Finally finished Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A’s. It had been built up quite a bit as something mindblowingly cool by a lot of people, but at the end I was still left feeling… like I’d watched a magical girl series. Everyone said everyone else’s name a lot, no one really gets hurt, and all the evils of this world (and others) can be solved by making friends.
But if stinky otaku are not its overt target market (I suppose that could be debated), there are at least concessions made to viewers who aren’t little girls.
Whereas Shinbo accomplished this in the first series with his trademark pantyshots and lolicon antics (remember the ANN review?), A’s throws a bone to mecha fans with enormous explosions, super-fast battle animation, and magical Itano circuses. There are about three major battles in the series, and I can safely say they’d all be worth watching a few more times by themselves as sort of a highlight reel. But the fuzzy-warm lack of death or consequences kinda sucked the drama and desperation out of those fights. As for the bits in between, they could be heartwarming at times but also kind of yawn-inducing.
I’m unsure of whether to go on the StrikerS at some point. Character design didn’t seem to live up to the promise of grown-up Fate-chan…
