Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

[Comartemis]

And yes, I am certain they are, even if I didn't make them a couple in my fic. Because a Fate pining after Nanoha is the cutest (and because Nanoha is a hopeless workaholic and has all the social skills of a brick... albeit one with a befriending cannon).

Heh. So long as Nanoha eventually gets a clue, I'm cool with that.

Speaking of which... (*unrolls a list of questions*) How is chapter three coming along, Akuma? Is Klair Wind going to get a Full Drive form sometime this millennium, or is Shamal going to continue to get the short end of the stick where devices are concerned? What about Arf and Zaphira showing off some kind of unique familiar abilities instead of just being filler characters? Is Vivio going to get involved in the action in some way, either intentionally or on accident, and if so are we going to see the return of Sankt Kaiser Vivio? Is Tia ever going to get over those chronic self-esteem issues, or is Vita going to have to beat them out of her?

[Akuma-sama]

Speaking of which... (*unrolls a list of questions*) How is chapter three coming along, Akuma? Is Klair Wind going to get a Full Drive form sometime this millennium, or is Shamal going to continue to get the short end of the stick where devices are concerned? What about Arf and Zaphira showing off some kind of unique familiar abilities instead of just being filler characters? Is Vivio going to get involved in the action in some way, either intentionally or on accident, and if so are we going to see the return of Sankt Kaiser Vivio? Is Tia ever going to get over those chronic self-esteem issues, or is Vita going to have to beat them out of her?

Chapter 3 is... one third done. Glacial pace combined with focusing on Mai8HiME for the moment (I plan on releasing TTW 1 and 2 with Mai8HiME 6, which is about 85 to 90% finished), are slowing it down a tad, but it's coming.

I hardly call Shamal's powers to be the short end of the stick. If anything, her powers are closest to being the most broken in the series. It's probably a VERY good thing she's the one who has it instead of a more ruthless character, like, say, Signum.
Arf and Zaphira... well, Zaphira is there. Arf, I'm afraid... well, the cast is huge.
Note that I started writing the story before StrikerS was finished, so Adult!Vivio is not planned to make an appearance... she's a bit young too.
and Tia... Tia WILL get over it. I promise you that.

/threadhijack
Back to Nanoha, if you would.

[Uldihaa]

Not really. That had just completed a fairly gruelling rescue mission and were all looking for the most convinent place to crash for the night (as seen by the fact that all three of them are still partly dressed) and Hayate's bed just happened to be the best place. Why Hayate needs a bed the can quite comfortably sleep three people side by side is another question.

Aw, you just had to go crush my fantasies But you're right, and I never seriously considered Hayate 'involved' with either Fate or Nanoha, I just thought it was interesting that none of them mention whether or not they are dating, or even if they dated anyone in the past. It's even odder when you consider that it seemed that Yuuno was attracted to Nanoha, with Ami even teasing him in the little epilogue of A's. Admittedly, it was probably all one-sided, but still...

*(For the record, was much happier with the transformation sequences come StrikerS)

So was I...but it actually made me even more uncomfortable with the transformation scenes of the first and second season

[KonokoHasano]

First series of Nanoha, finished. XD

Now I need to start on the second one. x_x

[LiliandraNadiar]

The first season was very good. I liked it a great deal.

...

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That said, Nanoha A's is, IMHO, far better.

...

...

We're not going to go on to StrikerS for the time being. Just say that the Nanoha series not only breaks the 'sequals are not as good' theme down, but it hit's it with a full on Starlight Breaker.

>.>

Twice.

[Uldihaa]

First series of Nanoha, finished. XD

Now I need to start on the second one. x_x

Ooohhh, you are so in for a treat! I personally like A's the most. Seeing a slightly bewildered Fate trying to deal with living a 'normal' life is great fun...and extremely cute to boot! And the introduction of the Cartridge System is just damn cool! It also has 'villians' that I can truly sympathize with, and even quietly root for (when they aren't fighting Fate or Nanoha).

[KonokoHasano]

The only bad thing of it all is how there are literally over 100 other anime/manga series out there that I'd like to see as well, and Nanoha cut into the line.

Now, if only I could find some damn Dr. Slump, as well as several other series of interest that do not involve torrents of any kind.

Then again, it's better to have one thing (Nanoha) on the list of things I really want to see first. I remember bookmarking over 140 different manga, and became unable to decide which to read first. By the time I wanted to start reading, the damn web site vanished.

Ah well, and my mind's now trying to fly at 500MPH in an attempt to somehow think up how to incorporate Nanoha or something of it into a fanfic. I refuse though.

[Winchester]

I got into Nanoha by accident, really - I was in a slump, all the decent shows I'd been watching were over, and I clicked on some shows at random on Animesuki and checked their forum and/or wiki pages. And on Nanoha's page, I found the moniker "Demonic Cannon Girl", a translation of one of the alternate spellings of Maho Shoujo. And I thought, "this I just *have* to see". And I wasn't disappointed...

About the only things I didn't like was the lack of explanation for what happened inbetween A's and StrikerS. I know this is in the StrikerS manga, but I don't know where to find that in English, so I'm kind of stuck. I'd like to know what happened to all the pretty major characters that were in Nanoha and A's that just disappeared afterwards - Chrono, his Mom, Arf and Yuuno only have cameo appearances in StrikerS. And what happened on Earth? Does Nanoha still visit with her family?

Too many questions and loose ends...

But then again, that makes for lots of fanfic opportunity.

TTFN,

SP

[Comartemis]

I hardly call Shamal's powers to be the short end of the stick.

She's got the Linker Core Grab and healing magic, that's pretty much it. You'd think that after getting the pants beat off of her during Jail's big move she'd invest a little time and effort into getting Klair Wind some offensive capabilities. For pete's sake, Caro has more attack magic than she does, even without Fried and Voltair backing her up!

Poor Shamal really got left behind when the StrikerS upgrades got handed out. Nanoha gets the Blaster System, Fate gets the New Sonic Form and Riot Zamber, Signum gets Agito, Vita gets a Limit Break, and Hayate doesn't really need to be any stronger than she already is, but Shamal didn't get jack! Something like this would've been beyond awesome!

Just once, I'd like to see Shamal get into a situation nobody thinks she can win, namely a close combat situation Vita or Signum would usually handle, then bust out some high-level defensive spells and use her enemies' attacks against them. Picture a spell that traps an oncoming projectile attack in a subspace pocket, allowing Shamal to reopen the pocket whenever she wants and send the attack right back at her enemy. Or use those portals for something besides grabbing linker cores! Use them like an improvised Deep Diver to lead an enemy on a wild goose chase! Do something besides just hang around in the background and get one-hit KOs whenever the enemy drops their guard!

Besides, if the LCG is so broken, why didn't she use it against Otto and the other cyborgs during the HQ attack?

[LiliandraNadiar]

Well, maybe she needs time to set it up and is vulnerable in the meantime. Or the cyborgs had shielding or didn't have Linker Cores in the traditional sense?

But in general, Shamal seems to fully embrace her role as support. Healing, seeking and empowering Cartridges. 'Attacking' might be something she, mentally, is uncomfortable with.

[KonokoHasano]

First episode of A's watched, and I already started to like Hayate in the first couple of minutes she appeared.

I also like how they can apparently do their magic outside of their transformed forms as well.

[Comartemis]

First episode of A's watched, and I already started to like Hayate in the first couple of minutes she appeared.

Great big shocker, there. Everyone likes Hayate. She's like Hotaru in Sailor Moon; she's portrayed in such a sympathetic light that it's extremely hard not to like her.

[Not-Going-to-Tell]

I think these go better here than elsewhere.

Fate: Marionette Messiah:http://youtube.com/watch?v=8qo0caWIw1E
Signum; Ice Man: http://youtube.com/watch?v=M5VWmergrl4&feature=related

Both excellent tributes to the characters.

[Comartemis]

I'll see your character tributes and raise you two series summaries with more special effects than you can wave a mouse at.

KOTOKO - Fatally

This next one can be found on animemusicvideos.org with much better video quality; search for a band called "AAA", and a song called "Blood on Fire" if you want to download it.

KH, stay away from this one unless you want to know how A's ends ahead of time.

Lyrical on Fire

[WG_Writer]

so many comments on how Shamal got the short end of the powers... My comment as a gamer and WoW player would say in a fight she is the best first target because as a healer and support she is the most dangerous person on the team. Just the same if I were to face Nanoha and Yuuno, I would take Yuuno out first, he may not be a fighter, but his support abilities allowed him to counter Arf nicely and she was the equal for Shamal's canine team mate.

As such I say that the support need not be ungodly overpowered, just strong enough to keep the warriors alive and fighting, thus they are the true threat. Power being meaningless in this case...