Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha

is a thirteen-episode anime that aired between October 1, 2004 and December 24, 2004, and is the first series in the main Nanoha continuity.

The series is a spin-off of the Triangle Heart series of games and OVAs. Nanoha, the magical girl and younger sister of Kyōya and Miyuki, takes precedence here while her sword-wielding siblings are reduced to minor characters. The late Shirō Fuwa was always named Takamachi and survived his originally fatal injury, new characters such as Fate Testarossa are added, and others, such as Fiasse Crystela, are removed.

A retelling of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha has been announced for Winter 2009 entitled Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha The MOVIE 1st. It has been stressed that the movie will not necessarily overwrite the series as canon, but will tell a new parallel history.

Story
The storyline follows Nanoha Takamachi, a nine-year-old Japanese girl attending, who lives with her parents and her older siblings. Nanoha's regular everyday life ends when she rescues an injured who reveals himself as a young shapeshifting  named Yūno Scrya. An archaeologist from a parallel universe, Yūno came to Earth to collect a set of twenty-one dangerous ancient named the "Jewel Seeds" (ジュエルシード) that he first discovered in his own world. Jewel Seeds give living beings who come into contact with them unnatural powers, often turning them into monsters, and Yūno, injured while trying to collect them, must now rely on Nanoha while he convalesces in ferret form. He gives Nanoha an "intelligent device" (magical wand) called "Raising Heart" (レイジングハート), and she unexpectedly shows strong aptitude for magic. As the two gather the Jewel Seeds, Nanoha learns magic from Yūno while continuing with her ordinary everyday life.

In retrieving her sixth Jewel Seed, Nanoha encounters another mage named Fate Testarossa and her familiar named Arf. More than a year before the story began, Fate's mother, Precia Testarossa, went insane when her daughter Alicia died, initiating "Project Fate", an illegal research program of cloning and resurrection, making her a fugitive from the interdimensional police known as Time-Space Administration Bureau (TSAB). Precia cloned Alicia to create Fate and implanted her with Alicia's memories; nevertheless, she cannot care for Fate as she did for Alicia and abuses her regularly. Despite this, Fate is extremely loyal to her due to Alicia's happy childhood memories, which she takes as her own. In the series, Precia uses Fate to collect Jewel Seeds and reach Al Hazard, a mythical world where Alicia could be truly brought back to life.

Nanoha and Fate repeatedly face off against each other over each new Jewel Seed they find, and the TSAB soon interferes to prevent the collateral damage caused by their battles. Nanoha eventually manages to overpower Fate and brings her to the TSAB, prompting Precia to abandon her and attempt a dimensional jump to Al Hazard with the power of the few Jewel Seeds that Fate managed to gather thus far. Gathering her resolve, Fate decides to aid the TSAB and Nanoha in their fight to stop Precia. Although they manage to minimize the destructive side effects of using the Jewel Seeds, they fail to prevent Precia from finishing the spell, and her final whereabouts are unknown. Fate and Nanoha decide to become friends, but Fate must first travel to TSAB homeworld to prove she was an unwilling in Precia's crimes.

The story is set in the first half of 0065, according to the Mid-Childan calendar.

Episodes
Main article: List of Nanoha Episodes

Music

 * Opening: "Innocent Starter" by
 * Ending: "Little Wish (Lyrical Step)" by
 * Insert: "Take a Shot" by Nana Mizuki (played on Fate's appearance in the Garden of Time to help Nanoha)

Sound Stages
Main article: List of Nanoha Sound Stages

DVD Booklets
List of contents coming soon...

Visual Fan Book
Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha/A's Visual Fan Book. Description coming soon...

Devices

 * Bardiche
 * Raising Heart
 * S2U

Settings

 * Arthra
 * Earth
 * Garden of Time
 * Midori-ya
 * Seishou Elementary School
 * Uminari City