Product Details

• Directors: Tatsuo Sato
• Format: Animated, Color, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English, Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Section 23
• DVD Release Date: January 6, 2009
• Run Time: 90 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001KXZG28
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,721 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Although it was initially criticized for spoofing mecha sci-fi adventures and fan culture, Martian Successor Nadesico (1996) became an international hit. Unfortunately, the theatrical film offers little of the original's irreverent humor. Two years after the broadcast series, Yurika and Akito are missing and presumed dead; Ruri now commands the Nadesico B. Ruri was always the beleaguered voice of common sense, noting, "I guess we’ll be fumbling about, making noise ‘til the end. However, when you think about it, that’s rather appropriate for us." The new Ruri asks dumb questions: "Are you a good guy or a bad guy?" Fry cook turned mecha pilot Akito appears as a masked, Keanu Reeves-esque figure. ("That was then. This is now.") Fragmented and difficult to follow, Prince of Darkness is a dreary coda to a wonderfully funny series. Where's Gekiganger 3 when we need him? (Rated 15 and older: profanity, brief nudity) --Charles Solomon

Product Description

MARTIAN SUCCESSOR NADESICO PRINCE OF DARKNESS (DVD MOVIE)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars "This isnt the Nadesico that I had grown to love...", March 3, 2004

By 

Billy Chan "BC_Animus" (Auckland, New Zealand) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Martian Successor Nadesico - The Motion Picture: Prince of Darkness (DVD)

Martian Successor Nadesico: The Prince of Darkness is not a bad anime movie per say, but I was expecting much, much more. This could have made a good series, but as a movie it feels rushed and unfinished. While some of the humour has been retained, overall the movie is much darker, lacking the lightheartedness, the romance, and the magic of the original series. Some fans might rejoice at the sight of many of the familiar faces returning, but most will be disappointed by the fact that most of the characters have little to do with the plot, and the fact that some of the characters have been changed beyond recognition.

There is no character development, no background info given on the characters (new or old), nor were we told what had happened since the series. Newcomers will not be given a chance to fall in love with the characters, while returning fans (and newcomers too I guess) will be left disappointed and confused by the story.

Like I said it's not a bad movie per say, but it certainly isn't the Nadesico that I had grown to love.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars beautiful visuals, disjointed story, November 15, 2003

By 

santafe210 (planet earth) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Martian Successor Nadesico - The Motion Picture: Prince of Darkness (DVD)

this is a gorgeous movie to watch. it's just about the right length, has excellent audio and graphical productions, solid voice acting, a nice mix of CGI and traditional animation and excellent mecha designs, the best I've ever seen.
The downside is the storyline. even if you've watched the first series, the motivations of the characters seem rushed and confused. The random addition of characters from the first series gives the movie that disjointed feel, so you never get the sense of watching a cohorent story. It's like the producers did the plot last.

I would recommend this if and only if you want to SEE a high end anime movie and don't care much for anything like plot, or storyline or character development

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A disjointed succession of character cameos, November 9, 2003

By 

Steven Myers (SF Bay Area) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Martian Successor Nadesico - The Motion Picture: Prince of Darkness (DVD)

To be quite plain, whether judged as an independent movie or as the capstone of the Nadesico TV series, the Nadesico movie fails. It fails because it is a mismash, hoping to cram in every character from the TV series without giving many of them anything to do--and worse, it feels like 30 minutes of the actual story were cut to cram more cameos in.

The story takes place several years after the TV series ends, with Ruri now captain of the Nadesico B. Akito and Yurika, the leads from the series, were lost in a shuttle accident two years before. A new enemy has appeared, trying to wipe out the united Earth and Jovian forces. While it's far from the world's most original story, that's not the problem. The story is disjointed, moving in leaps and bounds. It's as if the story were written via boson jumping (the teleport technology featured in the series and this movie), with people popping up almost randomly here and there to give speeches. Perhaps fittingly, the ending is a nice and tidy deus ex machina, totally unexplained.

So why three stars? Despite its many faults, Ruri and Ryoko, the returning characters who get the most screen time, manage to be enjoyable (if you liked them in the series). Since I liked those characters, several of the disjointed snippets were enjoyable, even if they didn't add up to a real movie. Don't get this if you aren't a big Nadesico fan, and even if you are, don't get this expecting anything approaching the enjoyment you got from the series.