hontou ni
3Apr/0722

Nanoha StrikerS 01

Let's recap. What was great about Nanoha As again? For this tanuki, it was the nekkid henshin sequence which they have deprived us of in StrikerS now that they are legal?! stylish action, engaging soundtrack, a simple yet well-executed/well-paced story and of course, lolicious Fate. Well, Fate outgrew item 4 (~sob) and while it's too early to speak for item 3, Nanoha StrikerS' debut certainly delivered the first 2 in spades.

Most of the action came from one of the 2 newly introduced character, Subaru Nakajima, a melee type, who combines high-speed with raw power to deliver massive damage rapidly. Aptly named Subaru (a unisex Japanese name AFAIK) and suitably decked in denim pants with short hair (understandably for close-combat mobility), it’s easy to dismiss her as a boy in the guise of a girl until one notices how smoking-hot her 15 yr-old figure small her waist is.

Despite Subaru's gungho moves and battlecries, she is really more of a girl than Tiana (our other new lead). Emotional and a little wishy-washy, I enjoyed the constipated Subaru who went dere dere after Tiana sprained her ankle. A whiff of yuri? It helps that Subaru-on-rollers is slightly taller than Tiana, making them a picturesque couple. Would she be running into the arms of Tiana 10 eps down after she discovers that Nanoha is actually bethrothed to Fate and Yunno is their illict love-child? One can only hope.

I knew I was going to love this Nakahara Mai role but I didn’t know I’d be so smitten. (I'm particularly susceptible the lethal 3-in-1 combo of Nakahara Mai + twin-tailed + 15-year-old.) While looking feminine with twin tails and a delicious short skirt, Tiana’s really the one who wears the pants in this Subaru-Tiana partnership with her amazing clarity-of-thought and level-headedness. My only complain against Tiana is her unimaginative and almost impractical choice of weapon. In a magical universe where annihilation beams can be fired from any weapon types, it'd make sense to pick a weapon which would also come in useful during close combat (Staves, scythes, swords, hammers etc). Not to mention, her cartridge-loads are not automated leaving her heavily penalised in extended battles. Of course I'd admit her true strength lies in that quick mind of hers. I forsee her as the tactician in the team providing combat strategies/solutions with her support magic while Subaru tears the frontline with brutal-power and Nanoha rips the sky with Strike-Freedom-esque firepower.

Enough of the newbies, now back to our old loves. I'd be frank. I missed 9-yr-old Fate and her twin-tails. Sure, 19 yr old Fate is hot and all but there's a special charm from little girls that no amount of womanly allure can replace. Don't believe me? Replace all of Dakota Fanning roles with Cameron Diaz and you are not going to get the same movies. (Man, I love me lame analogies XD). Well, the good news is that despite my prior complains about Fate's battle outfit, I think I'll gonna like her new barrier jacket (as seen from the OP). It's cool. Not sexy yah but very commanding. Can't wait to see Fate in combat.

From her humble roots as a mahou shoujo spun-off a little known H-game-turned-anime, Triangle Hearts, to having a 3rd season in the action-oriented StrikerS, the Nanoha franchise has come a really long way. I sense the same winning formula in StrikerS that made As the resounding hit it is. Gonna to enjoy this ride, I know it. I just don't know if Fate'd remain my belle of the Nanoha girls when StrikerS ends.

Related posts:

  1. Magical Girl Nanoha StrikerS 1
  2. Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 14
  3. Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS 10

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Comments (22) Trackbacks (0)
  1. TedFox
    April 3rd, 2007 - 11:46

    Ahh… they’re all grown up already. a little like watching your own children

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  2. Beowulf Lee
    April 3rd, 2007 - 11:54

    Three seasons down and I still can’t stand this series :( Oh well.

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  3. Ashram
    April 3rd, 2007 - 13:12

    Been waiting a long time for this one to finally air! Now if there were a good quality raw released >_

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  4. moyism
    April 3rd, 2007 - 13:42

    Another fun NanohaS entry although I’m currently more of a Subaru fanboy out of the new girls so far :)

    … and blast it, I’m still looking for a good raw if there even exist one.

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  5. Demon Eyes
    April 3rd, 2007 - 15:25

    Nice.

    One more blogger.

    And there is a good raw out.

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  6. Adun
    April 3rd, 2007 - 16:15

    Subaru is definitely a different combat type to the rest of the other girls since she is a melee type and likes to get up and personal. A bit more refreshing than the rest who are both a mix of mid to long range fighters. I’m enjoying Nanoha quite a bit though I do hope it can live up to the awesomeness that was shown in the previous two series. Also Reinforce-tan is so moe~~

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  7. Crusader
    April 3rd, 2007 - 19:08

    Looks like I got a marathon ahead of me, though this better reaffirm our faith in the Stripey seal of approval. No more Crescent Loves, yes?

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  8. Skane
    April 3rd, 2007 - 20:28

    Subaru does have some tactical know-how as well (she better damn well do, since this is their B-Rank Proficiency test). She was the one who thought of the plan to take out the Sniper-Bot. We will probably get to see Fate, Nanoha and maybe Hayate fight the AMF Drones next episode (if you have read the prequel manga, you will know what I mean, if you haven’t, then READ IT NOW. The manga is a direct sequel to the timeskip after A’s and a prequel to StrikerS. Most of it will probably not be animated).

    Cheers.

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  9. flaskis
    April 4th, 2007 - 01:34

    I don’t see you talk anything about Nanoha there. Sure Fate is your favourite, but Nanoha had a pretty awesome introduction, first with her Divine Buster attack in that airport (did anyone notice the nice animation on the energy beam?), and then her reunion with Subaru. I was actually very moved and shred a few tears of happiness when I saw that scene. Though I might be biased (just as you are with Fate) since Nanoha has always been my favourite character because of her charm and caring personality.

    I have to add that I really liked Reinforce II. Her pouting like that when she got angry really upped the moe~ meter in me. :) Now I only hope that the next episode will introduce pinky a.k.a Caro!

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  10. Stripey
    April 4th, 2007 - 07:40

    Tedfox: Haha! Indeed, like how we’re always children to our parents, Fate and gang would always be lil girls in our eyes no matter what physical form they take. :)

    Beowulf Lee: Heh, was it the loli element in 1 and 2? Season 3 may be the cure you have been waiting for! :) Give it maybe another 2 eps? :)

    Ashram: A long wait indeed! But well worth it…. I’m not sure I can stand waiting for those weekly episodes though. I practically marathoned Seasons 1 and 2 back to back XD

    moyism: Heh, I have to admit the Nakahara Mai fanboy in me resists… though I don’t know how long I can hold out against a Subaru in those hot denims *holds back nosebleed* XD

    Demon Eyes: Oh it’s out! *going on a rampaging hunt* Thanks for the heads-up!

    Adun: Indeed, it’s nice to have another melee type since my favourite fight scenes in As are mostly Fate and Signum’s close combats. :) As for Reinforce, I actually preferred her previous cool avatar although chibi RII is reaaaally cute :)

    Crusader: orz… My good name is forever soiled with the sludge that is Cabbage love. XD But fear not! My stripey-sense tingles uncontrollably and this time, StrikerS will not fail us, tanuki’s honor. A yabikiri to reinstate this faith, Cru-kun? :P

    Skane: Oh thanks for highlighting it was actually Subaru tactics at the sniper bots segment. Looks like Subaru’s only hot-blooded but not hot-headed :) I need to get to those manga soon… Comes highly recommended by Zyl too :)

    flaskis: Oh I enjoyed Nanoha’s entry in the burning factory too :) Loved the feathers effect. Gave that sense of overflowing power yet ever so gentle as they float down. Very much like Nanoha herself, strong yet kindly. :)

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  11. Xellos-_^
    April 4th, 2007 - 13:55

    the Tanuki seems to be taking the loss of Loli-Fate pretty well. But hey if you look at the op there is a loli-rider now :D .

    Anyway

    MILF-Fate X Oneesan-Nanoha Yuri FTW

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  12. MaverickRonin
    April 4th, 2007 - 15:10

    I’m already a Subaru fanboy after 1 episode. It’s cute how she goes from ass-kicking to breaking down and crying like a little girl. You just want to hold her! Lucky Nanoha. Tiena is pretty cool too. Illusion magic is awesome and usually underrated (or stupidly powerful) so I’m glad to see it make a skillful apperence. I think it makes up for the breach-loading pistol.

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  13. flaskis
    April 4th, 2007 - 15:38

    By the way, did anyone notice that the pink-haired girl in the end of the OP had a magic circle with four corners? Midchilda-type has a round magic circle, Velka-type has a triangle, and now a square? Seems like we’re gonna see some new awesome stuff in future eps :>

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  14. Xellos-_^
    April 4th, 2007 - 15:48

    Flaskis,

    You mean Loli-Rider and yes a lot of us did notice her. Anyone who didn’t will get penalize on thier Loli-con membership by Section 527.

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  15. maglor
    April 5th, 2007 - 12:47

    Question: If my 6 year old son likes the original Nanoha girls or girls in Ichigo Marshmello , is he a Lolicon or Onee-sama fan?

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  16. Zyl
    April 6th, 2007 - 06:34

    Methinks the tanuki has been mollified by lack of loli-Feito by a 15 year old new-and-improved Asuka clone. ;)

    It would make sense that Subaru is a melee type given that she’s chosen to use the Velka system. Not sure what to make of her version of Divine Buster which looked Midchilda-type. In any case, lots of hybridization with Tiana being a Mid-mage but using the Velka cartridge system for her very charming three-shot pistols. I await an AMV when she goes Two Hands on her opponents with breath frequency’s Peach Headz Addiction as the backing track.

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  17. Stripey
    April 6th, 2007 - 10:07

    Xellos-_^: LOL! Loli-rider… how very apt a description! :) Is she gonna be the ‘villain’ for StrikerS, I wonder? Actually I’m still mourning over the loss of Fate’s loli-charms.. but I kinda redirected my ‘moe-kawaii apetitte’ onto the kawaii Kyoto Princess in Code Geass. I just hope she doesn’t die on me XD

    MaverickRonin: Agreed on illusion magic! It brings a greater tactical dimension to battles than just duking it out raw energy blasts. :)

    flaskis: Woah! very observant! I was busy ogling at her beauty hair XD Yet another ‘long-lost’ magical system? :)

    maglor: first let me commend your son on his wonderful tastes. The Nanoha girls would make such wonderful wonderful partners in life. :) For me, it’s always relative to age. So he has onee-con. After all if two 12 yr old kids are dating, I wouldn’t slap the label ‘lolicon’ on the boy nor shotacon on the girl :P

    Zyl: Woaah… I look forward to Tiana getting her 2nd pistol too… Two-hands would be sooo much cooler. As for the magical systems, with the Velka knights joining the bureau, it seems to be going onto a dual system. Does the manga say anything abt it? :)

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  18. suguru
    April 6th, 2007 - 22:01

    Finally watched this–it turned out better than I expected, I thought the opening prologue with Subaru was really well done, although Tiana’s my favorite of the new cast so far. Twintails plus zettai ryouiki always win after all :) I wasn’t sure if I was going to follow this series or not–while I liked Nanoha and As for me they weren’t in the same class as CCS in re-watchability. But so far so good, based on the first ep I’ll definitely keep watching StrikerS. A little disappointed no Yuuno though, I know I’m in the minority hoping for a Nanoha x Yuuno ending (the other 99% going for Nanoha x Fate, of course), but it looks like he’s not around so far :(

    And although they may not have done the henshin sequences during the episode, I’m impressed they showed practically the whole cast naked already, just during the OP credits ^^;

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  19. Beowulf Lee
    April 8th, 2007 - 15:17

    Beowulf Lee: Heh, was it the loli element in 1 and 2? Season 3 may be the cure you have been waiting for! :) Give it maybe another 2 eps? :)

    No, it wasn’t. I can thank Misuzu for turning me into a lolicon, but basics of my opinion have already been said by DM’s “summary” of StrikerS ep 1.

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  20. Stripey
    April 9th, 2007 - 11:53

    suguru: yay! Another fellow Tiana fan. :) Although Nanoha and CCS both has the mahou shoujo tag, I like to think of Nanoha has a mutated form of the MS franchise pandering mostly to the male audience :) CCS, on the other hand, is anime goodness for all demography. Ep 1 gave me the feeling that they are all to busy for regular boy-girl relationships. Possibly some shoujo-ai tidbits here and there but I doubt there’ll be a full course of romance anywhere :)

    Beowulf Lee: Heh, plenty more series this season to sate your anime hunger. I’m sure you’ll find something palatable. :) I enjoyed Claymore and think sola has potential. You may want to give them a shot. :)

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  21. Beowulf Lee
    April 9th, 2007 - 16:05

    From what I’ve seen so far, Darker Than Black has the most potential in developing into something interesting, but I’ve read that sola is done with Air’s and Kanon’s story writer so I’ll definitely give it a go.

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  22. crimson
    April 14th, 2007 - 06:41

    i…still need to find time to watch the nano series…
    What was the series’ chronological order again?

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