O MAI GAA, IT'S NANOHA

I heard about the series over the Internets, And IRC, but then again, you hear many things over IRC. Like how Nintendo decided to use the term 'WII' as the name of their new console. Or how the Playstation3 will contain half a pound of nitroglycerin.

I was promised little girls blowing the crap outta robots. Little girls taking out FUCKING GUNDAMS like anti-'Mech infantry kneecapping battlemechs without sweat. Little girls vaping Otomes and ENTIRE FUCKING PLANETS IDEON-STYLE with MASTER SPARK and FINAL SPARK. But after halfway across the first episode(actually, it was after 2 minutes from the start of the first episode) I got disgusted by the slow pacing and promptly left the series on the backburner. And on my harddrive.

...Until I got wind of this hilarious webcomic that poked fun at the various scenes and characters in it(or to be more precise, the second season. Crazy lesbo Fate-chan and and ribbon-clad shota Yuuno FTW). Go Japan. I forced myself to watch past the first two minutes of the first episode... ... ... ...

...And got hooked. To be honest, most magical girl series don't really sit too well with me, due to an overdose of the dubbed version of CardCaptor Sakura. Ugh. The horribleness of the dub and the cuteness of the visuals made for one diabetes-inducing ride. I may need more sessions with Dan Kim(Of Tomoyo42's Room fame) to flush everything out.

Anyways, it kinda gathered speed at episode 3, when Nanoha laments on her failure. That was the turning point.

As for the series proper, I have to appalud the scriptwriter(s) for coming up with a fairly effective (if not wholly original)plot, and then expanding on the original plot in the second series by adding more multifaceted characters. And the magic isn't powered by love or some arbitary emotion. Be warned: this stuff can take out entire buildings, and vape entire cities at will. This ain't Sailor Moon, boy!(Though Hotaru's scythe of IDEON SWORD is pretty similar to Fate Testarossa's Bardiche's Scythe Form)

Another good point is the multifaceted characters(Okay, maybe not all of them). You see, being one schooled in the arts of effective storytelling, I apprecieate the effort made to portray fictional characters as human. Moving scenes help a lot. Speaking of which, I must point out something interesting about Nanoha A's. The stark differences between the action scenes and the peaceful scenes (with narration, of course), where the characters' personalities are developed further, isn't something extremely mindblowing, but makes for a nice touch.

Music, I just like. I don't need to give a reason, I just do.

You can complain Nanoha's formula has been done before, and I agree. But why is it that I like Nanoha and not other magical girl series? For one, it does a well-tread formula well. Second, there's an element of science-fiction. Not enough to turn it into a mecha anime, but enough to complement the setting.

Actually, what won me over was the SHOTA FERRET. Yep, it was Yuuno. I love that little feller to death.

Okay, I've said my piece. You may disagree with me, but I leave you with this: Does any magical series has a flogging scene where another magical girl gets flogged to near-death by her own mother? That was a pretty moving scene for me.