Fast-forwarding ten years after A's, our little heroines are all grown up.
PrimeSonic once again, here with the final part in my review of the Nanoha trilogy: Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS.
Does the final chapter in the Nanoha trilogy live up to the hype? Well let's take a look.
:::STORY
Say goodbye to Japan, and Earth for that matter, as the entire story takes place on Mid-childa, home to the Time and Space Administration Bureau's main branch.
All the supporting characters from the previous seasons that had nothing to do with magic or the Bureau are pretty much gone.
Four years after the conclusion of A's, the girls have risen through the ranks, reaching the goals they set for themselves long ago.
At present, Hayate is leading a newly created section and, with the help of her friends, she's realizing her dream of being able fight for the people caught up in the Lost Logia cases.
In a general perspective, the story has two main focuses.
One would be the new recruits and their training with Nanoha while the other deals with quite possibly the first central antagonist the trilogy has ever seen.
:::NEW CHARACTERS
StrikerS gives us lots and lots of new characters as well as properly introduce a few that made only minor appearances so far.
To add to that, in this season it seems like almost everyone and their mother has a back story to tell.
So to keep things short, I'll just mention the more important characters in this review.
:Subaru Nakajima
Four years earlier, Nanoha rescued Subaru from an intense fire.
Ever since, Subaru has been determined to become strong like Nanoha so one day she can be the one to save a life in danger.
When she's not in combat, she can be the most childish of the recruits, and that's saying a lot considering she's probably the oldest.
There's also a bit of a secret to Subaru, but I won't spoil it here.
:Teana Lanstar
Of the four recruits Teana is by far the one that takes things the most seriously.
Initially she feels out of place, feeling like the only normal person surrounded by a bunch of elites and aces.
It's actually because of Teana that we end up finding out more about what happened to Nanoha in the years since she joined the Bureau.
She's reluctantly been friends with Subaru since they both enlisted with the Bureau and has had to put up with her ever since.
:Caro Ru Lushe
Even though she's the youngest of the four, Caro's support magic and dragon summoning are a big help for the team.
Her back story and inner conflict get resolved before anyone else's as it doesn't take her long to master her dragon summoning to protect her friends.
:Erio Mondial
The only lead male protagonist we'll be seeing, and it so happens that Erio is really just two months older than Caro.
He's very protective of Caro on the battlefield and has all makings of a modern knight. He has his own story which links him to Fate in a way, but I won't spoil it here.
:Vivio
About half-way into the series we meet Vivio. Very early we discover she's another child created through Project F, an artificial mage born in the same way as Fate.
This girl is made of concentrated cuteness, I swear.
She's the subject of much heartbreak, and it should be said, she's also the subject of blatant controversial fanservice.
You see, Vivio has two mommies. Uhm...wat?
:::ABOUT THE ANIME
StrikerS was the long awaited sequel that generated a lot of hype and even more expectations. Because of this, it got very mixed reactions when it first aired. It made plenty of changes to that way it presented the story while still trying to feel the way a Nanoha series should.
Some fans loved it, others only liked it, and others gave up on the series by the 4th episode and said they hated it.
One thing that becomes clear right off the bat is that Nanoha and rest of the main heroes from the previous seasons are now sharing the spotlight with a lot of new characters.
That's not to say we don't spend time with them, but for the first half of the series they are clearly acting more like supporting characters than protagonists.
One of the issues that brought up so many mixed reviews was how StikerS has more dialogue and side-stories than it does action scenes.
In the first half of the series, much more time is spent on the recruits and their training than actual missions or the returning heroes.
That being said, the plot is also far more complex and mature than before, taking everything from the previous seasons and placing it on an even larger scale.
There's plenty of time spent on character development for the four recruits, most of it given to Subaru and Teana, and probably even more than Nanoha and Fate had throughout both previous seasons.
I have to admit: I wasn't crazy about there being four new protagonists all at once, and it certainly wasn't a packaged deal like is was with the knights were in the last season; but after a while they did grow on me.
Looking at the lighter side of StrikerS, there's still a few funny and embarrassing moments to be had.
As far as the fanservice goes, it mostly comes from the transformation sequences. Don't expect much more than that.
Speaking of transformation sequences,the ones in StrikerS are much like they were in A's.
They don't come often, but when they do, you will know it.
It's kinda funny how the older girls all get elaborate and lengthy transformation sequences while Erio's and Caro's are done in half the time.
Not to mention that Erio goes instantly from his uniform to his barrier jacket without having to strip down first. Yeah, you can draw your own conclusions from that.
As far as action scenes go, they're relatively few and far between this time.
Still, they make the final battle in A's seem small in comparison.
Overall, the combat sequences are much more intense than they were before.
Expect to see e good deal of blood in later episodes.
:::CONCLUSION
StrikerS was certainly going to make or break the Nanoha series.
It gets off to a slow start, but after watching it in full, I can definitely say it was worth enduring the long dialogue scenes.
It's hard to put into words, but in a way, after watching StrikerS, A's just seems small, much in the same way A's made the first season seem small.
Even with all the changes in style, once you get into it, StrikerS doesn't make you feel like you're watching a completely different series.
Most of the themes are are taken directly from the previous seasons and even ten years later, Nanoha, Fate, and everyone else have remained largely unchanged.
I'm giving StikerS an above average 8 out of 10.
Personally I liked it, but some people might get bored with it before it gets to the good stuff.
I can't say it was excellent all around, but the ending was just amazing and certainly more intense than the ending for A's was.
Again I stress, to really appreciate the characters in StrikerS, having watched the first two seasons is a must.
To wrap things up: if you're a Nanoha fan, then you owe it to yourself to give StrikerS a try.
