Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha
Anime DVD Review
Nanoha Takamachi never considered herself the most interesting member of her family. Her older brother and sister are trained swordsmen. Her father, who runs a coffee shop with his wife, trained them. She's just a 3rd grade elementary school girl. Nothing special.
That was before she found the wounded ferret. That's no ordinary ferret. Yuno is his name, and he's out of this world. (Perhaps even out of this universe.) He is out to collect the twenty-one scattered "Jewel Seeds". (He blames himself for scattering them. Long story.) When done right, these seeds grant wishes. When done wrong, these seeds create monsters and wreak havoc with the cityscape.
Yuno got injured on his last encounter with a Jewel Seed induced monster. It's up to sweet, little Nanoka to take up the wand and fight in his place.
 But, is this cute little girl up to it? Can she use the powers and technologies of a higher civilization to save her modern Earth?
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is an anime series that originally aired in Japan circa 2004. It was directed by Akiyuki Shinbo as a spin-off of the Triangle Heart series of games and OVAs. It takes some liberties with the original material, however. It also formed the basis of two more anime series (with a fourth in the works), and a movie or two. Between the movies, games, TV series, and more, it's a pretty full-blown franchise. The fourth series, titled Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Force, will appear as a manga, starting on April 30, 2009 on the debut of Kadokawa Shoten's Nyantype magazine.
Originally licensed by Genenon Entertainment, it has been picked up by Funimation and they have come up with a beautiful, boxed set of three disks containing the whole first season. It's action, adventure and fun in the spirit of a certain sailor girl. Check it out.
Reviewed by Lawrence Sufrin, June 2009
Below: Promotional artwork for Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha.
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