The Prince of Darkness (Nadesico)

Encyclopedia : T : TH : THE : The Prince of Darkness (Nadesico)

Martian Successor Nadesico: The Prince of Darkness is an anime film produced in 1998, and it is a sequel to the series Martian Successor Nadesico. It was directed by Tatsuo Sato.

Plot

Two years have passed since the end of the original series. The Earth and the Jovian Federation have come to an uneasy peace. However, Akito and Yurika have both vanished, presumed dead, and a new threat to peace is rising. A grown up Ruri, as the new captain of the highly-mobile battleship Nadesico B, set out to solve the mysteries.

Much of the original cast returns (in fact, one part of the movie has Ruri and her two subordinates traveling around specifically to rally the old Nadesico crew) in order to put a stop to the threat. Some of the crew have undergone slight changes; the Aestivalis pilot Ryoko now has black hair as opposed to the original green, but others (such as the pun-loving Izumi) have not changed at all. The only new cast member of note is a young boy named Enzan Makibi(Hari), who (like Ruri) is a genetically engineered prodigy and has exceptional control over machines (actually being able to single-handedly control the Nadesico). Hari also serves as comic relief thanks to his tendency to let his emotions get the better of him (in one incident, he flees a restaurant in tears after Ruri ignores his concerns about their mission).

Criticism

This film, in the style of many anime films based off series, is a "get together" of the original cast of characters at a later date doing what they did best. As such some believe that this film is lacking in plot, and that it also lacks almost all of the comedy elements of the original series (instead being for the most part deadly serious) lacking among other things, almost any reference to Gekigangar III and making the characters do things that would have never happened before. However, others believe it is an improvement on the series for that precise reason. Another criticism linked to the first is that the creaters seemingly ignored all other factors in favour of promoting Ruri, with constant screen time, fanservice and the lead role. The character was extremely popular in Japan at the time and many fans feel that pandering to this hype has dated the movie in this respect.

Characters

Ruri Hoshino - now sixteen, Ruri is the captain of the Nadesico-B and idolised by much of the military as the Electronic Fairy. She has matured greatly since the series and seems to have given up referring to others as idiots ('bakabaka'). She is glad to see Akito is still alive, but hurt to see how much he's changed. She views new crewmate Hari (the product of genetic engineering like her) as a younger brother.
Akito Tenkawa - thought to be dead, Akito is the Prince of Darkness from the title. Unlike his personality in the series, Akito is now deadly serious and has become an even better pilot than before. However, he was subjected to numerous experiments that have ruined his body (notably removing his sense of taste, a terrible fate for a cook).
Yurika Misumaru - thought to be dead, Yurika is the victim of a monstrous experiment and her rescue is the key objective of the Nadesico's mission.
Jun Aoi - Now a captain of his own ship, Jun has also grown but is still unfortunately completely overwhelmed by the assortment of personalities aboard the Nadesico. In particular, he is bullied by Yukina into letting her join in the Nadesico's mission.
Inez Fressange - thought to be dead, Inez is actually in hiding after learning of the Martian Successors' plans for A-class boson jumpers like her, Akito and Yurika.
Ryoko Subaru - Aestivalis ace pilot, Ryoko now sports black hair instead of green. She is one of the first to learn of Yurika's fate and is enraged that she is unable to rescue her right away. Still fond of Akito, she is teased by her fellows Izumi and Hikaru about her interactions with Saburota.
Izumi Maki - As deadpan (some would say weird) as ever, Izumi is the owner of a bar when Ruri comes to recruit her back into the crew. Her skills do not seem to have diminished, as she, Ryoko, Hikaru and Saburota quickly and unceremoniously dispose of Hokushin's assassins.
Hikaru Amano - Aestivalis pilot and rabid Gekigangar III fangirl, Hikaru has become a somewhat overstressed manga artist. Before agreeing to help Ruri aboard the Nadesico, she has them help her finish an issue before her deadline. Like her fellows, her piloting ability do not seem to have diminished.
Saburota Takasugi - Previously seen as an officer in the Jovian Federation, Saburota is now a First Lieutenant in the UESF, and serves as Ruri's Tactical Officer. He has dyed his hair blond, and has become quite a bit of a playboy. His skill in combat tactics and at the controls of giant robots has not dimminished however.
Hari Makibi - the only new cast member (Saburota had previously appeared in the series), Hari is a genetically engineered genius similar to Ruri. However, because the experiment that produced him was parallel to the one that created Ruri, Hari is very emotional as opposed to Ruri's controlled personality. Perhaps because of this, Hari idolises Ruri (and quite possibly has a crush on her).

'Martian Successor Nadesico''

Series

Other Info

Nergal | ND-001 Nadesico | Gekigangar III | The Prince of Darkness

From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.