With the revelation as to the true identities of the
Jovian Lizards, the war has changed for just about everyone on the Nadesico. For those like Akatsuki and Erina, it means
trying to cover up inconvenient truths and pushing up time tables. For some like Akito, a darker side has been
uncovered that’s starting to freak out even those closest to him. Everyone’s trying to cope but if the crew is
to overcome this startling news, they’ll have to come together like never
before. Can ghosts from the past and
even Gekiganger itself help guide the lost Nadesico crew and the Jovians onto a
path to peace?
Much to my relief, the series didn’t just let go of the
Jovian reveal. In fact, it ran with it
and changed a lot of the series dynamic, some ways for the better and
others…well maybe too much. This is
supposed to be a parody at heart. And
while there have been some dark moments, like the death of Guy and Yurika being
forced to sacrifice civilians to protect the ship, the show has never lost
sight of its fun heart. This week
definitely tested that heart and, at the end of the day, came out the better
for it despite some added darkness.
It didn’t get anymore clear how the big reveal affected
everyone than Akito himself. At first,
he believed only an Alien race from beyond the stars was capable of all the
destruction thus far. Learning the
Jovians are exiled humans from the moon, back for revenge, didn’t turn him off
from fighting. It had the opposite
affect, it awoke a hardened warrior in him.
His fight against Tsukumo pretty much set his new status quo in motion. He might have let him go to save Megumi and
Minato but his line about not wanting to know the line of the man he would end
up killing was chilling to the core. As
much as I wanted Akito and Megumi to finally break up, seeing a colder Akito do
it rather than the bumbling hero was harder to watch than I thought. It doesn’t help that the Jovians see
Gekiganger as their religion, something dear to Akito’s heart. It’s like if Aliens used Gundams against me,
I’m sure I’d be insanely pissed off too.
Akito is still there to be the bumbling hero when it matters. This dark turn, however, is something that
hopefully doesn’t corrupt him fully.
And then there’s the Admiral, Munetake, who up until now
has just been a loud and irritating voice shouting at everyone. His death kind of ranks up there with Shirley
from Code Geass and Anew from Gundam 00.
He’s a character who didn’t do much but they made his death pretty
tough. The lead up, with us finally
figuring out that he killed Guy way back when, and his looking at a photo of
his younger self, happy with his Admiral Father, brought up emotions I didn’t
know I could have about this character.
And then the clencher, Guy coming back as a ghost to forgive Munetake as
he went off on a suicide mission…jeez Nadesico, I miss the happy you but damn
this was good stuff.
And it didn’t stop there.
While not related to the Jovians, Ruri got a backstory episode and man
was it tough. Ruri’s always seemed a
little “artificial”, sometimes I wondered if she was an android. Nope, turns out she’s been genetically altered
to be the perfect interface with the Nadesico itself. Seeing her upbringing and detached childhood
was so sad…though it was funny to learn that “Idiots” or “Baka” was one of her
first words. It sucks that Ruri doesn’t
have much in terms of a mother and father.
But that no doubt makes Akito, Yurika and the Nadesico crew the only
real family she has. At the end of the
day, that’s something I’m sure Ruri will take to heart from this point on.
With so much drab it would seem almost impossible to cram
any joy in. Which is why the beauty
pagent is a little shocking in terms of a happy wake up call but it’s a welcome
one. We get to see everyone in swimsuits
and I mean all the girls. We get to see
Yurika sing the end credits song in full length. And as a special bonus, Ruri performs a song
of her own, “I Wanna be Your Number One” and man was it awesome. It’s funny that Nergal approved this in hopes
of picking a new captain to replace Yurika and while Yurika still won, there is
a subtle foreshadowing in this event that comes into play in a later
feature…but I’ll address that when we get there. We even got to see my girl Ryoko in some cute
underwear that even Akito had to admit he liked. Sigh, there may not be hope for him pairing
up with her (Akito and Yurika is an obvious conclusion now) but I’m sure this
made Ryoko’s day…though to save face she had to beat the hell out of his
Aestevalis.
Back to the Jovian development to wrap things up, I
should mention how Akatsuki, Erina and Nergal have apparently known about the
Jovian truth for some time now. I’m
surprised the crew doesn’t jump ship on this after finding out thanks to
Ruri. And I’m even more surprised
they’re ok with Akatsuki and Erina sticking around. Still, this crew tends to come to terms with
things pretty quickly and get on with life, no matter the hardships. It also helps the Nadesico has a kick ass
upgrade with new cannons and engines. It
allowed them to play a nice game battleship with a Jovian commander that was
very remiscent of the Star Trek Episode, Balance of Terror. There’s even Yurika getting a message of
respect from the commander she defeats…though she’s pissed he doesn’t know
she’s a woman. Still, Akatsuki and Erina
have an endgame and it involves Akito somehow (at least Erina wants him…yes in
that way as well as for her mission though she wont admit it) and I’m sure that
will all be revealed next week.
Sad to say but we’re approaching the end of Martian
Successor Nadesico. Will peace be
possible between Earth and the Jovians? What
are Nergal and Akatsuki up to? And what the hell is on Mars that everyone wants
so badly aka the secret to Bosen Jumping?
And who will Akito end up with when this mess is all over? That last one is kind of a given…even if you
were to guess someone else, Ruri would call you an “idiot”. The end comes for the Nadesico this
week. Let’s hope it can ride this train
of goodness right to the end.
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