Martian Successor Nadesico
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| Martian Successor Nadesico | |
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| 機動戦艦ナデシコ (Kidō Senkan Nadeshiko) |
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| Genre | Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Mecha, Science Fiction |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Tatsuo Sato |
| Studio | XEBEC |
| Network |  TV Tokyo Sci-fi channel |
| Original run | 1 October 1996 – 24 March 1997 |
| No. of episodes | 26 TV Episodes, 1 Movie |
Martian Successor Nadesico or Mobile Battleship Nadesico (機動戦艦ナデシコ Kidō Senkan Nadeshiko?) is a science fiction comedy anime TV series, and a subsequent manga series by Kia Asamiya. The series takes place in the year 2196. The manga, published in English by CPM Manga, is significantly different from the anime.
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[edit] Plot overview
When Earth's colonies on Mars are suddenly attacked by alien invaders referred to as the Jovian Lizards, civilian contractor Nergal decides to come to the Earth's aid by constructing powerful space battleships, the first of which is known as the ND-001 Nadesico. A crew is selected from among the top civilian experts in each field, however, these individuals tend to have "some slight personality disorders".
The main character, Akito Tenkawa, is a boy with a mysterious past; once a resident of Mars' Utopia colony, Tenkawa somehow escaped its destruction by the Jovian Lizards and arrived on Earth, with no memory of how he got there but a terrible fear of the invaders. He hates fighting and only wants to be a cook, however, he is constantly called on to act as a pilot of one of the Nadesico's Aestevalis - humanoid combat robots. While on board the Nadesico, Akito has more problems to deal with than just the Jovians; pretty much all the female members of the crew, especially the vessel's captain Yurika, seem to be head over heels in love with Akito, but all he wants to do is cook and watch his favorite anime, Gekigangar III (a anime within an anime).
[edit] Review
The series features an energetic juxtaposition of comedy and drama, as the characters engage in lighthearted antics in between facing the drama of war. Many of the characters are themselves anime fans, and there is often comparison between the campy, sanitized war of the anime within an anime Geikigangar III and the much harsher reality that the crew of the Nadesico faces. The show intentionally includes a number of science fiction anime clichés, including time travel and alien invaders, but turns these concepts on their heads by the end of the series through a number of plot twists.
There are many anime references, particularly to the series Space Battleship Yamato (The name Nadesico is a play on the phrase "Yamato Nadesico," which represents the traditional Japanese ideal of femininity). One of the characters is a magical girl seiyuu before joining the crew (and in fact is a parody of a specific seiyuu, Megumi Hayashibara), another is a fangirl who likes to draw her own lemon shounen-ai manga doujinshi, while a third is an otaku who bases his entire life on Gekigangar III. In an episode late in the series, the ship holds an anime convention complete with a viewing marathon of Gekigangar, people engaged in cosplay, and tie-in merchandising. Another episode makes a parody of the Macross anime, as the crew celebrates a Miss Nadesico contest to decide a new captain and public figurehead, where all the female crew members participate. The contest includes a swimsuit competition, and singing.
The Gekigangar anime show is in fact an homage (and parody) of many Super Robot mecha anime of the 70s and 80s, most particularly Go Nagai's Getter Robo.
The TV series ran for 26 episodes. A Gekigangar III compilation OVA was also released, as well as a sequel movie called Martian Successor Nadesico: The Prince of Darkness that takes place several years after the main series.
Four games based on the series were released in Japan. As of 2006, none of them have been released in the US. The first game, released for the Sega Saturn in 1997, is entitled "Mobile Battleship Nadesico." It is a dating sim game with a few mecha elements included. A second game, also for the Sega Saturn, was released in the following year under the title Martian Successor Nadesico: The Blank of Three Years. It is an interactive story of the events which occurred in between the television series and the movie. Released on the Dreamcast in 1999, Martian Successor Nadesico: The Mission, continues the story from Martian Successor Nadesico: The Prince of Darkness. Finally, a mahjong variant game was released for the Game Boy Color entitled "Mobile Battleship Nadesico: Ruriruri Mahjong."
Nadesico also appears in games in the Super Robot Wars series, where the setting is combined with other mecha series' such as Gundam SEED, Mazinger, Full Metal Panic! and Tekkaman Blade.
[edit] Nadesico 2
Anime News Network reported that plans for "Nadesico 2" were scrapped: [1]
| “ | Stellvia Director Tatsuo Sato has stated on his website that plans for the Stelvia (sic) sequel, as well as any possibility of a sequel to Nadesico, are now impossible. He does not explain further. | ” |
Below is a rough translation of Tatsuo Sato's blog entry dated August 10, 2005: [2]
| “ | I've received a lot of mail and phone calls from people in the industry expressing their hopes that the decision "isn't permanent". It was probably an extreme decision but please understand my position.
A sequel to "Uchuu no Stellvia" has become impossible. Plans for "Uchuu no Stellvia 2" are also suspended and that goes for "Kido Senkan Nadesico" as well. I thank those who expressed their concerns. I don’t know what’s in store for the future. I will make a revised and more exact announcement. That’s it then. |
” |
[edit] Characters
[edit] Episode listing
- To Go Like A Man
- Leave the Blue Earth To Me
- A Goodbye That Came Too Soon!
- Charmed by Aqua Space
- Ruri's Navigation Logs
- Sort Of Like A Fateful Decision
- The Song That You Will Sing One Day
- The Lukewarm "Cold Equation"
- The Miracle Operation Of "The Kiss"?
- The Dangers Of "Femininity"
- Finding Yourself In A "Routine Plot"?
- Those Unforgettable Days
- There Is No Single Truth
- Let's Go With Hot-Blooded Anime (clip show)
- The Significant Other From A Star Far Away
- The Beginning Of Nadesico's War
- A Reunion That Came Too Late
- Echoes Of Self, Echoes Of Water
- You're The Next Captain Of The Nadesico!
- Run Silent, Run Deep
- The Meadows We Once Ran Across
- Protect The Visitor?
- A Place We Call Home
- Ubiquitous Righteousness
- Being Myself, Being Yourself
- For The Lady We Will Meet Someday
[edit] Theme songs
- Opening
- "You Get to Burning" by Yumi Matsuzawa
- Endings
- "Watashi Rashiku [Being Myself]" by Houko Kuwashima
- "Itsuka... Shinjite" by Matsumura Kazumi (Episode 26)
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- ADV Films - English release only.
- IMDb's MSN page
- Martian Successor Nadesico at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Martian Successor Nadesico (manga) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Karuikane Nadesico Encyclopedia
- Nadesico Thumbnail Theatre (warning: spoilers)
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| Characters | |||||
| Akito Tenkawa | Yurika Misumaru | Ruri Hoshino | Gai Daigoji | Megumi Reinard | Jun Aoi | Inez Fressange | Izumi Maki | Ryoko Subaru | Hikaru Amano | Nagare Akatsuki | |||||
| Other | |||||
| Chulip | Gekigangar III | Naze Nani Nadesico | ND-001 Nadesico | Nergal | | The Prince of Darkness | |||||
