Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 1st

The Mahou Shoujo or Magical Girl genre is one I've steered clear of ever since I began watching anime. I was always under the impression that series of the sort were aimed at younger girls and children in general. However, after last seasons Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica gave me a completely new perspective on the genre, I have opened up to it and decided that it's worth finding others of note within the genre. Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 1st isn't just a good Mahou Shoujo, it's also a very good movie by anime standards.

Although not on the same level of darkness as Madoka Magica, Lyrical Nanoha definitely has quite a dark undertone. The show is clearly aimed at a large variety of audience, from young teenagers to adults, and has a lot of content to enjoy for everybody. However, I'm not looking at the TV series today, but the movie that tells the same story as the 13 episode series but compacts it into a 2 hour film, injecting a humongous dose of budget and quality.

The plot is quite simple, Nanoha and her rival Fate, for their own reasons, must collect Jewel Seeds that have been scattered around Earth. These are the main reason for conflicts and also the main drive for the story.

The setting of Lyrical Nanoha is one of my personal favorites in anime. While it's all quite modern day, the whole thing opens up into a sci-fi style as the story progresses. It's almost like if you were to replace Gundams with Magical Girls. I'm a sucker for sci-fi plots and I think Lyrical Nanoha's take on it is really well done and doesn't feel out of place within the universe. Simple things like Raising Hearts and Bardische having robotic voices add a ton of character and make the design very unique from other weapons, but allows a lot of flexibility in their appearance as fairly futuristic devices.

The characters of Lyrical Nanoha are good. Nanoha Takamachi herself is a kind girl who seems to want to make friends with anything that moves. Good for her. She's what I'd call a fairly normal "Hero" protagonist, she doesn't want to fight needlessly and wants to protect what she loves. Her design is very plain too UNTIL she becomes a Magical Girl. Her costume design, the blue and white dress, is my favorite by far and it really transforms her into something far less generic. It may seem like I'm being quite harsh on her but I do like her, I don't think you need your hero to be any different from this, she comes out as a very lovable and well designed character. Raising Hearts is a great weapon of choice and looks very impressive in cannon mode. Yukari Tamura (Also the voice of Rika from Higurashi No Naku Koro Ni) seriously delivered with Nanoha's voice, and I could quite safely say she perfected the character.

Fate Testarossa is quite a transition. While she is what I'd call the main rival, there is a lot more to her when it comes to actual character development and at times she seems to take over as the main character. She starts off as quite a standard "Cold" rival character but really opens up near the end of the movie into quite a complex and very well thought out character. I mean, she isn't evil or anything, but you don't really learn what drives her until later on in the movie. Unlike Nanoha, I actually dislike Fate's slightly skimpier costume somewhat, but I love Bardische's design over Raising Heart. The words "Scythe Form" sent a shiver down my spine every time. Nana Mizuki, like Tamura, completely perfected the voice of Fate.

There are a myriad of other characters but most aren't given much time in the movie. Yuuno Scrya, Nanoha's ferret companion, is the spotlight character at the beginning of the movie with quite an intense fighting scene. Like Nanoha, he is very friendly and doesn't seem to want to needlessly fight. Arf, who is Fate's hilariously named familiar, is another large transition from Yuuno and Nanoha. She is quite fierce and very protective of Fate for reasons you must really watch to understand. She is also very outspoken.

The artwork and animation are phenomenal as expected of an anime movie. Every scene is filled with motion and life. The artstyle of Nanoha is actually quite outdated today, the characters have huge eyes and large, shiny hair, but it doesn't look bad at all. Quite the contrary, the older style keeps up very well when given a boost of quality, the same can be said for the Evangelion rebuilds too. Artstyle is a very difficult thing to judge at the end of the day because everybody has their own preferences, but in terms of quality, I can give the Nanoha movie high marks.

The sound and music are brilliant. Every single voice actor has given it their all and really delivered the dialogue of Nanoha, I would even go as far to say that this is some of the best voice acting I've heard in an anime. A lot music is updated from the series to give it a more modern and epic vibe which works spectacularly. I can never really have a gripe with anime music as I've never heard any that I can call bad, but this is generally high standard.

Before viewing the movie, I do suggest watching the series. The main problem with compacting a 13 episode series is some characters lose some serious screen time. However, I don't think you would be missing too much of note, and this does work very well as a standalone movie. The next movie follows the sequel of Lyrical Nanoha named Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's, and of course will be called Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 2nd A's. I can't wait personally, though I need to watch the A's series first.

Highly recommended for any fans of Mahou Shoujo or if you're looking for a fairly heart-warming movie with some seriously kick-ass fights and a dark undertone.