Nadesico Vol. 1 |
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"It was the year 2195 when the
first Chulip appeared." These are the first words
you'll hear as you watch the beginning of the space epic
Martian Successor Nadesico. What are Chulips, you ask?
Well, they're not some kind of mutant flower. Chulips are
what the Jovian Lizards, a race of beings from beyond
Jupiter, use to transport their ships. In 2195, the first
of these appears and soon Mars and the Earth's moon are
taken over. Meanwhile, a boy from Mars named Akito tries
to save those around him from the attack, but somehow
gets transported to Earth just as their colony is blown
sky-high. Flash-forward a year later. The U.N. is doing a pathetic job fighting the Jovians, and totally ignoring the Moon and Mars. An independent weapons manufacturer, Nergal, decides that they are the only ones who can fight the Jovians, so the Nadesico is built. These first few episodes focus on the Nadesico building a crew and fighting both the Jovians and the military, who feel that the Nadesico is far too powerful to be independent. With pressure on them from both the alien invaders and the government, the Nadesico's maiden flight is a bit... shaky. Nadesico offers up both a great story and great characters(*lots* of them) for your anime enjoyment. The first episode really gets things going by introducing the main cast. A weapons director for Nergal scours Japan to find those who are "the best in their field" to work on the Nadesico. Though I don't know what being a voice actress has to do with working on a spaceship... We are introduced to all of the main characters, and given a little information about them. Akito is the reluctant chef with a mysterious past, Yurika is the happy-go-lucky captain, Ruri is the monotone speaking girl genius(think an anime version of Daria), and Guy Daijogi, A.K.A. Jiro Yamada is the anime fan with a giant robot fetish. There are a lot more characters, but listing and describing them all would probably take several more paragraphs. This is one of the few problems I have with the show. With so many characters introduced all in basically the same episode, I was hard-pressed to remember their names, let alone any aspect of their personality. Maybe the prducers of the show were a little ambitious, character-wise. Of course, these are the first few episodes so the crew does have time to develop. I did get to the pit where I was moaning, "Oh no, not another," whenever someone new joined the Nadesico's staff. Now that I've gotten the bad out of the way, let me speak about the good. Nadesico deals a lot with the subject of humanity, and how normal people would react to abnormal situations. It really puts you into a "what would I do," kind of mode. A death on the ship lets the crew realize the truth about their own finite lives, and how the world can be cruel at times. There are also a few little unsolved mysteries that will have you hooked to Nadesico. The first is the mysterious death of Akito's parents. Killed when Akito was a boy, he follows Yurika onto the Nadesico after bumping into her years later. Yurika left the colony as a young girl, the same day Akito's parents were killed. Could she know something about it? What about the mysterious transportation of Akito to Earth during the attack on Mars? Naesico slowly unravels these mysteries, while presenting new ones. They're not too far fetched, and I can guarantee you'll be thinking up your own theories while you watch the show. A fan favorite character of this volume is Guy Daigoji. An anime fan, to extreme levels, who acts like most anime fans would when he learns he gets to pilot his own giant robot. Unfortunately, anime tactics don't work so well for Guy in real life. Guy also brings with him the complete Gekigengar series, Nadesico's anime within an anime. Guy slowly gets the crew hooked on this show, and soon he and Akito are mimicking the Gekigangar moves. Most of them include screaming out the name of an attack as you perform it. Funny stuff here, especially if you enjoy the intentionally bad 1970s animation and the weakly acted dubbing of Gekigangar. Episodes two through four deal with the Nadesico trying to get off of the Earth, and eventually to Mars. Covering a lot of ground, we get high drama, fighting robots, politics, murder and love. This is one of the best parts of Nadesico. You won't get sick of it because the show switches gears so often. There are tons of hilarious bits, and lots of action. Just when something horribly serious happens, a little humor is soon injected to lighten the mood. Already I've seen a few parodies of popular anime. The artwork on the series is top-notch. Nadesico delivers a very believable world. Unlike so many anime shows where all of the main characters look the same, except for a different hairstyle, Nadesico's characters are very varied. From the massive Goat to the spunky Yurika, the character dictionary reads from A to Z on this one. The video quality was a little above average, though I did notice a small amount of grain on the print. The series really isn't that old, but for some reason anime fans can hardly get a break, video-wise. One thing many fans have had nervous breakdowns over are overlays. Overlays are digitally produced images "overlayed" onto the original print, mainly used to translate signs and other text into English. Unfortunately for some, the first disc of Nadesico is chock full of overlays. Some do look pretty sharp, but on the other hand some look like they were done by an eighth grader with Photoshop. I was not too bothered with them, and I feel that they were needed in a few points due to the limitations of DVD subtitles. I feel subtitles could do a better job, with perhaps maybe a mandatory subtitle track for signs and text, with a second track for the dialogue as well(see Jubei-Chan for an awesome example). This way, we can see the show in its original form and also be able to read signs and whatnot. The sound is about par with the rest of my anime collection. The soundtrack really supports the show, but there aren't many standout songs yet. While I was confused with the lyrics of the main theme("You get to burning?"), I found it enjoyable enough. I can see how some would think that the dub is over-acted, but I felt it really fit the "space opera" feel of the series. The packaging is pretty good, though the cover really gives you a false idea about the feel of the show. The menus are clean and workable. Nothing flashy, but they get the job done. Trailers are stuck to the very beginning of the disc. You're not forced to watch these, as a click of a menu button will bring you where you want to be... Still, it would be nice to just have the main menu load up when you insert the DVD. Extras are above average for this release. We get my favorite, translation notes, for all four episodes on this disc. The notes, written by the original translator, are full of interesting facts and are a blast to read. I'd also like to note that the translator has a lot more information at his web site . A creditless opening and ending are included, sure to make any anime fan happy. We also get some nice character bios that sure come in handy when you're trying to remember the names of the immense Nadesico cast. The cover of the first volume of Martian Successor Nadesico touts the show as "Japan's most popular animated series." While the fact remains that this is a pretty bold statement, Nadesico was a surprise to me. Surprisingly good, that is. Nadesico may have just turned me on to the "fighting robot" genre of anime. It's not all fighting robots, though. Nadesico has got some pretty interesting characters and a decent plotline to back it all up. Maybe that statement wasn't so bold after all... - Bob Mackey |
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