Customer Reviews

Martian Successor Nadesico - The Complete Chronicles

5 star:		(26)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The hero who became...an anime fan?

Yes indeed, Nadesico is definitely the most enjoyable anime series I've ever seen. So what exactly is Nadesico? Basically, it's a Mecha comedy. But in actuality, it's much more than that. Most comedies go for one kind of laugh. Some shoot for all kinds, but some of the jokes fall flat. I can honestly say that Nadesico is a brilliant show. It makes fun of EVERYTHING. It makes fun of Mecha anime, it makes fun of sci-fi, it makes fun of video games, it makes fun pop culture, it even makes fun of the fact that some of it's puns are totally silly. And seemingly EVERY joke is hilarious. Seriously. It would seem almost impossible that you would not find SOMETHING funny in this show (especially if you find the stereotype of a kid turned hero or a guy being chased by tons of girls funny). But wait, there's more.

Not only is this show hilarious, it also features great characters that (once again) know they are the stereotyped kind and have fun with it. The voices (even in the English dub) are absolutely perfect. They convey everything from serious drama to wacked out comedy perfectly without skipping a beat. And then there is the plot.

The plot may seem on the surface to be just a parody of all the Mecha shows that have come and gone in recent history. But look closer, and you'll find that the plot twists and turns as well as any. Seriously, when the story and drama kicks into high gear, I'd rank this show with Macross any day.

But, you may ask, is every episode the same thing? Mecha action and comedy? No, indeed. The variety in the episodes is truly staggering. You have TWO World War II themed episodes (one about tank battles, another about submarine battles), an episode out of chronological order, a standing in space episode, a talent show episode, and of course a showdown epsisode (to mention just a few). And every single episode is flawlessly executed. Even the review episode is a brilliant take on the episode reviews in all Mecha sagas.

And for what it's worth, the animation and music in this show are both EXCELLENT. Don't belive me? Just watch the into and ending. Sure, lots of shows have great intros, and lots of shows have great endings. But both?

All in all, this is one of the most brilliant shows I've ever seen. The only show I could maybe compare to it is the excellent CGI cartoon show "Reboot". In it's third season, it also features epsidoes with parody famous movies and pop culture, and it also has a great story, cool characters, and an awesome plot. If you love Mecha anime, you must have this show. If you hate anime, you still need to try it. It is very balanced show, and you're sure to find something to love. Yes, you've probably seen battles, animation, characters, and plot like this before. But in this world, there's no such thing as originality (or as Picaso said "Good artists copy, great artists steal". Nadesico makes no bones about it, they're stealing. And they're artists.

If you loved the Macross series (or any mecha related anime) then I think you should do yourself a huge favor and watch Nadesico. Nadesico takes all the elements that made animes like that great... and makes a complete mockery of them. Join Akito, Yurika, Ruri and all the others aboard Nergal's ship the ND-001: Nedesico!

Naturally, it's a story about a war between the Earth and invadors from beyond Mars but beneath all that it's a story about the meaning of friendship, being human, and why people who hate anime are always up to no good. Oh yeah, there's a very Tenchi-esque love polygon too...

Yes, for all you hopeless romantics there is a love story (even though it starts out as a very ridiculous one-sided love story) between Akito and Yurika that eventually involves most of the main female crew of the ship -_-*. It's pretty funny to watch even though some of the male members (not to mention Akito himself) don't find it quite as amusing as we do.

If that isn't enough, there is anime within anime as a lot of the plotline centers around Gekiganger, an anime that doesn't really exist but somehow has its own soundtrack. In fact, there is an episode where the cast of Gekiganger is watching Nadesico instead of the other way around!

You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll find out what becomes of anime fans when you banish them to a planet for a hundred years and leave them to their own devices... I urge you to buy this series!

As far as mecha anime goes, Nadesico is one of the most overlooked series out on the domestic market. Probably because it's one of the more difficult anime on the market to classify. The initial impression is one of a typical mecha show. Reluctant pilot with mysterious powers? Check. Alien invaders? Check. Pretty, but ditzy, main love interest? Check. Several other love interests? Check. Special super powerful new ship? Check. Wacky and strange ship crew? Check. But Nadesico takes all these elements and does more interesting things with them in parody than many shows do with them in deadly seriousness.

The characters mostly seem to be fairly flat and two-dimensional, but as you watch the series you really see that there's more to most of them than is readily apparent. There's generally not much growth, per se, but it's more of a realisation of things that had been there the whole time. The plot also seems straight forward, but there's a unique aspect to it that gets revealed as the series goes on.

Overall, it's hard to beat Nadesico for entertainment value. It's got action, it's really funny, it's got interesting characters, it's got a solid plot, and it's just a fun show to watch.

Overview: Aliens known as the Jovians destroyed earth's base on Mars, wiping out its space fleets. Only one ship stands between Earth and total annihilation - Nadesico. A private company, Nergal builts Nadesico, a space battle cruiser to provide "assistance" to earth's military. Free from the military control, they had the free reign to assemble the most unusual crew for the mission. With a ace pilot who is also the cook and the commander of Nadesico, an admirals's daughter, things gets complicated. This new starship is the most formidable fighting vehicle ever built. However, before Nadesco can wrestle with the Jovian invaders, the crew must defeat their fellow humans as they elude the military's attempt to seize the Nadesico.

My $0.02: It may seems like a typical space sci-fi action anime but this series provides a lot of hilarious moments with an unusual cast of characters. Also the story thickens as the crew of Nadesico learns more about their alien invaders and how it's ace pilot was mysteriously transported to earth from Mars just before it was obliterated.

I enjoyed this anime mainly because it's funny and I like animes like Robotech. You will like it too if you like sci-fi mecha type anime with comedy and some parody.

There aren't many good sci-fi animes these days. But one I would recommend is Martian Successor Nadesico: The Complete Chronicles Collection Set. This anime series maybe in the 90s. But once you watch it, you can never get tired of watching it again & again.

With 26 episodes altogether, there are a dozen chracters you can remember. The epic tale of humans versus the jovians will surprise you with a twist. Then there is a craze anime within an anime that will bring forth the reason why the Jovians fight for. There is romance. There is comedy. And there is mecha fight scenes you will enjoy. Not to mention great music soundtrack that will keep you humming the tunes.

Cute, adorable, enjoyable by its own... this is a DVD Boxset you mustn't miss. Trust me, in my years on Robotech during the 80s... I never thought discovering Nadesico could be this addictive!

Not going to spoil any further... you just have to buy this boxset. My recommendation to any anime sci-fi fans out there.

(SPOILERS INCLUDED!)

You know people, when I first started watching this show I thought that it would be just a very good parody, as most reviewers stated it.

True is that it mixes all sorts of stories and plots inside it: Comedy, drama, action, Mechas, science fiction, romance, an anime inside an anime (it is actually hard to explain but easy to understand once you watch the shows) etc.

At the beginning it is mostly a light-hearted show, making successfully fun out of everything and the main story resolves in three main axes: a) Humans and their forces fighting against aliens, b) Aliens fighting against humans and c) a private company that has the strongest space battleship and hired the craziest crew for this purpose, fights for humanity but has its own agenda. This is how the story mainly evolves till somewhere it reaches the middle of the episodes.

However, it starts to get very emotional and presents itself to have many plot twists such as: one side betrays the other, propaganda and manipulating the truth, political and military power games going on and romance evolving all around it. Not to mention the fact that the aliens proof to be humans as well. People will die by sacrificing themselves for the ones they love and in times it gets very emotional if not dramatic at all.
Yes, the story - according to most reviewers - in my humble opinion, is much underestimated. You will see that it has a solid storyline, great character development and the message it brings across is LOVE (SPOILER!) and the love between the female captain and the Nr. 1 pilot of Nadesico is the one that will eventually safe everyone; and the series have a (bittersweet in a way) happy ending. Additionally, all the twists and questions will be answered in the end.

The animation is not bad at all: In order to get a good picture, imagine an animation that is a little bit better than the one that Evangelion or Cowboy Bebop had.

As for the opening - finish songs they are very good and you will love its music.

In my humble opinion, no matter what kind of anime fan you are, this show will definitely have something for you and you will love the series.

Is it worth buying it? I definitely will answer with a YES!

Either way, if you cannot afford the money for it than at least rent it because it is worth watching it.

Just keep in mind to watch the series till the end and then make your final judgment.

I hope that I could help in a way clarifying some things about Martian Successor Nadesico.

Fans of Robotech or even Starblazers might look at this collection and wonder if they should buy it. Do it. But be warned, it is also like Love Hina, Tenchi Muyo and the Excel Saga. Love between characters, war between almost everybody and humor, some of it even picking on anime, makes the 650 minutes worth any price. Plus tons of extras and WAY too many trailers.
The story is simple, at first. The Jovians launch a attack against Mars, destroying mankind's outposts and blasting the United Earth Forces right out of space. Mankind fights to defend the Earth and what they still control of the Earth's Moon, but the Jovians have a huge advantage in military technology.
The Nergal Corporation builts a super weapon in the form of Nadesico, crewed by wackos, misfits, anime fans and everybody who has the skills needed to run the ship. They plan to rerun to Mars, to liberate it.
Then things get complex. The Jovians MAY be on the RIGHT side, the Nergal Corporation is not interested in librating anybody and the Earth government seems to be trying to hide something.
The characters, from the super-intelligent Ruri Hoshino to the brilliant, if somewhat unbalanced, Commander Yurika, all have funny AND serious sides to their nature.
The series asks tons of questions, about right and wrong, love and friendship, peace and war. Even after 26 episodes, not everything is answered, but it does give you a lot to chew on. And laugh about.

First of this is a great series and is one of the outstanding anime's of the last few years. However all those un-answered questions need an answer in the form of the 1998 movie:
Martian Successor Nadesico The Prince of Darkness. Its recently (in july 2002) been brought by ADV films.
Great series with more to come hopefully.....

If Cowboy Bebop is an easy way to get you into the anime groove, then "Martian Successor Nadesico" (pronounced like "Nabisco") is its complete opposite. Nadesico is a satire whose jokes are all inside. Watching this series without having a good anime foundation and a love for its goofy humor is like watching "Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back" without ever having seen a Jay and Silent Bob film.

Nadesico is anime as contradiction. It takes brutal stabs at every anime stereotype. You have never heard girls in love whine as much as these. No other mecha pilot has ever not wanted to pilot a mecha this much. Anime plots don't get more convoluted than this one. Characters have never had bigger eyes or goofier outfits (or perkier body parts) or cheesier lines. Rarely, however, do characters have this much heart.

I didn't realize how much I liked these characters until one unexpectedly died. Nadesico manages to drive the anime standard to its most absurd limits and, at its center, remains grounded enough to keep interest high. It draws you in with laughter and keeps you there.

I bought this series mainly because I was looking for an enjoyable mech series and on the strength of the reviews I've read about it and ended up liking it even more than I thought I would. Nadesico is a series that has several of the elements I enjoy in an Anime, there's action, adventure, sci-fi and even some romance, all the time never taking itself "too" seriously and never above poking a little fun at itself. Without spoiling anything I'll say that I think the way the ending was done fit in perfectly with the rest of the series and I am looking forward to the eventual (hopefull) release of the Nadesico movie. I wish there was a way I could rate this series 4 3/4 stars. To me, 5 stars should be a rating reserved for something close to perfection. Nadesico comes very close.