Nanoha StrikerS

[Valles]

The power gap between Nanoha and the kids is kinda scary... I don't blame the studio at all for deciding to go this route.
So, Nanoha talks about Fate and Hayate as a combined whole, and Hayate is the same way about Nanoha and Fate. Interesting.
..and there's a shower scene. Gee, one really wonders what this show's intended audience is. ^_^
Tea with her hair down, by the way? So very hot. And Elio being stuck waiting for the other three made me laugh.
One has to wonder if anyone's ever instinctively swatted at Rein when she pops up in the air beside their head.
"Atashi desu!"
"YIKE!" *SMACK*
"EEEEEEEEEEE-"*splat* "....itaii desuuu..."
I don't think that I like the logic behind the personal limiter concept. I'd expect any fairly professional and disciplined organization to be able to deal with that kind of emotional issue if need be, and compromising their best people's ability like that has to open huge gaps that really have no reason to exist.
Yes, I do think that device limiters make more sense - particularly for junior personnel, who don't neccessarily have the experience or maturity to be trusted to use them responsibly without supervision and at all times. Limiting the officer themselves seems much more... invasive? violatory? ...than needed to accomplish that goal, though, even without its being so much more difficult to release the limitations.
...what on earth is up with Midchildia's sky? Four planets, fine, differing sizes, fine, but for them to have identical surface markings...
Much nifty boom awaiting next episode, I predict.
As though that were hard to guess.
Ja, -n

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[ordnance11]

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The power gap between Nanoha and the kids is kinda scary... I don't blame the studio at all for deciding to go this route.

---

Let's see..she can summon 10 Axel shooters..and terminally guide 2 of them simultaneously.
Able to doge Tia's blasts with a smile.
It makes me wonder whether she deliberately lost to Elio.
As to the limiter..if you go by the paranoid explanation...to prevent anyone in the TSAB from going rogue or if one of them went out of control. It makes a lot of sense then. Of course, as A's brought out, there are ways to circumvent it.
The shower scene, yay for boob shots!
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Berk]

A lot of this comes back to the fact that concentrating a lot of high power mages in one place probably TERRIFIES the upper ranks of the TSAB. Nanoha, Fate and Hayate, combined, probably outgun the Asura at this point. Now imagine them walking into the senate.. or imperial palace.. or whatever.. and declaring 'We're in charge now...' The Aces may very well be more loyal to one another than they are to the TSAB as a whole, which would make anyone who's a little afraid of someone capable of cracking a planet like an egg wake up in a cold sweat most nights.
Of course, on the other hand, the TSAB practice of 'budgeting' power allows individual high power mages to shine in general without creating a super powered hit squad that saves the day for everyone leaving the rest of the TSAB wondering what they're there for.
The nasty side effect of this is that it encouages Zerg tactics, throwing large numbers of weak mages at a problem, which also leads to needing to house these troops and moving them around. This creates the 'roving precinct' effect we see in the first two seasons, where the Asura is despirately trying to interdict more or less a whole planet, while the Knights sneak through the cracks in their guard.
It also allows opponents to develop methods of countering large numbers of weak mages.. such as AMF. An AMF rquires either skill, power, or both on top of manuverability to foil. If your attacking force is full of class-B mages, and you throw a bunch of AMF generators into an area, you've more or less won the field without firing a shot as the mages all wonder why their barriers have failed.
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[Valles]

Transformations? Oh, my.
And besides the obvious, they both have such pretty hair. The twin-ponytails look does neither of them any justice at all.
And that's one Misty May and two Misty Mays and three... Hm. As nifty as these are (that being very), I find myself hoping that the show will hold to the pattern I remember and avoid using these very much - plot is nearly as pretty, and, given the writing team we're dealing with, almost certainly more interesting.
My goodness, but Elio and Carol are precocious. That's rather charming, really. The good kind of sweet.
Elio has no naked phase. This is, for some reason, amusing to me.
Carol's transformation theme? get a shot off. Connected?
FEAR the Three-Pupiled Tentacular Eyeball of DOOM!
Why, hello, Professor. What big plans you have! His chuckling and then not breaking out into peals of crazed laughter is a very nice touch.
My final thought on this episode?
The inner vests of Fate and Nanoha's barrier jackets are just about the hottest thing ever.
Ja, -n

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[HoagieOfDoom]

I second this motion. All in favor?*********
Touched By His Noodly Appendage
www.venganza.org

[LilFluff]

Aye!
I suspect that guy ended up on Fate's 'People I Dislike' list in just a few words. If he ever got off that list it probably required quite a bit of effort.
Amusingly Elio's transformation sequence made me think, "Disco!" We need to see those teams out dancing at some point. Or maybe a party of some kind. "Alright everyone it's Elio's birthday so we will be doing something special. I trust you all have your passports ready? I sure hope so or you won't get any of my parent's cake."
Project F, hmm... Somehow I rather doubt that's short for Project Fun.
-----

Will the transhumanist future have catgirls? Does Japan still exist? Well, there is your answer.

[Florin]

I also notice that Nanoha is continuing it's tradition of the cute mascot animals not being totally useless for anything. Makes me wonder where the hell Arf and Yuuno are though.
As for the transformations, I also hope we'll not see much of them, like in Nanoha A. And I totally saw the no naked transformation for Elio coming, but it still amused me. You'd think at least one of the girls would complain. Also, I notice that Nanoha's Barrier Jacket was referred to as Aggressor mode. Makes me wonder what other modes shes got now. Probably at least a Defesive mode.
And although it's an episode late, I am now taking bets on the probability of the Church being secretly evil. Odds are 4:1 for evil.--
La Krueze: I just want everyone in the universe to suffer. Is that so wrong?
--
If you become a monster to put down a monster you've still got a monster running around at the end of the day and have as such not really solved the whole monster problem at all. 

[Valles]

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I also notice that Nanoha is continuing it's tradition of the cute mascot animals not being totally useless for anything. Makes me wonder where the hell Arf and Yuuno are though.

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Yuuno is, AFAIK, still Head Librarian for the TSAB. Arf is babysitting Amy and Chrono's kids, since Fate has no particular need to be in two (or more) places at once and her sort of familiar is apparently set up to draw directly from their masters' reserves, rather than maintaining seperate pools the way the Wolkenritter seem to, which makes her presence in a fight that also has Fate in it a redundant drain.
And I'll take that bet. This show's made a habit of tromping all over the 'evil/untrustworthy authority' trope with cleats on, and I don't think that the Church is distinct enough from the TSAB to represent a likely break from that.
Ja, -n

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[Berk]

If the Church is evil.
In a hundred years they'll look on the events of this season as the Yagami Reformation when someone unlocks Hayate's magic.- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[The Hunterminator]

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If the Church is evil.
In a hundred years they'll look on the events of this season as the Yagami Reformation when someone unlocks Hayate's magic.

---

I think that if the church is evil, the mad scientist is only loosely, if at all, connected to it because, unlike the church, he seems more interested in Fate, Ellio and Subaru than Hayate.

[Berk]

The Church is connected to Hayate because it was the last bastion of ancient Velka techniques.. until Hayate came along. Interesting that they had an Ancient Velka user with a spot on the directorate board, yet the TSAB did not seem to use Velka until AFTER Hayate appeared, ain't it?
Hayate's caused a huge stir, more than likely, because her mage classification is SS, just one mark short of the very top of the chart, and she's still growing.- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[ECSNorway]

Yep.
And then, out of nowhere, we have /four/ brand-new Velka-types, apparently the only ones around, who end up getting sent to the Odd Squad because they don't fit in elsewhere...--
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Valles]

The stated mission of the 6th Division bothers me not so much because I doubt that it's a good idea or that the TSAB would be willing to try it, as because I don't think that it's a persuasive enough concept to explain even a fraction of the resources we've seen made available to it.
There seem, to me, to be three main possible explanations for this.
First, there's the thought that mage-rank is the driving factor behind the personal influence of individual officers within the TSAB and Midchildian society. I don't think that that's likely.
Second, there's a chance that the 6th Division's physical plant (danger room, delivery aircraft, etc.) actually is in line with what the TSAB provides to a relatively minor new office, and that the toys that the major players get to work with are just that impressive. In other words, like EPU's IPO and WDF, they're so well-funded that the resources allocated to Hayate are chump change.
Third, there's my personal pet theory. Which is that Hayate's reasons and the TSAB High Command's reasons are not at all the same. Sure, the unit's mandate is such that it'll spend most of its time doing things like investigating wierd happenings, running PR gigs, supporting disaster relief ops, and the like. But the TSAB has specialist outfits to do all of those things, and they could probably be more cost-effective within their field.
What they don't have are units whose green FNGs can fight at B-rank and whose senior personnel range from S up - who are commanded by the girl I have a very strong hunch is the most powerful mage alive.
The 6th Division draws its paychecks for the same reason that a strategic missile submarine or ballistic missile silo do. Everything else is about keeping its people sweet and sharp, Just In Case.
Incidentally, I'd bet that Hayate and the others know all this and don't care. It's not as though they'd be doing anything they wouldn't be anyway if things turn really bad, and in the meantime they get exactly what they want.
Ja, -n

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[Berk]

1) There are non-mages in the TSAB high command, so that's not a likely deal. Magic is COMMON, but not required... Although the TSAB seems to not be above promoting a powerful mage out of a field job and into desk duty to protect them from harm.
2) Considering the TSAB is riding herd on several different universes, this is quite possible.
3) Maybe. But the more terrifying possiblity THERE is that Hayate knows .. and she's playing those playing her just as much. She IS a genius, afterall.- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[ordnance11]

Caro's flashbacks are very interesting.....
You have this cute kid that have this great amount of power but no control as of yet because of her age. And what does have tribe do....cast her out!
The TSAB is no better either...until Fate-chan intervened. Her mothering instinct is strong. That scene of her tying a bow on Caro's scarf is touching. She is going to be a great mother.
Project F?...and the screen in frozen on Fate and Elio...a connection?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Valles]

---

3) Maybe. But the more terrifying possiblity THERE is that Hayate knows .. and she's playing those playing her just as much. She IS a genius, afterall.

---

Er? Since when? I mean, if you have a source, okay, but she's perfect enough as it is already. I don't wanna go adding to it and start overshadowing the others. ^_^
I'd think that her angling their agenda to the completion of hers would be a given if she's aware of the former at all - and it wouldn't necessarily have been her who first realized and formulated that connection. Who was responsible would be hard to guess unless the show replicates my logic and fills us in, but my money would be on Lindy or Amy. They've got a better background in the TSAB's internal politics, and while Chrono's definitely capable of being that sneaky, I don't think he'd come up with it before his mother or girlfriend did.
Switching messages...

---

You have this cute kid that have this great amount of power but no control as of yet because of her age. And what does have tribe do....cast her out!

---

Being fair, 'tribe' implies a fairly to very small group - it's quite possible, even likely, that not only did they not have the resources to properly train or restrain her, but that Friedrich was capable of annihilating most or all of the group and its possessions with a single misplaced sneeze. Seen that way, they really wouldn't have a choice - and they were as gentle about it as they could be, I think, even down to (maybe) directing her to the TSAB's custody.

---

The TSAB is no better either...until Fate-chan intervened. Her mothering instinct is strong. That scene of her tying a bow on Caro's scarf is touching. She is going to be a great mother.

---

So would her girlfriends. ^_^
Of course, from what we know of Precia pre-breakdown, so was she. Make of that what you will.

---

Project F?...and the screen in frozen on Fate and Elio...a connection?

---

Hmmmm... could be! Stay tuned to this space for further developments!
Ja, -n

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[Berk]

Nanoha, Fate and Hayate all three are varying shades of brilliant in assorted ways. Particularly in maths. Fate isn't very good at Japanese at the age of 9 because she couldn't read kanji worth beans.
How did Hayate not get hopelessly behind during her stretch in and out of the hospital? The Knights weren't looking after her that whole time. How'd she manage to swing both her TSAB work and her classwork until she simply moved on to Mid and a military career?
Right now Hayate is sitting in the hot seat of what seems to be the most exciting outfit to be a part of in the TSAB, and she certainly didn't get there by just being So Doggone Nice.
She sold someone, several someones, several important someones on the idea of this team.- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[Valles]

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How did Hayate not get hopelessly behind during her stretch in and out of the hospital?

---

Sympathetic and cooperative teachers.

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How'd she manage to swing both her TSAB work and her classwork until she simply moved on to Mid and a military career?

---

'Entrance examinations? What are those?'
Probably with a side order of all-night study sessions with Nanoha and Fate.

---

Right now Hayate is sitting in the hot seat of what seems to be the most exciting outfit to be a part of in the TSAB, and she certainly didn't get there by just being So Doggone Nice.

---

"Don't lie! Bad children get The Fist!"
More seriously, this is merely circling back to the question under discussion in the first place.
I'll agree that FHN are all considerably sharper than average, as well as more mature. I suspect that there's at least a correlation with magical power/ability, given what's been said about Intelligent Devices' roles.
But 'genius' is, IMHO, putting it too strongly.
Ja, -n

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[Berk]

I suppose we will see.- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead

[ordnance11]

---

Quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The TSAB is no better either...until Fate-chan intervened. Her mothering instinct is strong. That scene of her tying a bow on Caro's scarf is touching. She is going to be a great mother.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So would her girlfriends. ^_^
Of course, from what we know of Precia pre-breakdown, so was she. Make of that what you will.

---

It's more amazing considering the abuse Fate endured at Precia's hands. Abused children do not usually make marvelous guardians.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[ECSNorway]

Okay, thought just came to me while I was thinking about a spot of fanfic.
We see the use of ID-projected rune-circles a lot when mages are using stronger spells (sometimes even enhanced with multiple additional circles, like Nanoha's Starlight Breaker).
The base, though, seems to have features in common. For Nanoha, Fate, and TSAB mages, we always see a round 'platform'. For the Knights, it's always the triangle with a circle at each point.
For obvious reasons, I'd associated the circle with Midchilda-type magic, and the triangle with Velka-type, even though Nanoha and Fate continued to use their original circles even after adding the Velka systems to their Devices.
And now we have at least some of the kids in StrikerS using the triangle shape, and Velka-type magic. I'm wondering how much of a correlation there is... and if anyone recalls Hayate using one at all, and what Caro used when doing her dragon-summons in StrikerS 5 (don't have access to my videos here at work)... --
"I give you the beautiful... the talented... the tirelessly atomic-powered...
R!
DOROTHY!
WAYNERIGHT!
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.

[Valles]

---

And now we have at least some of the kids in StrikerS using the triangle shape, and Velka-type magic. I'm wondering how much of a correlation there is... and if anyone recalls Hayate using one at all, and what Caro used when doing her dragon-summons in StrikerS 5 (don't have access to my videos here at work)...

---

IIRC, Hayate and Rein-chan use the Velka pattern and Caro had a circle... though a part of me wants to say it wasn't a standard one, I'm going to suspect it's lying until I can get back to my own computer and check.
New apartment, blah. I wants my intranets back!
Ja, -n

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[The Hunterminator]

Caro has a circle, but when summoning, the patern that appears where the summoning is taking place is vaguely square shaped with circles at the corners.

[Valles]

And thereby confirms for what I think is the first time that one person may, indeed, use more than one sort of magic.
Innnnnteresting.
Ja, -n

===============================================
"I'm terribly sorry, but I have to kill you quite horribly now."

[Berk]

Caro uses Midchildian magic and Summoning magic.
Summoning Magic seems to be treated as a subset of Midchildian (a TSAB officer used it in the comic in an attempt to stop Signum with predictably painful results) and seems to be a form of Transformative Binding magic which channels magic INTO things to bring about temporary alterations.
- Grumpy Uncle Gearhead