思い出は時の彼方なの。。。 Memories that Lies Beyond Time...
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Nanoha Episode 01: Is This What You Call A "Mysterious Encounter"?
Nanoha Episode 01: Is This What You Call A "Mysterious Encounter"?
We begin with a short intro by Nanoha, then get treated by the wonderful opening song. You'll have to watch the episode to hear it, though, I'm afraid :)
We see a young boy attempting to fend off some kind of monster. He tries to seal it, but fails. Both he and the monster are injured - the monster retreats, and the boy collapses on the ground, crying out silently for help..as he changes form..into a small rodent-looking thing..
As all mahou shoujo are apt to do, Nanoha, the title character, seems to have a slow time getting up. She is assisted by her pink cellphone, and its mp3 ringtone :p We hear a short introduction - Nanoha introduces herself as TAKAMACHI Nanoha, her father TAKAMACHI Shiro, her mother TAKAMACHI Momoko, her elder brother TAKAMACHI Kyouya, and her elder sister, TAKAMACHI Miyuki.
Everything is just fine until we see that Nanoha is, surprisingly, NOT late for school. She meets up with her best friends, TSUKIMURA Suzuka (think Tomoyo DAIDOUJI from Cardcaptor Sakura, and Arisa BANNINGS (foreigner & daughter to rich parents). They proceed to class, where it's "Let's talk about our careers" lesson time. Never mind that the kids are in third grade, they're supposed to have their careers planned out by now. Arisa-chan is going to run her parents' company (if she makes it thru school :p), while Suzuka-chan wants to be an engineer (my advice: No! Don't do it, girl! :p). Nanoha isn't quite clear on what she wants to do, though. (So, of course, she needs help from a magical creature! Be patient, just a few minutes longer..)
The three are heading to cram school together, and Arisa-chan suggests a shortcut. In all the anime I've watched, something unexpected always happens when you take a shortcut. This time, of course, they happen by the boy earlier (though now he looks like a ferret with a mullet, or something..) Nanoha hears his voice (although, no one else does) and rushes to pick him up. Just like in her dream! (Imagine that)
They take it to the vet for some quick (and free?) first aid. After a short while, the ferret wakes up, recognizes Nanoha, and heads over to her..licks her finger..and collapses again. They decide to let the little guy recuperate at the vet and come back tomorrow to check up on him, but fate has other plans.
At cram school (yeah, they were heading to school, remember? That shortuct?) the three debate what to do about the ferret..Nanoha decides to try to keep it at her place. At this point the animation seems to go a little wild, with every small move being accentuated...like everyone's uncomfortably shifting around all the time. It's especially noticable here because of how much it contrasts with all the other scenes in the show. In any case, Nanoha wins out, and Ferret-san is in.
Everything seems fine, until later that night, when Nanoha gets a strange sensation. We all know what happens when title characters in a mahou shoujo series get a strange sensation, right? Yup, something's about to happen. It's Ferret-san, and he needs help. The monster that got away earlier..is back!
Slightly overwhelemed, Nanoha nevertheless heads straight over to the vet. She finds a huge scary monster after her and the ferret..and the ferret can talk! He briefs Nanoha a bit - he's from another world, and looking for something in this one. Unsurprisngly, there are monsters in the way (there are always monsters in the way..)
The ferret hands Nanoha his little jewel/pendant collar and..it's henshin time! And yes, her wand, the Raging Heart, talks in English. This (and the opening) made the series for me at this point. Every time that wand says something, I can't help but crack up..
Anyway, time to transform...Nanoha needs a staff and armour (aka ruggedized school uniform, complete with bow, choker, and hair ribbons), and they magically appear! Well, after around 40 seconds.
Well, she did it! Oh, and there's still a small matter of that monster still hanging around...but that will have to wait for the next episode!
Well, overall, it's not turning into too bad a series. Rather formulaic at this point, to be sure, but there are at least a couple new things thrown in here and there. At the time I write this, I've seen the first six episodes, so without trying to spoil things I'll simply say that it does get more original and interesting later on.
Labels: Nanoha