Ask John: Is There a Sequel to Nadesico?

Question:
I just watched the last episode of Nadesico and was wondering if there are any plans for a sequel. It practically says there is going to be another tv series, but is it really going to happen? The ending left me very unfulfilled. This was a great series, and I don’t want it to end like this.

Answer:
The Nadesico TV series story is continued in several formats, although you may possibly still find yourself feeling unfulfilled at the ultimate end of the story. There is a three year gap between the events depicted in the conclusion of the Nadesico TV series and the beginning of the Nadesico movie that ends the story. What happens in this 3 year period is explained through a variety of media. The 30 minute long Gekiganger III OAV begins with Akito, Yurika and Ruri going to a movie theater to see the Gekiganger III movie. Before the movie begins, Yurika and Akito discuss their upcoming marriage and their plans to “adopt” Ruri. Then there are 3 Japanese prose novels set during this period. Kido Senkan Nadesico: Ruri A Kara B e no Monogatari apparently deals primarily with Akito and Yurika’s marriage. The two Kido Senkan Nadesico: Ruri no Koukainishi (Ruri’s Captain’s Log) novels apparently deal with Ruri taking over command of the Nadesico. Finally, the time between the end of the TV series and the beginning of the movie is detailed in the appropriately named Sega Saturn adventure game Kido Senkan Nadesico: The Blank of Three Years.

Not to give away any surprises, the Nadesico movie, Kido Senkan Nadesico: The Prince of Darkness, is a darker, more serious Nadesico anime that explains some of the questions left by the TV series but raises many more and concludes with an ending just as unresolved as the TV series. Keeping in mind the capricious style of the the Nadesico animation itself, though, in a literary sense, the somewhat incomplete endings to the TV series and movie are fitting as they reflect the non-commital and easygoing nature of the Nadesico characters.

AD Vision has the American translation and distribution rights to the Prince of Darkness movie but not the Gekiganger III OAV. AD Vision will likely release the Prince of Darkness movie in America sometime next year, and has actually even suggested the possibility of an American theatrical release, although that’s probably highly unlikely.