Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS Ep.01 - Does Shiina even configure as a magical girl?

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS: Gun Blaze Vengeance is an all-new Nanoha anime series, and as a longtime fan of the franchise, I simply couldn't skip it. I'll be honest: I haven't fully caught up on the many movies they've released, but I have watched all the original TV series and OVAs.

My first reaction was, "Huh? Is this even remotely related to Nanoha?" It was striking; monsters eating humans? A girl named Kuze Shiina fighting with rifles and guns, and no magic anywhere to be seen? Even her little sister, Kuze Setsuna, turned out to be a "majin," which hardly feels like the magic we are used to in the Nanoha series.

I'm glad we have the young Nanoha as I was never a fan of the grown up version we got in that anime series long ago.

The camera angles are quite interesting, but yeah Shiina is really stunning. I wonder who other original character we'll get.

Sure, in the end, Shiina obtains power from Setsuna and they "merge," but the fighting style is still wildly different from anything I've seen. It was only at the very end, when Nanoha appeared, that things seemed to return to normal with the pink beams and balls of energy that we've grown used to.

Setsuna dying in the first episode wasn't much of a shocker because they left so many hints that one of the two was going to die; it would have been weird otherwise. Plus, with the whole merge thing, I'm not sure we've seen the last of her; it's very possible she becomes a mascot or something of the sort.

The first episode really only focuses on these characters, so we don't know what's coming in the following episodes. I've had a quick look at the "characters" section for the anime, and there are quite a few characters I've never heard of. I wonder exactly what the world setting is.

The EXCEEDS organization seems to be related to the world, so is this a parallel universe or a direct continuation of the other series? It feels completely different, but as I haven't seen the last few movies, I can't be sure they all connect in a straight line.

This was the moment when I went 'okay this doesn't feel like a Nanoha series at all'. It got worse before getting better.

These scenes clearly made me think that one of the two was going to die. I was leaning on Shiina though, but turns out...

Either way, I'm glad Nanoha is back, and I can't wait to see my beloved Fate Testarossa appear on screen. My original yuri ship has always been Fate x Nanoha, and I hope they preserve all the cute interactions between the two. Hayate was cute too, but she always felt like a side show to me.