Martian Successor Nadesico DVD

It's the year 2196, and Earth is losing the war. The colonies on Mars have been annihilated by an alien force known only as the Jovian Lizards, and the military has proven itself spectacularly incompetent at stopping them. Enter Nergal Heavy Industries, a private arms manufacturer fed up with waiting for the government to save the day — and their answer: the ND-001 Nadesico, the most powerful battleship ever built. The catch? They can't find enough trained soldiers to crew it, so instead they've assembled an unprecedented collection of geeks, misfits, and anime fans. Chief among them is Akito Tenkawa, a Mars survivor with mysterious abilities who just wants to be a cook — but keeps accidentally ending up in the cockpit of a giant robot. Alongside the relentlessly cheerful and hopelessly lovestruck Captain Yurika Misumaru and the deadpan child prodigy Ruri Hoshino, this unlikely crew sets out to save humanity one disaster at a time.

Martian Successor Nadesico is one of the most clever and self-aware anime series of the 1990s — a hilarious, sharp, and surprisingly heartfelt deconstruction of the mecha genre that was parodying Gundam and Space Battleship Yamato long before it was fashionable to do so. Produced by Xebec and directed by Tatsuo Sato, the show satirizes anime fandom, military bureaucracy, and genre conventions with gleeful abandon, while somehow also managing to deliver genuine emotional stakes and a cast of genuinely lovable characters. It was a phenomenon on both sides of the Pacific and remains one of the most rewatchable sci-fi comedies in the medium. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Tatsuo Sato (Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars, Stellvia)
Original Character Design: Kia Asamiya (Silent Mobius, Steam Detectives)
Chief Animation Director: Keiji Gotoh
Studio: Xebec
Music: Takayuki Hattori
Opening Theme: "You Get to Burning" by Yumi Matsuzawa

Cast:
- Yuji Ueda as Akito Tenkawa
- Houko Kuwashima as Yurika Misumaru
- Omi Minami as Ruri Hoshino
- Naoko Takano as Megumi Reinard
- Maya Okamoto as Haruka Minato
- Shiho Kikuchi as Hikaru Amano
- Ryotaro Okiayu as Nagare Akatsuki

DVD Features

- Clean Opening Animation
- Clean Closing Animation
- Interviews with Actors and Staff
- "Welcome to Belle Equipe" Documentary
- "Nadesico Sorekara" Special
- TV Spots and Trailers
- ADV Films Previews

Spoken Languages: English & Japanese Audio, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: 機動戦艦ナデシコ (Kidō Senkan Nadeshiko)
Runtime: ~650 Minutes (Complete Series, 26 Episodes)
Director: Tatsuo Sato
DVD Release Year: 2002 (U.S. Release)
Original Release Date (Japan): October 1, 1996 – March 24, 1997
Publisher: ADV Films
Rating: TV-PG
Region: Region 1 (U.S. / Canada)
Genre: Sci-Fi, Mecha, Comedy, Action
Themes: Anime Parody & Self-Awareness, Space Opera, Reluctant Hero, Otaku Culture, War & Politics

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.