Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS Ep.08 - Hayate, useless from start to end.

Episode 8 of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha EXCEEDS: Gun Blaze Vengeance continues pretty much as I predicted in the previous episodes, with only minor adjustments. As expected, the entire structure of the government is corrupt and doing Eiji's bidding, and I doubt anything short of a complete reset can help in this regard.

Towa leaves her group, draining their powers and getting arrested as a way to try to lure Shinomiya out, knowing full well that it was a trap from the start. Then, the girls end up planning to contact Shiina for help, which will bring us to the inevitable rescue mission and defeat of Mana.

The whole 'showing all their memories together' sounds like a farewell, but it's actually good because Towa is protagonist so can't die while they were all at risk so...

Mana continues to farm more evil smirks to show that she's beyond saving and must be purged. Not complaining just pointing out.

The plot is simple, but it works. At the same time, I'm fully aware that it's forgettable at best, and honestly, the story isn't making much effort to make the characters all that interesting. Towa's past and motivations are nice, but everything else around them feels barely sketched out at best.

What I really don't understand is the purpose of putting Hayate as the leader of the EXCEEDS organization if she's not going to do ANYTHING useful. She's not good at fighting, she can't control the news, she can't suppress a story, she can't provide useful intel, and she can't even investigate corruption in the government.

Is she there just to aura farm or something? At least Nanoha and Fate actually enter the fray and fight; she's just sitting at her desk complaining that things aren't going her way, while doing nothing of value to add to the storyline. I remember Hayate being a better character in the original series...

The Shiina/Towa fight was also kind of cheesy, with the two unable to stop for a second and talk like human beings about their reasons. It's not like there was an army following them; most of the problems seem to stem from miscommunication, as usual.

The inevitable clash between the yuri couple Shiina and Towa. I'm sure things will be more cozy after the rescue...

Instead of wallowing, can you do ONE SINGLE useful thing Hayate? Like anything, I'd accept even a tea at this point...

In the next episode, we'll likely see Mana temporarily gain the upper hand to raise the stakes and create tension over Towa's fate, and then we'll ride toward the ending with a grand finale of all the heroines going to the rescue. Let's see if my predictions hold.