The story in Nadesico is very very simplistic. Alien invaders destroy Mars, our main character Akito’s home, and he is transported to Earth without memory of what happened prior. Later, he joins the crew of a new battleship called Nadesico where he wants to be a cook. There he meets his ditzy childhood friend, Captain Yurika. A war ends up unfolding and of course, Akito becomes the ship’s mecha pilot. Basically, the story and setting are a parody for old 70 and 80’s mecha anime such as the heavily influenced Macross.
The characters are all comically put together and their misfit personalities create a comedic environment throughout the show. Sure, the anime has elements for everyone from romance and comedy to mecha and action, but the constant switching and poorly executed slap stick comedy makes for a task-filled job for watching. Each element that is trying to be parodied misses its mark and because there never is a focus, most lame jokes just fly over the viewers head.
Coming out in 1996, this anime has not aged well. Even during release, Nadesico already looked old like something more out of the late 80’s. Even the poor low quality audio, muffled action sounds, and the still-shot animation during fight scenes are unacceptable. Not to mention the abysmal voice acting. While the Japanese voice acting is bearable, the English is unwatchable. Most of the voices are off key and or bland, especially our main character. Worst of all, the plot is mostly pushed aside and where key elements in the story could be emphasized, the anime decides to push it aside like a slight summer breeze and focus more on the poorly executed harem comedy elements. It is the perfect example of how not to do action, plot, and harem all wrapped into a single show. Nadesico is a plain bad anime trying to make fun of the past. Instead, this anime is laughably poorly put together.
