Martian Successor Nadesico
PostPosted: 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.
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.
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.
I love Nadesico! I think its a definate must see for any new anime goer!