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Plot Synopsis

No plot synopsis or other information available for Martian Successor Nadesico

Story & Characters

Please note, this review only relates to the movie (Prince of Darkness. A separate review for the TV series is available here: http://reviews.minitokyo.net/1279/martian-successor-nadesico/

Martian Successor Nadesico makes a return to the big screen. Set a few years after the end of the TV series, the alliance between Earth and the Jovians resulted in a network of Boson Jump portals providing fast transport for suitably equipped ships throughout the region. As may be expected, this network comes under threat and the Nadesico comes back into action to sort things out.

The primary character from the original series that comes to the fore in the movie is Ruri. Now the captain of the Nadesico B, it falls to Ruri with some new crew members and a reprisal of most of the originals to solve the mystery and the threat to humanity from a splinter faction destroying the galactic transport network. The cast from the original series has moved on after their tour on the original Nadesico and, for most, have returned to civilian life. Two main characters have more-or-less disappeared entirely, and their disappearance underpins the current threat to humanity.

Sounds promising - but the delivery is, in short, somewhat disappointing. It appears that this movie was created solely to build on the fan-base developed from the original series, particularly those fans of Ruri as the story itself is very superficial and limp. Action scenes just do not hit the mark and the comedy elements that made the original series enjoyable have been sacrificed for what is essentially a reunion story of sorts. The large cast brought back for the so-called reunion now becomes a series of cameo spots. Finally, an extensive storyline and set of character relationships built from the original series is compressed into 90 minutes and glossed over or omitted entirely.

As suggested above, many of the original characters are brought back into the movie. With the main attention being focused on Ruri, the other characters are fundamentally pushed to the sideline. Ruri maintains her usual poise and, if anything, becomes even cuter (which is probably what was intended) in her more mature incarnation. Her two new "sidekicks" convey the extrovert playboy (Saburota) and innocent naive younger "relative" (Hari) quite well and are equally superficial in relation to the story.

In summary, a movie that ostensibly showed great potential - but is a disappointment in its execution. Characters are generally faithful (if you can tolerate cameos only), but the story is the major letdown in this case with a major case of plot schizophrenia where it couldn't make up its mind between being a drama or a comedy.

Rating

5 (moderate)

Art

Produced in 1998, the visuals for the movie show a decent budget being thrown at it and demonstrate what would have been cutting technology of the time. Attention to detail is substantial with lots of pop-up windows for computer displays being used - even more than in the original TV series. The pop-ups also convey a lot of the comedy elements by floating around, consolidating, and distorting at particularly emotional times (e.g. anger, aggression, etc.). Fortunately, the original visual displays are retained without recourse to overlays or other treatment, thereby maintaining the integrity of the visuals without the obvious interference as exhibited in the original TV series. Other designs, such as mecha and ships were also well detailed and appropriate to the context of the show. Some CGI artwork was used, mainly for effects such as the gravity wave cannon.

Characters have been given a spruce-up while maintaining a lot of their original charm, as may be expected in the movie version. Some characters have undergone some minor redesign (e.g. Ryoko), but most of them retain their original designs.

From a technical point, the colours on the transfer create no issues when viewed on LCD or CRT displays. Mostly bright colours and scenery are used in this movie, and there is no evidence of bleeding or tearing of colour during pan shots (at least on the Region 4 version).

In summary: Nothing to complain about in this section - and fortunately no obtrusive overlays.

Rating

8 (good)

Sound

Primary listening to this movie was on the Japanese audio track, with occasional spot-checks to the two English tracks for some general comparisons. Three audio tracks were provided on this release (Japanese 2.0, English 2.0, English 5.1). Each of the audio tracks provided clear direction with dialogue and sound effects consistent with the video. The English 5.1 track, as may be expected, had a bit more "oomph" with good use of the low frequency channel (through the subwoofer). I always find it interesting how an original stereo (2.0) mix can be up-mixed to 5.1 with varying levels of success. In this case, it wasn't all that stunning and the choice to stick with the Japanese track was an easy one to make (such as when Hari's English voice sounded far more mature than expected - and portrayed by the Japanese voice). Most of the cast from the original series returned for their respective characters.

Music was unremarkable in its own right with what was present generally reflecting similar tracks from the TV series, only with some minor re-arrangement but not necessarily an improvement.

In summary: A stable audio mix with some minor improvement to the English voice acting (i.e. Spike Spencer) - but nothing overly outstanding.

Rating

6 (average)

Presentation

Nadesico: Prince of Darkness was at the time the subject of serious hype as fans got to see the Nadesico franchise adapted to the big screen. The Madman release (Region 4) only provided the basics for the movie -- i.e. the movie itself. Extras were limited to a few Madman trailers of upcoming titles and bore no relation to the movie itself. Then again, with a single-sided single-layer (DVD-5) DVD used, there wasn't much opportunity to provide anything else. I'd expect the Region 1 release was similar in the sparse provision of any extras as Madman is the distributor for many titles to Australia and New Zealand from US companies like ADV Films, Pioneer, etc.

The expectations for the movie after seeing and enjoying the original TV series were quite high; and, as a consequence, the disappointment in the movie itself was substantial. It became patently obvious that the movie was created to provide greater spotlight to Ruri, who was presumably a major object of fans from the original series. Again, this was reflected clearly in the superficial treatment of the rest of the large cast in terms of cameos. Combine this with a very abrupt finish that doesn't provide any clear conclusion, aside for the final quip from Ruri, a movie that could have been rather promising, in short, doesn't deliver.

The movie comes with a M rating (Mature Audiences 15+) here in Australia with modest levels of violence and adult themes - you get to see conflict and stuff being blown up. However the bottom line, in this reviewer's opinion, is the movie itself can only be recommended to serious fans of the Nadesico franchise. Anyone else will be disappointed.

Rating

5 (moderate)

Final Verdict

5.67 (average)

Reviewed by davidh01, 1y 2wk ago