Martian Successor Nadesico: The Motion Picture – Prince of Darkness

Martian Successor Nadesico: The Motion Picture – Prince of Darkness (機動戦艦ナデシコ -The prince of darkness-), or Prince of Darkness Nadesico, is a 1998 anime film written and directed by Tatsuo Sato, and it is a sequel to the series Martian Successor Nadesico. The story is a direct sequel to Nadesico: The Blank of Three Years, a video game for the Sega Saturn that takes place immediately after the TV series ends, and before the movie begins. The movie won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1998.

Plot
Three years have passed since the end of the original series. The Earth and the Jovian Federation have come to an uneasy peace. However, Akito and Yurika have both vanished, presumed dead, and a new threat to peace is rising. A grown-up Ruri Hoshino, as the new captain of the highly-mobile battleship Nadesico B, sets out to solve the mysteries.

Much of the original cast returns in order to put a stop to the threat. In fact, one part of the movie has Ruri and her two subordinates traveling around specifically to rally the old Nadesico crew. Some of the crew have undergone slight changes; the Aestivalis pilot Ryoko now has purple hair as opposed to the original green, but others (such as the pun-loving Izumi) have not changed at all. The only new cast member of note is a young boy named Ensign Hari Makibi, who like Ruri is a genetically engineered prodigy and has exceptional control over machines, actually being able to single-handedly control the Nadesico. Hari also serves as comic relief thanks to his tendency to let his emotions get the better of him (in one incident, he flees a restaurant in tears after Ruri ignores his concerns about their mission).

Companion game
The movie was meant to be viewed along with Nadesico: The Blank of Three Years, a video game for the Sega Saturn that takes place immediately after the TV series ends, and before the movie begins, filling in on details that leads up to the plot of the movie. However, the game was never translated and released outside Japan.

Crew of the Nadesico-B

 * Lieutenant Commander Ruri Hoshino - now sixteen, Ruri is the captain of the Nadesico-B and idolised by much of the military as the Electronic Fairy. She is glad to see Akito is still alive, but hurt to see how much he's changed. She views new crewmate Hari (a product, like her, of genetic engineering) as a younger brother.


 * Ensign Hari Makibi (Noriko Hidaka) - a bridge officer aboard the Nadesico-B (and the only major new cast member), Hari is a genetically engineered genius with abilities similar to Ruri's; but unlike her, he's very emotional. He is jealous of her relationship to the first Nadesico crew.


 * Saburota Takasugi (Miki Shinichiro)- previously seen as an officer in the Jovian Federation, Saburota is now a First Lieutenant in the UESF, and serves as Ruri's Tactical Officer. He has dyed his hair blond.

Other members of the Unified Forces

 * Commander Jun Aoi (Aoi Jun Chusa) - now captain of his own ship (the UESF 3rd Fleet battleship Amaryllis), Jun has grown but is still completely overwhelmed by the personalities around him. In particular, he is bullied by Yukina into letting her join the Nadesico-C's mission.

Former crew of the Nadesico

 * Ryoko Subaru - ace Aestivalis pilot, Ryoko now sports her natural black hair instead of green. She is one of the first to learn of Yurika's fate and is enraged that she is unable to rescue her right away. Still fond of Akito, she is teased by her fellows Izumi and Hikaru about her interactions with Saburota.


 * Izumi Maki - Izumi is the hostess of a bar when Mr. Prospector arrives to recruit her.


 * Hikaru Amano - Aestivalis pilot and rabid Gekigangar III fangirl, Hikaru has become a somewhat overstressed manga artist. Before agreeing to join the Nadesico-C, she convinces Ruri & Co. to help her finish an issue before her deadline.

Those with secret fates

 * Akito Tenkawa - thought to be dead, Akito proves to be the Prince of Darkness of the title. One of many Class A Jumpers abducted by the Martian Successors, he was subjected to experiments that have damaged his body, destroyed his sense of taste (a terrible fate for a cook), and hardened his personality; he has no compunction about killing those who block his mission to rescue Yurika.


 * Lapis Lazuli (Yukie Nakama) - A young girl with long, ice-blue hair. Lapis is another product of Nergal's labs, created with the hopes of re-creating the success of Ruri Hoshino, and is part of the One-Man, One-Ship Project. When the Martian Successors betrayed Nergal, Lapis was among those abducted and was experimented on. The experiments ended up destroying her ability to feel emotions. Lapis was later rescued during a rescue operation conducted by Nergal, and given the Nergal-designed Corvette Eucharis, which she controls entirely on her own. Lapis later becomes partnered with Akito, and together, supplements their destroyed senses. (Her name refers to the blue gem, lapis lazuli.)


 * Yurika Misumaru - also thought killed during jumping trials, Yurika was another abductee. The Martian Successors have fused her with the Ruin that controls all Boson Jumps, giving them an unprecedented level of control.  Her rescue is the key objective of both Akito and the Nadesico-C's mission.


 * Inez Fressange - generally believed to be dead, Inez was actually hidden as a Nergal subterfuge when the abduction of Class A Jumpers became apparent. She rejoins when the Nadesico-C is launched, and is key to jumping it to the final confrontation on Mars.

The Martian Successors

 * Jovian Vice-Admiral Haruki Kusakabe - de-facto leader of the Jovians during the war, Kusakabe vanished afterward and infiltrated himself and his so-called "Martian Successors" into the Hisago Plan. He and his scientists retrieved the Ruin, intercepted Class A Jumpers during transit, and planned to solidify their position with a monopoly on precision boson jumping.