Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is the first season of a franchise that apparently is still absolutely alive even today a full 21 years after the release of the original series. What is really particular is the way it was born: in fact Nanoha is the younger sister of the protagonist of an eroge visual novel Triangle Hearts and a short video was dedicated to her in which she became a little mage. This will be the basis of the franchise watching it was curious since both aspects that remained unchanged and others that changed over time could be seen. I knew that the series was one of the most important of the majokko genre and I had good expectations. The first 34 episodes I use a phrase I liked and that I read elsewhere seem to be the result of some mediocre scripts left unused for episodes of Cardcaptor Sakura directorially the series was good although the animation didnt amaze me Nanohas transformation was better than those circulating at that time and I liked that the effects of the battles remained visible even afterwards even if strangely this aspect was never really addressed by the characters. There were definitely some ideas but everything was very standard. Everything changes with the introduction of Fate whose presence allows the series to take on a more complex and profound plot going beyond the simple search for the Jewel Seeds. The anime takes flight with episode 6: from then on my pauses between episodes were few. I would even say that there was a change in the storys genre: clearly it always remains a majokko with the little magical protagonist saving everyone with magic and the power of friendship but it shifts from being a light slice of life series showing as much as possible the normal life of an elementary school girl who obtained powers to having a story rich in sciencefiction elements where even infant death and parental violence against children are addressed. The core of the story is the relationship between Nanoha and Fate. Their paths cross since both are searching for the Jewel Seeds one to help her friend Yuno and because she feels it is the right thing to do and the other to make her mother happy and bring her back to how she once was. The latter refuses dialogue several times and is focused only on her own goal but Nanoha perceived the suffering and loneliness in her eyes and intends to understand and help her. Her feelings fully reach her after their first real battle and the mothers revelations. Fate will decide to fight together with her peer and in the final episode before serving her sentence for the crimes committed she will have a beautiful reunion with Nanoha during which she expresses her gratitude for having become her friend and hopes they will remain so in the future from spoilers I more or less heard I think they will even become something more roughly. Another fundamental relationship is the one between Fate and her mother Precia. It is a textbook case where there is a child no longer loved who hoping to restore everything to how it was before complies with the parents desires neglecting herself mentally and physically. The daughter suffers both physical violence with whippings and constant manipulation since she is conditioned and made to think that her mother is her only ally leading her to give up on others. Their relationship is actually even sicker than one might think since Fate is not her real daughter but a clone into which the memories of the real subject were transferred to make her obedient. Cloning is a fascinating theme and I would have liked if it had been explored more in detail but the clear contempt Precia showed several times towards Fate once the truth was revealed even refusing to let her save her makes it clear how irredeemable she was. Her madness was beyond any limit as is evident also from her end since she falls into the void desperate to reach the Paradise where her real daughter has been resurrected and where time goes back to days when everything was fine. I have doubts that she was a perfect mother even then given how much she praised Alicias obedience but lets leave that aside. She remains a very good antagonist who had the end she most deserved which is a point in the series favor. Among Nanohas allies I would mention Yuno who has been with her from the beginning. They are rather cute together and he is good support throughout the adventure. It is particular that he can switch from human form to that of a ferret. I would have liked if he had been explored more as a character since he seems to have an interesting backstory and quite some knowledge. Besides him there is also Chrono who is the classic somewhat tsundere boy who has a crush on Nanoha as well as being an officer of the organization. He has a nice introduction and is a goodlevel mage he will probably be useful in the future I honestly have nothing else to say. Nanohas family is rather standard: I only mention the father because he allows connecting the protagonist to the theme of loneliness explaining a strange phrase from the early episodes and the brother who has a girlfriend Suzukas sister making him a living reference to Triangle Heart evident from how ecchi the hot springs episode was. Then there is Arf who is Fates familiar extremely loyal to her and wanting her wellbeing. Similarly to Yuno she also switches from animal to human form. She is strong and threatening but also maternal and I hope she can play that role in Fates life in the future. She has a sketched bond with one of Nanohas friends which I hope will be developed since they didnt get along well as humans but it was the girl who saved her. Speaking of which among the best secondary characters are Alisa and Suzuka who are Nanohas peers. It was explained how their friendship didnt come out of nowhere their development is shown and you can see how they reacted to their friends reluctance to reveal what was troubling her. I would have expected more from the organizations characters who besides doing lore drops didnt bring much. The animation level kept improving especially in the battles. The fights against the robots feel very 1990s2000s. I really like the atmosphere of those years at this point with phones similar to those of my grandfather and references to video games like Dragon Quest. The introduction of each episode I like and it sets the mood well. The opening is fantastic both visually and musically sung by Nana Mizuki Fates voice actress I got obsessed with it. The ending is really very loweffort visually but hearing Yukari Tamura sing always has its charm. Nanoha is voiced by her so both songs are sung by the series two main characters. Last thing: it is clearer to me why it is said to have influenced Madoka Magica so much. First of all the Japanese titles of the two series clearly reference each other. The first episode and the initial setting are very similar: in both series the story begins with the protagonist waking up from a dream and then getting ready in the bathroom to go to school. She has a quiet life with a happy family and at least one sibling but feels she lacks confidence in herself. She has two best friends one refined and one more tomboyish. Finally a wounded cute animal speaks telepathically to her and asks her to become a magical girl. It is even directed by the same director Akiyuki Shinbo and I could clearly notice it from Madokas iconic run very similar to Nanohas. I also noticed similarities with Fate/kaleid with Illya/Nanoha representing the light and having an optimal life while Kuro/Fate embody the theme of darkness and problems with family they even met in a forest for the first time.