Martian Successor Nadesico Vol-6: End Game (1996)
Animation Production: Xebec/TV Tokyo/Yomiko
Released by: ADV Films
Episodes: 22-26
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

…and so we arrive to the final volume in ADV’s DVD release of Martian Successor Nadesico. It’s been a fun journey and it certainly made for an interesting anime experience so far, but how does it do in the final stretch? I was very curious to see how the series concluded as there were so many stories to wrap up I wasn’t quite sure if they would be able to pull it off or not.

So please join me as we take a closer look at the final episodes of Nadesico and bid farewell to our heroic cast.

Story

"The Earth and Jovian fleets converge upon Mars as the Nadescio and Nergal frantically battle to uncover the secrets buried in the ancient city. Driven past the point of human endurance, the crew of the Nadesico must unlock the mysteries hidden within their own pasts in order to save the future of the human race! It’s the epic battle to end all battles in the spectacular climatic conclusion of Martian Successor Nadesico!"-- ADV's Martian Successor Nadesico Page

Review

We pick up the story as Yukina (younger sister of Tsukumo of the Jovian forces) sneaks onboard the Nadesico. Her goal, to hunt down Miss Haruka, the Earth girl her brother has fallen for. She eventually finds her target, but quickly comes to realize that she is not a bad person and that she might be a good bride for her brother after all. This leads to the acceptance of Yukina as a guest and friend of the Nadesico and another voice in support of peace negotiations between the Earth and Jovian forces.

An effort is made to begin peace negotiations, but unfortunately high-level players in both the Earth and Jovian camps have other ideas. This results in a number of betrayals on both sides that lead to a crisis unlike any before. Peace negotiations are done away with and the crew of the Nadesico is forced to abandon their plans and their ship as Nergal’s Chairman takes over direct command of the mighty vessel.

Interestingly, this leads to many of our favorite characters becoming fugitives or pursuing other careers under strict surveillance of Nergal, which is trying to keep their exploits a confidential matter. Only a carefully orchestrated plan by Ruri, who has been hiding out deep inside the Nadesico the whole time is able bring everyone back together onboard the ship to take on the Earth defense forces and the Jovian invaders one more time.

Now it’s up to the our cast of unlikely heroes to take on the Jovian forces and uncover the secrets behind Boson Jumping, which lie deep inside the red planet, Mars. Will they be able to succeed in bringing about an end to the war? What will they uncover deep within the surface of Mars? More importantly do we get to see a conclusion to the in-show anime series Gekiganger 3!?

As expected this was a fun and action packed finale to what so far has been a great series. While storywise the writers really rushed some subplots and brought about startling revelations, which could have benefited from another episode or two of exposition, it did prove to be worthy of being a series finale for a show like this.

I have to say that my favorite moment in this DVD was when everyone sat down to watch Tsukumo’s special Gekiganger highlights tape, which resulted in everyone from Yurika to the maintenance and support crews rallying around Gekiganger 3 and what the series stood for, trying to mirror those lessons in their real world conflict. This was just great, especially when Yurika tells Akito that she finally understand him thanks to having seen Gekiganger 3!

I should also point out that much like Nadesico the in-show anime series also reaches its finale within the confines of the last couple of episodes of the main series. Its ending is basically a take on the movie Mazinger-Z VS Dark General, except it’s setup in the Moon. Seeing that segment was probably worth the price of admission all on its own!

Taking everything in after having seen this DVD I would have to say that while not worthy of the title greatest anime ever, Nadesico did rise to the occasion as a very memorable and rather unique series. I do think it should be checked out by all anime fans as it contains many genuinely good moments. I do feel that the show could have used a couple of more episodes to flesh things out, but the way it was done didn’t really take that much away for me, especially in light of all the great things they did throw in at the end.

Production-wise everything pretty much lived up to what I expected, smooth & consistent animation, with some nice highlight scenes sprinkled throughout for effect. The music at the end was great and really helped drive many key scenes. All in all a great job was done with these last episodes.

The Nadesico: End Game DVD included the following episodes:

Episode 22: "Protect the Visitor"
Episode 23: "A Place We Call Home"
Episode 24: "Ubiquitous Righteousness"
Episode 25: "Being Myself, Being Yourself"
Episode 26: "For the Lady We Will Meet Someday"

The video transfer was sharp and colorful and the audio came through perfectly on both the Japanese and English soundtracks.

Conclusion

Martian Successor Nadesico was a great anime series that should be checked out by everyone. I highly recommend the entire series to anime fans, especially those who enjoy mecha or space opera series.

So long Gekiganger 3, thanks for the memories! Now if only someone would release the Gekiganger 3 OVA all would be right in the world.

Jeffrey Couto