Lyrical Nanoha Episode 8 - I Didn't Sign Up For Any Of This

No for real, I’m aware that Lyrical is definitely not your typical Magical Girl show given how SS1 played through. But sweet mother of mercy, they literally went all out without a shred of hesitation in the next installment. From world-building, plot, characters, sound, to animation, everything intertwined so well together that I could hardly find a spot to complain (ok that’s a lie bc it was more like I was getting carried away by the heat of the show but still).

Anyhow, I think I’m getting ahead of myself. Since I’m a bit burned out lately from having to tackle so many problems at the same time, I’d just settle with a quick episode analysis. While the last 2 episodes were well done in many ways, 8 remains my top pick due to the amount of “kino” reside within.

What can I say, even though this anime came out first, I could not help but think about a

situation in TTGL, which is just incredible because it doesn’t fall too short behind in terms of thematic value as well as execution. While I much prefer Nanoha’s development in SS1, Fate simply made a spectacular comeback with this single moment alone.

I mean the atmosphere is just so surreal that made me almost feel like it’d be better to let Fate took the blue pill. However, the answer for this debacle was clear from the get-go, and the concluding moment featuring Alicia is just heart-wrenching to witness.

While Nanoha might not have the best development, I still enjoy her moments thanks to the insane action-packed with beautiful wide-view shots for a change of pace after relatively lengthy conversation or closed-up scenes. Just simply looking at the weapon design makes me even wonder if I’m really watching a magical girl anime lol.

Apart from that, though there seems to be a repetitive pattern of Nanoha’s resolution, it doesn’t bore me in the slightest because the girls are still very young, so it makes sense for them to be naive, no, remains positive about the world and their surroundings, which pretty much counters the depressing overtone of this season.

With most people prefer Fate’s struggle in this episode, I should be in the minority for being wholeheartedly invested in the grand revelation of Hayate and Reinforcer. I believe I’ve said this before but again, this kind of master-servant relationship can easily get on my soft spot and thus I’m left with no choice but

after getting to this part.

I mean this moment right here is basically the accumulation of Reinforcer’s story, a being that was red-herring to be some sort of secondhand WoRlD DeStRuCtIoN villain which turned out to have a heart, soul, and a fiery motivation behind her action as well.

It is true that this kinda came out of nowhere but if you pay attention from the start, everything adds up, from how Hayate first made contact with the tome, how there is a not-so-detail story behind the Wolkenritter, or simply the connection and tie between its members. What I also like about Reinforcer is how she didn’t have to say or explain or justify her action whatsoever since it has all been laid out via her not-so-subtle facial expression, manner, and tone, which IMO is top tier execution.

It was at this moment that I finally came to appreciate the grand scheme of things in Lyrical A’s. In the beginning, it appeared to be a giant mess of random bits being thrown in together to create suspense and the likes, but slowly and surely everything came into place and thus complete the big picture. AND HOLY SHIT THE MUSIC JUST DELIVERS.

Simply put, Nanoha Lyrical A or SS2 is a huge step-up from its previous instance, which totally blew my mind away as I neither expected it to be this grandiose and paid off at the same time, and episode 8 is easily the peak of this anime to me.