The Gekigangar III team settle down to watch their favourite anime- Martian Successor Nadesico, only to discover that, as the crew have been taking a New Year break to get over their hectic Christmas, they’ve only had time to put together a clip show. But then, isn’t the halfway point of the series always a good place to put a recap episode?
Yurika, Ruri and Inez kick the recaps off with a broadcast of “Get to Know the Nadesico”. With her love of explanation, Inez quickly takes centre stage, first explaining about the Jovian attack on Mars in 2195, and how this led to Nergal creating a warship which could combat the Jovians- the high mobile battleship Nadesico. Inez then follows up with a rundown of the Nadesico’s specs, before Ruri and Yurika take over to give viewers a tour of the ship- with the help of redubbed clips from earlier shows
First up is the bridge, where the ever vigilant crew is on break. Below the bridge is the VR room, where Megumi and Akito are back in the high school simulation, much to Yurika’s distress. Time off can also be spent in the Zen meditation room, Deck 4’s recreation room (complete with table tennis), or the observation deck, where the holographic projector gives the illusion of open air. Below that is the galley, where Ms Howmei and the Howmei girls use the well stocked kitchen to quite literally cater to all the crew’s needs.
Of course, it’s not all play on a battleship, and next stop on the tour is the hangar bay, where the Aestivalis robots are stored under the watchful eye of Seiya Uribatake. Taking over the narrative, Seiya enthuses about the different Aestivalis types, starting off with the land frame. Despite having died early in the series, Gai makes a special appearance to discuss his beloved aerial frame and the awesome Cross Crash he came up with in Episode Two.
Wrapping things up, Seiya quickly introduces the other two types of frame- the artillery frame, and the zero-g frame, as piloted by Akito, Ryoko, Hikaru and Izumi. Then of course there’s the new model, as brought aboard by Akatsuki, who joined the crew along with Erina Won. Ruri can’t help suspecting that those two might be up to something.
Next, it’s Inez’s turn to resume the explanation, as the discussion turns from the Nadesico to their enemies- the Jovians. As the Jovians have been consistently using unmanned weapons, Earth knows next to nothing about them, not even what they look like. As Ruri concludes, they’ve held their own so far, but will they continue to be a match for the Jovians in the future?
The Gekigangar team continue to watch, excited to find out what happens next, but unaware of developments elsewhere in the universe. Evil Emperor Hyperion wants the earth destroyed as soon as possible, but Prince Akara just needs to observe humanity for a little longer first.
Back on the Nadesico, Prospector has had enough of facts, and eagerly moves on to the gossip. After all, with a crew this size, there is always something juicy going on. First up for dissection is Yurika and Akito’s relationship- starting with flashbacks to their childhood on Mars, before moving on to the present day. Despite their arguments, these two do seem to connect- that is, when Megumi isn’t around to complicate things. And for every comparatively straightforward relationship like Minato and Goat, there’s another girl pining for Akito, like Ryoko. And just how many times has Yurika said “Akito” so far anyway?
Watching Nadesico as per Akara’s orders to research humanity, evil princess Mii-e Mii-e wonders if Akara will ever notice her own feelings for him. But Akara takes quite a different lesson from the footage- he is going to build himself a powerful distortion field just like the one the Nadesico has. Then he can finally get rid of that annoying Gekigangar.
As Akara heads towards Kokubunji’s lab (Gekigangar HQ) in his “Big Akara Special” robot, Kokubunji orders the force field raised, but to little avail. Switching on his distortion field, Akara starts smashing the force field, leaving the lab vulnerable. There is only one thing for it- Ken, Joe and Akira must deploy Gekigangar III.
Gekigangar goes on the attack, only to find that Akara’s distortion field easily deflects the Gekigan Beam and shatters the Gekigan sword. Things look bleak, but like all good geniuses, Kokubunji has been working on a new attack- Gekigangar now has the untested ability to use the Gekigan Flare. The only trouble is, Ken, Joe and Akira must be in perfect sync when they perform the attack, or Gekigangar will explode.
Ignoring the risks as all good heroes do, Ken, Joe and Akira attempt the attack anyway, and launch their first successful Gekigan Flare against the enemy. The Big Akara Special is destroyed, and Akara ejects in an escape module to return another day. The lab is safe- and all thanks to the Gekigan Flare, as inspired by Nadesico. Yes, the professor watches Nadesico too, but to deflect attention from his anime habits, he distracts the heroes with a promise of New Year’s noodles.
Watching the ending, Yurika wonders if the crew can really broadcast an episode like this, but the crew tell her not to worry. It’s just this once, after all, and they can get back to the main story next week…
