Nanoha: Still on the fence, need convincing...

[Garasharp K7]

Alright. I've heard a lot about Nanoha over the last few months, and with the praise as well as the infectious enthusiasm for it in the English Track I'm seriously tempted to pick this one up, despite the fact I'm not all that fond of Magical Girl shows. The only shows I've seen and liked are warped parodies like Puni Puni Poemi, Nurse Witch Komugi and UFO Valkyrie. I've never sat down and watched a 'proper' Magical Girl show, save for a couple of episodes of Cardcaptors I saw ages ago,(which wasn't my cup of tea) and one ep of Sailor Moon, which I didn't care for at all.
But I'm still curious about this Lyrical Nanoha show. What little I've seen of it seems like yer typical Mahou Shoujo stuff, and while it looks adorably cute and I've heard some incredibly amazing things happen later on in the series, (though I'm not sure what they are exactly, just that they occur) I'm still in two minds about checking it out.
Twice I've gone onto Deep Discount, put the show into my shopping cart and gone to the checkout only to hold off ordering it. So as I sit here, cursor hanging over the 'buy now' button, finger over the mouse button poised to click, I ask:
Is the show worth checking out? Is it really all that and a bag of chips?

Changes are I'm probably going to buy it anyway, but I still want to hear a few opinions from the experts here.

[Fudce]

Lyrical Nanoha is far from being just your standard Cardcaptor Sakura or Sailor Moon breed Magical Girl series. The first four or so episodes do give off a Cardcaptor Sakura style vibe, but don't be offput by that if you're not a fan of series like that. From a specific point, the series takes a turn for the much better, and really shows us why it is worth watching.

If you like magical girls to have a lot of action amidst some deep and meaningful plots and characters, then Lyrical Nanoha is for you. If you're a fan of checking out new voice actors, then it's for you.

It isn't a warped magical girl series like Puni Puni Poemy, it isn't a magical girlfriend harem like UFO Valkyrie, but I think it's worth your time and money - it's cheap enough to be a mostly blind buy, and the recomendations are endless.

[Fencedude]

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha starts out like any standard fluff magical girl show, but exactly halfway through the first season it goes "fuck this!" and turns into an action/drama series.

[something]

Originally Posted by Garasharp K7

Alright. I've heard a lot about Nanoha over the last few months, and with the praise as well as the infectious enthusiasm for it in the English Track I'm seriously tempted to pick this one up, despite the fact I'm not all that fond of Magical Girl shows.

If you've heard anything about Nanoha (let alone "a lot") I would have expected it'd be that Nanoha is not, at all, a typical magical girl show. Or a magical girl show in anything but name after the first few episodes. Say, from 5 onwards or so. Definitely by the last third, and that doesn't change in later seasons either.

[Garasharp K7]

Thanks for the responses - after a watching a few more clips and an ep or two, I went and ordered the set in the end. Now comes the long wait 'til it eventually arrives.

[Njr Scrawl]

It turns dark earlier, & you don't have to wait too long for really poignant, menacing, nail-biting scenarios as you do for Sailor Moon.

For those who have seen Tsubasa, how does that show compare with Nanoha & As?

[Fencedude]

Originally Posted by Wrath of the Njr

For those who have seen Tsubasa, how does that show compare with Nanoha & As?

Tsubasa? As in Resevoir Chronicles?

They are completely incomparable. The mind boggles at why you would even begin to compare them.

[The Great Bear]

Originally Posted by Fencedude

Tsubasa? As in Resevoir Chronicles?

They are completely incomparable. The mind boggles at why you would even begin to compare them.

I can't really think of any similarities between the two.

Tsubasa:RC is basically Sliders, with CLAMP characters.

Nanoha is, as people keep saying, a magical girl show hijacked by Super Robot Wars.

Beyond Nanoha and Sakura's cheerful personalities, and the "must collect pieces of something" trope present in all magical girl shows (which Tsubasa isn't), I'd say there's few, if any, points of similarity.

[Fencedude]

Originally Posted by The Great Bear

Beyond Nanoha and Sakura's cheerful personalities, and the "must collect pieces of something" trope present in all magical girl shows

You know, thinking about that for a bit, A's sure put an interesting twist on the concept, didn't it?

[The Great Bear]

Originally Posted by Fencedude

You know, thinking about that for a bit, A's sure put an interesting twist on the concept, didn't it?

Haven't seen A's yet. That will be in January.