No, really. Five times.

Episode 5 of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS gives us the long-awaited transformation sequences, and with the sole exception of Elio, they all proceed in much the same manner: the characters float around and pose as their clothes disappear layer by layer, although honesty compels me to mention that no actual details are shown; I believe the term is "mannequin-nude". Then new clothes, ie their Barrier Jackets, form around their bodies, and they finish off with a dramatic pose against a dramatic background. (Elio's transformation sequence is almost as the others', except that he does not go nude. Any comment I can conceivably make to that will likely be considered inappropriate, lewd, or inappropriate and lewd.)

I will not be posting very many screencaps of the transformation sequences. In fact, I will not be posting very many screencaps at all. The reason for this is the unfortunate dearth of good-quality sources currently available; I feel that it will be an injustice towards the very nature of the fanservice of this episode, which would demand nothing less than the absolute best for the MSLN fan.

And fanservice it is: the Newbies are mobilized to action as the train carrying the mysteriously powerful Relic is attacked by the AMF Gadgets. Apart from the much-mentioned transformation sequences, we also get to see the Newbies being surprised by the sheer power of their new Devices, even with the limiters placed on them. The Newbies get used to their new Devices, Nanoha and Fate run interference for the Gadget air force, and we get a fairly blatant progression towards a Caro/Elio pairing for the series. And to top it all off, we get some backstory about Caro's recent past, and a Suspicious Scientist sort who seems to be observing the battle for his own ends.

I suppose this is what they call a Highlight Episode.

In flashback mode, Caro remembers when she was exiled from her tribe for being too powerful. Again, the subs will be essential in determining exactly what the details are in this exile, but I'm guessing that the tribe elders are probably following some sort of ancient rules. Otherwise, I would really like to know the rationale behind casting out an impressionable ten-year old child from possibly the only home she has known, when said ten-year old child has Phenomenal Cosmic Power. I mean, this is the stuff that villainous cliches are made of.

Caro herself is so afraid of her own power that she imagines herself to have blood on her hands. This may or may not be significant.

Back at headquarters, Griffiths, Shario, and two other bridge bunnies are doing HQ-type things, like typing Important-Looking commands into Important-Looking consoles, while outside, Fate parks her car in a surprisingly empty parking lot. I suppose this is either a reserved parking area, or everyone else had evacuated their cars for fear of collateral damage from the best friend of the White Devil of the TSAB.

Nanoha requests that Vice open the rear hatch of Storm Raider, so that the team (four Newbies plus Nanoha) can skydive out sans parachutes. This is not as suicidal as it appears to be, surprisingly. Also, Nanoha gives Caro a little pep talk, which seems to cheer her up some.

And now, transformation sequences!

First up, we have Fate, transforming right after getting out of her car. This appears to be "Barrier Jacket – Impulse Form", according to Bardiche (or at least what I think he said; the sound quality is not clear). This is a navy blue trench jacket over a black sleeveless top with white linings, with a gauntlet on Fate's left arm. A navy blue miniskirt and black thigh-highs complete the look, along with what looks like steel heeled shoes. Finally, a white cape for colour contrast, and her hair is tied into twintails with black ribbons.

Also, Fate wears lacy black underwear. I swear the camera lingers on them for a bit longer than is strictly necessary.

"Lightning One, Fate Testarossa Harlaown, go!"

Nanoha, for her part, transforms in mid-air, after jumping out of Storm Raider. Raising Heart comments "Barrier Jacket – Aggressive Mode", which probably has more than one meaning in the fandom. The basics are mostly the same as Fate's, except white with blue linings. No trenchcoat as such, but she does have what I'm blanking the real name on but is referred to in the CoH/V community as a "butt-cape". Her top resembles a sailor-suit uniform short jacket with long sleeves. Her hair is tied, like Fate's, into twintails, with white ribbons.

Nanoha's underwear is rather plain-looking and biege. Again, camera lingers.

"Stars One, Takamachi Nanoha, go!"

And for a brief intermission, Reinforce Zwei briefs the Newbies on their mission (the Relic is held in the seventh car of the train, yadda yadda, need subs), and transforms… uneventfully. Just a flash of light and she's in her costume.

I probably shouldn't try to describe the costumes anymore, considering my sartorially-challenged nature.

Nanoha and Fate engage the aerial Gadgets, danmaku style. Well, not as crowded as an actual danmaku game, perhaps, but they do provide for some impressive moves that would probably rack up the high scores.

And yes, throughout this sequence, my brain was providing me with choice tidbits such as "THRUST VECTORING OWNS THE SKIES" and "THIS THING CAN TURN ON A DIME MACROSS ZERO STYLE" and "DO A BARREL ROLL". In all-caps.

I need a new brain.

Subaru and Teana dive off together, and the end results of their transformation sequences are shown above. Subaru's henshin comes with that awesome HOT-BLOODED music that accompanied her fight against the boss training drone in the first episode, and either the animators decided to cut a few corners when conceptualizing her scene, or she's not wearing any underwear.

Teana, at least, has rather utilitarian yellow underwear, and her henshin is shown as reflections off the card that Cross Mirage is stored in when not in actual use. Her henshin music is more, well, keeping in line with the usual MSLN type, and feels a bit more sedate compared to Subaru's.

"Stars Three, Subaru Nakajima!"
"Stars Four, Teana Lanster!"
"Go!"

And finally, Elio and Caro follow the others. Elio goes first, and he doesn't go through the nude thing like all the others. Instead, he just materializes his Barrier Jacket like Reinforce Zwei did, but this time with background music, a hard driving techno beat, as well as background animation, full of lightning effects.

As for Caro's transformation, the accompanying music and animation brings to mind a more cute style of magical girl show, although I have to say that despite all the pink, it's not particularly saccharine. It would, in fact, fit in a fantasy anime, and I suspect that the very White Mage costume Caro gets as a Barrier Jacket is contributing at least slightly to that association.

"Lightning Three, Elio Mondial!"
"Lightning Four, Caro Lu Lushe, and Friedrich!"
"Go!"

After all that, the viewer is gently reminded that there's still about half of the episode left to go. Part of this is taken up by Subaru being all HOT-BLOODED and learning about her new capabilities from her rollerblades. Mach Calibre is definitely an Intelligent Device (and a talkative one at that), although talking to one's shoes should probably not be something one does frequently. (Unless you're Maxwell Smart. But I digress.)

It should probably be noted that here, the Anti-Magic Fields do not seem to cause much of a problem for the Newbies, at least on the smaller Gadgets. I suppose this also allows for the Gadgets to level up, just like the main characters.

Teana also holds a conversation with her guns, which can switch from dual-pistol to single-pistol mode easily. I'm not sure if this affects her shooting power, other than ammo consumption and rate of fire.

While all this is happening, Hayate arrives at HQ, and takes over command. This has very little actual effect (in this episode, at least), but is nice for protocol, I suppose.

Elio and Caro face off against the big boss of this group of Gadgets, which has a stronger AMF than the others, and easily bats away Friedrich's Blast Flare. The boss Gadget extends its AMF to nullify most of Elio's and Caro's magic, although I'd have to say that some magic still exists, considering both are still wearing their Barrier Jackets, and Elio is able to initiate a Grapple check for a short while against the boss Gadget, as well as leaping right over it. I doubt a ten-year old boy, no matter how well-trained, can do that without some outside buffs.

In the end, however, he gets knocked around, and Caro goes into flashback mode again.

Turns out that even the TSAB didn't want Caro, initially. However, Fate said that she'd take care of Caro, including her protection and training. And so Caro found a new home, when Fate told her that now she was free to make her own choices.

Back in reality, the boss Gadget tosses an unconscious (or perhaps stunned) Elio over the side. Caro has a relatively brief series of flashbacks to how Elio treated her nicely, and jumps after him. In defiance of the laws of physics, they appear to be falling at roughly the same linear displacement (or whatever it's actually called) relative to the train, and relative to the surroundings, at the same time.

The Original Team watches unconcernedly as Caro and Elio fall down the ravine, being rather confident of Caro's magical abilities. Caro vows to protect Elio, and summons Friedrich, full-sized version.

Also, she Boosts Friedrich's attack, Blast Ray, which comes out as a cone of fire. I challenge anyone remotely familiar with Final Fantasy to watch this scene and not think "Bahamut".

This does no discernable damage to the boss Gadget, though, and Elio volunteers to try himself. I think that it has something to do with attacking a single point rather than a wide area. He leaps towards the boss Gadget, and Caro does a Twin Boost (I think she says "Slash and Strike") on Strada. This allows Elio to slice off the various appendages the boss Gadget had, and then, with the help of a couple of cartridges, easily Sunlight Hearts right through it, before slashing upwards. The boss Gadget explodes in a remarkably self-contained blast, providing a dramatic backdrop as Elio is silhouetted against the blast.

The train comes back under proper control, the Relic is retrieved, and everyone is happy.

Including this very ominous scientist-type character who seems rather happy about something called Project F, while watching the videos of the Newbies and the duo of Nanoha and Fate in action. In particular, the scenes which get the most playtime appear to be that of Elio and Fate (while Nanoha, Caro, and Subaru are seen only as still pictures). This may or may not be important…

… especially considering the first season of MSLN, and Fate's genesis as the result of Precia Testarossa's Project Fate.

Next episode, back to training. I'm guessing that it's a full episode dedicated to the Newbies getting used to their new Devices, along with perhaps a battle or two with the Wolkenritter.

We actually got a fair amount of backstory here, compared to previous episodes. Mostly it's Caro's past which we see, and I certainly hope that this isn't all that we'll be seeing, even though there aren't any huge gaping holes to fill in there. (Apart from the easily-ignored, like the tribes of Midchilda; still waiting for details on the Scryas, dammit.) Some additional plot points were introduced, like the Mad Scientist during the very last minutes.

Caro is pretty cool in this episode. I think the Elio/Caro romance is probably going to play out canonically (as opposed to the "huh, didn't notice that" of Amy/Chrono, and the "are they or aren't they" of Nanoha/Yuuno and Nanoha/Fate), and she gets to hold the torch this season of the MSLN loli with Great Power. Having a big dragon for a pet/companion is probably not going to hurt her popularity prospects among fans, although it might turn out to be a deterrent for any potential non-Elio suitors in the series.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 30th, 2007 at 3:25 pm and is filed under mahou shoujo lyrical nanoha strikers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.