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R2 DVD Reviews
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Monday, 07 December 2009 00:00 |
 A war against a faceless race of robotic fighting machines is one thing - fighting a war against fellow humans is something altogether different. Nadesico is about to switch gears from the former to the latter, and it does it in a way that I don't think any other scene has ever quite managed, before or after. Let's go with some hot-blooded anime..!
13 - There is No Single Truth
The ability of a Chulip to transport ships long distances in an instant is of course of huge interest to the Earth military - but despite many tests, all efforts at getting the Chulip technology (or "boson jumping", as it's been termed) to work have ended in failure & the death of the test subjects. Except for the Nadesico's accidental transit from Mars, of course. With the ship's new helmswoman Erina playing a role in the research into the technology, there are no prizes for guessing that she'll have something up her sleeve. Not that anyone on the ship seems to care - Christmas is approaching quickly, and with that being one of the most romantic times of the year, love is in the air. But Akito's just been kicked off the ship, which is ruining the holiday plans for both Megumi and Yurika...
14 - Let's Go with Hot-Blooded Anime
At the Kokobunji Hyper Laboratory, the Gekigangar team are eagerly following the exploits of the Nadesico and its crew, and thanks to the obsessive explanations of one Inez Fressange, you can bet they're well aware of the show's backstory. But just in case we missed it, here a recap episode with a difference...
15 - The Significant Other From a Star Far Away
The appearance of the mysterious Jovian robot has put the cat amongst the pigeons a bit, with UAEF and Nergal suddenly at odds again over what to do next, and both looking to turn the situation to their advantage. The Nadesico is on its way to the Moon to pick up Akito - his boson jump had transported him there - and both Inez and Erina are keen to speak to him. There also appears to be an intruder on board the ship, and the technical crew have been assigned to track him down - but their tactics are, shall we say, a little unusual. As is their target. Meanwhile, Mr Goat and Minato engage in a little on-board romance, but Goat's insistence on trying to get her away from the front lines doesn't go down too well...
16 - The Beginning of Nadesico's War
With help from Megumi and Minato, Shiratori has escaped from the Nadesico - and he's taken the two women with him. It's not the best-planned getaway, though, with the shuttle they're using being far too slow to outrun Yurika and the others who are in pursuit. Fortunately, the Jovian fleet at the Moon soon comes to their rescue, and Megumi and Minato get to experience Jovian hospitality first-hand. Meanwhile, the news that they've been fighting humans all this time gives the Nadesico crew cause for thought, while the need for more chulip crystals to use in boson jump research means the ship must head back to Mars...
First up, that recap episode. Nadesico is liberally sprinkled with Gekigangar references - it's one of the things that makes the show almost unique - but usually all you get is a little snippet of the anime, and nothing more. The recap turns the premise on its head, and makes Nadesico an anime within a greater Gekigangar episode, having the Gekigangar crew watching an episode of Nadesico to see what happens next. It's a neat little twist, and turns the usually dull recap into something that's actually worth watching.
The rest of the disc is devoted to turning the war on its head, with the revelation that the Jovian Lizards are really Jovian Humans, descendants of humans banished from Earth 100 years earlier after agitating for Lunar independence. Forced to find a new home, they ended up at the moons of Jupiter, where they found the abandoned technology of a long-gone race and began rebuilding. Unfortunately, the only entertainment they had with them was a bunch of Gekigangar episodes, and after watching them repeatedly over the course of 100 years, it's turned into something of a religion. And so we get a nation who live their lives by the tenets of anime - and it's great fun to watch. It's like Gai, replicated and cloned into a whole race of Gai's, and it's the show's master stroke.
We get the usual Nadesico standbys, too - another edition of Naze Nani Nadesico, the continued romantic tussles between Yurika, Megumi and Ryoko over Akito's affections, a few other relationships to figure out, and the Earth military continuing to make arseholes of themselves. There's never any chance to get bored, you're usually only a few moments away from something that will at least raise a snigger, and there's a good mix of action and drama. Something for everyone, really - which was, of course, what the series set out to do back in its heyday. And it's still go the "touch" now that made it so entertaining then. Well worth getting if you can still dig it up.
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