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Martian Successor Nadesico (機動戦艦ナデシコ Kidō Senkan Nadeshiko?, lit. Mobile Battleship Nadesico)[1] is a 1996 anime television series created by XEBEC. It ran concurrently with the manga Nadesico written by Kia Asamiya.

Synopsis
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The Earth, its moon and its Martian colonies are under alien attack, but the war against the "Jovian lizards" has, so far, been nothing short of a series of disasters.

Disgusted by the incompetence of Earth's military, the independent arms manufacturer Nergal builds its own space battleship and plans to launch a desperate offensive to save humanity. But due to a shortage of trained soldiers, they've assembled the most unorthodox crew to ever launch into orbit! With a pacifist cook-turned-unwilling mecha pilot and a ditsy admiral's daughter in command, can this unprecedented gathering of geeks, misfits and anime fans prevail against the Jovian menace [2]?

Episodes[]

Comprehensive Listing of Martian Successor Nadesico Episodes

  1. To Go Like a Man
  2. Leave the Blue Earth to Me
  3. A Goodbye That Came Too Soon
  4. Charmed By Aqua Space
  5. Ruri's Navigation Logs
  6. Sort of Like a 'Fateful Decision
  7. The 'Song That You Will Sing' One Day
  8. The Luke Warm 'Cold Equation'
  9. The Miracle Operator of 'the Kiss?
  10. The Dangers of 'Femininity
  11. Finding Yourself in a 'Routine Plot
  12. Those 'Unforgettable Days
  13. There is No 'Single Truth
  14. Let's Go with 'Hot Blooded Anime' (Clip Show)
  15. The 'Significant Other' from a Star Far Away
  16. The Beginning of 'Nadesico's War
  17. A 'Reunion That Came Too Late'
  18. Echoes of 'Self', Echoes of Water
  19. You're the Next 'Captain' of the Nadesico
  20. Run Silent, Run Deep
  21. The Meadows We Once Ran Across
  22. Protect the Visitor?
  23. A Place We Call Home
  24. Ubiquitous Righteousness
  25. Being Myself, Being Yourself
  26. For the Lady We Will Meet Someday

Characters[]

Nergal Heavy Industries[]

ND-001 Nadesico[]

Jovian Federation[]

Mechanic[]

Nergal[]

Jovian Federation[]

Production[]

The series features an energetic juxtaposition of comedy and drama as the characters engage in light-hearted antics in between facing the drama of war. Many of the characters are themselves anime fans, and there is often a comparison between the campy, sanitized war of the anime within an anime Gekigangar 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.

The series' music, including the Gekigangar 3 opening, was composed by Takayuki Hattori.

The character designs were by Kia Asamiya of Studio Tron and Keiji Gotoh. Kia Asamiya wrote the Nadesico manga that began serialization in Shōnen Ace a month prior to the anime's debut and ran concurrently with the anime.

There are many anime references, particularly Mobile Suit Gundam and Space Battleship Yamato (The name Nadesico is a play on the phrase "Yamato Nadeshiko", which represents the traditional Japanese ideal of femininity, and also the name of a flower).[3] One of the characters was a magical girl seiyū before joining the crew (and in fact is a parody of seiyū Megumi Hayashibara),[4] another is a fangirl who likes to draw her own shōnen-ai doujinshi, and 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 Super Dimension Fortress Macross, 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.[5]

The Gekigangar anime show is in fact an homage and parody of many Super Robot mecha anime of the 1970s and 1980s, most particularly the Go Nagai/Ken Ishikawa collaboration Getter Robo.[6] The battles between Earth and planetary colonies featured throughout the show is a reference to Gundam, while the assortment of odd-ball characters on the ship who prefer to choose their own battles, rather than take sides, is a nod to Captain Harlock. In addition, writers from previous popular sci-fi mecha shows occasionally get announced in teasers for various episodes of Nadesico.

Release[]

The series originally aired on TV Tokyo from October 1, 1996.

It formerly aired in the UK on the Sci-Fi Channel's pay tv service.

The Martian Successor Nadesico anime was directed by Tatsuo Sato and produced by TV Tokyo, Xebec, and Yomiko Advertising. The series aired on the Bandai Channel and TV Tokyo from November 1, 1996 to March 24, 1997.

Martian Successor Nadesico was licensed for released by ADV Films. The company released the series originally on 12 VHS tapes. Later, the series was released on a total of six DVDs. On September 24, 2002, ADV Films released a boxset containing all of the DVDs entitled Martian Successor Nadesico - Complete Chronicles. and, on January 1, 2008, a collection of all the episodes entitled Martian Successor Nadesico - Perfect Collection. At Anime Expo 2011, Nozomi Entertainment had announced that they have re-licensed the series, following ADV's closure in 2009. They will re-release the series, along with the movie and the Gekiganger III OVA in 2012.[7]

On July 1, 2016, Nozomi Entertainment announced that they would release the first region A Blu-ray of the series. It will be available on April 4, 2017.[8] During the availability for pre-order it ranked 13 on Amazon.[9]

On February 1, 2017, Anime Limited announced that they would release the first region ever B Blu-ray of the series in a Ltd Collector's Edition consisting of the television series and Martian Successor Nadesico: The Motion Picture - Prince of Darkness across 4 Blu-rays and 1 DVD for extras including the Gekigangar 3 OVA which has never been released in the UK.[10] The set includes stickers; the Nergal logo, the

Music[]

Openings[]

Endings[]

  • Being Myself (Watashi Rashiku?) by Houko Kuwashima
  • Itsuka...Shinjite by Matsumura Kazumi (episode 26)

See Also[]

Martian Successor Nadesico (video game)

Gallery[]

Reception[]

There have been mixed reviews to the series, although most reviews have been positive. One review written when the series was released on DVD gave it average ratings, commenting that whilst the show was dubbed into English poorly, it commented positively on the use of characters saying, "Despite his heroic calling as a robot pilot, Akito is remarkably approachable—after all, what could be more down-to-earth than a cook? Yurika, the world's most unlikely starship captain, may seem like a troublesome ditz at first, but demonstrates resolve and emotional depth as she learns the art of leadership. The characters may be billed as goofballs, but they also provide some of the most touching moments in the show. The Nadesico mindset shows that heroism and self-sacrifice are still respectable virtues, and that nobody needs to hear whining about why you can't or won't pilot a giant robot."[11]

Other reviews have been generally positive, with one saying, "Nadesico is one of those rare series that has something for everyone. Comedy, action, romance, drama...you name it, this series has it (well, almost). What's even more astonishing is that Nadesico keeps everything tied together in a neat little coherent package, so much so that you'll hardly even notice the blend of genres. It's a pretty cool little package, too."[12] Another review praised the English dub, saying "I first watched this show multiple times in Japanese, but eventually gave the English dub a try and found I loved it. The cast is excellent, with Jennifer Earhart's Yurika being especially noteworthy. Even minor characters, such as a Jovian pilot played by Jason Douglas, give great performances. His reading of 'If only the humans appreciated life as we do, I would not have to kill so many of them' is brilliant."[13]

The series quickly became popular. The film won the Animage Grand Prix award in 1998.[1] In other polls conducted by Animage in the same year, Akito was voted the ninth most "Favorite Male Character Of The Year", Ruri Hoshino was voted second and Yurika Misumaru eighth most "Favorite Female Characters Of The Year" and the TV series was vote the third "Favorite Anime Of The Year".[14] In 2005 Anime News Network reported that plans for Nadesico 2 were scrapped, citing an entry on Stellvia director Tatsuo Sato's blog.[15]

Trivia[]

See also: ND-001 Nadesico#Trivia The name of the ship "Mobile Battleship Nadesico" is a portmanteau on two very influential science fiction anime series. "Mobile" (機動 Kidō?) comes from the inventor of the real robot genre Mobile Suit Gundam (機動戦士ガンダム Kidō Senshi Gandamu?) and "Battleship" (戦艦 Senkan?) comes from Space Battleship Yamato (宇宙戦艦ヤマト Uchū Senkan Yamato?). Nadesico (ナデシコ Nadeshiko?) is a pun on the Space Battleship Yamato and the phrase "Yamato Nadeshiko" (大和撫子?) which refers to an ideal Japanese woman. Nadeshiko is a kind of flower, hence the flower motif that appears a lot in this series.

References[]

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