Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS Ep.05 - A trap?! Run away Towa!

Episode 5 of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS: Gun Blaze Vengeance shows the first encounter between the government forces (Nanoha, Fate, and Shiina) and the Majin Hunter Group (Towa, Aoi, Yuuna, Yuzu, and Shiori) when they ended up in the same place due to intersecting interests.

The Majin Hunters wanted to destroy a base used to produce the drug that transforms people into majin, while the government wanted to destroy some giant monsters that were stationed at the facility. Considering how careful Towa is, a clash was inevitable, and we did get a nice matchup.

Every time I see Mana's face it's like damn, she looks great, but why is she so utterly evil that it's impossible to like her?!

The transformation scenes (this week we got three) are tame compared to other series that I remember. Or maybe I remember wrongly?

Nanoha fighting Towa to a standstill was interesting, but neither of them was really going all out. Shiina vs. the other girls was nice, too, as we got to see their powers in action, and it was the most active of the battles. Fate, instead, did nothing at all, just talking with Shiori before she escaped.

Now the seed has been planted, though; because Towa and the girls realized that there are people who care in the government, it may not be trust yet, but it has to start from somewhere. At this point, it's certain that the monsters are just in the background and the real focus of the series lies toward the human experimentation by Mana and Eiji.

The next episode is titled "Shinomiya Mana and Kuraji Eiji," and it will almost surely follow their plan to capture Towa and bring her back to their facility. The ways I see this going are twofold: either she gets captured and the other girls ask Nanoha's group for help, or the other girls get captured and Towa asks for help.

The key point is that they need to forge a proper connection between Shiina and Towa, and that requires a reason for the two factions to ally. Of course, it does feel early for such a direct showdown against Mana; if she's supposed to be the final boss, it would be weird for her to be defeated midway through the series unless...

Towa works nicely as a leader, look at her serious stance in front of her allies. A bit out of touch with her age, but still...

Instead the other girls like Aoi and Shiori are more relaxed and actually act like normal young girls. I guess their past is the key

The only negative point I can give this series so far is that the overall animation quality feels a bit behind compared to other series airing this season. Be aware, it's not outright bad—just feels less "animated" in most of the scenes, but still consistent.