Martian Successor Nadesico-Volume 6: End Game (1996)

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General		Extras
Category	Anime	Main Menu Audio & Animation DVD Credits
Rating
Year Of Production	1996
Running Time	111:23 (Case: 125)
RSDL / Flipper	No/No	Cast & Crew
Start Up	Menu
Region Coding	2,4	Directed By	Tatsuo Sato
Studio Distributor	Madman Entertainment	Starring	Yuji Ueda Houko Kawashima Kentaro Ito Naoko Takano Maya Okamoto Omi Minami
Case	Click
RPI	$34.95	Music	Takayuki Hattori

    Martian Successor Nadesico: Endgame is the sixth and final collection of episodes from this popular Japanese animated TV series. The series was voted the Best Anime Show of All Time by Japanese fans at the 1998 Animage Grand Prix.

    Nadesico is a twenty six episode animated television series that was first produced in 1996. The series is based around the battleship Nadesico and its crew as they help fight the Jovians, an alien race that have taken over Mars and are attempting to capture Earth.

    This science fiction series features an unusual combination of comedy, mecha, romance and action. Numerous in-jokes and references to other anime series are spread throughout each episode and are unlikely to be all understood by casual viewers. If you are an anime fan these references can be very funny, but if you do not understand all the jokes the series is still able to easily stand alone with its own storyline.

    This DVD release contains the following five episodes. I have included a very short description for each episode but as these may contain some very minor spoilers you may wish to skip directly to the Transfer Quality section.

Protect The Visitor
    A Jovian visitor is recovered by the Nadesico and the crew decides that they must protect her from the Earth forces. The truth about Akito's parents' death is revealed and many of the Nadesico's crew leave the ship.

A Place We Call Home
    Akito returns to working in a restaurant and fellow crew members try to return to their former lives. This break is short lived and the scattered crew members form a plan to return to the ship.

Ubiquitous Righteousness
    The crew of the Nadesico hold a Gekigangar festival and prepare to watch the complete series. The Nadesico crew begin peace negotiations with the Jovians.

Being Myself, Being You
    The Nadesico returns to Mars to battle the Jovian forces and try and take control of an ancient ruin. The truth about the the boson jumping system is revealed and the Captain tries to find a way to end the war.

For The Lady We Will Meet Some Day
    This is the final episode and the Earth and Jovian forces must try and find a solution to their conflict. This episode does resolve a number of issues but some questions are still left unanswered.

Video

    The full frame transfer is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

    As with previous releases in this series, the transfer is always slightly soft but this is not distracting to the viewer. No low level noise was detected during the transfer. There was never any problems with shadow detail during the brightly animated transfer.

    The colour palette displayed during the transfer appear slightly muted as typically seen in television animation of this age.

    A number of small MPEG artefacts were detected during this transfer. Some examples of these may be seen at 30:31, 61:46, 61:57 and 99:11. As seen on the previous discs in this series, during the closing sequence for each episode Gibbs effects may be seen around the scrolling credits and lyrics subtitles. All of these artefacts are quite minor and are only slightly distracting.

    A number of aliasing artefacts may be seen throughout the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 16:18, 24:09, 33:02, 41:02 and 68:38. Each of these artefacts occur for only a short period of time and are only slightly distracting.

    A small number of minor film artefacts may be seen during the transfer. Some examples of these artefacts may be seen at 15:38, 16:54, 18:13, 18:35, 20:04 and 24:01. All of these artefacts are very minor.

    A single set of yellow English subtitles is present on the disc. When compared to the English audio track, numerous differences may be seen but the general information conveyed is the same. As previously seen on other discs in the series the opening and closing credits for each episode contain subtitles for the song lyrics that are burned into the image.

    In addition to the subtitles, numerous overlays are present throughout the transfer. This is done by placing English text directly over or next to the original Japanese artwork allowing English viewers to understand the various signs and monitor displays seen in each episode.

Video Ratings Summary

Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

    The dialogue was always clear and easy to understand during both tracks.

    As this is an animated feature, there are the expected obvious problems with audio sync for each soundtrack. No audio dropouts were detected during the transfer.

    The musical score by Takayuki Hattori varies in style considerably during the episodes, ranging from pop numbers to classically based pieces, but always seen to suit the on-screen action without drawing attention to itself.

    The surround and subwoofer channels were not utilized during either audio track.

Audio Ratings Summary

Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Menu

    The minimally animated menu is presented at an aspect ratio of 1.33:1.

    Both versions of this disc appear to be identical and I therefore would have no preference for either version.

    Martian Successor Nadesico is an extremely funny and highly entertaining series that should appeal to all anime fans.

    The full frame transfer is quite acceptable but does display a small number of minimal artefacts.

    The inclusion of both English and Japanese tracks will satisfy fans of both dubs and subs.

    Absolutely no extras are provided on this disc.

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall