Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.0
Audio		3.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		3.0

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Blu-ray Movie Review

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is a fantasy action-adventure magical girl anime series. Created by Masaki Tsuzuki, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is part of the popular anime franchise – a anime franchise that has spawned numerous other versions in the magical girl lore. Executive produced by Isamu Tanaka (Spirit Warrior), Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha offers fans a unique take on the genre.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha features animation production by Akio Mishima (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's, Triangle Heart: Sweet Songs Forever) and series animation production by Seven Arcs (Sekirei: Pure Engagement, Triangle Heart: Sweet Songs Forever). The series features a lead voice performance by Yukari Tamura. Co-starring Kaori Mizuhashi and Nana Mizuki. Fans of the magical girl genre will want to explore the series further.

Nanoha Takamachi (Yukari Tamura) might appear to be an ordinary school girl at first glance. Certainly, there is nothing out of the ordinary about Nanoha at the beginning. Yet the normalcy of Nanoha is a temporary position: she meets a strange ferret named Yuuno. Yuuno is no ordinary ferret.

Nanoha becomes bestowed with the magical device Raising Heart by the ferret Yuuno. Nanoha magically transforms from being an ordinary school girl into being a powerful magical girl with abilities she never expected to have. The journey is just beginning and the magical girl powers provide Nanoha a rare opportunity to fight the good fight with magic.

The biggest obstacle? The Jewel Seeds – rare and dangerous seeds that cause more harm than good. Nanoha has a lot of missions ahead. Can she emerge triumphant as the magical girl the world so desperately needs?

Nanoha Takamachi is a compelling lead character for the anime series. Without a strong lead character, the series wouldn’t be able to excel as a series. A good magical girl anime series requires a compelling lead and someone with a heroic sense of duty and charisma to keep the storytelling going. The fun character is someone with a determination to do well and use her magic to fight the good fight. Essential to the storytelling, the character goes forth on a journey – from ordinary girl to a girl possessing enormous power.

The character designs by Yasuhiro Okuda (Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS) are one of the essential ingredients of the production, too. The character designs add a lot: expanding on the production in a significant manner. The designs are true to the characters and fit alongside the aesthetic of the production well. A good effort by Okuda and something to commend.

The animation is impressive and manages to convey an important aesthetic style for the time-period of the series production. The animation manages to walk a fine line between classic animation styles and modern sensibilities. The art direction by Shinji Katahira (Gravitation: Lyrics of Love, Restaurant to Another World) is compelling and offers some nice visual flourishes for the production.

A quality animation effort by the art director. Chief animation direction on the series is by Yasuhiro Okuda (Extreme Hearts, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's). The chief animation director understood the style essential to the production and its foundation. The end result is a series that conveys a lot with the style exploring the magical girl aspect of the anime. The team of animators involved on Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha showcase the tapestry of the animation with colorful art work – vibrant and crisp – exploring the magic qualities of the genre. The epic battles are also well animated. An altogether impressive effort by all involved.

The cinematography by Seiichi Morishita (Galaxy Express 999, Hunter X Hunter) adds to the style of the series. The cinematography is lush and creative. The aesthetic adds to the subtle charms of the series. Certainly, there are some great things on display in the series cinematographic voice. Morishita has some fun exploring the language of the series visuals and utilizing a good colorful display to make everything more engaging.

The score composed by Hiroaki Sano (Night Shift Nurses, Sekirei: Pure Engagement) is a light and fun score and adds considerable charm. The music is a nice backdrop to the production. The music also manages to add some energy and style to the action sequences. The score by Sano works well for expanding on the series style.

Written by Masaki Tsuzuki (Dog Days, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha A's), Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is a fun idea for an anime series. The magical girl element may be seen in many other classic anime series such as Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura but it is a successful genre and core concept that is well utilized to add some fun storytelling to the table. The series has a good time highlighting the action-adventure balance and the end result is a series that fits its genre roots well.

Directed by Akiyuki Simbo (Arakawa Under the Bridge, Dance in the Vampire Bund), Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is a charming magical girl anime. Though it might not stand out as being as perfect as some of the all-time greatest magical girl series, it is a charming and fun one that is well worth checking out. Anime fans who appreciate the magical girl genre won’t want to miss out.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by Discotek Media, Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame. The series animation has received a high-definition upscale from the standard-definition materials. The standard definition materials were used as a source for the production and the series is not available with a more robust native high- definition version. The upscaling process for the series is surprisingly good looking and offers a slightly more robust looking presentation.

 The series still won't look as good as a native high-definition presentation can offer viewers, but it does offer a modest boost in contrast to a DVD release. The compression is slightly more refined and as such some of the drawbacks of the DVD format (compared to the Blu-ray format) highlight the gains of encoding the series on the Blu-ray disc format. A solid looking presentation even if it is somewhat limited due to the source.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English uncompressed PCM 2.0 and Japanese uncompressed PCM 2.0 (with English subtitles). The lossless audio encoding on the release offers up solid encoding and decent audio dynamics. The audio might not sound pristine but it does offer a modest improvement with the quality encoding method. The sound direction by Toshiki Kameyama (And Yet the Town Moves, Castle Town Dandelion) is well preserved, too.

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The release comes with a nice o-card slipcover. The slipcover artwork highlights a nice design for the release. The package design looks great in hand and will look wonderful on the shelf.

Clean Opening (HD, 1:50)

Clean Ending (HD, 1:52)

Release Commemorative Event (SD, 6:06)

Cast Interviews (SD, 22:23)

Picture Drama "Magical Girl Lyrical IF" (HD, 7:07)

Press Conference Video (SD, 2:16)

Pilot Film (SD, 4:04)

TV Spots (SD, 2:30)

In-Store Promo Video (SD, 5:22)

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha is a charming and action-packed magical girl anime. The series has a fun concept and a charming lead character in Nanoha. The animation is one of the highlights of the fun series. The art style is creative and well utilized for the magical girl anime genre. The series looks impressive on disc with an upscale of the standard-definition source.

Not perfect but decent as a upconversion. The release includes a solid selection of supplements and this helps to round out the package. Fans will want to strongly consider a purchase for their collection. Recommended.