Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

Nanoha Takamachi, an ordinary third-grader who enjoys spending time with her family and friends, rescues an injured ferret that she had dreamed about the night before. The next day, the ferret cries out to her telepathically, asking Nanoha to save him. The ferret reveals himself to be Yuuno Scrya, a mage from another world who is trying to collect the dangerous 21 Jewel Seeds that he accidentally scattered across the world. He enlists Nanoha's help, gifting her the magical wand Raising Heart, and teaches her how to become a powerful mage.

Days later, after reclaiming a few of the Jewel Seeds, another mage appears: Fate Testarossa. Stronger than Nanoha, Fate refuses to divulge her reasons in trying to collect the Jewel Seeds. Nanoha senses a melancholy in her eyes, but Fate refuses to communicate. Directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha is a story about the clash of emotions when goals collide.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Testarossa, Fate Main

Mizuki, Nana Japanese

Takamachi, Nanoha Main

Tamura, Yukari Japanese

Scrya, Yuuno Main

Mizuhashi, Kaori Japanese

Arf Main

Kuwatani, Natsuko Japanese

Testarossa, Alicia Supporting

Mizuki, Nana Japanese

Harlaown, Chrono Supporting

Takahashi, Mikako Japanese

Bannings, Alisa Supporting

Kugimiya, Rie Japanese

Testarossa, Precia Supporting

Igarashi, Rei Japanese

Harlaown, Lindy Supporting

Hisakawa, Aya Japanese

Tsukimura, Suzuka Supporting

Shimizu, Ai Japanese

Mishima, Akio Producer

Shinbou, Akiyuki Director

Kameyama, Toshiki Sound Director

Kusakawa, Keizou Episode Director

Reviews

Mar 5, 2022

Ringrose

Recommended

I have heard about the Nanoha franchise for many years now, so I checked into it. While I’m not blown away, it is entertaining enough to keep my attention, which is rare for me.

The story essentially follows the adventures of Nanoha becoming a magical girl, collecting the jewel seeds with her animal sidekick, which is standard fare. The plot takes an odd turn when science fiction is thrown into the blender. Yes, Nanoha is not a pure magical girl show.

I happen to be a sucker for sci-fi, so this was a pleasant surprise for me. However, I have to admit this element has ... its drawbacks. It abandons the consistency of a magical girl monster of the week plot.

For another, it diminishes the importance of the Earthling characters, which is unfortunate. However, all the characters are interesting and easy to understand, which is a good point. Nobody is too annoying.. even the main villain is sympathetic to an extent.

While nothing is really egregious, Nanoha is a brief series. And so nothing stands out too much either. I’m aware of the many other seasons. I feel like Nanoha's stakes rise way too fast, and would have benefited from more episodes to develop the story.

Overall, Nanoha is a solid series and is about what I would expect from the beginning of a franchise. I recommend checking it out if you like magical girls or science fiction.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Apr 30, 2023

Animelover875

Mixed Feelings

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.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

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Jun 13, 2017

Angry_Anime_Nerd

Not Recommended

Funny

Preliminary (1/13 eps)

I only saw the first episode of this and then dropped it.

Nanoha does not act like a nine-year-old. She is in third grade, yet
she's very perceptive for a third grader and can be sickeningly sweet,
too. She is simplya normal caring, idealistic third grader.

I found Arisa very annoying and bratty. Like how she yelled at a dog to stop barking but she loves dogs? She's a hypocrite!

There were some religious things in it, the thing that I hate the most
about anime.
...
This show felt like a long time watching it and I kind of couldn't wait
for it to end.

Reviewer’s Rating: 3

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