A few things.
First of all, while I miss Maniac mode, evidently our Hard mode is harder than the Japanese one. I'm not positive though until I play it. But Maniac was insanely hard. I loved it, but I don't think most people over here would even finish a mission, let alone the whole game as it. I'd have preferred as a "super secret unlockable", but you can't have everything! I'm just so happy that Fire Emblem is finally out in English and is getting the attention it deserves!
One of the more gnawing questions that I have wanted to ask (and thankfully got answered!) was about the names. It is very jarring to go from Tiamat to Titiana, or Noel to Knoll. While I may not 100% agree with that decision, their reasoning is sound. That and the fact that they have such close contact with Intelligent Systems is always a great thing in my books.