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Martian Successor Nadesico

Genre: Sci-fi/comedy/anime

Martian Successor Nadesico (Kidô senkan Nadeshiko 1996) is an anime and a manga series that was written by Kia Asamiya. The series takes place in the year 2196.

Table of contents
1 Plot overview
2 Review
3 Major Characters:
4 Theme Songs
5 Links

Plot overview

When Earth's colonies on Mars are suddenly attacked by alien invaders known as the Jovian Lizards, civilian contractor Nergal decides to come to the Earth's aid by constructing powerful space battleships, the first of which is known as the ND-001 Nadesico (hence the series' name). Unfortunately, the crew they choose are a little unorthodox, although they are good at their jobs.

The main character, Akito Tenkawa, only wants to be a cook, however, he is constantly called on to be a pilot of one of the Nadesico's Aestevalis combat robots. While on board the Nadesico, Akito has more problems to deal with than just the Jovians. Pretty much all the female members of the crew seem to be head over heels on love with Akito, and all he wants to do is cook and watch Gekigangar III.

Review

While Nadesico is definitely a good series, it lacks the serious air of more popular anime such as Neon Genesis Evangelion and Gundam Wing. Although, it tends to be a little more light hearted, this ties in well with some of the major plot developments.

The series pokes fun at anime in general and mecha anime in particular. In addition to Gekigangar III, the anime in an anime, there are many other anime refrences. One of the characters is a hentai and magical girl seiyuu before joining the crew, another is a fangirl who likes to draw her own lemon shounen-ai manga doujinshi, while a third is an otaku who bases his entire life on Gekigangar III. In one episode the ship holds an anime convention, complete with a viewing marathon of Gekigangar, people engaged in cosplay, and tie-in merchandising.

The TV series ran for 26 episodes. A Gekigangar III compilation OVA was also released, as well as a sequel movie called Martian Successor Nadesico: The Prince of Darkness that takes place several years after the main series.

Major Characters:

Theme Songs

Opening Ending

Links

ADV Films
Nadesico Thumbnail Theatre - Watch for spoilers.
IMDb's MSN page