Martian Successor Nadesico Vol-4: Paradigm Shifts (1996)
Animation Production: Xebec/TV Tokyo/Yomiko
Released by: ADV Films
Episodes: 13-16
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

Ah! We’ve reached the midway point of Martian Successor Nadesico! This is usually when we reach the conclusion to the mid-series climax or series finale (if the show gets cancelled early); although I guess maybe that’s more applicable to shows with a longer run, meh, what do I know.

In any case the point is that we are now halfway through the show so it’s time to put some meat back into the storyline and start laying out the themes and subjects that are to be explored as they lead to the show’s finale. Fortunately volume four of Nadesico does just that.

Story

"A new military initiative takes the Nedesico by surprise and Akito finds himself cut adrift, but Erina’s secret plans for the young pilot are sabotaged when the Jovians stage a daring series of raids on the city. Megumi and minato are taken hostage, the Gekiganger team takes over and the entire universe gets turned upside down and inside out as the shocking truth about the Jovians is finally unveiled."-- ADV's Martian Successor Nadesico Page

Review

This DVD starts on a rather cheerful and joyous note as we join the crew of the Nadesico, which is hard at work preparing for several Christmas parties and festivities to commemorate the holidays. However not all is as good at it first seems as the ship is recalled and new employee rules are implemented, which result in Akito’s dismissal from his duties onboard. This leaves our heroic cook in a dismal situation as he finds himself without a purpose in a city he is not familiar with. Thankfully he is found again…by Nergal!?

After his removal from the Nadesico Akito is recruited once more by Nergal, this time though, he is asked to join their live organism Boson Jump research group, which so far has netted no success. They believe that Akito might prove to be the key to solving the problems they’ve been having in their experiments and hope to use him as a guinea pig of sorts.

Refusing to take part in them he leaves Nergal’s headquarters; as he does this the laboratory comes under sudden attack by the Jovians, forcing the Nadesico to respond to the threat, unfortunately they are not able to defeat the enemy as they employ the use of Boson Jumps to throw of their attackers. Now the only hope for the city and our heroic crew is Akito and his special ability to survive Boson Jumps!

The other episodes in this DVD manage to do something that none of the earlier ones have managed so far…surprise us! The revelations that unfold in episodes 15-16 are the kind of plot twists that really bring a show onto its own and get us to really stay glued to it as it reaches its finale. Episode 14 is a series recap, but a rather unique one that takes the Nadesico’s in-show anime, Gekiganger 3, and turns the tables on fans as it becomes the show we watch with Nadesico being the in-show anime. It was quite a brilliant idea to execute the classic recap episode this way and it sure made for a lot of fun as the Gekiganger team steals an idea from the Gekiganger crew in order to defeat that episode’s enemy robot in their world.

I have to say (without giving away too much), the way that the whole Gekiganger mythos is worked into the last two episodes in this DVD is genius! I really did not anticipate in any way, shape, or form the revelations we are shown in these stories. This made my anticipation for the next set of episodes that much more feverish.

The animation as it has been throughout the series is solid, with some uneven quality here and there. Episode 14 does however show the genius of the staff working on this show as it perfectly captures the feel, narrative style, coloring, and editing of the classic 1970’s super robot shows it tries to parody. The music continued its solid performance and helped round things off quite nicely.

The Nadesico: Paradigm Shifts DVD included the following episodes:

Episode 13: "There is no Single Truth"
Episode 14: "Let's Go Hot Blooded Anime"
Episode 15: "The Significant Other From a Star Far Away"
Episode 16: "The Beginning of Nadesico's War"

This DVD came with various extras including character biographies (specifically the Gekiganger 3 Cast), textless opening& closing, 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

Legendary Anime? Seems to be getting there!

Loved this volume of Martian Successor Nadesico. The fact that it goes from the one-shot stories from volume three and back into the main plot is great! Especially since it really moves the story in just three episodes. Can't wait to see where they go with it now! Very highly recommended!

Jeffrey Couto