Lately Ive been trying to adopt a propensity towards giving shows their rightful due which involves sticking around till the very end rather than leaving them partially watched. And I feel Nanoha really encapsulated this ideology. Hook Line Theres nothing inherently wrong with having a story be slow but of course it doesnt hurt to have a story be gripping and engaging right from the start. Nonetheless Nanohas story starts off as one does with an elementary school girl accidently obtaining magical powers to essentially save the earth. Throw in a companion character a recurring villain and episodic monsters to fight and you have a formula of deceptive normalcy. One of my biggest gripes with how Nanoha starts and sustains even after the half way mark are these lighter and slower slice of life moments. To a certain degree it feels very much pandering to a certain audience and atmosphere completely in contrast to the second half. It almost doesnt belong with the rest of the show and sets itself to be not very interesting and at times leading nowhere. However there is an argument to be made that Nanoha is of course a 3rd grader and showing off her mundane life no matter how mundane it is to the audience is a necessity in her character. Even if none of these characters or even her family for that matter really matters much and any plot relevance they have is there only to set up a pseudorealistic grounding which is unnecessary considering the bomb drops that happen later on. But Im glad that they actually stopped doing these lets go to school moments once the shift happens and actually presented a feasible answer that explains her absence. At least that much was cool to see. And Sinker If by the time you get introduced to the second main character that makes up the dynamic duo as you will of the show and you are still willing to watch along without giving up all hope then you will be rewarded. Fate who appears later on and is the other girl you see on the cover art plays both a role in shifting the direction of the plot and the themes. To say that Nanoha is a show about magical girls isnt the most accurate description. A small snippet of some of its greater thematic threads might include: the bonds of family and finding the self within ones family the nature of sympathy and empathy and even finding ones place in the world or the search for ones purpose. Both characters take places trading between these themes and they really become fleshed out among the cast. Of course the show does take liberties in screen time and many side characters are also for some reason given light during their characterizations. Both characters take places trading between these themes and they really become fleshed out among the cast. Of course the show does take liberties in screen time and many side characters are also for some reason given light during their characterizations. Nanoha like many shows that deal with fantastical elements is inherently about the human problems that arise more so than the magical problems that arise. There is something so amazing and interesting to me whenever a show can introduce so many inhuman elements yet still bound their characterization and thematic cores to something human. Nanoha does this to an amazing tee becoming something quite beautiful by the end of the show making me invested in ways I never thought I would be in these characters. Its really quite nutty how much Nanoha changes and how smooth and somber the transition to its changes are. Despite the slow nature of the first half once its talons are sunk its grip is stalwart and its quite a ride. The other bits Some of the other elements of the show like animation and sound are things Im not sure I can flake on a 2004 show too much. But surprisingly it was pretty crisp. The action scenes despite being dated of course were actually really exciting. The transformation scenes were really detailed and reminiscence of the classic transformation scenes one might think of when I say a magical girl transformation scene. A large part of this has to do with the directing which really made the show flow and the action palpable despite the graininess and jankness they were working with. The pacing when it needed to be was great. Of course the opposite is true when the pacing was slow it was slow. But it at least matched with what was happening and I cant fault that at all. The show was working with a story that demanded certain elements and it took those elements and tried its best to work with what it had. Along with this the world of Nanoha also opens itself during the course of its midway shift to be something absolutely crazy. Again this isnt just a magical girl show and all of the convening elements that make up Nanoha create an extensive setting for the show to explore and it does to its best ability. Of course in its current setting not everything can be explored or may immediately sit well and Nanoha season 1 being Nanoha season 1 becomes extremely glaring as the world opens itself to a well world of endless possibilities to say the least. Worth Watching? I cant say completely I wasnt entertained in Nanohas more uninteresting slice of life moments but they werent the best either. Of course they were there and they were used to set up for an explosive end which was completely worth the slog. But thats the caveat. Theres a bit of a slog a bit of what initially appears to be soul searching and charm but once Nanoha hits what it needs to hit it seldom stops. Nanoha rode its momentum all the way breaching into meaningful and intense themes with compelling characters tied to pretty well done action. It comes as a surprise that this was only the beginning of the series and it definitely has me hooked by the end. If youve got time to spare and are interested in a bit of magical girl history then definitely give this show a try.