I feel you, I didn't think you were joking. I just thought it was funny that the show is so full of tropes. It's unique in the way it combines transforming mecha tropes into the magical girl shit but I think there's very little that's 'actually unique'. I also don't mind people criticizing the show, it's dear to me but I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that hate it for some reason, as if it killed their dog lol. It's not perfect, no anime is but to me it goes beyond perfect. It doesn't just do everything without fail but goes above and beyond. When I saw the first episode I was mildly impressed in the first few minutes and was like "why's this so popular?" But then Nanoha starts transforming and I just sat staring at the screen in *awe*. I wound it back and watched it like 12 times in a row and not to perv out on her animated nudity. It just blew me away how they animated something so complex but never go off-model. At all. It's all so smooth, slick and beautiful and beyond anything I could've come up with. It's beyond *my perfect*, if that makes any sense.
This isn't really a response to anything you've said but sort of something I've been hinting at and maybe others feel the same way as me. Even though you can go buy a DVD of Nanoha, any one, for maybe what? $30? $50? Shit, let's even say $100 for 'the movie' on blu-ray. So that's $100 and most people complain that it's waaay too much and a 'rip off' etc. I can agree that it's a lot for a disc but I think what's on it is worth a lot more to me. Millions. Billions. An infinite sum beyond comprehension.
Just to see that one scene one time is worth almost anything. Now, I've worked through this equation one way, let me work back through and explain what an incredible value anime is to me. First of all, it's $100 but worth billions to me. There are other scenes on it that are just as important, moving and beautiful to me. K, now we're talking... for $100 I get a copy of something I value more than anything besides other art. Further, you can download an ISO that is completely identical to the best of my knowledge, for free. Now, it's not *just* this one series that I feel so passionately about. I'll make a short list of the shows/movies/OVAs that are quite literally priceless to me.
Every Shakugan no Shana-tan short
Cardcaptor Sakura along with the 2 movies
MGLN all 3 seasons and the 2 movies
Lucky Star+the OVA
The Five Star Stories movie
Puchim@s
I think that pretty much sums up shows that mean more to me than literally anything else. Don't think I'm some immature weirdo that just enjoys watching cartoons SO damn much. It's the illusion of life that's created and the sheer beauty of what's being animated. To me, seeing something beautiful is the best thing in the world. I'd say the best 'feeling' but it doesn't really create a physical sensation like drugs or what have you. It's maybe sort of how we all enjoy watching anime or playing games but there's no narrative to just watching bits of animation.
I can sort of liken it to how I often listen to music: Most people listen to a song front to back. I do the same for some songs but what I find most beautiful in music is the sound of scales or 'scalar' passages played quickly. I'll often listen to guitar or synth solos again and again and skip to a different songs solo/lead passages without listening to the rest of the song. The solo in MJ's Beat It, the intro to Sister's Noise, any guitar solo by Chris Impellitteri, the winding synth melody in Right Round by Flo Rida are but a few examples of what I consider the most beautiful music. It *does* get tiring after a while, I get sick of hearing scales thrown at my ears for hours and hours. Still, at the end of the day I'd rather listen to that then all the other music in the world.
I'm not trying to argue any point, just sharing my world view that I've kind of refined throughout my life. Tell me what you think if you bother to read it at all.
