Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 2nd A's

Just watched Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 2nd A's.

Length: 2hr 30min

Rating: 9/10

Genre: Magical Girl, Action

Being that Nanoha is one of my favorite shows, I had been anticipating this movie since the first one was released back in 2010.  Nanoha the Movie First completely blew me away with flawless animation, well-choreographed fighting, and new content.  Seven Arcs did so well turning the introductory arc into a fine movie that I couldn't wait for their crown jewel, Nanoha A's, to get a movie.  This movie was announced shortly after the release of Nanoha First, and the wait was well worth it.

The movie takes place six months after the events of the first movie.  Nanoha and Fate are now tentative mages at TSAB, the Time Space Administration Bureau.  Fate has been cleared of the charges against her and has been adopted by Admiral Lindy Harlaown.  Nanoha has remained on Earth and juggles school and her mage training.  Nanoha and Fate have not seen each other since the end of the last movie, and are planning to meet in the near future.  On the promised day, however, powerful mages appear and make short work of them both, transferring the magical power of their linker cores into a tome and escaping.  Calling themselves Wolkenritter, they are ancient Belkan mages and guardians of the Book of Darkness, a powerful lost logia which threatens the entire Earth.  It's up to Nanoha, Fate, and the rest of TSAB to stop them before the Book of Darkness refills its magic and goes berserk.

As you can see, the plot isn't really anything new, but I love how Nanoha mixes sci-fi and mahou shoujo.  Being a mage is somewhat like being able to control powerful technology, but the power generation output is based on how powerful that mage's linker core is.  Mages wield an intelligent device and also have an augmentive armor in their barrier jackets.  Also, having spaceships and dimensional transfers and stuff is just too cool.  Some have compared Nanoha to "Gundam with little girls instead of robots," and I would say it's an accurate analogy.

They did cut a little bit of content from the series, but it was definitely something I could overlook based on how good the overall movie was.  To make up for it, a wealth of little additions were made that were not in the series to enrich the story.

The animation for the A's movie is spectacular.  Following the high standards of the first movie, Seven Arcs pulls off some very pleasing combat sequences.  I especially liked the first person sequence during the Nanoha and Reinforce fight.  Seen from Nanoha's perspective, she's shooting and is suddenly smashed through a mountain.  Freaking awesome.  The overall animation is flawless.  No expense was spared.  This movie is a showcase for what modern animating methods can do.

Voice work was very good.  The entire cast returned to perform their character's voices.  In Nanoha style, Tamura Yukari and Mizuki Nana perform the vocal music for the movie.  Indeed, once Mizuki Nana starts singing during the ending fight, you'll get pretty pumped up.  I was extremely happy with it.  Like the first movie, the score was an instrumental version of the music from the series.

In conclusion, if you're a Nanoha fan or love action movies, Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha: The Movie 2nd A's is a must watch.  The excellent animation and choreography alone were enough to make this movie amazing.  By the way, the Japanese release has English subtitles.  Have fun!