Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha ViVid 06 – 08
Probably the best place to be for this battle
Three episodes of Nanoha Vivid to talk about, that’s what happens when you miss a week. But I figured I’d catch up this holiday weekend. Plus, it’s a lot easier (for me) to talk about the whole fight, and still have something else to discuss.
Not Really a ‘Mock’ Battle
The bigger they are… you know the rest
Going by the level of effort that everyone seemed to put in, nobody was taking the training battle lightly. They went through a few matchups, and didn’t stay on any one pairing too long. Vivio loses to Einhart again, but maybe has gotten a little better. Einhart gets to take on Nanoha and pulls out some surprises, like breaking out of Nanoha’s favorite bind, but ultimately is overwhelmed by the sheer force of Nanoha’s bombardment. Subaru chases Nove around for a while, and Rio and Corona pair off where we get to see Corona’s golem creation and control abilities. I thought they did a good job plotting out the fight, so that it wasn’t just a bunch of pairs going toe-to-toe, as the Blue Team switched to a gang-up strategy to take out individuals, but ultimately the strategy didn’t really matter when Nanoha and Teana were just going to blast everyone with Starlight Breakers. They did manage to end in a draw with Einhart and Vivio knocking each other out, after Einhart had a starting health handicap. I thought that an episode and a bit of the battle was good, so I liked that they just summarized the rematches quickly.
Finishing each other off
Moving On
One more, ganging up on Nove
So it seems like the training and mock battles were a way to get Einhart introduced to the idea of the Inter-Middle Championship, which all the other girls are already going to participate in. But they all have to get a lot better if they’re going to compete there, or at least not get the snot beaten out of them. Thankfully, they’ve got a couple months to get better in, and Nove helps by getting some help in training them to try to improve on their weaknesses. There are also some other technicalities to clear up, like the fact that you need an Intelligent Device to participate. In any other group, that would be a problem for Einhart, whose Ancient Belkan fighting style is just a tad out of fashion. But when you’ve got connections, you can get things done, and Lulu puts Einhart in contact with Hayate Yagami, probably the first time the show has not really given a hint about who someone new is, if they’re actually doing something. There have been plenty of times that they’ve shown people and not introduced them, but not while also remarking about them. Perhaps it’s just that this is the first person that Einhart has recognized from their reputation.
Could you punch that? Total unfair advantage
That results in Einhart getting Asteon, her own kitten / snow leopard. I think it’s a critical hit of cuteness to see Einhart fighting with this kitten hanging over her shoulder. Asteon does give a little more personality (imo) than Chris does, bringing the combination of Einhart + Teo up closer to Vivio + Chris, and also changes her fighting hairstyle to the same twintails that she normally wears. But Chris, not to be outdone, even asks Nanoha for some training videos to support Vivio better. But all too soon, it’s time for the tournament to start, with everyone ready to go. And we meet another character, trained by Zafira (and following the on-again / off again tendency to name characters after supercars), to be a temporary rival for Vivio, in Miura (named after the first mid-engine Lamborghini supercar). Both Miura and Vivio make it through their first round matches pretty easily, each one-shotting their opponent. But it’s going to get harder from there.
More new friends
Three episodes that flowed pretty well, getting us through an interesting battle, preparing for the tournament, and then getting started on the tournament. They did enough of a training montage for my tastes (which dislike training, because it’s boring) and they have done a good job so far keeping the fights from bogging down in too much of the characters talking to themselves, although they’re pushing a limit on that. In particular, it seemed kind of odd that Miura spent the whole beginning of the fight saying “get in close and kick” and then just punched after getting in close. But you take what opportunity presents itself I guess.
About Highway
Proving that you don't have to be young to love anime, I enjoy all genres and styles of shows. If it's not hurting anyone else, you should never be ashamed of what you like!
