Martian Successor Nadesico

Alt title: Kidou Senkan Nadesico

TV (26 eps)
1996 - 1997
3.699 out of 5 from 4,299 votes
Rank #3,181

When Akito Tenkawa went looking for answers about his parents' deaths, he had no idea that he'd be indoctrinated into the spaceship Nadesico not only as a cook, but also as a mecha pilot – a job he wants nothing to do with! Alongside his childhood friend Yurika, stoic Ruri, otaku Gai and other misfit crewmates, Akito and the Nadesico crew find themselves in the middle of a brutal war against both the dreaded Jovian Lizards, and the military itself, who wants the civilian ship under their control...

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Reviews

ThatAnimeSnob
6

ANIME MINOR JEWELS SERIES Full list of the review series can be found on this page, 3rd post from bottom: http://anidb.net/perl-bin/animedb.pl?uid=251338&show=userpage&do=blog&blogid=29009&page=0TEASER: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smQmzjrXNo8Animated by Studio Xebec, which is notorious for its badly made and boring shows. Nadesico happens to be amongst their best works and even that is not exactly a great show. Directed by Satou Tatsuo, who has made several uncommon and interesting shows, such as Shingu, Stellvia, Lagrange, and Miniskirt Pirates. They are also usually too slow and lack excitement, so you almost always end up being bored even before the second half begins. MSN is in a nutshell a tribute to otakuness. It is made to be at first a simple tale of good humans versus evil aliens but along the way it introduces more to it, to the point that you think you are watching 3 different shows at the same time. They don’t really feel that disjoined, so it’s a good mix too. Which shows would that be?1) The crew of a powerful Earth spaceship fending against alien invaders2) The romantic mishaps of a young pilot with his kindergarten love and various similar acquaintances 3) The tribute to retro mecha anime 4) ???5) Profit So you can always pick one of the three and stick to it for all you care and dump the rest. Each one has its own charm but to be honest, it’s only by combining all three you get a unique result that makes this anime not that average. It is hard to describe one without having to mention the other two, therefore it really does a good job at being more than meets the eye.Let’s start with the phenomenon that is Gekiganger. Gekiganger is a show within a show, a mecha series based on Getta Robo mostly, plus a few scenes from similar mecha shows of the 70’s. Many people in the series love it and still watch it for its simple yet direct and powerful message that inspired them to strive for something better. This is not a new thing in anime, there is also Kujibiki Unbalance in Genshiken as the most famous example of this trope. Yet unlike a cosmetic detail there, the show here is affecting the story in a most direct way. You take it out, you have no anime. I won’t spoil how but I will point out it is not there just for show. It is used all the time and just when you think it’s just an otaku obsession WHAM you realize that it’s the very driving force of everything. The anime in general keeps making references to plamo and voice acting, all part of showing how a fictional work can affect the real world. It is kind of a shock to see them being eventually used as war propaganda, against those villains, who are evil green lizards from Mars that want to destroy Earth and have sent a remote controlled army of ships and robots as the first wave … NOT! I don’t want to spoil it but, seriously, the revelation is what made this anime to stand out from the lot.It is still a tribute to mecha and even breaks the fourth wall at times. I mean, just look at the intro, it is pretty much made to tell you all the characters stare happily at the camera because they know they are in an anime… watching an anime. Wut!So how do the characters fair in this mess? Well, none of them feel special today but back then they were really uncommon. So yeah, everyone has huge stupid eyes, Yurika is the typical bimbo that as a kid promised to marry the typical shounen lead Akito, whose family was killed by evil lizards from Mars and has uncanny skills at fighting TM. So corny you can harvest your own crop out of it. But they still keep trying to excuse it all as part of incompetent leadership on part of the military, so everything is by default a joke. Everyone is stupid and thus the most inappropriate people end up in the wrong seats. And there is a war going on and most elites are already dead, so no time for rethinking. Great excuse for all the lunacy there. And the story is not completely retarded random jokes all the time as important characters do get killed and the military keeps trying to take possession of the lead ship for themselves. Also, Hoshino Ruri may appear to be an archetypical cooldere today but back then it was just her and Rei from Neon Genesis paving the way, so in a way she was a very unique character. She also has her own sad side story thrown in somewhere but unfortunately it doesn’t really get resolved. In fact, not everything is resolved in the end. After the big revelation I mentioned, the series ends in a rather open way and a movie was made later to wrap things later… And it was weird. Very weird. In an almost bad way as everyone turned emo or something like that. Anyways, in all the series uses archetypical characters and a very corny story and by the smart use of “story within a story” makes a lot more out of them. It doesn’t fully exploit all the setting had to offer, a big portion of the plot really is aimless comedy and the ending is open while the movie finale was rather bad. But I will go easy on them all, as the final result was definitely not typical and did entertain me. I appreciate how they used a goofy setting and turned it to something far more elaborate than that. Animation and sound are nothing spectacular. As long as you don’t mind the stupid faces the characters have and the old fashioned Gekiganger clips (which are done so on purpose as to feel retro) then you have an ok series to watch even today. The mecha have interesting designs, the battles usually have some strategy in them (albeit extreme as heck), and there is some fan service at times to break the boredom. The music score is good, the opening theme is likable for an otherwise silly pop-song. Voice acting is relaxed but it’s excused in such a setting. Some talk in very fake ways but it is also part of the whole joke / tribute thing. My grip is with Yurika’s voice, she usually sounds like she is a granny and having to listen to her irritating bimbo voice as a narrator in every episode can really test your nervesBottom line? See it as a typical show and you will find it mediocre. See it as a tribute to mecha and you will instead have a good show that doesn’t fully exploit its own merits but it’s fun nonetheless. And now for some excused scorings. ART SECTION: 7/10 General Artwork 1/2 (generic) Character Figures 1/2 (generic) Backgrounds 2/2 (basic but fitting with the feeling of the series) Animation 1/2 (basic) Visual Effects 2/2 (lots of tributes) SOUND SECTION: 7/10 Voice Acting 2/3 (corny but fitting with the feeling of the series) Music Themes 3/4 (not great but fitting with the feeling of the series) Sound Effects 2/3 (ok I guess) STORY SECTION: 5/10 Premise 1/2 (typical) Pacing 1/2 (loose) Complexity 2/2 (rich context) Plausibility 1/2 (so-so) Conclusion 0/2 (open and messy) CHARACTER SECTION: 7/10 Presence 2/2 (funny) Personality 2/2 (rather cheesy but well founded) Backdrop 1/2 (generic and simplistic but it’s there) Development 1/2 (overblown but it’s there) Catharsis 1/2 (overblown but it’s there) VALUE SECTION: 5/10 Historical Value 1/3 (still remembered by some as an interesting retro title) Rewatchability 1/3 (low because of too little plot) Memorability 3/4 (its plot twists make it intesting enough to remember it) ENJOYMENT SECTION: 4/10 Art 0/1 (looks typical) Sound 1/2 (I liked the songs) Story 1/3 (good concept that is not exploited properly) Characters 2/4 (they are funny but not special) VERDICT: 6/10

YamiVKD
9.5

Nadesico, Nadesico... where to start?First off if you like Mecha, Off the wall personalitys, great character relationships and a wonderful flowing comedic edge then Nadesico is for you because it has all that topped off with moments that can rip your heart out.I'll start with the story. An alien force called the Jovians (or 'Jovian Lizards' by the UEAF) have come from jupiter and desimated the earths forces and taken the colony that was Mars and are starting to move on the earth. The last hope is the civilain battle ship the Nadesico and its managery of misfits (but all the best at what they do). In short its the story of the journeys aboard this ship and their efforts to regain the colony and the things they find out along the way.Now for the characters:Akito Tenkawa, A cook originally from mars. through a series of coincedences he is reunited with his childhood friend and lands a possition as a cook and then a pilot on the Nadesico. He is the picture of "Whats wrong with being what I am?" plus he seems to be a magnet for the women, as half the female cast is after him in one form or other. He is also an anime fan, bonding with fellow pilot and room mate Gai Daigoji over their favourite mech series Gekigangar (a parody to the whole mecha genre).Yurika Misamaru, The ditzy captain that I swear is blonde under the blue hair. Even though most of the time she is a ditz when the time calls for it she shines with her military prowess. Jun Aoi, Yurika's best 'friend' and thats his problem. Even though he is faithful and always there for her she just doesnt seem to notice how he feels even though its obious to all around them.Ruri Hoshino, A 12 year old girl who happens to be the smartest one among the crew, she is the science officer and for all intencive purposes controls most of the operatinf functions of the Nadesico. She is usually quiet unless the time calls for it.and then theres Hiruka Minato the sultry Helmswoman, Megumi Reinard the comunications officer and former voice actress, Seiya Uruibataki the maintainence team leader (His babys are the Aestvalis, the humaniod mecha suport aboard the Nadesico), The team of full time pilots Ryoko Subaru, Hikaru Amano, Izumi Maki and the Anime obsessed Gai Daigoji.Thats it pretty much for the characters, yes there are more like Yurika's 'Suspect' Father but if I said more about them I'd ruin the series for you. In sumary, Martian Successor Nadesico is a great series with some great twists, even better characters and a complexly layered storyline. I also gaurentee that even the 2nd or 3rd or in my case 40th+ time watching it you will notice atleast one thing new each time. Nadesico is also the kind of series that you can watch in quite a few ways either as a comedy, a romance show, a war time drama ect ect so really no matter what you have been watching this should easily follow without throwing you totally off.So it has all you could want. I sujest this to anyone who has seen a little anime to the anime verteran although not so much as a first anime.Now go forth and buy and watch this series I promise you wont regret it. :)

xmr
4

Story:interestingly enough, the story was neat, the most enjoyable character in the show, who gets murdered only a few episodes into the show actually calls out the shows plot and twist... making it fairly enjoyable... yet as with all stories, story is half plot... half character/development... and the characters were so mind crushing with their irritation and annoyance it gave ranma a run for its money (but at least ranmas main driving plot is a harem anime... not a harem anime disguised as a mecha anime that draws you in with an enjoyably comic and generally awesome Gai Daigoji...Animation:its good enough not to complain... most people rant about animation quality.... i dont care, unless i can't entirely tell whats happening, or i feel they failed at an experimental style...Sound:theres a song in the show for a show called Gekiganger 3... the song is amazing. Gai Daigoji was amazing.Characters:almost all of the characters in the story irritated and or annoyed me... i have to FORCE myself to watch things when i find the decision making to be unmotivated, or irrational...the whole... harem aspect drove me to rage out pretty hard, and lose all faith in comedic anime (until i saw Cromartie... but that story can wait)...the good part of the characters in the anime were 1 Gai Daigoji, the character intended for comic relief, who was actually really enjoyable... 2 one of the female characters who gets introduced right after gai dies... the one that keeps on making sub par jokes in a low pitched and quiet voice... 3 the girl who is the controller of the ship? (the little girl)... and 4 the people on jupiter... see, the show left a mark of such phenomenally insignificance and disappointing taste in my mouth that i can only remember 1 characters name... the one who dies before the 6th episodeOverall:i went into this show thinking it was a slight mecha parody... when i got was a show that started off as a good mecha parody, then quickly made a turn for serious (which was interesting and kind of cool[i dont really mind that they killed off Gai, i love it when writers kill off characters{i'm a fan of Berserk and Jyu-oh-sei}] but what i didn't like was the harem feel and the poor attempts to remake comic relief, resulting in a:decent mecha animepoor mecha parodyand general annoyance all around)now i'm going to be a big big jerk face.Spoilerthe enjoyable character (Gai Daigoji) gets shot by this jerk admiral guy and his side kicks, then he pops back in around episode  17 or something in spirit form, and helps that guy commit suicide while singing an awesome song.

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