Today we look at the star of Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha. "Oh!" You're probably thinking, "Takamachi Nanoha! I was wondering when you were gonna do a girl with the voice of Yukari Tamura!" (I know one of my readers is thinking this. I know it.)
Uh, no. I've seen the 1st Nanoha movie. I also tried to watch the tv version before dropping it. I can tell you right now, while Nanoha might be the main protagonist, she's not the real star of the franchise. No, that title actually goes to (depending on who you ask) her rival/friend/lover Fate Testarossa, the best character in the series.
![]()
Much has been said about her, both good and bad, and much has been said about her feminine charms. How that that hold up? Let's find out.
Hair: Fate has long blonde hair. She usually ties it into pigtails with either large black ribbons, or large white ribbons. I've seen a few official shots of her with her hair down; it goes down to her hips.
There is one shade of blonde I like; the shade that Arcueid from Tsukihime and Beatrice from Umineko have. Sadly, Fate only has the conventional (by cartoon standards) yellow blonde, which I never cared for. I like the length of her hair, but she doesn't have pigtails that I like. Even when completely free, I can't call her hair exceptional, but at its best, it's not bad-looking. 7/10.
Eyes: She has really large red eyes. Even Nanoha thinks her eyes are beautiful.
Now, I don't normally dislike large anime eyes. After all, I absolutely motherfucking LOVEthe eye designs in the 2006 version of Kanon. So if Isay Fate's eyes are a little too large, that's a problem. Maybe it's just certain angles, but her eyes are slightly overly large, which is too bad, because I definitely like the coloring of her irises. Also, her eyes convey affection when she's not narrowing them at an opponent. Okay, maybe Nanoha was onto something; in spite of the odd proportions, Fate's eyes are somewhat pretty. 8/10.
Face: Fate is another girl with a baby-like face in anime-dom. In fact, her cheeks are rather large for someone without a ton of body fat.
Lucky for her, because her face is cute! However, her abnormally large eyes does detract her too, but not too much. The Lyrical Nanoha crew know how to draw feminine faces! 9/10.
Physique: Fate starts off as a child. She matures into an adult. I like her adult appearance more, so let's judge that. As an adult, she is . . . I can't find measurements anywhere. I don't know if she's short or tall. What I do know is that she is voluptuous. What does this entail?
Her body is beautiful. She's the kind of woman with rounded curves that are just right for her physique. Her breasts are large, but not too much. Her torso is narrow, but not unusually so by anime standards. And her legs? Beautiful. The best kind of legs; skinny ankles, less skinny calves, and generous thighs. Thighs that connect to a somewhat large butt that many fans consider a miracle of the universe. Hey, I think it's a miracle that her ass isn't flat! XD All in all, the Nanoha art team knows how to do a voluptuous build properly, because Fate's form is gorgeous! 10/10
Fashion: Fate is seen in a variety of costumes. The most notable of which is her "Barrier Jacket." This changes depending on what part of the franchise you're experiencing. As a child, her barrier jacket is a black sleeveless suit and bike shorts combination in one, with a red belt, black fingerless gloves with silver gauntlets, and silver boots. Her "casual" clothes resemble typical little girl clothes . . . that always show off her legs.
As an adult, her Barrier Jacket is a blue button-up jacket and longskirt combo, with a white cape(!). Her gloves are entirely silver gauntlets, and her boots are still the same. Beneath the longskirt is a black miniskirt with black thigh-highs. I've seen an ability where her jacket comes off and she instead wears a black leotard. (Did I mention this is a "seinen" franchise?) As for any casual clothes as an adult? Usually military uniforms.
Fate's clothes are not bad, but they're not too special either. Her casual clothes are basically just normal clothes for her occupation, be it schoolgirl or magic army leader. Her barrier jackets are alright, but nothing too fancy, to be honest. I guess she doesn't have horrible taste in clothes? 6/10.
Voice: In Japanese, Fate is played by Nana Mizuki. In English, she's played by Jennifer Alyx. I have only seen Nanoha in Japanese, and I have no idea who Jennifer Alyx is, so let's concentrate on Nana Mizuki's performance.
Even as a child, Fate's voice wasn't insanely high-pitched. She had a medium pitch with a serious tone as a child. As an adult, well, I've heard her speak in Magical Battle Arena, a doujin game, so if this is inaccurate, please correct me, but there, she has a slightly deeper voice, still serious, but now also has what would be called a commanding tone.
Mizuki does a great job playing Fate, but I wouldn't call her Fate voice beautiful. Sure, I like that she doesn't have a pixie voice, but it's nothing too special either. Nonetheless, just the fact that she doesn't sound like, say, most of the girls in Clannad is something unique. 7/10.
Personality: Fate is another example of a kuudere. Given her background, it makes perfect sense for her to be like this. Her most trusted friend prior to meeting Nanoha is her familiar, Arf.
To be honest, I have not seen past the first movie of Nanoha, so I don't know what Fate is like beyond that, but I can say this; she seems dark and edgy at first for a reason. I can't call her a particularly deep character, and I would be foolish to insinuate that she can compete with my favorites, but she is the best in Lyrical Nanoha. I won't print any spoilers, so just go by the number. 14/20.
Miscellaneous: You can play as Fate in Magical Battle Arena! Both as a kid, and as an adult! And guess what? In terms of tiers, she surpasses Nanoha, as well as Sakura Kinomoto! Sadly, she cannot compete with Vita, at least not without handicaps, but I did my first run with her child form! 6/10.
And now for the tally!
Hair: 7
Eyes: 8
Face: 9
Physique: 10
Fashion: 6
Voice: 7
Personality: 14
Miscellaneous: 6
Overall: 67/90. 74.4% C
Being the best character in a series not renowned for strong charcaterization helps! Also nice legs, but Fate isn't among the upper echelons of anime girl charm.
We still have not seen anyone I would give a perfect score to in the Miscellaneous category of charm. Well, I can only think of two places where a girl could: Touhou, and Umineko. Where shall I go next?
