Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS is a sequel of Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha A's, and if you've watched the previous one you should have some expectations on this one that for sure doesn't let the fans down. Just don't expect too much, since the standards when this season aired had plenty of shows with epic animations and really good stories, it still doesn't make StrikerS look bad - just expect a good sequel from the previous season, and it's fine.
Good fights & action scenes, good character development, good plot with that good drama like from the other seasons, and tons of new characters.
The main problem of StrikerS is that it takes some time for the actual plot to show up, since there's alot of new characters you can expect some episodes showing them/their development and not only the previous main characters'.
When the story gets to develop the actual plot is where the anime began to shine, keeping up the standards of it's previous seasons.
1. ANIMATION
The animation in StrikerS isn't that great, just like the previous seasons as well it's fairly good - not bad, not great, except that since now it's a 26 episode show you can expect some quality loss, which happens sometimes.
But don't worry, the animation is clean and smooth, doesn't reuse frames all the times (I can't really remember a time where they reused it and looked bad), the action scenes are really good and the quality overall of the show doesn't do bad when it comes to it - when you expect something to be good, it won't disappoint.
2. SOUND
The sound somewhat passes unoticed, which can be a good thing in shows, you don't really pay attention to the sound itself but the scenes, and when you notice you've been aleady involved in the character's emotional state. This is a GREAT thing, the sound is something really awesome in the series, matching the action/drama scenes perfectly without taking the attention of the scene itself.
The OP and ED are sung by Mizuki Nana and Yukari Tamura, if you liked the other season's openings you'll probably like these as well, and the EDs are as good as ever.
3. STORY
This is a good point of the anime, Nanoha's stories are really good at the action/drama, and although it has the background of the previous seasons expect some changes. It's still the Magical Girl show, but with some more serious tone.
The plot is fairly good as well, after creating it's solid settings of the "new" mood, showing the characters and their pasts and finally getting to the actual plot, it's a great action/drama.
The only bad thing is that they take just too long to get it up, there'll be some episodes that the series could've been without and would be better/the same, ones that with a quick explanation would fit the spectator's in their world already, but they're still there.
If there's a good point of it, is that having all these episodes that seems to be of no help to the plot can actually help the spectator's sympathy with the characters, getting a really good impact on the drama scenes.
4. CHARACTER
Characters is Nanoha are the same as the previous seasons, with alot of new ones which sometimes can make you feel they're the actual protagonists, given the attention they get in the show. It's not a bad thing, but if you're a fan of Nanoha/Fate only, you might be a bit disappointed not seeing the full season of them.
Although the characters are all there, you might notice some just won't get enough attention they deserve, specially after the past seasons. But they're there at least, so it's not all bad.
And finally the character development is good in the series, although that aside from the main characters there's nothing, they're really good. From the first episodes you can get attached to the characters and their motivations, and even if you're not actually a fan of them you might end up liking them alot better than you'd think in the beginning of the series.
5. VALUE & ENJOYMENT
Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS overall is a good to great anime, if you liked the past seasons you'll surely like this one as well, you might feel uneasy for some changes but in the end you'll remember why you like the series, the actions, the drama, the characters, they're all there.
It's really up to how much you expect of the series when you begin watching, just like movies after each season/movie the sequel MUST be at least as good or better, is what they say, and if you don't like some of the new things in StrikerS it might be disappointing to you, but if you can watch it to the end I'm sure you'll enjoy it as much as you have the other series.
