Martian Successor Nadesico Highly recommended

Publisher
ADV
Director
Tatsuo Sato
Production
TV Tokyo, XEBEC, Yomiuri Advertising
Country of origin
Japan
Format
Series
Running time
26 episodes
Year
1996

Martian Successor Nadesico Volume 2: Mission to Mars

By John Huxley
20th May 04

Episode Summary

WARNING: may contain spoilers

Episode 5: Ruri's Navigation Logs

The Nadesico's gravitation field acts as a protective barrier around the ship, deflecting enemy attacks and keeping the crew unharmed and very, incredibly bored. While Akito whiles away the hours watching Gekiganger III, Yurika and Jun are busy organising and performing funeral ceremonies for all manner of religions, beliefs and creed. Rushed off her feet and worried about her dear Akito, she begins to ponder her role as captain.

Episode 6: Sort of Like a Fateful Decision

Having arrived on Mars safe and sound, Akito and Megumi visit his home colony. Instead they stumble upon a secret underground community of the Mars survivors where they meet Dr. Inez Fressange, designer of the Nadesico. Yurika is surprised to learn that both miss Fressange and the rest of the survivors want nothing to do with the Nadesico, fearing that they cannot defeat the Jovian Lizards despite their advanced weaponry. When the Jovians attack again, Yurika is forced to make a decision - activate the gravitation field, protecting the crew yet crushing the Matrians below or let the Jovians attack in hopes that the colony will survive, destroying the Nadesico and her crew in the process.

Episode 7: The Song That You Will Sing One Day

Akito learns that Admiral Fukube was the captain of the ship that accidentally destroyed the Utopia Colony all those years ago. Unable to control his rage, he assaults the Admiral, a fruitless exercise which only leads to his own punishment. When the Nadesico spies a fellow Earth ship that has been missing for years the Admiral, miss Fressange and, upon the Admiral's request, Akito are sent to investigate. Another Jovian attack forces Akito and miss Fressange to retreat, leaving the Admiral aboard the doomed ship...

Episode 8: The Luke Warm Cold Equation

Eight months down the line, Nergal and the UEAF are no longer squabbling over ownership of the Nadesico and have agreed to work together for the greater good. Much to their distress Yurika and her crew find themselves puppets of the military, fighting their battles. During one such skirmish Akito finds himself in deep trouble, only to be rescued by Nagare Akatsuki, a self-sure newcomer. He brings with him a new Admiral and Erina Kinjo Won, two suspicious characters who don't exactly get a warm reception from the crew.

Volume Review

After the revelations at the end of the first volume, Nadesico slows the pace down a little...for about an episode.

Which, regardless of the excellent story, is not a bad thing. These kinds of episodes, ones which do not relate to the story proper and instead offer inconsequential titbits are often unfairly relegated as 'filler episodes'. While it's true that the first episode on this volume does not do much to progress the story, I found myself enjoying the more relaxed scenario of peacetime aboard the Nadesico. These less action-filled episodes also help to flesh out the characters by placing them in unusual or unexpected situations, or even dedicating a whole episode to one character. A funny episode that shows us more of the lively captain Yurika.

The next episode on the DVD is back to the plot. Having arrived on Mars, all seems to be going smoothly until the Jovians attack while the Nadesico is in a particularly vulnerable position. It boils down to a heart wrenching decision for Yurika to make; either protect the ship and crush the Mars survivors below or sacrifice the ship and protect the survivors. Either way, people will die once again. It's a fantastic scene that has plenty of impact and once again proves that Nadesico knows how to do great drama.

Still on Mars, we lose another character in the next episode. It's not anywhere near as shocking as the earlier death, but they do seem to be dropping like flies, don't they? Well, this is war, and nobody said it was going to be pretty.

Even so, Nadesico does a good job of keeping the laughs up. In the midst of all this death, slaughter and more death (don't worry, it's not violent in the slightest) we're dealt plenty of jokes, gags and puns. That may sound a little crass, yet everything is handled in a sensible, mature manner and the jokes rarely appear out of place.

The final episode on this DVD takes us eight months in to the future. Nothing much has changed, the Nadesico is back on Earth, the Jovians are still a threat, Yurika is still an airhead, Akito is still watching Gekiganger III and Ruri still think they're all idiots. Nergal do settle their differences with the UEAF, which leaves the Nadesico under their command and sees a few new characters joining the crew. They don't get enough screen time to make an impact, but they do appear highly suspicious...especially as one of them was seen sneaking around the ship during an earlier episode.

So, another good outing for the crew of the Nadesico. Not a poor episode in sight...which is nothing unusual for this series.

R2 DVD Notes

Features: English and Japanese audio, English Subtitles, Character bios, Trailer, Textless open & close

Notes: Pretty much the same as the first DVD without the translation notes. A wasted opportunity considering the caliber of the show. A word on the dub - this is one of the only anime series in which I prefer the dub to the sub. The Japanese audio is far from awful, I just found it more enjoyable in a language I can easily understand. The jokes come thick and fast, and with the subtitles I often found myself reading a joke after the event had happened. Timing and delivery are important for good comedy, and the English voice actors and actresses do a superb job of keeping things...well, funny.

-- John Huxley 20th May 04

Martian Successor Nadesico Images