Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's
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| Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's | |
|---|---|
| 魔法少女リリカルなのはＡ’ｓ [エース] (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's) |
|
| Genre | Magical girl, Bishoujo |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Keizou Kusakawa |
| Studio | Seven Arcs |
| Network | Chiba TV |
| Original run | 1 October 2005 – 25 December 2005 |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's (魔法少女リリカルなのは エース Mahō Shōjo Ririkaru Nanoha Ēsu?) (A's pronounced as Ace) is a thirteen episode sequel to Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, a magical girl alternate universe spinoff of the Triangle Heart series of games and OAVs. A third series, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, is set for release in 2007.
Like its predecessor, A's bases its 'magic' on technology in lieu of traditional fantasy style of magic. The fight choreography in this series is also notably more like that from the shōnen genre than a typical magical girl show.
Contents |
[edit] Story
A's is set six months after the first series and begins by explaining what has happened in the time between the two series. Nanoha has been constantly practicing her techniques whilst Fate and Arf have remained in the custody of the Time-Space Administration agency, patiently waiting for the results of her trial. Fate and Nanoha have been keeping in contact by sending video DVDs to each other.
While working on an assignment at home, Raising Heart tells Nanoha that danger is approaching. Nanoha enters battle with the mysterious girl and is injured heavily due to the massive damage that the girl's weapon is capable of inflicting. Fate and Yŭno arrives just in time to save Nanoha from death and battles the girl, but her friends come to join in the battle shortly after. It seems that this will just be the first of many battles to come.
[edit] Characters
Please note that names are given in Western order with the person's first name in the front.
[edit] Main Characters
[edit] Nanoha Takamachi
- 高町 なのは (Takamachi Nanoha?) (Voice: Yukari Tamura)
A sweet girl, perhaps a little too trusting, but has faith in herself and her friends. Nanoha is a rarity in that she comes from Earth but has a surprisingly strong aptitude for magic. Wielding her staff, Raising Heart, she finds her calling in protecting her friends with magic. She awaits the return of her friend, Fate, but it comes just as she is ambushed by Vita for her linker core, and she is thrown into the fray once again.
[edit] Fate Testarossa
- フェイト・テスタロッサ (Feito Tesutarossa?) (Voice: Nana Mizuki)
After the events of the previous season, Fate is acquitted as an accessory to her mother's crime and recruited by the Time-Space Administration Bureau. Quiet and reflective, she serves as a contrast to her dearest friend, Nanoha. Her familiar, Arf, and her device, Bardiche, are the only ones that were always there for her. She is adopted by Lindy Haraoun after her abusive, insane mother commits suicide rather than be captured in the first season.
[edit] Hayate Yagami
Hayate, a sweet wheelchair-bound orphan, is under the care of the Wolkenritter, though they keep their battles from her; she knows that the completion of the Book of Darkness will grant her vast power, but does not want it at the expense of the lives of others. However, the Book of Darkness is feeding off her own life force, causing her paralysis, and will eventually kill her if it is not completed... Hayate and Suzuka become fast friends after Suzuka helps her around the library, which may cause trouble if their respective friends learn that they have been fighting each other.
[edit] Yūno Scrya
- ユーノ・スクライア (Yūno Sukuraia?) (Voice: Kaori Mizuhashi)
Yūno is an archaeologist hailing from an alternate world named Mid-childa (ミッドチルダ Middo Chiruda?). Yūno is also proficient with protective and binding spells and often provides support for Nanoha and the rest of the team. True to his surname, Yūno has exceptional scrying abilities and was able to find a lot of information regarding the Book of Darkness while sifting through the material located within the Infinity Library (無限書庫 Mugen Shoko?).
When traveling on Earth with Nanoha amongst her family and friends, he transforms himself into a ferret, so as to avoid having to explain the events that the two have been through. It's unclear whether this is a natural ability or a spell (see first season notes)
While the relationship that Nanoha and Yūno shares during battles seem to mirror Fate and Arf's relationship, Yūno is not actually Nanoha's familiar as she did not create him. Yūno also has feelings for Nanoha, as confirmed during the epilogue sequence of the series at the end of the final episode. However, it's yet to be seen whether Nanoha views Yūno as anything more than a friend. (As confirmed in the StrikerS introductory manga.)
[edit] Arf
- アルフ (Arufu?) (Voice: Natsuko Kuwatani)
Arf is Fate's familiar and is a fox/wolf hybrid in her regular form. However, she no longer assumes this form since it is less intimidating for Fate's friends when she is down on Earth and instead changes into the form of a puppy dog. She is capable of casting both offensive attack spells and support-based binding spells. In major battles, Arf is usually alongside Yūno, acting as support by nullifying the enemies' attack capabilities with their binding spells. She has a 'human' form that is actually more in keeping with a fox demihuman - similar to the catgirls of some other shows.
[edit] Wolkenritter
[edit] Signum
- シグナム (Shigunamu?) (Voice: Kaori Shimizu)
Signum has a long pink ponytail and appears to be the oldest of the group. Lævatein (Levantine in the fansubs), her chain-link sword, is a powerful weapon that crosses Fate and Bardiche in every battle. Signum, unlike Vita, keeps calm at almost all times and, though she has a strong will to absorb her enemies' Linker Cores into the Book, Signum nonetheless respects their level of power and does not take them lightly. She has an extensive knowledge of how the mind works, which is probably what made her the group's leader, besides her strength.
[edit] Shamal
- シャマル (Shamaru?) (Voice: Ryoka Yuzuki)
Shamal, being Yūno's counterpart, does not actually fight, but uses her ring devices to defend, create portals, absorb victims' Linker Cores into the Book of Darkness, and the like. Shamal acts as the 'mother' of the group, doing the shopping, worrying excessively over the others' well-being, and constructing excuses to Hayate as to why they're out so often ("The grocery store doesn't have our brand of olive oil"). She knows that Hayate does not want them to fight anyone for her, but it is still no question that they must.
[edit] Vita
- ヴィータ (Vīta?) (Voice: Asami Sanada)
A hot-tempered young redhead with a complex about her rabbit hat. She begins to question why she doesn't remember the fates of her former masters. Always pitted against Nanoha in battles, she uses her mallet, Graf Eisen, to fight. Vita arrogantly refuses to call Nanoha by her real name, always inventing some variation, until she and Nanoha join forces in the final battle.
[edit] Zafira
- ザフィーラ (Zafīra?) (Voice: Kazuya Ichijou)
The Wolkenritter's familiar, a large grey wolf. He transforms into a muscular dark-skinned man, and in battles, always finds himself facing Arf.
Other characters that were only shown in A's can be found in the A's section of the character list.
[edit] Weaponry
- Main article: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha terminology
[edit] Episode List
Note: Many of the names of the earlier episodes end in "nano" (なの), a generic exclamation.
| Episode # | Title | Air Date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | "The Beginning Comes Suddenly!" "Hajimari wa totsuzen ni nano" (はじまりは突然になの) |
2005-10-01 | ||
| Nanoha is ambushed by Vita for her Linker Core. | ||||
| 02 | "The Storms of Battle Return!" "Tatakai no arashi, futatabi nano" (戦いの嵐、ふたたびなの) |
2005-10-08 | ||
| Nanoha and Fate fight the much stronger Wolkenritter. | ||||
| 03 | "Reunion, and Then Relocation!" "Saikai, soshite ohikkoshi nano!" (再会､そしてお引っ越しなの!) |
2005-10-15 | ||
| Raising Heart and Bardiche demand a new and dangerous modification to their design. | ||||
| 04 | "Our New Powers Activate!" "Arata naru chikara, kidō nano!" (新たなる力、起動なの!) |
2005-10-22 | ||
| Hayate's condition worsens, and the TSAB corner the Wolkenritter. | ||||
| 05 | "That Is a Small Wish! (Part 1)" "Sore wa chiisa na negai nano (Zenpen)" (それは小さな願いなの (前編)) |
2005-10-29 | ||
| A masked man appears to help the Wolkenritter, whose artificial nature is revealed. | ||||
| 06 | "That Is a Small Wish! (Part 2)" "Sore wa chiisa na negai nano (Kōhen)" (それは小さな願いなの (後編)) |
2005-11-05 | ||
| Hayate's love has given the Wolkenritter emotion, and though she says not to hurt anyone, they ignore this in order to protect her. | ||||
| 07 | "The Broken Past and Present!" "Kowareta kako to genzai to nano" (壊れた過去と現在となの) |
2005-11-12 | ||
| Fate and Nanoha again confront Signum and Vita, trying to get them to open up. | ||||
| 08 | "A Tragic Resolve Is the Courageous Decision!" "Kanashī ketsui, yūki no sentaku nano" (悲しい決意、勇気の選択なの) |
2005-11-19 | ||
| Nanoha and Fate meet Hayate, and the TSAB realize that the Book of Darkness is going to kill her. | ||||
| 09 | "Christmas Eve" "Kurisumasu ibu" (クリスマス・イブ) |
2005-11-26 | ||
| While Chrono researches Graham, the masked man- well, two of him- complete the Book of Darkness at great cost and frame Nanoha and Fate. | ||||
| 10 | "Destiny" "Unmei" (運命) |
2005-12-03 | ||
| Hayate is engulfed by the Book's power. Chrono confronts Graham on the past and gets a new weapon. | ||||
| 11 | "Holiday Gift" "Seiya no okuri mono" (聖夜の贈り物) |
2005-12-10 | ||
| Fate faces her dreams up against reality, while Nanoha battles the Book of Darkness. | ||||
| 12 | "Night's End, Journey's End" "Yoru no owari, tabi no owari" (夜の終わり、旅の終わり) |
2005-12-17 | ||
| Wolkenritter, Nanoha, Hayate and TSAB alike team up against the final enemy. | ||||
| 13 | "Stand By, Ready" "Sutanbai redī" (スタンバイ・レディ) |
2005-12-24 | ||
| Although the danger is averted, the threat to Hayate's life remains. In view of this, Reinforce makes a fateful choice. | ||||
[edit] Theme Songs
- Opening
- ETERNAL BLAZE performed by Nana Mizuki
- Ending
- Spiritual Garden performed by Yukari Tamura
- Insert Songs
- Snow Rain performed by Kana Ueda (in episode 11)
- BRAVE PHOENIX performed by Nana Mizuki (in episode 12)
[edit] Trivia
- Episode 8 - When Hayate mentions that it'd be nice to spend Christmas the Wolkenritter, the date on the calendar is shown to be Tuesday, December 13th. This is an accurate representation of December 13th, on the year of 2005, which is when the series was aired.
- Episode 13 - During the last part of the opening sequence, there is a sequence of quick cuts of each of the different weapons used in the series. The S2U is switched out and the Durandal is featured instead. The Book of Darkness is also switched to a picture of the Reinforce Staff.
[edit] Manga
A manga adaptation of the story was serialized in Megami Magazine, with a few changes to the storyline, mostly elaborating on the characters. For example, Nanoha must also deal with Raising Heart draining her magical power with every move she makes, and explores how Hayate views the Wolkenritter as her children.
[edit] External links
- (Japanese) Official Site
- (Japanese) NanohaWiki
| Nanoha |
|---|
| Series: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha | A's | StrikerS | Triangle Heart |
| Characters |
| Main: Nanoha Takamachi | Yūno Scrya | Fate Testarossa | Arf | Hayate Yagami |
| Wolkenritter: Vita | Signum | Shamal | Zafira | Reinforce |
| Others: Precia Testarossa | Chrono Haraoun | Minor characters |
| Other |
| Spell list: List of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha spells |
| Glossary: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha terminology |
