Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha was alright but it was not enough to convince me to compose accolades for it. But things are slightly different for its sequel, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s.
The reason why I watched Nanoha and Nanoha A’s is because I wanted to see what was the big deal about it. Having heard praises for them from my acquaintances, I have to say I was curious.
Alright, so since I was not exactly awestruck by Nanoha, I had my reserves about whether its sequel would be able to impress me. So people might say Nanoha A’s is great but it is simply my human nature to doubt things. Sometimes it is hard to truly evaluate the worth of an anime that has been viewed if one is sort of influenced by peers prior to watching a show. Resulting in a pre planned intention to join the bandwagon in jeering or screaming how great that show was. So it was with that mind set and my stubborn individualism, I was determined to watch Nanoha A’s without expecting it to be as good as others have claimed it to be.
After watching the credits and the epilogue of Nanoha A’s, I can only say ‘SHIT I HAVE BEEN CONVERTED’. A’s was a pail of sweat and blood and the misleading title of the show did not help in giving any hints of being so. ‘Lyrical’ feels too flowery to me.
I started my anime loving days as a stuck up dick who assumed that everything is supposed to be straight and serious. And that sure made me unable to appreciate a lot of shows. But at a certain point of time I snapped came to realise the truth and I am glad I did so because I would have just dismissed Nanoha A’s as being ridiculous.
Um so I am not going to write tl;dr stuff on Nanoha A’s because it IS Nanoha A’s. It is one of those shows, to me that is, that is all about being ‘hot blooded’. Apart from being a shocking trap of a Mahou Shoujo show, Nanoha A’s is also a story that is blatant and totally not poseur-ish for it does not try to attempt to present itself as being complex.
In fact, I could just publish this post with just one sentence- ‘NANOHA A’S IS AWESOMESAUCE’. Yes the caps are necessary.
Why do I think Nanoha A’s is AWESOMESAUCE? Well my heart would thump in excitement when friendship is forged and raised from the flames of battle. The foes of today will be the comrades of tomorrow, that is cool to me. And will we ever be tired of the classic notion of fighting for your beliefs and all that is precious? Well it worked well because of all the hot blooded cries and explosions. While watching Nanoha A’s, I would constantly check my pants to check whether I actually I am a male because damn those girls were more inspiring as manly role models than I am.
Having said that, I think the secret in Nanoha A’s ability to impress lies in its relatively short number of episodes. And because of that, Nanoha A’s was one heck of a blaze. Yet I cannot help but wonder how would the story have been if it was extended slightly to give Graham and his cat-girls more involvement near the end of the story. What Nanoha A’s lacked was a specific antagonist to direct our animosity towards, and that would have amplified the AWESOMESAUCE-ness of the show when the bad guy gets totally creamed by Nanoha’s magical beams of love and friendship. Also, the ending was rather anti climatic because the final boss was just a sitting duck, eating all that delicious damage from the final attacks of the heroes. I lol’ed when final boss gave an orgasmic cry of pleasure after Fate dealt a powerful blow. HAR I WAS BEING SUGGESTIVE.
Oh crap. This is supposed to be where I end but AWESOMESAUCE-ness is like a never ending echo that keeps rocking my soul. WHY ARE THE CARTRIDGE LOADING SCENES SO FRIGGIN AWESOME? WHY WAS I SHAKING WITH AWE WHEN NANOHA BROKE THE BOOK OF DARKNESS’ SHIELD AND PUMPED THREE CARTRIDGES INTO ONE ATTACK?
So much for trying to be reserved and calm while writing this post. I have been totally biased.
Side effects of watching Nanoha A’s includes a tendency to mimic Raising Heart’s voice in real life.
P.S I shall now move on to Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS.
[ID SOJOURNER]
ELLO. Sojourner is too reserved in expressing himself so I shall do him a favour. Suffice to say, the post should have been written like as follows!
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
NANOHA A’S = AWESOME
Yup.
8 Comments
July 3, 2008 at 3:11 am
I’m with [ID Sojourner]…NANOHA A’S = AWESOME!!
Let’s see which bandwagon you’ll get on while watching StrikerS.
July 3, 2008 at 4:21 am
Hmm. I’m holding back from trying StrikerS at the moment, for fear that it’ll be as bad as some say it is. On the other hand, A’s is AWESOME, as you say. I think you hit on one of its very few problems when you say that it lacked a good, specific antagonist. I’d actually forgotten who the villain was supposed to be, until you reminded me in this post, which says a lot.
But hey. It’s still AWESOME.
July 3, 2008 at 6:43 pm
StrikerS is the true test for fans everywhere, and if you hate it, then you were never a fan to begin with P:
July 3, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Never did like StrikerS. Loli Fate is the best Fate there is.
But Nanoha A’s is AWESOME!
July 4, 2008 at 11:14 am
@53RG10
I WILL END BOTH THIS REPEATING SADNESS AND THIS BAD DREAM.
@IKnight
It would have been great if the bad guy (like someone whom we can hate) gets defeated by Nanoha and cries ‘HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? WHY?’
And Nanoha goes ‘YOU WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND BECAUSE YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHAT TRUE STRENGTH IS!’
Guaranteed boner.
@Shin
Stay tuned for the next episode.
@Stifler
EXCELLIOOOOONNNN BAAAAAASTTAAAAAA!!!!!
July 4, 2008 at 11:09 pm
There is a chinese saying “不打不相识”. You wont make a friend unless you give him a punch.
July 5, 2008 at 5:52 pm
Methinks StrikerS will be best watched by fast-forwarding all the scenes until Fate shows up.
)
I also tend to have the “err, yea everyone says XXX is great and all, why is it that when I check it out for myself it’s just nyeh?” sentiment which kinda impairs my ability to enjoy shows as much as when I just pick them up on a whim (It’s also easier to drop these latter shows
That being said, I have no idea why I started watching Nanoha (oh wait, that’s what you call a whim -_-”), oblivious to the hype around it (Fate) as I was. My brain was kinda half dead during the first season, and I kinda expected the same to happen in A’s… But tl;dr cut short, AWESOMESAUCE indeed.
Now my horrible elitist streak rears it’s ugly head whenever people say they still watch endless shounen shows for the action, and I chuck the title MAGICAL GIRL LYRICAL NANOHA A’S in their faces in a triumphant smirk as they stare at me like I’m crazy. (No wonder I have no friends)
July 6, 2008 at 12:26 am
@misakichii
There is a story behind how the P-Meister and I met, and it has something to do with that Chinese saying.
@issa-sa
tl;dr cut short, you are my friend if you like Nanoha A’s. EXCELLIIOOOOOOOONNN BAAAAAAAASSTTAAAAAA