Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It has been suggested that Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Strikers be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

This article or section has multiple issues. Please help improve the article or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional references or sources for verification. Tagged since September 2007. It may require general cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Tagged since March 2009. Its introduction may need to be rewritten to comply with Wikipedia's lead section guidelines. Tagged since March 2009.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
魔法少女リリカルなのは (Mahō Shōjo Ririkaru Nanoha)
Genre	Adventure, Magical girl
TV anime
Director	Akiyuki Shinbo
Writer	Masaki Tsuzuki
Studio	Seven Arcs
Licensor	Geneon Entertainment
Network	Gifu Broadcasting System, TV Saitama, Mie Television, TV Osaka, Chiba TV, TV Kanagawa Qwiny NTV7 Momo Kids
Original run	October 1, 2004 – December 25, 2004
Episodes	13 (List of episodes)
Anime and Manga Portal

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (魔法少女リリカルなのは, Mahō Shōjo Ririkaru Nanoha^?) is a thirteen-episode anime, directed by Akiyuki Shinbo, which aired between October and December 2004.

The series represents a spin-off of the Triangle Heart series of games and OVAs. Nanoha, the magical girl and younger sister of Kyōya and Miyuki, takes precedence here while her sword-wielding siblings are reduced to minor characters. Nanoha is also clearly set in an alternate universe; the late Shirō Fuwa was always named Takamachi and survived his originally fatal injury, new characters such as Fate Testarossa are added, and others, such as Fiasse Crystela, are removed.

A sequel, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's, aired between October and December 2005. A third series, titled Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS began airing on April 1, 2007, and finished airing on September 23, 2007. Corresponding manga series have also appeared, bridging the story and adding new elements to it. Two manga series, Magical Chronicle Lyrical Nanoha Force (魔法戦記リリカルなのはFORCE^?), started on April 30, 2009 on the debut of Kadokawa Shoten's Nyantype magazine^[1]; and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Vivid, which started on 26 May, 2009 in Comtiq Ace magazine. As of 2009^[update] a movie edition of the first series, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha: MOVIE the 1st, is in production.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Media 2.1 Anime 2.2 Soundtracks 2.3 Drama CDs 2.4 Novel 2.5 Anime film 3 Reception 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Plot

The storyline follows Nanoha Takamachi, a nine-year-old Japanese girl attending elementary school, who lives with her parents and her older siblings. Nanoha's regular everyday life ends when she rescues an injured ferret who turns out to be a young shapeshifting mage named Yūno Scrya. An archaeologist from a parallel universe, Yūno came to Earth to collect the set of twenty-one dangerous ancient artifacts named the "Jewel Seeds" (ジュエルシード, Jueru Shīdo^?) he first discovered in his own world. Jewel Seeds turn living beings who come into contact with them into monsters and Yūno, injured while collecting them, must now rely on Nanoha while he convalesces in the ferret form. He gives Nanoha an "intelligent device" (magical wand) called "Raising Heart" (レイジングハート, Reijingu Hāto^?) and she unexpectedly shows strong aptitude for magic. As the two begin to gather Jewel Seeds, Nanoha learns magic from Yūno while continuing with her ordinary everyday life.

While retrieving her sixth Jewel Seed, Nanoha is confronted by Fate Testarossa and her familiar Arf. Fate's mother, Precia Testarossa, sent her out to collect the Jewel Seeds, which she needs to travel to the lost world of Al Hazard, where all wishes are said to be fulfilled. More than a year before the story began, Precia went insane when her daughter Alicia died and initiated "Project Fate", an illegal research of cloning and resurrection, making her a fugitive from the interdimensional police known as Time-Space Administration Bureau (TSAB). Precia cloned Alicia to create Fate and implanted with Alicia's memories but she is nevertheless unable to see Fate as Alicia and instead abuses her regularly. Despite the abuse, Fate is extremely loyal to her because of Alicia's happy childhood memories she holds for her own. In the series, Precia uses Fate to collect Jewel Seeds and reach Al Hazard, where Alicia could be truly brought back to life.

Nanoha and Fate face off against each other over each new Jewel Seed, and the TSAB soon interferes to prevent the collateral damage caused by their battles. Nanoha eventually manages to overpower Fate and brings her to the TSAB, prompting Precia to abandon her and to attempt a dimensional jump to Al Hazard with the power of the few Jewel Seeds Fate managed to gather so far. Gathering her resolve, Fate decides to aid the TSAB and Nanoha in their fight to stop Precia. Although they manage to minimize the destructive side-effects of using the Jewel Seeds, they are unable to prevent Precia from finishing the spell and her final whereabouts are unknown. Fate and Nanoha decide to become friends but first, Fate must travel to TSAB homeworld to prove she was an unwilling accessory in Precia's crimes.

[edit] Media

[edit] Anime

Created by Seven Arcs, directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and written by Masaki Tsuzuki, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha premiered in Japan on October 1, 2004 and ran for thirteen episodes until its conclusion on December 25, 2004. Geneon Entertainment has licensed it for release in North America.

On July 3, 2008, Geneon Entertainment and Funimation Entertainment announced that Funimation would assume the exclusive rights to the manufacturing, marketing, sales and distribution of select Geneon titles, including Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.^[2][3]

[edit] Soundtracks

King Records released the CD soundtrack of 41 tracks for the anime series, entitled Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Original Soundtrack (魔法少女リリカルなのは　Ｏｒｉｇｉｎａｌ　Ｓｏｕｎｄ　Ｔｒａｃｋ, Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha Original Soundtrack^?) in Japan on May 11, 2005.^[4]

[edit] Drama CDs

King Records have released three drama CD adaptation of the series in Japan.Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Sound Stage 01 (魔法少女リリカルなのは サウンドステージ01, Mahō Shōjo Lyrical Nanoha Saundo Steeji 01^?), containing 16 tracks, appeared on November 26, 2004.^[5] Sound Stage 2 followed on January 13, 2005 with an additional 19 tracks.^[6] The final CD, Sound Stage 03 had 16 more tracks and was released on April 6, 2005.^[7] by King Records.

[edit] Novel

Megami Bunko published a novelized version written by Masaki Tsuzuki and illustrated by Ivory in August 2005 under the IBSN 978-4-05-903506-8.^[8]

[edit] Anime film

According to an announcement^{[by whom?]}, a movie based on the retelling of the first story of Nanoha Takamachi will open in Japan in the (Northern hemisphere) winter. Titled Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st, it will retell the first story of Nanoha Takamachi, an ordinary third-grade girl who becomes a magical girl in search of Jewel Seeds from another world, and of Fate Testarossa, another magical girl competing for the Jewel Seeds. However, it is emphasized that the movie is not necessarily the "true history" of the story, but a "new parallel history."^[9]

A trailer of the film and some documents including replicas of character-design sketches and original drawings emerged at Aniplex's booth at the 2009 Tokyo International Anime Fair.^[10] The official website opened on 9 May, 2009.

[edit] Reception

Anime News Network's Carl Kimlinger described the anime series as one filled with typical magical girl tropes and as one that takes otaku-targeted entertainment to "its logical extreme" by studding it with what he described to be a "neutron-star" of otaku obessions.^[11] Although Tim Jones of THEM Anime Reviews noted that the series contained aspects typical of the magical girl genre, he stated that the anime had several unique aspects differing from the patterns found in others of its genre, such as featuring characters fighting "physically" instead at long-range with magic and targeting "an older male demographic".^[12] Davey C. Jones of Active Anime praised the series for building up to "intense double climax" when the Fate's backstory is revealed and in the final battle on Precia's ship.^[13] However, Mania Entertainment's Chris Beveridge criticized that the anime series stating that it was too rushed and would have been "more engaging and fun" were it a twenty-six episode long series as opposed to its current length of thirteen episodes.^[14] On the other hand, Tim Jones stated that the last five episodes of the series are its highlight due to the dramatic change in style the series went through, introducing "intrigue and excitement" to the show. He criticized the first few episodes as "most forgettable, boring, and just plain uninteresting episodes of any show [he had] ever seen".^[12] Both Beveridge and Kimlinger criticized the series for conveying a sense of maturity that is "out of place" in storyline that follows third-grade characters at the age of nine.^[11][14]

Beveridge described the anime series as having well-designed visuals and character designs done with "strong, vibrant colors" that "all come across very well".^[14] Davey C. Jones praised the visual effects applied to the spells that "made them look extra spiffy and, well, magical."^[13] Kimlinger noted the use of multiple animation directors who gave "each episode a distinct look" and allowed the series to "retain a level of stylistic continuity" that he described as resulting in an "uneven, but ... undeniably appealing" look.^[11] Although, Tim Jones praised the character designs as "distinct enough to distinguish [between] the fairly large cast", he criticized the animation quality as ranging from "okay to downright lazy". He stated that "aside from the great opening song, the music, though good, is forgettable", but described the ending theme as "lame". Beveridge stated that the "solid" musical score helps convey the "action cleanly".^[14]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

• Official website (Japanese)
• Movie official website (Japanese)
• Funimation Official Website
• Gakken novel page
• Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia

v • d • e Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Franchise Episodes • A's • Strikers • Force • ViVid • Triangle Heart Characters Nanoha Takamachi • Yūno Scrya • Fate Testarossa • Hayate Yagami • Subaru Nakajima • Teana Lanster • Erio Mondial Vita • Signum • Reinforce • Numbers