Which would sell better of the Nanoha series

[Njr Scrawl]

Would Nanoha StrikerS sell better in the R1 market than MLGN & Nanoha A?

Also how much of the first 2 series is needed to understand & appreciate StrikerS, without losing too much enjoyment & appreciation. From reading ANN, it seems understanding the background & basic relationships might be enough. But I'd like an "expert" opinion. :notworthy:

[Fencedude]

StrikerS assumes you know who Nanoha, Fate, Hayate and the knights are. They give very (very) brief overviews of the Jewel Seed and Book of Darkness incidents later on, but for all intents and purposes they don't explain the backstory of the existing cast to an extent where new viewers would be able to appreciate much of their interactions.

[Dylonius Funk]

Originally Posted by Fencedude

StrikerS assumes you know who Nanoha, Fate, Hayate and the knights are. They give very (very) brief overviews of the Jewel Seed and Book of Darkness incidents later on, but for all intents and purposes they don't explain the backstory of the existing cast to an extent where new viewers would be able to appreciate much of their interactions.

Agreed. Personally i think Nanoha could do well if they focus their marketing more on the action angel and less on the magical girl. I mean you can really not call it a magical girl show after the 5th episode or so once Fate gets introduced.

[Suwako Moriya]

For certain starting with "StrikerS" would be a very bad idea due to what Fencedude said. Also yeah marketing as a "Magical Girl" show would not be that effective, but then again given "Magical Girl" is in the title, I'm not sure how well they can avoid people noticing that. Unless one wants them to drop it from the title and just call the series Nanoha, Nanoha As, Nanoha StrikerS.

Still the more people talk about how Magical Girl Nanoha is not "Magical Girl" the more I wait for the following. A series with "Super Robot" in the title that's not Super Robot. A series with the word "Harem" that does not count as a harem anime.

[Spirit Of The Stage]

I remember when it was originally licenced, that it was quoted to be called 'Lyrical Nanoha' and 'Lyrican Nanoha As.' But that was verbally, I dunno if that was the case visually. I agree, the words Magical Girl in the title could give a real false impression of the series, considering once Fate-sama enters the ring (so to speak) it becomes something VERY different...

I think that the first two seasons are not 100% necessary to go in StrikerS, but the attachment you get with characters like Nanoha, Fate, Hayate, Vita, Signum etc - plus considering characters like Arf, Yuuno, Suzuka and Arisa barely have a look in the third season and all enjoyable characters, it warrants merit and focus that people should view the 1st two before going into the 3rd.

[Isuzu Inugami]

Originally Posted by Spirit of the Stage

I remember when it was originally licenced, that it was quoted to be called 'Lyrical Nanoha' and 'Lyrican Nanoha As.' But that was verbally, I dunno if that was the case visually. I agree, the words Magical Girl in the title could give a real false impression of the series, considering once Fate-sama enters the ring (so to speak) it becomes something VERY different...

Tweaking the title like that might be a good idea, from a marketing perspective. Or else going the other way, with a "This ain't your little sister's magical girl!" campaign. Nanoha is an oddity in how it somehow manages to jump from the local, limited magical-girl tracks to the bullet train line.

I think that the first two seasons are not 100% necessary to go in StrikerS

I don't know--I mean, yeah, the bulk of StrikerS' focus is on the new characters, but still, you kind of have to go in knowing a lot about the Nanohaverse to begin with, or you'll be missing a lot.

[Splitter]

They could do what they did with Shana and just advertise it as "Nanoha". No "magical girl in the title to turn away all those naysayers of the unappreciated genre and they get a great story with lots of great characters nonetheless.

Regarding StrikerS though, if the first two Nanoha seasons sold well enough, I could see it as a possibility, but given the overall disappointment by the fans, it may be best just to cut off at A's. I already thought that was a great cap-off to the series, but I suppose fan demand warranted otherwise... don't get me wrong, Legal Nanoha and Fate was wonderful, but a 52-episode storyline plus a 13-episode animation budget cannot ever equal success ><

[Isuzu Inugami]

Originally Posted by Splitter

Regarding StrikerS though, if the first two Nanoha seasons sold well enough, I could see it as a possibility, but given the overall disappointment by the fans, it may be best just to cut off at A's.

Well, let's not overstate the disappointment in StrikerS--it may not have been as well done as the others, but it was hardly in major-suckage, Nanoha-you-are-dead-to-me territory. But I wouldn't expect anyone to pick up all three seasons at once in any case.

[something]

Originally Posted by Splitter

Regarding StrikerS though, if the first two Nanoha seasons sold well enough, I could see it as a possibility, but given the overall disappointment by the fans, it may be best just to cut off at A's.

StrikerS DVDs vastly outsold the first two seasons and the series is one of the best selling shows in Japan this whole year.

Yes, it's very much an inferior series compared to the brilliance of 1st and A's, but I don't think they'd need to worry about its sales being any less.

[something]

Originally Posted by Wrath of the Njr

Also how much of the first 2 series is needed to understand & appreciate StrikerS, without losing too much enjoyment & appreciation.

Releasing StrikerS without releasing the first two seasons would be one of the most profoundly epic failures in the history of mankind, and so I am morally obligated to murder you and dump you in the ocean in many far-flung pieces so that the idea will never spread, like the cancerous evil it is.

... ::coughs:: Anyways, no, I don't support releasing StrikerS first and particularly object to releasing it as the only R1 Nanoha. =P By the time you get to StrikerS, there are a shitload of returning characters and it's simply assumed you know them, know their history, know their motivations. There's only one scene that can at all be called backstory, and I really feel like it was aimed at existing fans, not newbies coming in late. And it only really touches on one character, and the backstory that's relevant to the main conflict in StrikerS is only alluded to in conversation and not fleshed out in detail.

You would just lose so, so very much, and though StrikerS does sort of throw out much of what made the first two seasons the second best thing I've ever watched, not being familiar with those things would just make the whole experience pointless. At that point, I'd say to just go watch another show instead.