hontou ni sou omou?

Spurred by Demon Eyes’ comment and a rising sense of panic for Nanoha x Fate, I’ve given the Megami Sound Stage a listen but have come away a little disappointed but not as worried as I was. Partly also because StrikerS ep 2 has played down Nanoha’s Lone Wolf nature and reaffirmed her friendship with Fate with a tender moment.

First track, Riot Force 6, has Nanoha, Fate and Hayate introducing themselves in their current capacities, situating it between the A’s to StrikerS comic and the third season of the TV anime. LOL at Fate apologizing for having a very long name, for me, her cuteness now stems mainly from her social awkwardness and ease of being embarrassed. Consistent with the comic, Nanoha describes the threesome trio as childhood friends (幼馴染).

In the second track, Question and Answer Corner 1, Fate recounts her history to the present. There’s also a mention of her failing her Enforcer exam twice, Hayate consoling her that Chrono (who is ranked higher as a mage) had failed once as well, Nanoha and Fate praising her for being so responsible to be able to take care of two 10 year olds.

Third track is Question and Answer Corner 2 where Hayate and then Nanoha do a similar recap and discussion of the present state. For the former, their discussion covers some of the material in StrikerS Ep 2 about Hayate’s dream of setting up and commanding her own specialized Lost Logia retrieval unit. There’s a bit I can’t understand (around 1:30) where Nanoha’s modesty causes Hayate and Fate to protest. Interestingly she describes Yuuno as her ‘magic teacher and friend’ whereas Fate is ‘the one who is always supporting me’. Yuuno quarter point, Fate half point then. There’s something about Nanoha looking forward to all her new trainees. The last minute features a question asking if Nanoha and Fate are still good friends (仲良し) and still love-love (ラブラブ), the phrase used to describe their bathing in the first A’s Sound Stage. Fate immediately denies the latter, affirming the former with Nanoha backing her up, emphasizing the ‘friend’ part (友達). SIGH. It’s slightly salvaged by Hayate saying that the kind Fate and forward looking Nanoha are still, after all this time, the besuto combi. AMEN! Fate x Nanoha laugh nervously.

Fourth track, Question and Answer Corner 3 covers the trio’s update on the Cloud Knights, Yuuno, Arf, Arisa and Suzuka. Fate is shocked to learn that Signum has been assigned to be her Dy, the leader of the Wolkenreitter apparently insisted and Fate is all nervous as Nanoha encourages her with a ‘Fighto!’ Nanoha happily describes Yuuno as a good friend too. Looks like in the nakayoshi department, it’s also Fate one, Yuuno one. Except that an uncomfortable Fate and puzzled Hayate communicate telepathically (with Nanoha’s distant voice calling them ~are-re-re~ in the background - that never gets old LOL) about how Nanoha treats Yuuno like a family member and that she doesn’t seem to be interested in pursuing any romantic relationship. As mentioned in the comic, Arf is on household duties. Chrono and Amy have just had twins, a boy and girl. Suzuka and Arisa are university students. Cafe Midoriya is still doing well as are the rest of Nanoha’s family.

Farewell Greetings, fifth track, is a short wrap-up while the sixth, The Squad Commanders After the Recording Session, has Nanoha and Fate going for a meal together and discussing the selection and posting of possible forwards in their respective Stars and Lightning squads, thus preparing the ground for the seventh track, SF No.5 Studio. Subaru and Teana (whom Subaru calls ‘Tiia’) are awaiting their signing-on interview. To pass the time, Subura forces Teana to do a mock interview. LOL at Subaru’s very unprofessional HAWT FOR NANOHA answer to Teana’s bored sounding question of why she wants to join the TSAB in contrast to Teana’s very proper but motherhood statement-type ‘world peace’ answer. Tiia radiates pure prim evil boredom but Subaru gets under her princess armour with practised ease - teasing her about how she kept preening herself in the mirror before they arrived in the waiting room; there’s a promising, playful Mikoto Suou-Eri Sawachika dynamic between the two which we’re also shown in StrikerS Ep 2 (Tiia’s power butt pinch and back grapple with cheek pinch). They get calls on their mobiles and finally realize that they are in the wrong place. Panic and hilarity ensues - Tiia’s screams of ‘Baka, baka, Subaru no baka! Watashi to baka!’ and Subura’s ‘Matte~~, Tiia!’ Pure LOL. Oh, just noticed that Tiia uses the manly ‘ore’ pronoun when referring to herself!

The final three tracks feel a bit like something for the Next of Kin plugin, addressed to a precious person. I couldn’t figure out who they were addressed to and tried to match each character to one other member of the cast but it didn’t seem to work that way - I’m currently guessing that the ‘you’ being addressed are the fans.

Eight track is Fate T. Harlaown - Message For You, highlights are how Fate wants to protect everyone though she also specifically says that she wants to protect Nanoha. Yay yay! \(-_-)/ Somehow I think Nanoha’s serious injuries, alluded to in Vita’s flashbacks in the A’s to StrikerS comic and the hand-on-shoulder moment in StrikerS Ep 2, may have dented Fate’s sense of being worthy of Nanoha because Nanoha was hurt and badly so? Other main point was Fate’s confession that she was uneasy (不安) about her new responsibilities as squad commander and also excited (どきどき).

Ninth track is Hayate Yagami - Message for You has nothing really new, mainly about her move to Midchilda, Reinforce, her knights and the setting up of Lost Property Riot Force 6 (nice of them to give the official translations at the start of the series rather than the DVD release).

Tenth and final track is Nanoha Takamachi - Message for You where she mentions how she’s chosen the sky - probably a reference to her dreams, career, freedom, self-realization. Well, she seems to be avoiding the Hegelian problem of the self-conscious which requires the recognition by an other recognized by the self as an equal. The most upbeat of the three though, at the penultimate section, the wistful part seems to refer to Raising Heart.

The main motivation for listening to this was to suss out the Nanoha x Fate territory and there seems to be quite a bit of retreat if compared to the A’s Sound Stages and A’s comics but roughly status quo compared to the A’s to StrikerS comics. Nanoha seems oblivious to romance as well as emotionally self-sufficient whereas Fate not only seems at pains to deny the love-love thing but also seems puzzled and exasperated that there’s been no development between Nanoha and Yuuno. And yet Nanoha is still clearly the person who will go green sparkles if Fate’s CHILD bites the dust in a Mai HiME-type situation. The way I’m reconciling it at present is that the franchise holders are trying to avoid antagonizing the Nanoha x Fate or Nanoha x Yuuno camps. Even if the latter camp only has one lone declared member. LOL It’s ambiguous enough not to come down firmly on either side but also just enough scraps thrown at each side to keep everyone guessing. Fertile ground for fan works which helps marketing and sustains interest after a series has ended. FATE X NANOHA 4TW!