NADESICO (BOOK 3)

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NADESICO (BOOK 3)

September 6th 2010 23:45

Category: Manga

Publisher: CPM Manga
Writer & Artist: Kia Asamiya
Translation by: C B Cebulski & Noriko Furuhata
Retouch & Lettering: Dan Nakrosis & Dano Ink Studios
Design: Veronica Casson
Cost: AU$4.95/US$9.99

The moon base under the United Earth Forces control is suddenly attacked by Jupiterian fortresses which when you look at them look like the tops of those Corinthian style columns that are so popular in political and major financial institutions both in the UK and the US. Kind of a strange look for a capital vessel in an attacking enemy’s armada, you’d think that they’d go for something a bit more conventional, still that’s part of the appeal of Nadesico. The enemy is anything but conventional and nor are the protagonists. What is even more surprising is the actual identity of the enemy itself, they’re not evil aliens from Jupiter or even just slightly put out aliens from the vicinity of the largest planet in the Solar system. No they are actually humans....I have seen the face of the enemy and he is us kind of thing...or is it something else?

It seems that the Jupiterians are in actual fact the gods of Japan or Yamato as they refer to it, a Yamato that exists within an alternate reality. Shades of the mirror universe from Star Trek here, even down to the fact that in the universe of Yamato there are paradigms of everyone in the Nadesico universe or nearly everyone...it seems that one of the key reasons why Yamato is at war with Earth is that there is a key person missing in their own reality. And that person is Yurika Misumaru, the former captain of the Space Battleship Nadesico. Ines Fresanjeu turns out to be an agent of Yamato and part of her mission seems to be kidnapping Captain Misumaru for the glory of the Yamato clan and their homeworld of Yamataikoku.

Meanwhile this dastardly incursion above the United Earth Forces moonbase has caused considerable consternation amongst the locals. You just can’t try and kidnap someone and have a couple of your space fortresses cause carnage whilst you’re doing it. An attempt by the space battleship Kaguya is severely thwarted when one of the enemy fortresses simply crushes it in situ. It’s fortunate for the Nadesico, as the damaged caused by flattening the Kaguya prevents it from moving and making a rescue attempt, which means it can live to fight another day. Akito though isn’t too keen on fighting another day and he steals an Aesti Valis from the Nadesico hangar bay attempting to rescue Yurika singlehandedly. The enemy though is too powerful and it’s only by the barest of margins that he manages to make it out relatively intact.
You could almost say that this would be the biggest plot turn in the series, the sudden revelation of the nature of Earth’s true enemies and the fact that the captain of the vessel on which the story revolves has been kidnapped by these enemies. You would be wrong in that assumption; there are more plot twists than a windy mountainside highway to come as things unfold. The revelation that the ancient Japanese gods of an alternate universe are hell bent on war against Earth is one amongst many revelations, more is yet to come as the drama progresses. In fact the universe of a particular manga series seems keen to intrude on the story as a result of Akito’s attempt to rescue the somewhat bewildered and confused Yurika.
Before he loses his vision Akito catches a glimpse of a robot with the skull and crossbones insignia of Captain Government from the manga series Space Wanderer Universal Provision Government. Naturally he thinks he’s having some kind of hallucination but is he? When the gods of Yamato are your mortal enemies and having been waging a relentless war against Earth and your homeworld of Mars who’s to say that the characters of fictional universes aren’t about to butt in for a piece of the action. The existence of Government is a bit of a nod to the anime series Martian Successor Nadesico which has a similar plot development in the use of anime upon a major ongoing conflict. So ancient deities and manga heroes engaged in battle with the United Earth Forces about to embark on a massive campaign and the Nadesico stuck in the middle.
And then we have the sudden appearance of a second Ruri Hoshino, who for all intents and purposes looks exactly like the Ruri of the Nadesico except for having different coloured hair. Perhaps she’s a twin sister? No there is definitely more to it, but even though we are introduced to this new Ruri as Captain Kaguya embarks on her pursuit of the Nadesico in the Space Battleship Kaguya B, the good captain obviously hasn’t anything in the way of originality for naming her vessels. Then again this is something of a pun on the whole Starship Enterprise...which by last count was up to Enterprise F if I recall correctly.
Of course the real reason that Captain Kaguya is hell bent on pursuing the Nadesico isn’t so much out of a sense of duty or loyalty to the United Earth Forces but has more to do with her desire to win Akito. A slight lack of imagination coupled with a fixation on possibly an unwinnable man, bit of a serious flaw in a spaceship captain, especially a military spaceship. So three elements have leapt from the slight gravitational bonds of the moon and ventured forth into the stygian deeps of space, the Nadesico to attempt to rescue its former captain, the Kaguya to attempt to win the battle for Akito’s heart and the Lunar Fleet of the United Earth Forces to engage and destroy the Jupiterian forces in the Asteroid Belt. A titanic confrontation is about to get underway – but just what is going to happen? Is there going to be a straight out slug fest between the Yamato forces and the United Earth military or is there something more sinister planned?
Book 3 in the Nadesico manga keeps on increasing the tempo of the drama, considering it’s only a four book series it is very clever how Mr Asamiya manages to do this without losing the audience’s attention. Just the right mix of mystery coupled with revelation and action to keep things bubbling away, much like a good stir fry, tasty and makes you wanting more. My advice is go and get your hands on this manga, its well worth the effort and provides some easy, enjoyable entertainment.

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