The Blue Fox Alley

I grew up with anime but it was nothing more than just a distant acquaintance. If memory does not fail me, my very first anime was a show called Neon Genesis Evangelion and I followed it with quite some passion despite the fact that the episodes were broadcasted after midnight. Then there were others like Rurouni Kenshin, Fushigi Yuugi, Gatekeepers and Vandread (more but they are very vague to me). However, my interest in anime in general back then is really pale in contrast as compared to my present state.

All thanks to the conscription of the Singapore Army, I met this fellow sergeant who offered me a shit load of anime. Ennui got the best of me and I decided to check out what he had to offer. I guess that was when I realised there was no turning back. Man you be amazed at the number of anime fans I had encountered in the Singapore Army. Even my Company Sergeant Major, a big and intimidating fellow, was caught giggling to a scene of Gundam SEED while exclaiming ‘Wow! Kira’s crystal broke!’.

So here I am, 8 months after being freed from slavery released from service. The Army did not make me a man, it turned me into an idiotic anime fan *sigh*.

Anyway, apart from following ongoing shows, I am also trying to finish some of the older works. Oh I have disgressed so much. So let us move on to the purpose of this post- Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha.

I cannot dare claim that I am well acquainted with the Mahou Shoujo genre because neither have I seen enough shows of its genre nor do I have a strong impression of those that I had seen in the past. So I wikied on the genre itself to see how Mahou Shoujoish Nanoha an anime is and it turns out that Nanoha is quite a standard depiction of the genre. That is, if the article in Wikipedia holds credibility.

 What really caught my attention was a conversation that Takamachi Nanoha had with her friends in the first episode. Maybe I am a bum so it surprised me that a trio of third-graders in elementary school were actually talking about their future careers. Do not get me wrong because it is fine for them to do so but what I am concerned is that this conversation took place in a Mahou Shoujo show. It gives the message that kind of says ‘Hey it is alright if you do not think so hard about the future’. So now I am under the impression that shows like Nanoha are born out of a collective desire to avert from the harsh expectations that society imposes on us all. I mean, the convenience of our sweet protagonist in becoming a Magical Girl after confessing about her uncertainty towards the future, that sort of speaks for my opinion.

Disagree if you wish, because it is your right to do so, but I humbly feel that Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha has no climax at all. It appears to be that way since the assault on the Final Dungeon was all too smooth from my point of view. Not to forget that Fate’s decision to join the ‘Good Side’ was rather obvious. It did not really irk me because the show did a reasonable job in depicting the progress of the story: the birth of the magical girl, realisation of her mission, the appearance of an enemy and future ally, the true antagonist takes action and the final showdown. The only thing is that there was not much of a final showdown.

I think Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha was a cocktease and Fate-chan agrees too.

 I did had a few laughs thanks to some awkward scenes in the story. Those parts attacked the plausibility of Nanoha and I was sceptical about whether should I carry on with the show. For instance, I would not have allowed Nanoha to run off to ‘do what she needs to do’ if I had been her mother. Apparently the story had to go on, hence such scenes occured. But with the acceptable performance of the story, I was willing to overlook such minor oddities. A slight trip does not warrant absolute condemnation.

Overall, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha was decent but it is nowhere close to being a masterpiece. Oh and the ending of the show was a blatant cry that goes along the line like ’MADA MADA!’ or ‘There is gonna be more to it!’. I shall now proceed to Nanoha A’s and I see what is the big deal over it.

By the way , it was rather traumatic for my mother to see her grown-up son giggling over some cartoon with cute little girls in it. When she asked me to lower the volume of my laptop, because Tamura Yukari’s voice was too much for her to take, I went ‘ALRIGHT MY MASTER’.

Tamura Yukari: Ufufufufu….

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An Extra Note

[To Marmot: I am very sorry but I cannot be your girlfriend because I have a bulge down at my crotch. It saddens me greatly... Such is the destiny of having a dick. SOBZ]