Posts in Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Category
December 25, 2004
Nanoha and the rest escape from the castle and back to the ship. Fate and Arf are put in the prison for the time being since they were party to a serious crime... but they should be okay since they were just following orders... Crono says he'll inform Nanoha when something's been decided.. Nanoha just wants to see Fate again..
Nanoha and Yuno go back to her house and wait.. and soon enough it comes. Fate and Arf are going to be moved to the main Time-Space Administration office and will certainly be found innocent. So before they make that journey Fate comes down to meet Nanoha.
Fate wanted to give a reply to Nanoha's question. She wants to be Nanoha's friend, but she doesn't really know what to do. Nanoha says to start off with -- なまえをよんで, "Call my name" (the title of this episode). Not "kimi" or "anata", look at your friend's eyes and call out their name. So Fate finally calls Nanoha "Nanoha", and thanks her for all she's done. But they're going to have to part for now and the tears come... As a memento of each other they exchage ribbons and Fate leaves along with Crono and Arf. But even though they'll be apart for a while they'll surely be able see each other again.
And as the credits scroll we see Nanoha wearing Fate's black ribbon, Fate Nanoha's pink ribbon ;) Nicely done last episode. Fate was super kawaii when she was talking with Nanoha there :)
Nanoha was probably the show I was most excited about coming into this season and it pretty much lived up to my expectations (yes, I know I'm soft compared to others, lol) and then some. Though the animation was somewhat inconsistent from time to time and Nanoha's not the cutest or one of the best mahou shoujo (or should I say bishoujo-mahou shoujo as bluemist called it?) out there, so on, it was definitely enjoyable for me as a fan of the genre and Mizuki Nana and Tamura Yukari. Nanoha takes my award for best opening this season with Mizuki Nana's "innocent starter" (been on my playlist quite a lot), and I'm definitely going to pick up the single since I like it so much (or perhaps I just should pick up her latest album).
Anyways, for guy fans of the genre and of those seiyuu it's something to give a look. Fufilled my weekly mahou shoujo requirements for this season ;) and btw, Momotato, enjoyed blogging it with you :)
Crono, Nanoha, and Yuno go to the castle to find Presia and stop her. And to do that they have to get through a TON of robot guards .. Fate's still in shock with Arf by her side. Arf decides to go help out the others as well. By herself, Fate thinks over what she should do (cue "Take a shot" by Mizuki Nana).. she decides she's going to do what she wants to do now and goes off to fight.
With Nanoha, of course! (yes!). Though they're teamed up only to fight off one big robot.. after that they split up with Fate and Arf going to Presia.. Lindy goes to Presia and tries to convince her to stop.. but Presia is convinced she'll be able to regain what she lost by going to Al Hazard. Fate reaches her and has one thing to say... she wants to protect her because she's her mother. But Presia won't have any of it and as the castle crumbles she and Alicia disappear into the dimensional rift.
And that's where we end. Too bad Nanoha and Fate were only teamed up for a little while, but it was good while it lasted ;)
Next time's the last episode (nooooooooo~!). See how things work out, hopefully good for everyone :)
Just as awesome an episode as Momotato said :) (hence the amount of screencaps I took). Nanoha's fight with Fate was animated very well and was great. Nanoha pulled off some DBZ style moves there at the end to finally defeat Fate. Fate admits defeat and releases her jewel seeds but we all know her *#$&@ mom won't let Nanoha have them, so once again lightning comes and the jewel seeds are taken. When Lindy sends troops to capture Fate's mom something rather shocking comes to light.... Fate's a clone!? Of Presia's actual daughter, Alicia, that was lost in that accident. Alicia's memories were put into Fate so that's why she remembered that scene at the beginning of this episode. Fate is rather shocked at the news and it really pisses Nanoha off as well.. Presia is going to use the power of the jewel seeds to get everything she lost back...
Extremely looking forward to next time hopefully seeing Nanoha and Fate fight together :)
Nanoha and Yuno get reprimanded for their actions last time by Lindy, but she gives them a pass for that one time. More importantly, they now know that Fate's mom is the one behind things and some more information about her comes out as well. Lindy gives Nanoha some time off to go back and talk with her family and friends...
Meanwhile, Fate's getting beaten once again by her mom... And Arf has REALLY had it this time, so she goes to try and attack Fate's mom. Arf can't really compete with her so she takes off (it seems) to the Earth.. Arisa finds her wounded and takes her home. When Nanoha and Yuno come over the next day Yuno talks with Arf, who tells everything. She just wants their help to save Fate. Nanoha agrees to do it, so early in the morning she, Arf, and Yuno wait on Fate. Fate comes and Arf tries to convince her to stop listening to her mother, but she won't. Nanoha challenges her to one last fight to settle everything...
So no Fate-Nanoha team up, but Arf-Nanoha an't bad ;) Anyways... next time looks to be the big battle, and hopefully once that's over with they can be friends :) We'll see.
Nanoha takes a break from school to live onboard the Asura with Yuno and the rest, searching for the jewel seeds. Nanoha and Yuno get a bit friendlier, they get some more jewel seeds. There's only 6 of them left, but they're all in the sea. Fate uses some pretty big magic to find out where they all are, but she's at her limit when she tries to seal all 6 at the same time..
Nanoha can't stand watching Fate do that to herself so Yuno transports her to the surface, ignoring what Lindy said, so Nanoha can help Fate out. Yuno comes along too and helps out Arf. With a charge from Raging Heart, Fate's magic stick is back to normal, so working together they seal those last 6 jewel seeds. And right after Nanoha asks Fate to be her friend Fate's mom sends a big jolt of magic to the Asura and also to Fate. Crono comes down to collect the jewel seeds and fights with Arf.. And then they're gone...
And Nanoha and Fate were just about to team up, it seemed, dangit ;) Fate's mom is such a #*&@!% :P Oh well... Seems like next time it might happen, though. Certainly looking forward to it :)
Crono jumps in the middle of Fate and Nanoha's battle to stop it, but Fate won't go along. One of Crono's attacks injures her as she goes to grab the jewel seed so Arf carries her off. Crono, Yuno, and Nanoha go to the Asura to speak with captain Lindy about things. And there... Crono suggests that Yuno turn back into his original from. And Nanoha is just a wee bit surprised (hoeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!) that he's actually a boy. Yuno forgot to mention that ;)
Fate and Nanoha continue their battle, but both of their "magic sticks" are damaged. Fate tries to stop the jewel seed with her own power and succeeds, but it uses up a lot of her power...
At home Nanoha worries about Raging Heart.. Arf tends to Fate's wounds. She has to go report to her mother tomorrow... Fate's mom doesn't seem like the nicest person the way they talk about her... The next morning Nanoha wakes up early and watches her sister practice while she and Yuno speak telepathically. She wants to know more about Fate.. Fate and Arf leave to go see Fate's mother..
And now things change completely and go sci-fi, as the dimensional spaceship Asura of the Space-Time Administration Bureau and its crew are introduced. The captain is Lindy and also on board is Crono.
The scene shifts to a rather ominous looking place in interdimensional space called the Garden of Time, and there we see Fate, all bruised and her clothes in tatters.. And her mother is the one whipping her.. Arf is outside the room and can't stand it.. Her mother isn't pleased at all. She needs the power of the jewel seeds to make her dream come true and she expects Fate to make her happy next time. Then she beats Fate some more.. Arf meets Fate as she comes out.. Fate just wants to make her mother happy, the way she used to be...
Fate and Arf, Yuno and Nanoha search for the jewel seeds again, and another one activates and makes a tree into a monster. Fate and Nanoha once again fight over the jewel seed, but Crono stops them..
There were a lot of Crest of the Stars-like timestamps and such this time. I wasn't expecting that kind of sci-feel in Nanoha, but we'll see how it works.
But getting to what's important this time.. I certainly wasn't expecting Fate's mother issues to be like that. It's pretty sad that Arf is more caring than Fate's own mother. Poor thing... Perhaps these circumstances could lead to Nanoha and Fate teaming up? ;) Don't exactly know what the Time-Space Administration people are up to yet, but I guess Crono will explain things next time. Seems like Nanoha's going to find out something rather suprising about Yuno then, too.. We shall see :)
Dragosmore brings up something in the comments I forgot to mention:
As for the Time-Space Administration people, who knows. There's a possibility for anything, but isn't it their fault in the first place? As explained in episode 2, there was an accident when the ship was carrying away the Jewel Seeds/Lost Logia for safekeeping so they should be the ones blamed, not chasing after the one trying to get them back, geez :P
And yeah, the Garden of Time castle/fortress where Fate's mom lives is pretty cool. Somewhat reminds me of all those last dungeons from RPGs ;)
Nanoha's still worried about things and still keeps it a secret from Arisa and Suzuka. Arisa has had enough of it and she lets Nanoha know then runs off.. Suzuka and Arisa talk a bit about they became friends with Nanoha. It all started with Nanoha fighting with Arisa one day, then Suzuka stepping in to stop it. Arisa used to pick on people all the time and Suzuka used to be quiet and keep to herself, not talking to anyone. But after they met Nanoha and became friends with each other they were able to change bit by bit. Arisa's really frustrated that she can't help Nanoha at all..
Fate isn't in too good a mood either. Arf is worried about her since she won't eat at all. But they've got to go search for the Jewel Seeds now, so that Fate won't keep her mother waiting...
Nanoha worries about things by herself on the way home. She and Yuno go to search for Jewel Seeds again in the city. Suddenly, she and Yuno both sense magic and look up to see Fate and Arf. The Jewel Seed's been activated and Fate and Nanoha try to seal it at the same time.. they fight a bit. But Nanoha wants to try and understand Fate a bit, so tells Fate a bit about herself. Fate is about to answer, but Arf interrupts and Fate goes after the Jewel Seed with Nanoha following. Their magic sticks clash at the seed and there's an explosion...
And we're left hanging until next week. Friendship is usually a major theme of mahou shoujo so it's not surprising to see it in Nanoha. I really liked that part of the episode; it was done really well. We still don't know that much about why Fate's gathering the seeds, except that it has something to do with her mother. Perhaps she'll open up a bit later on. Should mention that the animation was back to normal this time, thank goodness :)
Next time another 魔法使い mahou tsukai is going to show up.. Looks pretty evil to me.
Nanoha and family and friends take a trip to the onsen to relax. Yuno once again sees things that should give him a major nosebleed, but he just twitches ;) But while there, Nanoha runs into Fate's familiar, a dog demon with a very fitting name, Arf. Nanoha and Fate fight again, with Arf taking on Yuno. Nanoha once again loses, and this time Fate steals one of her jewel seeds then goes away...
I could have done without most of the service this time (and Momotato says it would have still been good without, too? That has to be a first). The budget for this episode must have been low or something.. the faces were drawn kinda oddly. But, looks like next time will be back to normal, and it looks to be good as well, with maybe some more of the story coming to light.
Nanoha and her brother go to Suzuka's house for tea. And it's a rather nice place, too, she's got maids and everything - gives me the CCS Tomoyo vibe again ;) Suzuka and Arisa were a bit worried about Nanoha lately so that's why they had her over, but Nanoha pretends like nothing's wrong.
Nanoha and Yuno both sense a jewel seed nearby and go to investigate, but before they get there one of Suzuka's cats activated it... and just got big. So no big problem, right? Suddenly, a flash of magical light hits the big cat and another girl appears.. another mahou shoujo just like Nanoha, Fate (or Fate, or however you wanna romanize it). She's a rather cold type.. Yuno can tell that she's from his world. She and Nanoha fight, with Nanoha losing.. so Fate gets the jewel seed and goes back to her highrise in the middle of the city. There's a picture of her with her mother in the room..
So Fate has some issues, it seems. And now Nanoha's got a rival. Happy to finally see Mizuki Nana as Fate, doing a nice job as usual ;) I'm still wondering when Yuno will stop playing ferret and show Nanoha who he really is.. Next time, it's off to the onsen! Looking forward to seeing how Nanoha and Fate's rivalry develops.
