Martian Successor Nadesico DVD 1: Love! War! Giant Robots!
EP-01: To Go 'Like A Man' The Jovian Lizards brush aside the United Earth Armed Forces and invade Mars de arimasu. Amidst the carnage, male lead Akito is mysteriously beamed to Earth. He joins the oddball crew of the non-military Nadesico, captained by his childhood friend, Yurika. His job description as a cook also includes being a mecha pilot and he unwillingly saves the day.
My mind boggles every time I remember that Yurika was Houko Kuwashima's debut role; I most admire her quietly intense performance as Kirika in Noir and tremendously enjoyed a similar feel from the way she voiced Clare in Claymore. But, of course, she's very diverse, also having voiced the tremendously popular Kasumi from the DOA franchise.
EP-02: Leave the 'Blue Earth' to Me The UEAF, led by Yurika's two-star admiral father, capture the Nadesico but the crew regains control - don't under-estimate the power of a Chinese wok!
LOL at the real reason why Yurika was willing to remove Nadesico's control key and head over to her dad's flagship; that's love powah for Akita FTW. And LOL at how Yurika's dad reminds me of Amelia's dad, Prince Phil.
EP-03: A 'Goodbye' That Came Too Soon Nadesico runs the gauntlet of the Earth's Big Barrier defences. Jun is recaptured and condemned to continue being Yurika's 'best friend'. The escaping UEAF POWs off one of the characters.
Well, that was quick. When Gurren Lagaan killed off a main character, this was the scene I thought of immediately. Though, appropriately, the Nadesico chara had a rather lame death too. I distinctly remember thinking 'LOL Colin Powell' the first time the UEAF Chief Commander appeared and had that Engrish conversation with Yurika. Now, of course, I was thinking of Barack Obama. Though mainly WRT Reginald D Hunter's comment when he was asked about Obama's chances of getting elected: 'You know that movie Deep Impact? Black man finally gets to become President but the country ain't worth a shit no more.' OTL
EP-04: 'Charmed' by Sky Blue Space Nadesico arrives at a Nergal space colony. It's destroyed and the ship is damaged but they get a trio of new pilots and Aestavalis mecha. The trio are, of course, also eccentrics, like the rest of the crew. A mourning Akito and a grieving Megumi kiss, much to Yurika's horror.
There should be a rule that only females can be mecha pilots. The flight suits suit them so well. I can also avoid noticing how male pilots' flight suits also almost always seem crotchless. orz I really liked the way Akito and Megumi hooked up despite the OP dictating that Akito x Yurika are the Promised Couple. Timing is everything in love and war. Of course it helps that ex-seiyuu Megumi's has cute freckles and braided ponytail and Akito's a decent cook and pilot.
EP-05: Ruri's 'Navigational Logs' With the Jovians only taking potshots at a Distortion Field protected Nadesico, Yurika is constantly on multicultural all-purpose captain girl funeral duty. Howmei explicates a cook's philosophy on the spice of life. They arrive at Mars after a two week voyage.
LOL at the reference to Captain Juzo Okita from Space Battleship Yamato (isn't 'Martian Successor' so much cooler than 'Mobile Battleship' in that Engrishly sort of way? LOL) and how automated systems have rendered Captains as mere figureheads. LOLOL at how Megumi sent Yurika howling in tears through the corridors not just once but twice. And LOLOLOL at Ruri's 'You're a meanie' exchanges with Megumi. Ruri is often regarded as a Rei Ayanami-type character but IMHO the comparison only holds WRT to the clone and albino part of the chara design. Ruri has a distinct personality that expresses itself in droll humour and endearing precociousness. Her summing up of the previous episode at the beginning of each episode is always a treat. I also enjoy the OTT male 'next ep' preview too but can't figure out who's doing it...
BTW I will endeavour *not* to talk about Gekiganger as far as possible. Except perhaps a meta-commentary about its parody aspect and its influence on other anime series.
Related posts:
- Martian Successor Nadesico DVD 2: Red Planet
- Martian Successor Nadesico DVD 3: Unnatural Disasters
- Gravity blast from the past
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June 15th, 2008 - 12:05
It’s amazing how far Kuwashima Houko has come since “AKITO-KUUUUNNNN” (if I remember how she addresses him correctly), but she still retains that… Houko-ness? till this day as a good signature seiyuu should I suppose
June 15th, 2008 - 14:57
And of course, the whole ep 3 death thing is a play on Macross. Then again, almost everything is a play on Macross.
June 15th, 2008 - 22:09
Most of the next-ep voiceovers are being done by the head of engineering IIRC. He’s the crew chief that works on the mechs between battles.
For a long time Kuwashima was type-cast doing emotionless-girl parts, even though this was her debut. It’s nice that in recent years she’s been able to break back out of that typecast.
June 17th, 2008 - 01:22
remember to lend to your tanuki brother so he can see the glory of Ruri-Ruri.
Ep5 is probably my favorite in disc 1 as we got to see a in-depth look at Ruri.
Overall i love how the show integrated the comedy and drama.
June 17th, 2008 - 03:40
Episode 3 was definitely a huge episode. While the death was significant, my favorite part was how they had to run out of the ship to launch the mecha, couldn’t stop laughing at that!
I need to rewatch this show some day… Saw it all originally in a one-day ridiculously headache inducing marathon.
June 18th, 2008 - 13:29
issa-sa, Yurika doesn’t use honorifics with Akito. Not in the present at least. Yeah, but still Kuwashima-san good job!
jpmeyer, I thought everything was a play on Mazinger? :3
Steven, ah thanks. That’s been bugging me for a while now. Not so sure if Kirika et al are ‘emotionless’ girls… more of an expression issue rather than a content issue methinks.
Xellos-_^, Evirus said it best when he reviewed Nadesico at Karmaburn… the series manages to be respectful to its source while being smart in its parody. There’s a great feeling of love for the show, the genre, the fans that I’ve also felt in L*S.
Epi, yeah it’s definitely worth a rewatch. And join the retro-blogathon too!!