The original Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha TV series was a surprise hit for many. It was one of the first magical girl series to specifically appeal to a shonen audience especially those who liked yuri bait since magical girl shows were usually aimed at female viewers. While the show had a solid plot with a strong emotional core and some fun action scenes it kind of suffered from being the first in its series. It was still figuring out what it wanted to be before the franchise went allin with As. A lot of the early episodes felt a little too slow and sliceoflifey while some of the later drama seemed kind of random like it was just there to get a cheap emotional reaction. Thankfully this moviea fullon remake of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Season 1took the best parts of the TV series tightened up the continuity and fixed the pacing so things got right to the point. It still gave everything enough breathing room while of course modernizing the animation and making the battle scenes look better than ever. Just these changes alone make this the best way to experience the first season of Nanoha and honestly Im surprised this movie isnt recommended more often. It still covers Nanohas introduction where she gets the typical call to action after a chance meeting with Yuuno and realizes she has the potential to shoot bigass laser beams like a Gundam. The only minor downside is that by cutting the original monsteroftheweek arc from the TV series Nanoha doesnt get as much time to bond with Yuuno. But I always thought he was just an okay character anyway so it wasnt that big of a deal. What really sold it for me though was the enemiestobestfriends dynamic between Nanoha and Fate. The movie went much harder on making Fate a more tragic unwilling villain from the start instead of the original TV series where the writers clearly werent sure what to do at first. This also extends to Fates mom Precia. In the original she was just a completely unredeemable monster of a villain. The movie rewrote her to show more of a human side to her downfall while still making it clear that shes an abusive villain who needs to be stopped. And as I mentioned before the animation in the Nanoha movie remake is just outstanding. Nanohas Gundamlike beams and Fates super cool yellow scythe powers have never looked better. Watching them fightwhether against each other or their other enemiesis just awesome. Honestly I dont know what else to critique. I think this is one of the best anime remakes Ive ever seen and its a shame it doesnt get talked about more. If you want a magical girl show with a strong emotional plot little to no monsteroftheweek filler and some solid yuri bait the Nanoha series is for you. And I think this first movie is easily the best place to start.