Martian Successor Nadesico

The year is 2196. The Martian colonies have been destroyed, and Earth is under constant attack- all thanks to the attacking Jovian lizards. With the military unable to hold their own, Nergal Heavy Industries decide to take matters into their own hands by building the battleship Nadesico, a powerful new spaceship crewed by the best and the brightest.

Of course, the best and the brightest are a rather eclectic bunch- there’s Yurika, the ditsy yet tactically brilliant captain; her childhood friend Akito, a cook and part-time mecha pilot; Ruri, the twelve year old science officer who’s probably smarter than the rest of the crew put together- and the list goes on. But like it or not, this rather odd bunch seem to be the last best hope for planet Earth- that is, if the female crewmembers can stop chasing after Akito for a moment and focus on their jobs!

With its mix of love, war, sci-fi and mecha, Nadesico combines elements from several genres- purely for the pleasure of poking fun at them! Although not as wacky and wild as the likes of Excel Saga, Nadesico rarely takes itself seriously, and although newcomers to anime may not appreciate all of the humour, seasoned fans should find much to chuckle over.

The tone of the series is greatly dependent on Nadesico’s sizeable cast of characters, with much of the humour of the series deriving from the constant banter and wordplay between this idiosyncratic and varied group. As might be expected, most of the characters receive little in the way of depth or development, but their predictable reactions to the situations they’re thrust into prove to be just as satisfying.

However, like many comedy series, Nadesico’s humour doesn’t always hit the mark. The second half of the series tries to follow a more serious storyline, and it is never clear whether the show intends to adopt a less humorous tone, or is simply parodying the weaker and more clichéd aspects of other sci-fi shows. That being said, there are still a number of times when Nadesico successfully pulls off a dramatic scene, but for the most part the series is at its best during the more light-hearted moments.

Of course, no Nadesico review would be complete without mention of Gekigangar, the “anime within an anime’ enjoyed by some of the main characters. A parody of retro giant robot shows, Gekigangar provides amusement not only in itself, but through the ardent fanboy-ism it provokes amongst the crew of the Nadesico.

Sadly, not all aspects of Nadesico have survived translation intact. Purists may be annoyed to see that some of the onscreen Japanese text has been replaced with English; however, a far greater casualty of the transition into English is the pilot Izumi and her endless store of Japanese specific puns. To be fair, the translators have done their best to come up with English equivalents, but the result is a series of jokes that range from laughably bad to downright awful.

In Summary

A light-hearted series sprinkled with a few more serious moments, Nadesico provides more than a few laughs at the expense of some of the more prevalent anime clichés. Despite being let down a little by some weaker points, Nadesico remains an enjoyable and entertaining series that is well worth a look.