Martian Successor Nadesico

Postby **Gypsy** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 6:09 am

Released By: ADV films

Distributor's Rating: 12+

Genre:Sci-fi, light mech, drama, comedy

Plot:

In the year 2197 (or something like that) Earth has made colonies on other planets, such as Mars and the moon. The Earth's main defense force, Nergal, and the Jovians, alien invaders, are constantly battling over the scattered Earth colonies. Nergal's newest defense ship, the Nadesico, has selected a crew of civilians to run it. The story revolves around Akito, a paranoid pilot who would rather be frying noodles and watching anime than fighting, and Yurika, a complete ditz who happens to be the captain and commander of the Nadesico. Between Yurika's blonde moments, Akito's whining, and the various antics of the rest of the misfit crew, it's a wonder the Nadesico can even travel in a straight line, let alone defend the earth.

Language:
There was a good amount of minor swearing. No one dropped the f-bomb or used explicit terminology.

Nudity/Sex:
There was no nudity at all. On several occasions, it's either implied or said out loud that certain characters have/are planning to have an intimate relationship without the prelude of a marriage. Some of the characters make lewd suggestions to one another. There are a couple breast size comments and comparisons. There's the typical "trip, fall, and land in a precarious position on a member of the opposite sex" that's frequent in anime. There's also the expected swimsuit contest. (I have come to the conclusion that 99% of all anime either has the swimsuit contest, or the hot springs episode.) While there is no nudity, there are exaggerated and flaunted features on most of the female members of the crew. (I know it's shocking for an anime to have anything but anatomically correct ladies ...) Like I mentioned before, there are several parts where certain phrases have obvious double meanings. That brings me to the subbed vs. dubbed issue, but I cover that later on (It's really just a ruse to get you to read my whole review.)

Violence:
Although this is anime is based upon a war, there are no overly violent parts. There's blood, shooting, and mechs exploding one another, but never is it overdone. Although most of Nadesico is not serious, death is taken very, very seriously. Life is not considered cheap and expendable, and the characters mention this quite often. (See Additional Comments for more.)

Religious Content:
There is no direct religious stance taken. Sometimes the characters will shout, "God, why me?" but I got the feeling, they weren't really praying. There's a part where Yurika, as captain, has to direct funerals for soldiers that have died in battle, but she has to do it according to their respective religion. While it's funny to see her rushing around in various outfits such as a priest, monk, rabbi, and other various ceremonial garbs, there is no mockery of any specific religion.

Additional Comments:
As I said before, life and death are taken at face values in this anime. When characters die, it's a big deal, and actually leaves scars on the other characters. It's not "carry on as usual" at the next episode. Lessons about sacrifice, maturity, dealing with losing someone, and accepting responsibility are shown at many points. Like the Gundam series, there are no "good guys, bad guys" extremes, really. You can see exactly why both Earth and the alien race are fighting. Honor is shown in fights, and later on in the series, the issue of prejudice and how harmful it can really be shows up. Underneath all the funnies, some very real subjects show up.

Music:
It's a little tough to review music quality, since so much of it is based on preference, but it's something I'm going to start doing in my reviews. Some anime titles have amazing soundtracks, and I think that's important to not in a review. Sadly, Nadesico is not one of those animes. The opening and closing theme become catchy after a while, but they didn't strike me as genius. They did fit the series very well, though.

Subbed & Dubbed info:
This review was based on the dubbed version of Martian Successor Nadesico. However, towards the end of the series, I flipped the language over because I was curious as to what the original voice actors sounded like. 'Twas then I discovered that the English dub was drastically different from the sub. The changes aren't made in the story line or plot, but what I think happened is that the English voice actors "spiced" the script up a little with some perverted jokes and comments. Some of it was light and can just be considered to be off-colored. However, at least two comments made my eyes open wider than they normally do, and wonder "Did he/she just say what I think he/she said?!" Those comments were not in the subtitles. Talk about artistic license!

Manga versions:
Central Park Media released four Martian Successor Nadesico graphic novels. The ratings on them are 13+ I have never seen them for sale, and from that can be deduced that I've never read one either. I have not idea of content or how closely it follows the original anime that it was based upon.

Corresponding Movies:
There is a movie that takes place three years after the last episode of Nadesico. It's called with no surprise, "Nadesico - the Movie." ADV owns the rights to it, but no real release date is sight. I haven't seen this, and I've only read a few reviews for it. If you're interested in seeing Martian Successor Nadesico, I would recommend that you not dig up articles about this movie, because any review I've read contain major spoilers - and that's to be expected, since the movie is a sequel. Just thought I'd throw out that warning.

Reviewer's Comments:
This is one of my all time favorite animes. It's first of all hilarious and filled with tons of inside anime jokes (much of it's from older titles like Robotech and Gundam). But then it gets serious all of the sudden. Then it's back to funny. It will turn on a dime, sometimes several times during one episode. There are tons of characters, each with totally different personalities. The story line is pretty good on it's own, but it's definitely character driven. There are many unanswered questions at the end of the series, and I really, really wanted the episodes to just keep going and going. I was pleased to find out that the main character of the movie sequel is Ruri. Ruri ended up being one of my absolute favorite anime characters, and according to most fans, this sarcastic, monotone twelve year-old character stole the spotlight of Nadesico. An episode of Nadesico just wasn't over until she quietly announced that everyone on the ship were "idiots." But, enough about Ruri. Many ADV regulars add their voices to this series. Many of the cast was also in Princess Nine, and Chance Pop Session - both dubbed and released by ADV. Most moderate anime fan will recognize at least one voice in this series.

Official CAA Rating: 15+
This isn't what I'd consider a family film because of the random fanservice and peppering of inappropriate comments. Aside from that, it's a good one for most viewers. This is an excellent series, and deserves its growing consideration of being an anime classic.

Postby **Gypsy** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 6:13 am

I'm gonna put this in the place where I'm supposed to put official reviews now .... but I was just curious if anyone else has seen this series and what they thought of it. I guess they aired it on CN forever ago, but they not only chopped bad stuff out, they chopped up the plot too.

Postby **Technomancer** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 6:32 am

I've seen the whole series unedited (ugh, I hate bowlderizations), it's awesome. The OAV too (I'm hoping to see the movie sometime). It's not some terribly cliched war/mecha anime, although there is an 80s spoof that's important to the plot. Well okay, there are some of the usual anime cliches, but the characters are all interesting enough to make you want to keep watching. Also, if you liked this series you might also want to watch "The Irresponsible Captain Tylor"

Postby **Gypsy** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 6:40 am

Hey, that's on my list of stuff to "hunt for on ebay." It sounded pretty funny.

Postby **Rev. Doc** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 8:41 am

This is a title I also enjoyed. Thus far I have only watched the dubb version (I made the mistake of watching it pretty close to finishing EVA. I was already tired of hearing Shinji whine and was horrified to find out that the VA who voices Shinji voices Akito too). The series is actually meant to be a parody of several mecha/space series including Robotech (right down to the swimsuit competition Gypsy mentioned). CN only showed 2 or 3 episodes during their Giant Robo week a few months back, and those epsiodes were taken from the middle of the series. I also give this one a

if you are looking for a good anime to invest in and the entire series can be bought in a box set for about $60.00 now.

Postby **Spiritsword** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 10:03 am

Yes, I agree that Nadesico is a good series (so is Captain Tylor!). I personally am not really into 80's anime or straight mecha titles (where mecha is the main and/or only focus), so I don't think I enjoyed all the references in Nadesico as much as a fan of that genre would. But it was still a pretty funny anime and at least worth renting.

Postby **Fry-cook-boy** » Fri Aug 08, 2003 10:39 am

I love this show! It is acctually the series that got me hooked on anime. It's great because it was hilarious the first time, and then I went back to watch it again and it was even better because I had watched more anime, and I could notice some of the inside jokes going on constantly. I would definately recomend it and would rate it somewhere between PG and PG-13.

Postby **Bobtheduck** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 11:55 am

Fry-cook-boy wrote:I love this show! It is acctually the series that got me hooked on anime. It's great because it was hilarious the first time, and then I went back to watch it again and it was even better because I had watched more anime, and I could notice some of the inside jokes going on constantly. I would definately recomend it and would rate it somewhere between PG and PG-13.

Yeah, Nadesico is great... The only problem is the ending... It is just too open and doesn't give any conclusion... Thankfully there is the movie. The movie, called "Prince of Darkness" is a very good movie and has incredible animation, but there is one brief (like 1 second) nude scene in it (it's adult ruri and you dont' really see anything...) The movie would be a shock to casual fans of the show because it's much more serious than the show and you find out that things really didn't go well in the 3 years between the end of the show and the movie. In fact, us in the US won't ever see what happened because the 3 year gap was covered in a Dreamcast game that was never released. In any case, it's really sad to see what happened, but at least it gives more of an ending (though still leaving it wide open for a sequal...)

Nadesico remains one of my perennial faves because it was the first anime I bought that I dind't throw away (final fantasy, Legend of the Crystals being the very first... Ugh...)

Postby **Gypsy** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 2:06 pm

I know, the ending was rather a let-down. I've never seen it, but what's wrong with FF Legend of the Crystals?

Postby **Bobtheduck** » Tue Aug 26, 2003 4:53 pm

Gypsy wrote:I know, the ending was rather a let-down. I've never seen it, but what's wrong with FF Legend of the Crystals?

Have you seen Final Fantasy: The spirits within, or Final Fantasy Unlimited? It has the same problem that all of the forays into nongaming have Led Final Fantasy... Boring, no plot... Crystals was much worse than Spirits... It was loaded with fanservice and had no class of the games... It was the only one of the three that was based on an existing FF game: FF5. It was bad animation and reduced FF5 into simple slapstick (not that it didn't have a lot of that allready, but they removed the good stuff)

Plus, Urban Vision makes bad dubs. Actually, I didn't throw it away, I gave it away to a friend, who proceeded to lend it to another friend who stole it...

Nadesico has been compared with Captain Tyler, and I hated the ending to that too... It all adds up...

Postby **Fry-cook-boy** » Sun Sep 14, 2003 10:30 pm

I acctually emailed them just about 3 weeks ago, but that's awesome that they have a release date now. I'll be the first (and probably only) person in line to buy that when it comes out. Btw, where did you get your info? Is it on ADV's website now?

Postby **BrianC** » Sun Sep 14, 2003 11:15 pm

I got the info from Animeondvd, a website.

Postby **Bobtheduck** » Tue Sep 16, 2003 10:09 pm

Hmm... Prince of Darkness gets a bit more serious...

But, Nadesico is much like the matrix... you won't get all of the story from the show/movie... You have to had played the Game too, [spoiler="bla bla bla"]which fills in a 3 year Gap where Ruri becomes a captain and fights someone, bla bla bla... I dont really know about it because it was a JP release on DC only... I can import it, but I dont really read Japanese yet...[/spoiler]

So yeah... The game leads up to the beginning of the movie... So, we're missing a big chunk of the story...

Postby **Bobtheduck** » Thu Sep 25, 2003 1:06 pm

Vader4Ever04 wrote:[spoiler="nadesico game"]The game of nadesico goes into the marriage of Akito and Yurika. It also shows Ruri getting the Nadesico B.[/spoiler] I believe. I saw the opening to the game. I've never played it. So... I may be right , may be wrong.

Though it ain't much of a spoiler, could you use spoiler tags there like I am doing to your quote?

Postby **DAlpha** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 10:11 pm

I love Nadesico! I think its a definate must see for any new anime goer!

Postby **aznmagic2015** » Fri Oct 24, 2003 11:51 pm

GekiGaaaaann Panchuuuuuuu!!!!!
Gotta love that Gekiganger. Anyone like that wierd ep that was from the Gekiganger people's point of view?

Postby **Bobtheduck** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 1:41 pm

Yes... This is the standard anime "Recap" episode, I'd say 90% of the anime I've watched have had this... Even shorter anime like Lain has had them (Lain's was Layer 11, but unlike most this recap actually did offer some new information, and the stuff it gave you was helpfull in decoding it all)

That episode was great... The Gekigangar crew was watching Nadesico on TV... That's too funny... That's like Garfield and Inspector Gadget, sorta...

But... I wish the game had gotten a stateside release and translation... It is supposed to fill in the blanks between the last episode and the movie (and BOY are there some big blanks)

Postby **BrianC** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 5:21 pm

Bobtheduck wrote:Yes... This is the standard anime "Recap" episode, I'd say 90% of the anime I've watched have had this... Even shorter anime like Lain has had them (Lain's was Layer 11, but unlike most this recap actually did offer some new information, and the stuff it gave you was helpfull in decoding it all)

That episode was great... The Gekigangar crew was watching Nadesico on TV... That's too funny... That's like Garfield and Inspector Gadget, sorta...

But... I wish the game had gotten a stateside release and translation... It is supposed to fill in the blanks between the last episode and the movie (and BOY are there some big blanks)

I think you mean Heathcliff and Inspector Gadget, not Garfield. Heathcliff does look kind of similar to Garfield, though.

I would like to see that Gekiganger stuff in Nadesico. Animated shows within animated shows is cool. I used to love Yellow Hornet when I watched Fat Albert.

Postby **Rev. Doc** » Sat Oct 25, 2003 7:55 pm

BrianC wrote:I used to love Yellow Hornet when I watched Fat Albert.

Actually, it was the Brown Hornet. When I was growing up in Southern California back in the 60s, Bill Cosby use to do a radio show that was hosted by Coca-Cola. Each segment was patterned after the old radio shows of the 30s and 40s and lasted about 5 minutes. One of shows he would do was "The Brown Hornet." His side kick's name was Leroy. It was so funny. Of course the Brown Hornet became a fixture of the Fat Albert gang many years later.

Postby **Bobtheduck** » Sun Oct 26, 2003 2:06 am

BrianC wrote:I think you mean Heathcliff and Inspector Gadget, not Garfield. Heathcliff does look kind of similar to Garfield, though.

I would like to see that Gekiganger stuff in Nadesico. Animated shows within animated shows is cool. I used to love Yellow Hornet when I watched Fat Albert.

Yeah, heathcliff, sorry.. brain fart...

Gekigangar is so stinking funny... I mean, it's not joke filled like nadesico, it's made to look really serious, but that's what's so funny...

If you haven't seen nadesico, you need to check it out... Too much good stuff.

Postby **Bobtheduck** » Sat Nov 22, 2003 7:15 pm

I have been watching the subtitles for the first time (always watched the dub before, except for a couple eps) and noticed one line in the dub that was really a head turner didn't even get hinted at in the original

In the sub, this guy asked Megumi "Were you a voice actress?" Someone walks by, and he repeats himself more quietly... In the dub, the first time he says it is intact, except he says "I thought I heard your voice before... [spoiler=age warning]Were you in "Tentacle Love Goddess"[/spoiler]

While megumi is a bit seductive, it really changes her personality to suggest she starred in a hentai, as (I think, anyhow) she only did children's anime. While the dub is usually funnier, you need to see it subtitled and read the production notes to get the real picture of what was going on. The production notes can be found on google... Look for "Nadesico Translation Notes" it's a bilingual website, with both English and Japanese...

Postby **Azier the Swordsman** » Sat Nov 22, 2003 8:46 pm

ADV's dubs seem to do this quite a bit. Generator Gawl had lines in the dub to hint that Koji and Ryo were gay, while the sub never hinted at that.

Postby **Tet-chan** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 6:41 am

Anyone here seen the Nadesico movie?

Postby **Bobtheduck** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 2:33 pm

I have! It's great, but it does leave some mysteries that only the Dreamcast game would have answered. I mean, there's a lot of events between the show and the movie... 3 years worth...

It's noteworthy to say the movie is a bit sad. Also, I would say it's not worth watching if you haven't AT LEAST seen all of Nadesico TV. There is just too much you're not gonna understand...

Postby **That Dude** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 3:07 pm

I own the movie...But alas I have not seen it yet becuase my big brother took it to his apartment before I could read it. Zach if you read this I want it back!!!!!!!

Postby **That Dude** » Tue Nov 25, 2003 3:08 pm

Whoops I wrote read instead of watch..Sorry

Postby **Tet-chan** » Wed Nov 26, 2003 4:07 am

Bobtheduck wrote:I have! It's great, but it does leave some mysteries that only the Dreamcast game would have answered. I mean, there's a lot of events between the show and the movie... 3 years worth...

It's noteworthy to say the movie is a bit sad. Also, I would say it's not worth watching if you haven't AT LEAST seen all of Nadesico TV. There is just too much you're not gonna understand...

I've seen the series and i like it really much.I wanted to buy the movie but its not out yet in NZ

Postby **awsam007** » Sun Dec 28, 2003 2:27 pm

I just finished watching this series after reading that it won some award in Japan for anime of the year. I'm glad I took the time to check it out. Nadesico is funny, heartwarming and a great satire of classic mecha anime. I couldn't stop humming the Gekiganger theme song! This is the first completed comedy series I've seen and I can see why it's so popular. I agree with someone else who said Ruri stole the show. The episode where we learn about her past brought the series to another level. This isn't just some stupid robot anime, the writing is actually thoughtful. The only thing I didn't like was that it did seem to have some "dead" episodes where nothing important happens, but then again most anime does. Just think it could've been a little shorter.

Postby **mechana2015** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 2:02 am

I just watched the whole series and the movie... woaah @.@...
I really really liked the TV series... I't was well paced and humerous with fun all around, and though the ending was a little ...ahem... brief, it seemed to hold the series together and add some closure to the series, in the style of Ghost in the Shell and other animes like that.

The movie....ummmm..... It feels like they tried to stuff another full seasons worth of plot into 1.5 hours. Very confusing and disjointed, with major plot holes, and badly developed new charachters, and really crummy use of the old ones. Oh and it's not as clean as the series, e.g. nudity. Not recommended to fans of the series, or any one who hasn't played the game in between.

Postby **Gypsy** » Tue Jan 27, 2004 7:23 am

Aww! The movie is no good? That stinks ... and I was looking forward to watching it.

Martian Successor Nadesico

Martian Successor Nadesico

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