Stuck on Earth for the time being, the Nadesico is off
conducting random strikes in Jovian occupied territory. The enemy, however, is the least of certain
peoples problems. There’s a ships
computer that seems to be having a temper tantrum and the possibility of the
crew being shuffled into the military. And yet there’s still time for Akito to duck and hide
from the expanding war for his heart between Yurikia, Megumi, Ryoko and…Erina
Won? Despite this, the crew looks like
it’s actually starting to work well together and the Jovians may very well have
an enemy to fear…that is until the crew of the Nadesico discovers who the
Jovians actually are. Oh and have you ever
wonder what the Gekiganger team thinks of Martian Successor Nadesico? Well, you’re about to fine oud.
The Jovians are people…or humans…and they just so happen
to be in love with Gekiganger. I think
Ruri’s dead pan delivery of “Oh My God”, says it all in the most entertaining
manner.
In a way, this big revelation is one of the best payoffs
to an unseen but brilliant payoff. I
mean Gekiganger has been such a big part of this series in small doses, almost
like a Trojan horse trope in a way. You wouldn’t
expect a twist like making this Anime within an Anime such an integral part
past being a beloved past time of the main character. But now we see that two of the Jovian Pilots
not only bear a striking resemblance to Ken and Joe from the Gekiganger TV
series but they also pilot Geikiganger themed mecha and talk the dialogue in
battle as if their lives depended on it.
It might piss Akito off that he’s been fighting other humans instead of
aliens but I cant wait til next week when we see more of the Jovians lifestyle,
if that ends up being the case anyway.
Of course, the big reveal of the identity of the Jovians
comes right after a clever clip show episode, seeing as how we’ve reached the
mid point of the series here. Sure we
got the pretty straight forward “story so far” plotline but it was perfectly
balanced by placing it within an episode of Gekiganger itself. It’s pretty meta in and of itself, having the
Anime loved by Akito being loved by the Gekiganger crew. It’s also used by their enemies as research
to use against them. Clip shows, for the
most part, are usually skippable episodes but this one was worth the watch for
this unique approach. And, like I said,
it was an unexpected but solid set up for the Jovian reveal at the end of the
following episode.
So did the rest of this week live up to these two
episodes? Actually, yeah. We got a couple of good stand alone episodes
which allowed Nadesico to have some fun with it’s premise and it’s characters
and got a good dose of holiday drama with a sort of tragic Christmas episode. Of the three, I really enjoyed the out of
control computer. For one, it allowed us
to see that Ruri actually cares about something in her own way. For most of the show so far, she’s looked
bored and has been calling everyone around her “idiots”. To see her get a little emotional at the
decision to scrap the ships AI, Omoikane, after it fired on enemy and allies
alike, is a nice move to give her some character development. Equally good was her practically pleading to
Akito for help. It seemed like she had a
soft spot for the hot shot pilot…until you found out his piloting skills were
needed for a fun segment where he entered the computer, changed into an
Aestevalis and even got to fight Omoikane’s vision of good and justice:
Gegikanger itself. This could have been
a forgettable one off but Nadesico did what it does best and had fun with the
premise. Plus Chibi Mecha Akito and a
tiny Ruri on his shoulder is a cute image.
The Christmas episode had it’s flaws but wasn’t bad
either. For starters, there’s the idea
that Minato and Hoari have been in a romance this whole time. I kind of comes out of left field and when
they start having “relationship problems” you don’t understand why cause you haven’t
been watching this as much. In truth, I’d
rather watch that develop than listen to Megumi whine about Akito not giving
her enough attention. As much as I hold
out for Akito and Ryoko, the Pilot Cook is only meant for Yurika and it
shows. In other words, Akito and Megumi
just needs to end. Also, there’s the
fact that Akito was replaced with another pilot briefly…and she was killed off
just as fast. There’s no reason to feel
sad about this. Had she been integrated
and allowed to stay a few more episodes, then maybe. However, her death is one of the more
dramatic moments of the series so far, so again balance is achieved. I also didn’t buy that Akito would be off the
ship for very long. The show just isn’t capable
of convincing me he’s in danger of dying or deserting the Nadescio for an
extended period of time…it’s like destiny…or magnets…or something. Ok so the Christmas episode had a lot for me
to nitpick after all.
We left the Nadesico crew at the dawn of the next half of
the series. With the Jovians revealed as
human, how will humanity react?
According to Akatsuki, who tried to kill the Nadesico’s Jovian prisoner,
this is a bad reveal to show to the people of Earth. Akito, on the other hand, looks ready for
war. I’m hoping we get some more time
with this new development next week and don’t sacrifice it right away to kill
time for a few more episodes. Who knows,
maybe Gekiganger will end up saving the world in it’s own way…huh, who would’ve
thought Anime would be the answer to world peace?
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