more skilled at its application - he stopped both of them cold in his introduction. Erio has about as much raw power as Subaru, which is a lot.
It’s not that boys can’t use magic in MGLN. They can, and they do. It’s just that the show chooses not to focus on them.
I need more convincing.
How about a vid of all the openings?
Or some very spoilery videos: The final fight between Nanoha and Fate
Nanoha vs Vita
Subaru going berserk
Caro - the cute, sweet, nice pink one - showing why it’s a bad idea to hurt her home and friends.
Where can I find it?
Ah. Good question. The first two seasons were licensed and dubbed by Geneon, with FUNimation taking over distribution after Geneon USA went under. StrikerS hasn’t been licensed. The fansub isn’t bad, though.