"Let's go! Gekigangar!"
I realized I didn't do some things that I was supposed to do so I guess I should use the time to do them now.
Martian Successor Nadesico Review
Episode 01: To Go Like a Man!
Even though I finished watching the series, I still wasn't quite sure why the show was called Martian Successor Nadesico. Later in this episode, it is revealed that Nadesico is actually a space battleship and Mobile Battleship Nadesico made so much more sense. Nevermind the fact that a battleship would be given such a feminine name.
There are a lot of things a viewer must pay attention to in the first episode as they will be explained or part of the plot point later on, such as the young girl named Ai whom Akito Tenkawa, the protagonist met during the invasion of Mars and how Akito managed to escape the attack and somehow ended up on Earth. I think the most important point would be Gekigangar as it plays a huge role in this anime.
Most of the main characters have also been introduced (but their names revealed later on, except for the Prospector, as everyone just calls him that). As I've mentioned before, Akito Tenkawa is the protagonist, a down-to-earth young man who aspires to be a cook but was fired from his job because of his intense fear of the Jovian lizards and that the restaurant owner did not want people to think that he was "sheltering gun shy pilots". The white markings imbedded on Akito's right hand indicated that he has some control over certain machines (like the tractor he used to fend away one of the lizards in the beginning of the episode). Why he has this power is explained later on, although it's more like a small trivia.
Yurika Misumaru is the female main and is the ditzy, "well-endowed" captain of the Nadesico. She meets Akito on the way to Nergal Heavy Industries and asks him if they know each other. When she left, Akito picks up a picture frame containing a picture of himself when he was a child and looking at the other person in the picture, he realizes that Yurika was his childhood friend and that he definitely knows her. It is also hinted that Yurika harbors strong feelings for Akito.
Other crew members are Mr. Goat, Mr. Prospector, a voice actress named Megumi, Yurika's bestfriend/fangirl bait Jun and others who are unnamed in this episode. The most remarkable character would definitely be Gai Daidoji (his real name is Jiro Yamada, but insists that Gai is the real name of his soul), a pilot hired by Nergal. I guess Mr. Prospector wasn't kidding about getting the best people from their careers regardless of personality problems, but Gai is just way too awesome.
The characters are also more fleshed out by the excellent voice acting of their seiyuus. If you know me, I'm a big fan of Yuji Ueda and anime fans might recognize him as either Sanosuke Sagara from Rurouni Kenshin, Keitaro Urashima from Love Hina, Takeshi from Pokemon and many other roles (Spada Belforma from Tales of Innocence if you're a Tales fan). Yurika is voiced by Houkou Kuwashima. I'm not very knowledgeable about her but to a Tales fan, she played the role of Presea Combatir from Tales of Symphonia. Gai Daidoji is voiced by Seki Tomokazu whom Tales fans would surely know as Stahn Aileron from Tales of Destiny and has done a very good job with bringing such an upbeat character to life. Omi Minami (who also happens to be married to fellow seiyuu Yuji Ueda) plays the role of the purple-haired girl (I've decided to not reveal her name for now... If I can recall correctly it wasn't mentioned in this episode just yet) who also has played another purple-haired girl by the name of Meredy from Tales of Eternia. These are just the few seiyuus that I've mentioned and used them as an example since I'm more familiar with them. Be sure to go check out your favorite character's seiyuu, if you do have one already by just watching this episode. I also advice watching the anime with English subs. I never tried the dub, but you don't want to pass up an all-star cast now, do you?
As for other things, I don't think I would be abe to get into too much detail when it comes to animation, artwork and music, but as for all three, I'm satisfied with them in this episode. The animation is pretty smooth, the artwork is nice and the music is alright. I wasn't sure whether I like the opening and ending themes at first, but they grew on me, You Get To Burning faster than Watashi Rashiku.
The memorable moments of this episode for me would definitely be Gai Daidoji's introduction. His antics while on the Aestivalis, the Gundam mecha equivalent of Nadesico, were hilarious and would always make me laugh out loud. Another one would be when Akito was fighting the Jovian Lizards, Grasshoppers and Zeroes (enemy machine types, by the way) and the orchestra instrumental version of You Get to Burning, the opening theme song playing on the background. Perhaps the BGM itself made the scene memorable for me. Or maybe it was the sort-of epic scream Akito let out when he was angry and unleashed a punch on one of the enemy machines. It would have been better if Yuji Ueda's voice didn't sound like it was cracking.
Overall, it's a very good first episode. It's not a slow start and not a fast one either. I have to admit that I was hooked to Nadesico by watching this first episode, but some viewers might have to watch a bit more to get into.
Rating: A
There, done with the review. Might do some more later.
EDIT: Or maybe I'll just do that tomorrow.
As for the Persona 4 hype... this topic.
Martian Successor Nadesico Review
Episode 01: To Go Like a Man!
Even though I finished watching the series, I still wasn't quite sure why the show was called Martian Successor Nadesico. Later in this episode, it is revealed that Nadesico is actually a space battleship and Mobile Battleship Nadesico made so much more sense. Nevermind the fact that a battleship would be given such a feminine name.
There are a lot of things a viewer must pay attention to in the first episode as they will be explained or part of the plot point later on, such as the young girl named Ai whom Akito Tenkawa, the protagonist met during the invasion of Mars and how Akito managed to escape the attack and somehow ended up on Earth. I think the most important point would be Gekigangar as it plays a huge role in this anime.
Most of the main characters have also been introduced (but their names revealed later on, except for the Prospector, as everyone just calls him that). As I've mentioned before, Akito Tenkawa is the protagonist, a down-to-earth young man who aspires to be a cook but was fired from his job because of his intense fear of the Jovian lizards and that the restaurant owner did not want people to think that he was "sheltering gun shy pilots". The white markings imbedded on Akito's right hand indicated that he has some control over certain machines (like the tractor he used to fend away one of the lizards in the beginning of the episode). Why he has this power is explained later on, although it's more like a small trivia.
Yurika Misumaru is the female main and is the ditzy, "well-endowed" captain of the Nadesico. She meets Akito on the way to Nergal Heavy Industries and asks him if they know each other. When she left, Akito picks up a picture frame containing a picture of himself when he was a child and looking at the other person in the picture, he realizes that Yurika was his childhood friend and that he definitely knows her. It is also hinted that Yurika harbors strong feelings for Akito.
Other crew members are Mr. Goat, Mr. Prospector, a voice actress named Megumi, Yurika's bestfriend/fangirl bait Jun and others who are unnamed in this episode. The most remarkable character would definitely be Gai Daidoji (his real name is Jiro Yamada, but insists that Gai is the real name of his soul), a pilot hired by Nergal. I guess Mr. Prospector wasn't kidding about getting the best people from their careers regardless of personality problems, but Gai is just way too awesome.
The characters are also more fleshed out by the excellent voice acting of their seiyuus. If you know me, I'm a big fan of Yuji Ueda and anime fans might recognize him as either Sanosuke Sagara from Rurouni Kenshin, Keitaro Urashima from Love Hina, Takeshi from Pokemon and many other roles (Spada Belforma from Tales of Innocence if you're a Tales fan). Yurika is voiced by Houkou Kuwashima. I'm not very knowledgeable about her but to a Tales fan, she played the role of Presea Combatir from Tales of Symphonia. Gai Daidoji is voiced by Seki Tomokazu whom Tales fans would surely know as Stahn Aileron from Tales of Destiny and has done a very good job with bringing such an upbeat character to life. Omi Minami (who also happens to be married to fellow seiyuu Yuji Ueda) plays the role of the purple-haired girl (I've decided to not reveal her name for now... If I can recall correctly it wasn't mentioned in this episode just yet) who also has played another purple-haired girl by the name of Meredy from Tales of Eternia. These are just the few seiyuus that I've mentioned and used them as an example since I'm more familiar with them. Be sure to go check out your favorite character's seiyuu, if you do have one already by just watching this episode. I also advice watching the anime with English subs. I never tried the dub, but you don't want to pass up an all-star cast now, do you?
As for other things, I don't think I would be abe to get into too much detail when it comes to animation, artwork and music, but as for all three, I'm satisfied with them in this episode. The animation is pretty smooth, the artwork is nice and the music is alright. I wasn't sure whether I like the opening and ending themes at first, but they grew on me, You Get To Burning faster than Watashi Rashiku.
The memorable moments of this episode for me would definitely be Gai Daidoji's introduction. His antics while on the Aestivalis, the Gundam mecha equivalent of Nadesico, were hilarious and would always make me laugh out loud. Another one would be when Akito was fighting the Jovian Lizards, Grasshoppers and Zeroes (enemy machine types, by the way) and the orchestra instrumental version of You Get to Burning, the opening theme song playing on the background. Perhaps the BGM itself made the scene memorable for me. Or maybe it was the sort-of epic scream Akito let out when he was angry and unleashed a punch on one of the enemy machines. It would have been better if Yuji Ueda's voice didn't sound like it was cracking.
Overall, it's a very good first episode. It's not a slow start and not a fast one either. I have to admit that I was hooked to Nadesico by watching this first episode, but some viewers might have to watch a bit more to get into.
Rating: A
There, done with the review. Might do some more later.
EDIT: Or maybe I'll just do that tomorrow.
As for the Persona 4 hype... this topic.