(L) Nadesico: Prince of Darkness [Spoilers]

[Kyuven]

Originally Posted by The Undertaker

You see, I might be a little late since this movie is old, but I watched it recently, and I'm really confused. The movie never really explained how Akito and Yurika became what they were. How did Akito lose all his senses? Who's that little girl with him? How did Yurika become that jumping cube? (sorry I forgot the name, B-...Jump I think lol) If someone knows the answers to these questions, please tell me, it's really troubling me lol. Thank you

Akito and Yurika were captured after their wedding by the Martian Successors and experimented on.
The end result was Yurika fusing with the Bosun Jump cube and Akito becoming messed up
the movie never explained it because the stuff in between the TV series and movie happened in a series of novels (sort of like all those Star Wars novels)

[dreamless]

I assume that you have watched the TV series right? at the end of the TV series both Earth and Jovians lost, the evil company NERGAL got the Relic which is the control nexus for all Boson Jumps. After that these events happened :

NERGAL worked with the Jovian group called Martian Successors secretly to develop the "one-man one-ship" battleship design project, while setting up the Boson Jump systems with the United Earth Spacy. NERGAL did a new human genetic augmentation experiment trying to make a new Ruri Hoshino type of genius who can operate the "one-man one-ship" battleship, result in the little girl named Lapis.

Akito and Yurika got married (mentioned in the OVA)

Martian Successors betrayed NERGAL and tried to abduct all the people who had the ability to control the Relic. Yurika and Akito got abducted in their honeymoon trip. Lapis got abducted. They did experiments on Akito and Lapis which destroyed Akito's senses and Lapis' emotions (thus they depend on each other so much, as told in the movie, Lapis becomes Akito's senses, Akito becomes Lapis' emotions). After Akito's failure, finally they successfully merged Yurika with the Relic to gain control over Boson Jumps.

NERGAL rescued Akito and Lapis and built battleship Eucharis to serve as the mothership for Akito's new Black Serana mech, this ship is of "one-man one-ship" design (most heavily armed with four gravity blast cannons because it's intended for real battle) which is single-handedly operated by Lapis. They use Akito and Lapis to attack the Martian Successors.

Meanwhile NERGAL built Nadesico B as part of their "one-man one-ship" project (pretty lightly armed with one gravity blast cannon since it's just for experimental use) and let Ruri Hoshino be the operator, and give the ship to Unite Earth Spacy to gain experimental data. And Nadesico C is being built with an internal Boson Jump engine, one gravity blast cannon, mount point for Y-Unit for Transposition Cannon, and most important of all, the improved communication system which will enable Ruri and Omoikane to hack into and take over any enemy system (thus when Ruri and Omoikane come together, they become absolutely invincible).

what happened next is in the movie.

one thing I found really cool about the Nadesico series and movie is that the real evil party (NERGAL) always win in the end. Akatsuki Nagare is simply so COOL

[Kyuven]

Originally Posted by dreamless

one thing I found really cool about the Nadesico series and movie is that the real evil party (NERGAL) always win in the end. Akatsuki Nagare is simply so COOL

as such, can you really call them evil?
what drew me into the whole Nadesico universe was the idea that there weren't really any true good or bad guys (much like in Slayers) and there was no right or wrong way to do things...after all, none of the villains ever sought complete annihalation or destruction of the other party (the jovians' idea was to retake the Earth, not completely destroy earth-born humans)

[dreamless]

If there's one thing that can be called "evil" in Nadesico universe, it's NERGAL. Both the Jovians and Earth fight for their ideals, even the Martian Successors have some higher cause/ideals so they think they are fighting a holy war. NERGAL is different, NERGAL is the typical power-crazy money-hungry evil mega-cooperation which only works for profit, for its own gain, and nothing else. They have no higher cause or any ideals, they have no moral restrictions, they are just a bunch of blood-sucking self-centered businessmen. They will co-operate with any side to get more profit for themselves. That makes them the only "evil party" if you ask me, or at least more evil than anyone else. And evil doesn't mean pointless slaughter, that's just madness. If they have more use alive, then use them in anyway possible while they are alive to benefit oneself, that's what true manipulative evil (and IMO the greatest and most dangerous type of evil) is. That also makes them so cool

[The Undertaker]

So all this is explained in the manga?

[DrWho2002]

Originally Posted by The Undertaker

So all this is explained in the manga?

No, the events that happen between the TV series and the movie are in the dreamcast/saturn game (i forget which) "The Blank of Three Years".

[Archaic]

The manga provides a totally different Nadesico timeline, which doesn't mesh with most of the anime/game. For example

Spoiler:

The Jovians are humans from another dimension, not exiled humans from earth.

[dreamless]

Originally Posted by The Undertaker

So all this is explained in the manga?

no, and avoid the manga, it's by far inferior to the anime. And the story is largely unrelated despite some similar character designs and names.

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by The Undertaker

So all this is explained in the manga?

Nope the manga is completly different.
Anyway Negal isn't evil. they're just out to serve their own interests. The uef was out to serve there own interests. The Jovians were the same. Negal was just tying to make a quick buck. Still they weren't exactly the good guys either...
Of course there were some members on all sides that took advantage of the situations in a rather twisted way...
Really, the term evil is thrown around too much these days...

Originally Posted by Kyuven

the jovians' idea was to retake the Earth, not completely destroy earth-born humans

True, but the peace terms they offered weren't exactly generous. I believe they demanded; complete dissolution of large corporations, control of all major industry, conversion of political and social ideology, and a complete disarming of the military. Of course that may have been designed to provoke Shiratori so they could kill him and blame it on earth.

[dreamless]

well, Jovians actually have some valid reason to attack Earth and not trusting Earth, the Earth government could be evil, but now they are more like cornered and fight for their lives. The Martian Successors are some idealist extremists.

Nergal is completely self-serving, with no regards to anything else. And I think that qualifies as evil as possible. When we say someone is evil, most of the time it's that guy is extremely selfish and can go to any extremes to benefit himself, including hurting and harming others, which is exactly Nergal doing. For their own profit, they don't care about human lives, they perform genetic experiments with no moral restrictions, they manipulate others through lies, threats and forces to do their bidding. If that's not evil, what is? I'd say Nergal is the only side in Nadesico which qualifies as truly evil.

[The Undertaker]

Hm...that explains a lot. Was there a sequel after Prince of Darkness?

[Mr_Paper]

Originally Posted by The Undertaker

Hm...that explains a lot. Was there a sequel after Prince of Darkness?

Nope and it's been about 7 years since it came out too.

[DrWho2002]

More things happen in another video game set after the movie where Yurika and Ruri go looking for Akito.

[The Undertaker]

really?! you wouldn't happen to know what happened would you?

[Kamui4356]

Originally Posted by DrWho2002

More things happen in another video game set after the movie where Yurika and Ruri go looking for Akito.

I have that game. It's been a while since I played it though, and with my limited japanese, I couldn't give any details about it. It was a good game though.

[DrWho2002]

Originally Posted by The Undertaker

really?! you wouldn't happen to know what happened would you?

That's about all I know of what happens in the game, sorry...

[Village Idiot]

Here is what happens between the series and the movie:

All this is told in the Dreamcast game, "Nadesico: The Blank of 3 Years"

Spoiler:

-Peace is declared between the Earth and the Jovians. Both nations exchange populations.

-Yurika and Minato enter into a custaty battle over Ruri. Prospector asked for a contest to decide. Both Yurika and Minato will pull on opposite sides of Ruri's arm, and when Ruri cried out in pain, Minato let her go. Prospector decided that Yurika is the winner, because she has shown that no matter what happens, she will never let Ruri go. Ruri became adopted by Yurika.

-Minato adopts Yukina.

-Megumi changes her name and hides her past with the Nadesico and became a pop star.

-The mess hall girls became an idol group.

-Hikaru became a doujinshi writer/drawer.

-Akito became a cook and opened his own ramen restaurant.

-During the 3 year period, Negral's influence diminishes due to a merge between the Earth and Jovian military.

-Akito and Yurika became a couple and the two (including Ruri) lives together, but her father refused to acknowledge their relationship. Akito and Yurika's father agreed to a ramen competition. If Akito can make ramen that he thinks is delicious, then he can marry Yurika. Akito made plain ramen and won.

-Akito and Yurika got married, adopted Ruri. Lived in a 'happy-comfy life'. All three worked at Akito's restraunt.

-During this time, a group called the Martian Successors attempt to control/perfect Boston Jump, and started kidnapping Class-A jumpers, especially the most powerful Class-A jumpers, Yurika and Akito.

-On their flight to their honeymoon, the shuttle carrying Yurika and Akito explodes. While it seems like they were killed, they were in fact kidnapped by the Martian Successors. Ines faked her own death shortly after they realised they were kidnapping Class-A jumpers.

-While the Martian Successors were trying to figure out how to use Yurika to control the box, they performed experiements on Akito, completely destroying his senses.

-Akito was saved by Negral, whom discovered the location where Akito and Yurika was held captive. However, Yurika couldn't be saved in time. To become stronger and save Yurika, Tsukiomi Genichirou trains Akito to become a better pilot. Akito refuses to join Negral, so the two come up with a deal. Negral will provide information about the Martian Successors, and Akito will steal boson jump data from them. Akito agrees, and Nagare gives him Negral's newest Aestivallis Prototype: A Super Aestivalis designed by combining both Earth and Jovian Technology, that possesses its own internal power source, along with the Black Selena Frame. During one of his missions, Akito rescues Lapis, a genetically engineered child whom Negral tried to recreate to gain the same level as Ruri. Seeing Ruri in Lapis, Akito takes her in as his partner.

-With no where left to go, Ruri lives with Minato. Eventually, she leaves to rejoin the military, and was given command of the Nadesico-B.

-Ruri meets Harry, a genetic child just like her, whom Negral created in hopes of surpassing her. Finding companionship, they start living together.

-The events from the movie occurs.

-Events from Nadesico: The Mission for the Dreamcast occurs. Taking place after Prince of Darkness, the game concludes the story, as Yurika and Ruri searches for the whereabouts of Akito.

[TerryMathews]

Just watched Nadesico TV and the movie.

Loved the TV series. Have some issues with the movie though. Not having played either the Saturn nor Dreamcast game, I think the series would have ended better if it went like this...

Spoiler:

Instead of Akito being disfigured/modified/warped by the Martian Successors and thus seeking revenge, if he had just been normal and somewhat 'twisted' by his desire to save Yurika from her virtual prison, he would have been a much more noble person at the end. Not to mention that his disappearance at the end would probably kill Yurika on the inside, given how much she loved him.

I can kind of see Akito running away though, given how deeply rooted his running instinct is. In some ways, the ending of the movie is more true than even I would want; when confronted, Akito is a runner at heart.

Still, it's sad. I wish it had been worked out so that he stayed.

Anyone know how Nadesico: The Mission resolved the story?

EDIT: Just wondering, if I were to write a fanfic starting with the conclusion of the Nadesico movie, would anyone be interested in reading it?

[evil|plushie]

Originally Posted by TerryMathews

Just watched Nadesico TV and the movie.

Loved the TV series. Have some issues with the movie though. Not having played either the Saturn nor Dreamcast game, I think the series would have ended better if it went like this...

Spoiler:

Instead of Akito being disfigured/modified/warped by the Martian Successors and thus seeking revenge, if he had just been normal and somewhat 'twisted' by his desire to save Yurika from her virtual prison, he would have been a much more noble person at the end. Not to mention that his disappearance at the end would probably kill Yurika on the inside, given how much she loved him.

I can kind of see Akito running away though, given how deeply rooted his running instinct is. In some ways, the ending of the movie is more true than even I would want; when confronted, Akito is a runner at heart.

Still, it's sad. I wish it had been worked out so that he stayed.

Anyone know how Nadesico: The Mission resolved the story?

EDIT: Just wondering, if I were to write a fanfic starting with the conclusion of the Nadesico movie, would anyone be interested in reading it?

No no no no, I totally disagree

Spoiler:

I pretty much loved the way Akito turned out in the movie. It's obvious he's been through a lot and you can really sense his loss. It makes him a lot more real to me that he's become somewhat twisted by his experience instead. Plus he had the best lines like when Erina confronted him and said that revenge wasn't a word she thought she'd ever hear from him, he simply said 'I changed' and walked past her. And when he tells Ruri that he can no longer cook ramen for her T-T

Plus, in the end, it was because of his torture and modification by the sucessors that he chose not to stay. I wouldn't say he's running away, because I don't think the NEW Akito would run away. It's merely that he thinks that the old Akito they knew is dead, and they wouldn't like the new him.

[BOZZY]

One thing I never understood about the movie is regarding Akito...

Spoiler:

In a fansub I watched a few years ago at my school anime club they flat out said his senses were destroyed yet in the ADV DVD it seemed like it was only his sense of taste... Then there was that part at the end where he is fighting that guy (can't remember his name) and then he takes off the mask... Is he able to see at that point or not? Never understood that part...