History Anime / MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs

It has a supplementary SliceOfLife manga and [[AudioAdaptation Sound Stages]] that take place between the episodes. The Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment games for the UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable, ''[[VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable The Battle of Aces]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable The Gears of Destiny]]'', are AlternateContinuity sequels to ''A's'', which change the events of the last episode. A movie remake of ''A's'', known as ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaTheMovie2ndAs'', was released in 2012, following the continuity of ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaTheMovie1st''.

The anime was licensed and dubbed in North America by Creator/{{Geneon}}, but is now out of print. After Geneon USA shut down, Creator/FUNimation took over distribution of the original series and ''A's'' until the licenses for both series expired in 2011. However, Discotek Media has since licensed rescued both the original series, and "A's", with the original series available on Blu-Ray in January 2024, with "A's" with no release date yet.

The anime was licensed and dubbed in North America by Creator/{{Geneon}}, but is now out of print. After Geneon USA shut down, Creator/FUNimation took over distribution of the original series and ''A's'' until the licenses for both series expired in 2011.

* HolidayCeasefire: Subverted. The only reason that the Wolkenritter didn't attack Nanoha and Fate on sight when the two of them came to visit Hayate in the hospital on Chrismas Eve was for the sake up upholding the {{Masquerade}}. [[HeKnowsTooMuch The second everyone else was out of view...]]

* RightForTheWrongReasons: About halfway through the season it's revealed that the Wolkenritter are actually [[JustAMachine semi-autonomous programs]]. Fate (who was in the middle of her "[[CloningBlues am I even human]]?" phase) compares them to herself, which Chrono and Lindy are very quick to deny. As we find out later on in the episode, that is probably the most accurate comparison that could possibly be made since they're almost identical to her back in the first season ([[AndroidsArePeopleToo completely]] [[ClonesArePeopleToo human]] despite their [[ArtificialHuman artificial nature]], [[AntiVillain driven to help a dying mother figure]], and suffering to the point that [[TheWoobie you just want to give them a hug]]).

* PlotTriggeringBook: The show starts with Hayate discovering the Book of Darkness on her bookshelf, which is a dangerous magical artifact around which the entire season revolves. [[spoilerIt's later revealed that the Book was placed there deliberately by Admiral Gil Graham for Hayate to find.]]

->''"[[ArcWords It was only a small wish...]]"''

* KungFuSonicBoom: The movie uses this to show off the power of the [[MidSeasonUpgrade new Catridge System]], with the shock wave from the clash between Fate's [[AnAxeToGrind Bardiche Assault]] and Signum's [[FlamingSword Laevatein]] shattering all the windows of the buildings around them.

Even moreso than its predecessor, this is the show that really set the tone and concept of the entire franchise in stone, and made it far bigger than just "magical girls get a little SuperRobot". It's widely considered to be the best season of TV ''Nanoha'' by fans and critics alike, and every ''Nanoha'' product afterwards, not to mention a decent bit of wider anime and other media, owes something to it and tries to emulate what made it successful.

* UpToEleven: Cartridges + higher budget for movie = bigger battles and bigger explosions. Also the Automatic Defense Program actually fights back this time, which was probably the one change from the TV version nobody complained about.

It has a supplementary SliceOfLife manga and [[AudioAdaptation Sound Stages]] that take place between the episodes. The Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment games for the UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable, ''[[VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable The Battle of Aces]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable The Gears of Destiny]]'', are AlternateContinuity sequels to ''A's'', which change the events of the last episode. A movie remake of ''A's'', known as ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaTheMovie2ndAs'', was released in 2012, following the continuity of ''The Movie 1st''.

It has a supplementary SliceOfLife manga and [[AudioAdaptation Sound Stages]] that take place between the episodes. The Creator/BandaiNamcoEntertainment games for the UsefulNotes/PlayStationPortable, ''[[VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable The Battle of Aces]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAsPortable The Gears of Destiny]]'', are AlternateContinuity sequels to ''A's'', which change the events of the last episode. A movie remake of ''A's'', known as ''The Movie 2nd A's'', was released in 2012, following the continuity of ''The Movie 1st''.

[[caption-width-right:350: ''The Adventure Continues!''[[note]]Clockwise from top right: Hayate Yagami, Reinforce, Shamal, Signum, Zafira, Vita, Fate Testarossa and Nanoha Takamachi.[[/note]]]]

-->''"[[ArcWords It was only a small wish...]]"''

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: The commentary cast is with 21 members almost as big the movie cast, in contrast to the commentary cast of ''The Movie 1st'' which had only seven members. The cast includes the three Aces[[note]]Nanoha, Fate and Hayate[[/note]], the Yagami family[[note]]Signum, Vita, Shamal, Zafira, Reinforce Zwei and Agito[[/note]], the Forwards[[note]]Subaru, Teana, Erio and Caro[[/note]], Team Nakajima[[note]]Vivio, Einhart, Rio, Corona[[/note]], Miura, Lutecia, and even [[Creator/TomokazuSugita Chrono]] and Yuuno. It's taken UpToEleven when ''all'' 21 members comment about the final battle scene.

* AdultFear: Hayate's plight - she has been [[IllGirl sick for a long time]], and seemingly wonders if she'll die soon, but doesn't fear it because she's always been alone. [[spoiler:And Graham believes that sealing her away with the Book of Darkness is regrettable, but it's better that few will miss her]].
** The Wolkenritter's perspective is even worse. They have to watch as someone they love is slowly consumed by an incurable illness. There are several scenes in both the series and the movie devoted to them dealing with that fear.

But what Hayate is unaware of is that the Book of Darkness is slowly eating away at her life, and only by feeding it the {{mana}} of others can she be saved. Not wishing to lose their kind master, the servants of the Book go behind her back and attempt to satisfy the Book's hunger on their own, leading them to an inevitable confrontation with Team Nanoha.

* DramaticIrony: In episode six, Nanoha and Yuuno discuss what type of person the Master of the Book of Darkness might be, followed by Nanoha receiving text from Suzuka talking about her new friend... Hayate.

* EpisodeTitleCard: In a carryover from the first season, episode titles are presented over a picture Raising Heart's standby mode with a cheerful sound cue and Nanoha reading the title aloud. [[spoiler:And then "[[WhamEpisode Christmas Eve]]" hits with nothing more than white text on a black backgound in complete silence, cluing in the audience that all hell is about to break loose.]]

* OutOfTheInferno: ''Nanoha'' pulls this off in episode 9 after Vita attacks her. This scene is one of the reasons [[FanNickname fans call her "The White Devil"]].

Unknown to them, the Book of Darkness has attached itself to an orphaned girl in a wheelchair called Hayate. She just wants to have a family, and she lovingly adopts the [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots sentient defence programs]] of the Book - a sympathetic female PowerTrio and their NonHumanSidekick - as her own.

* LimitedSpecialCollectorsUltimateEdition: [[http://www.nanoha.com/disc_bddvd1.html Nanoha Super Special Box]]. Animate and Gamer's version taken up to eleven for 15,750 yen. And they are English subbed too.