Nadesico Vol. 5 |
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The Nadesico is almost at the end
of its voyage, but it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.
With the truth about the Jovians revealed, the only thing
left to do is to decide whether to fight and kill fellow
humans or to give up and find another way to settle
things. While the show remains entertaining, at this
point impatience can grow when the story isn't moving
along... And on this disc, it really isn't. I found most of the episodes on this disc of Nadesico fun to watch, but in retrospect the main plots of these episodes could be placed almost anywhere in the series and they would still make sense. While it was fun to watch the Nadesico's talent contest, and some bits on pieces of Ruri's past, I miss the days of their adventures on Mars. There really isn't any tension in these episodes. It's just random plots, with occasional whining about how the crew doesn't want to fight humans. I did enjoy seeing more of the characters in action(and even some drama), but the show seems to be moving away from what I enjoyed the most. All complaining aside, the episode dealing with Ruri was the most touching one on the disc. Ruri is summoned to Peaceland, a sort of floating country/amusement park/casino where she finds out she was born. Although not raised in the sense a normal child would be. She was raised as a scientific experiment, where love did not matter and the only thing that did was learning facts. In competition with other children, it was even hard for her to have friends. Ruri shows a touch of her sympathetic side as she summons Akito to be her "knight" when they travel to Peaceland. All in all, this episode explains a lot about Ruri and why she is the way she is. Ruri is not one of my favorites, and there seems to be some creepy fan obsession of her on the internet, but with this episode I warmed up to the smarmy little tyke. Another episode which was a lot of fun was the talent show episode. Possibly to help the crew take their minds off of the war, or more possibly to give the fans a show packed with fan service, the Nadesico holds a talent show with first prize being the prize of captain for a day. With a talent show packed with busty girls, you can probably guess which "talents"(I was going to say assets but I used that joke in another review) they were showing off. Two music videos are the highlight of this show, although the one featuring Ruri is a little disturbing. There is a side story about Ryoko, and although she is one of my favorite characters it wasn't really too interesting. On a good note, I finally got what I wanted to see... Closure on the death of Gai Daigoji! Ever since I reviewed volume one, I was always a little angry that the killer was never brought to justice, let alone his death not being a big deal in the series overall. On this volume of Nadesico, we finally get to see who the real killer was, and while it wasn't really that surprising, it was a nice treat for us Guy fans. Even though I wanted to see some action, the one episode on the disc with some action bored the pants off of me. There was some neat fighting, but nothing was really accomplished overall. It just seems like everyone on this show is sitting on their hands when it comes to making important decisions. The follow-up to this episode features a very entertaining, albeit confusing adventure as most of the Nadesico crew gets taken over by their suppressed personalities. The episode tells a story, but in random order. We see the times things take place, but it's up to us to put them in the right sequence. While some of this episode made no sense, I have to give kudos to the Nadesico producers to do something so out of the ordinary. For more thoughts on the video and sound quality, check out my previous Nadesico reviews. I'm trying not to be redundant here. Not much has changed on these discs, and in my opinion that is a good thing. The show remains solid throughout, but nothing extraordinary. About the overlays, they're staying, so get used to it. I don't mind as much as some people, but it looks as if ADV will continue to use them throughout the run of Nadesico. About the extras... Well, there are no extras. Unless, of course, you count the ADV previews(which I sort of am). Seeing as the last three discs had the same extras, ADV really isn't hurting anyone by removing them. I would love to see more of those liner notes(featured on volume one), but I believe the translator only made notes for the first four episodes. Many folks love the cover of the volume, and many folks love the character of Ruri. Although I have nothing against Ruri, I think they could've found a much better picture of her to go on the cover. Still, the other covers were nice so I'll cut ADV a little slack. Nadesico, what will your next disc be like? With the Jovian conflict escalating into a cold war, it seems like five more episodes won't be enough to end this great show. Hopefully I'll be surprised. The disc was enjoyable, but when I look at the big picture I see not much happening in the story. While I still recommend it, Nadesico Volume 5 was a little entertaining, but also a little disappointing. - Bob Mackey |
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