Martian Successor Nadesico Vol-3: Danger Zones (1996)
Animation Production: Xebec/TV Tokyo/Yomiko
Released by: ADV Films
Episodes: 9-12
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

Is Martian Successor Nadesico the greatest anime of all time as voted by on by Japanese fans or rather, a great show that manages to mix humor, romance, and exciting mecha battles into one of the most unique anime TV series in recent years?

This is largely a subjective call as certainly the title of "greatest anime ever" made could be contested by quite literally hundreds of shows and movies. Regardless of whether Nadesico merits this designation or not though, one thing is certain about it, it’s one heck of a fun show to watch.

Story

"As the crew of most powerful ship in the fleet, the Nadesico team has to be ready to fight anywhere, anytime and at a moments notice. Missions to rescue a missing VIP and recover a fallen Chulip are only warm-ups for a deadly battle against an army of tanks and a new weapon that can envelop the Earth in a miniature black hole! But the worst is yet to come, because the ship’s main computer is starting to develop a mind of it’s own, and it’s not quite sure which side of the battle it should be on"-- ADV's Martian Successor Nadesico Page

Review

We pick up the story as the Nadesico engages in a new mission to rescue a goodwill ambassador that was left behind in one of the artic regions of Earth. This brings the Nadesico and her crew into dangerous territory as the ship must deal not only with their rescue mission and enemy forces, but also some of the worst weather they have yet faced.

After completing this mission the Nadesico takes flight for more pleasant parts as our heroic cast travels to a tropical island paradise to investigate the appearance of a unusual Jovian Chulip. The other two episodes like these first two consist of individual one-shot stories that revolve around defeating enemy forces and dealing with internal conflict as the crew takes on a powerful Jovian cannon in episode eleven and then face down their own ship as its computer malfunctions and attacks friendly forces alongside those of the Jovians.

Volume three really had a different feel from the previous DVD’s in the series in that it consisted mostly of self-contained stories that didn’t really do much to advance the main plot. Instead we take a break from the main storyline and take a side trip that for the most part serves to show us the characters in different situations and to help us spend more time getting to know them in ways we might have not otherwise had the opportunity to.

Interestingly, most of the character development we get with these episodes revolves around romance. In a way it’s like the show almost turned into a Tenchi Muyo-like series, in which the story’s male protagonist is constantly being hunted down by the female cast in an eternal quest for love and happiness. This leads to some hilarious scenes such as Akito being served several badly cooked meals by Yurika, Megumi, and Ryoko, as they desperately fight to get his attention.

Aside from this my favorite moments in this collection of episodes were the Aestivalis song that was played during the friendship/teamwork montage that ran in the second half of episode eleven and the scenes in episode twelve were Akito and Ruri travel deep into the heart of the Nadesico’s computer, where Akito must fight the system’s conciousness using Gekiganger 3 against the computer, which has chosen the bravest and most noble figure it has met in its many travels as its own avatar…Gekiganger 3!!

The animation as before was very good, especially during some of the mecha battle scenes. Some consistency problems exists in with some of the drawings, but it was something that didn’t detract at all from the overall presentation. The music soundtrack was solid throughout as well and as mentioned above I LOVED the Aestivalis song.

The Nadesico: Danger Zones DVD included the following episodes:

Episode 9: "The Miracle Operation of the Kiss"
Episode 10: "The Dangers of Femininity"
Episode 11: "Finding Yourself in a Routine Plot"
Episode 12: "Those Unforgettable Days"

This DVD came with various extras including character biographies, textless openings & closings, a Nadesico trailer, and previews for other ADV products. Overall it was a very high quality package. The video transfer was sharp and colorful and the audio came through perfectly on both the Japanese and English soundtracks.

Conclusion

A Great show that keeps getting better.

This volume featured particularly funny stories and situations so I ended up enjoying it quite a bit. Very highly recommended to all anime fans and due to its various Gekiganger 3 scenes I also recommend it to fans of classic super robot anime action, who will undoubtedly get a kick out of them.

Jeffrey Couto