The moment is finally at hand, everyone. With the Tome of the Night Sky fully separated from the Book of Darkness’s defensive programs, and those defensive programs having literally been shot into space in order to be obliterated by a giant laser, Nanoha and the rest of her friends have clearly earned a full episode of blessed, tearful denouement. Unfortunately, before anyone can actually relax, it seems some lingering element of the Book’s curse must still be extracted from Hayate’s body. Though to be honest, I don’t think this is actually going to be a problem Nanoha and her friends can solve through magical exertion – I’m pretty sure this is just the lead-in to the show returning Hayate to partial paralysis.

“Paralyzed character is rewarded with magical healing” is a common style of resolution that rarely sits right with me; it feels cheap, and overly dismissive of the reality of disabilities, as if disabled people need to be “fixed.” Hayate didn’t need to be fixed – she’s already a strong person who serves as the emotional rock of her family, and though her disability is a part of her, it absolutely doesn’t define her. One of Nanoha’s most central themes is learning to coexist with your past trauma, and accepting that although the past is still a part of our identities, we can choose to embrace a happier sense of self. Fate’s recent goodbye to her sister embodied that idea of acknowledging the past while facing the future, and I’m guessing this episode will be Hayate’s turn. But either way, this has been a terrific season of Nanoha, and I’ve greatly enjoyed seeing the cast filled out by Hayate’s adorable family. Let’s see how it all turns out in Nanoha A’s final episode!

Episode 13

God, the effects animation for that battle was so good. Even the flame here as Hayate summons her staff is beautifully animated

“It was a small wish” has been replaced by “It was a small miracle”

“Our tears turned to light and became a rainbow.” A little much, Fate, but I’ll allow it

I’ve been informed basically all of the attacks from last episode were riffs on Super Robot Wars attacks, which I suppose explains why they felt a little distant from the show’s recent style. A’s generally favored tactical exchanges over GIANT BEAMS, but those were some pretty impressive giant beams

I am going to miss the crunchy-ass guitars of this OP. There’s a terrific buzz to the chord transitions of the verse segment

The Tome of the Night Sky explains that “the defensive program has been stopped, but the underlying structure is still horribly disfigured,” and that she’ll likely generate a new defensive program and go berserk again. Goddamn shitty legacy code

The Tome has been successfully extracted from Hayate, meaning she’ll be safe, but her guardians are still attached to the Tome, and will likely be destroyed

Oh huh, they actually get to live too. Fair enough

This is an oddly somber final conflict, and I’m not sure it totally lands, mostly because the Tome of the Night Sky hasn’t been a character for long enough for this to feel like a genuine sacrifice. If Hayate is going to be safe and even the guardians get to separate from the book, there’s no real sense of consequence here

Reinforce meets Nanoha and Fate on a beautiful snowy hilltop

“One day, you will surely understand. To meet such a person, to love them deeper than the sea and wish to protect their happiness.” The Book’s thoughts are certainly in line with this show’s general feelings on family and sacrifice, though

Oh wow, I love this shot composition back at Hayate’s house. The shadowed bars of the windows and snow falling make for a dynamic yet still solemn image

Hayate arrives just in time to try and stop the ceremony. Okay, this gives this sequence emotional weight – I don’t really care about Reinforce in her own right, but I can certainly sympathize with Hayate’s feelings of concern and grief

“I’m the happiest magical tome in the whole wide world.” Quite a line. Hayate’s voice actress is really giving this her all, but our emotional distance from Reinforce, as well as the fact that this whole ritual was provoked by what feels like an arbitrary condition in the first place, is still making this sequence fall kinda flat. After all those episodes of severing the defensive program from the Tome, learning “welp, I guess it’s just gonna regenerate that program and we still have to kill it” isn’t particularly satisfying

Nanoha’s town looks lovely covered in snow. It’s still a little smudged and indistinct due to the standard issues of early digipaint, but the fundamental art design is very compelling

Lindy seems to have adopted a comfortably domestic tone with Fate

And Admiral Graham has graciously accepted an early retirement. Adios, catgirls

“I guess that ends this case.” Right, I kinda forgot that Nanoha and Fate are SPACE COPS

Nanoha mentions her regrets regarding the case, and Fate grabs her hand, telling her that there is always great sadness in cases like this. This scene is a nice reminder of how good these two are together, which this season hasn’t had that many opportunities to take advantage of

“I’m going to keep working for the bureau, and plan to become a full officer. What about you, Nanoha?” Oh my god, this scene is basically a proposal. Fate describing all her future plans, and hesitantly asking Nanoha if she wants to share the future with her

Yuuno is walking Tiny Arf on a leash oh my god

Yuuno was apparently so good at librarying that the bureau asked him to become the Infinite Library’s official librarian. I swear to god, this organization has like seven total employees

There’s an interesting sort of disconnect between this show’s genre template and its intended audience, in that most of the cast are in elementary school, but because this is a late-night anime aimed at a somewhat older audience, they’re all discussing their long-term career plans as if they were about to graduate high school

Then again, it’s not exactly uncommon for magical girl anime to fixate on “what do you want to be when you grow up,” even when aimed at younger audiences. The genre has “aspiring towards a confident, mature selfhood” built into its fundamental DNA, with basic genre conceits like the transformations into magical girl forms inherently pointing towards that appeal

Reinforce is now contained in a pendant around Hayate’s neck, which is writer-speak for “irrelevant until it’d be narratively useful to bring her back.”

Hayate wants to become a mage as well. Another reflection of her personal strength, that she holds no grudge against magic for everything that took place

“And besides, following this case, we’re all probationary officers for the bureau.” I feel like enlisting Hayate and her guardians single-handedly triples the bureau’s overall fighting power

Signum and Fate at last have their Honorable Reunion, where they pledge to one day spar again in glorious combat. These dorks are adorable

Oh dang, apparently Nanoha is going to tell her family that she’s a space wizard who fights interdimensional villains

“If she wants to keep it a secret, it’s fine with me. But I’d be happy to hear the truth, too.” Alisa following through on the trust in Nanoha she gained during the first season

It looks like Nanoha might be aiming to become a combat instructor. I think that suits her more than being an officer would – her greatest strength is inspiring and building others up, not exerting her will through force

Oh wow, we’re actually getting a “six years later” jump? Bold of them to directly jump ahead that much time, considering how easy it’d be to come up with a season three that just offers a different case with the same crew. I’m very happy to see this, though – it’s extremely satisfying to follow characters through multiple stages of their lives

So yeah, Hayate has recovered from her paralysis. Not the choice I would have gone with, but it’s certainly doesn’t ruin the story or anything

Fate refers to Lindy with an earnest “Thanks, Mom”

“Has there been any progress between you and Nanoha, Yuuno?” It’s never happening, Amy

Admiral Graham has retired to a quiet farm with his catgirls

Oh man, what a cruel sequel hook that is. Just as they’re about to transform into their new magical forms, the show ends

And Done

A’s is complete! That wasn’t exactly the ending I was expecting, but it did a perfectly fine job of wrapping up all this show’s lingering threads, while also providing a number of tantalizing hooks regarding future seasons. Though I was initially surprised by this finale’s time skip, the more I think about it, the more sensible and exciting of a choice it becomes. This season essentially provided a satisfying slice of “Nanoha and Fate have just joined the bureau,” and rather than continue on through seasons that are essentially just retreads of this one, it sounds much more compelling to skip ahead a few years and see how their lives and relationships have evolved.

Sequel hooks aside, this episode still wasn’t one of the season’s strongest, and suffered most significantly from Reinforce’s arbitrary fate, as well as how much intended emotional weight the show placed on that fate. But once that conflict was resolved, the rest of this episode was one satisfying payoff after another, as the show convincingly demonstrated the joy and freedom of letting the past rest and actively choosing your future. Another fine season of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha!

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