Customer Reviews

Martian Successor Nadesico - The Motion Picture: Prince of Darkness

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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

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.

This movie is interesting, and it reunites us with the characters we came to love from Martian Succesor Nadesico. Unfortunately, while the movie has some intrigue and has visual appeal, it lacks the warm humor that made Nadesico the hit that it was. While there are some light-hearted moments, they seem to have been added almost as afterthoughts. This movie is decidedly darker than the original series, and some of the characters from the original show suffer quite a bit in this incarnation.
In some ways, it almost appears that we were being prepared for a second series that never materialized.

Let me start off by saying, yes, I have seen all of Martian Successor Nadesico the series. I knew the characters as they were in the series before seeing them in this film, and yes, I was rather thrown as well as to what the heck was going on. The movie takes place two years or so after the series ended and a LOT has happpened and the audience is, for the most, left on its own to piece together what it's missed. It's much darker than the series and many of the characters have changed - namely Akito. Oh, dear Akito. His change astounded me. ;.;

However, I loved the movie. It just took a second viewing. The initial viewing was basically a "WTF?" run-through, but I was brought back to view it again by the lovely visuals. (Personally, I loved the music too) Once you've seen it more than once, it has this mysterious, fantastic quality that keeps it interesting. A lot of questions are, again, left unanswered while only a couple of those left over from the series were resolved. There are some writing faults to it - there are too many holes. However, I still found it enjoyable and imaginative - it leaves you to ponder what happens next. Maybe the creators were going for the sort of thing where you just don't see the end, like Akito avoided the end of Gekiganger III/V for years. :P That's just a lame, fan's opinion.

So, I really enjoyed it personally, despite its flaws, and I think that if a fan is willing to let go of most of the original wacky humor to see the characters go through some psychological changes (which make sense, considering the situation), it's more than worthy to own. :3

In a word, this movie was horrible. Not so much in the fact that it was a bad idea, as I actually did like the characters, parts of the plot, and the individual aspects such as animation and (dare I say?) voice acting? So what was wrong? Everything.

To begin with, the movie seems to love flashing up unrelated scenes. Cameos of unknown characters, random battles, old clips from the show, and other such nonsense which seems to be the result of the producers suddenly remembering they were making a movie, not another episode, and had to lengthen it as easily as possible. If you haven't seen the original series, which is one of the greatest things I've ever had the pleasure of witnessing, then you aren't likely to pick up the movie in the first place. If you do, the reintroduction to characters is so poor that first timers won't remember their names or even get a good grasp of their personalities, and 'veterans' will gnash their teeth over the fact that they seemed to be more intent on spot shots of the individual characters to stir up some feeling of nostalgia, rather than any plot-oriented importance.

I hate this movie. The plot is confusing, with hefty chunks of it missing and certain events merely explained as they happen. The pacing is crappy, with too much time wasted on pointless endeavours rather than keeping their focus on the telling of a story. The awesome ideas that they had(which won't be mentioned in case you don't head my warning and buy this movie) lose nearly all their impact because of the construction of the film.

I am a tremendous fan of the series, to my surprise loving all the characters, especially ill-fated ones like Guy, but this movie apparently heard about that and wanted to grind those fond memories beneath an iron-hard hour and a half of pure agony. If you liked Nadeisco, don't buy this movie. If you haven't seen it get the series and don't buy this movie. Send a message to the creators of these shows that a movie is supposed to be good, original, and as engaging as the series it shares the name with, not a hack job.

I need to go supress the memory of this film now.

There's just so much wrong with this movie that I don't know where to begin, except to say that if you watched and enjoyed the original series, you should seriously consider avoiding this movie completely, because I can more or less guarantee that you're going to be disappointed.

For one thing, "Prince of Darkness" was written as a direct sequel to a video game that never saw release outside of Japan, "Nadesico: The Blank of Three Years." As a result, anybody who never played the game--meaning bloody near everyone in the US, I'd wager--will end up watching "Prince of Darkness" having missed the entire middle of the story. Why on Earth did the studio release the movie in the US, knowing full well that the vast majority of US viewers wouldn't have a prayer of following it? I haven't the slightest idea, and since the original series stands up just fine on its own, I wish they hadn't.

I could forgive that, though, if it weren't for the fact that virtually everything that made the series great has been either truncated or removed completely in the movie. Gekigangar III, for instance, the "meta-anime" series, is almost completely ignored, aside from a brief shot of a Gekiganger III keychain and a line or two of dialogue. Almost all of the series' humor has been removed, except for one or two scenes (particularly the ones involving Mizumi and Hikaru--I have to admit, I did laugh pretty hard at those). Worst of all, though, is the characters themselves, all of whom seemed to have undergone a personality transplant. Tenkawa Akito, the original series' protagonist and comic relief, is granted a cameo appearance in the movie, appearing as a brooding, unlikeable emo kid with a weird penchant for Green Hornet eyewear; and Hoshino Ruri, child prodigy and fan favorite from the series, is instead hideously misused in her new role as captain of the Nadesico-B and subject of a particularly insulting--both to the character and to the viewer--fanservice shot. Misamaru Yurika's role is almost nonexistent; she spends most of the movie in a fossilized state, and if it weren't for the fact that she was such a vital part of the series, her role in the movie wouldn't be worth mentioning.

To be fair, the movie's not a complete loss; there are a few honest laughs to be had, and some genuine drama, and occasionally the movie seems just on the verge of recapturing the spirit that made "Martian Successor Nadesico" so great in the first place. These moments are so few and far between, though, that the movie can't help but leave a bad taste in your mouth, like a cup of your favorite coffee with a healthy dash of vinegar mixed in. I can't in all honestly recommend this movie unless you're the kind of completist who has to have EVERYTHING, and even then, I'd highly recommend you buy a used copy. Or just stick with the series.

I remember watching this whole series and loving nearly every minute of it. I was sad to see it end that way, like with any other series end. I (my brother actually) recently bought the Essential Collection volumes 1 to 3 (whole series, plus cheaper but as my friend says it's like the Greatest Hits of PS2 for ADV).

This movie was like they pulled out of the manga (I'm guessing) chronologically in the manga two years ahead. I was told the Japanese had the manga/novel prior to this movie, having them understand but the majority of us US mainstream fans left in the dark. I rented it, got progessively pissed off not knowing what the hell was going on. Prince of Darkness was and is like a complete stranger to me...kinda like the relationship between Yurika and Akito in begining of the series...as if we only have good memories of the series. I just felt more nostalgic and empty at the end. WHICH PROMPTED ME TO (eventually) BUY THE WHOLE SERIES instead TO GET A FIX like an otaku junkie.

Friends commented it was basically for those Ruri Hoshino fans out there. The only connection I saw between the series and this motion picture is the fact that since Ruri has grown physically (she can't get more mature intellectually than she was in the series) SHE'S ALSO NOW CHASING AKITO. (Maybe not in the sense as Yurika, Megumi, Ryoko, Inez, Erina, etc. but still)

I would have to say that while i am not dissapointed i have found that i am not particularly enthusiastic about it. I love the anime series and my friends have started calling me Akito after the main charachters name and now i am almost ashamed of it. The movie I believe made no sense whatsoever, and could have used alot more work especially for the amount of time spent working on it i believe it should have been better. Plus ADV Films spent way too much time with the dubbing which only added to the wait time. I recommend this movie ONLY to hardcore MSN Fans.

So sad... Not pathetic sad, but like crying your eyes out sad. Like OMG so sad!
Martian Successor Nadesico was a marvel in Japan and its humor and spoof was both unique and very tasteful (at least to me it was). The ending of Nadesico also was unique and tasteful, since it hinted of a sequel and "didn't". But this movie, sad as it is, ISN'T Nadesico!

Taking two years after the end, Ruri is the established hero and has matured greatly and has a new crew and seems dense as ever. Bosen jumping is still the "hot-button" in the universe, and while the war between the earth and the Jovians are over, everyone wants just a little more control than the other.

One thing that made me happy was the appearance of the movie. The characters are in spirits just the way they should be! However those who wish to try this movie, be warned, you will initially feel like you are missing something!!

Most wonder where are Akito and Yurika, and who wouldn't? Both of them were awesome leads offering humor and awe, rather cheesily. But alas Akito is not the same, as he is battle-hardened ruthless, less chatty, but still the same hero. Yurika, on the other hand, has screen time, but doesn't voice nearly as much as she did in the series... Most find that without this two characters, Nadesico is lost. I'm sure that is how everyone feels but the message is still the same as the series was, and that is: no matter how much people change, who they are can never be forgotton or let go by people who love and want them.

Honestly I HATED the beginning, but LOVED the ending!
SPOILERS: Everyone skip until you see when. Akito lost his senses of a cook in order to be strong enough to save Yurika, this made me almost cry because it proved how much he loved Yurika. Akito's Aestivalis appears black and souless, but the ending made me happy, he shed his armor revealing his classic purple model from the series! Showing that the old Akito exists! His mech "crys" to show how he's missed the real Akito. What happened next was... un-necessary, but nevertheless good.
WHEN

OVERALL: Prince of Darkness is a not-so-direct sequel to the series, people will find the humor here unique and quirky as ever, but in different manners than before. I felt TOed at first, but PoD is a great movie and has some of the greatest plot twists ever seen in anime!