Until now, much of Nadesico has been action-oriented. Enormous space combat scenes, littered with occasional dramatic episodes. Instead, now that the Jovian's true nature has been revealed, the crew of Nadesico is left to determine what they've actually been fighting for. Some take it harder than others; none moreso than Admiral Munetake. As the Admiral struggles with his duty and his honor, Ruri heads off to "Peaceland" to discover her origins. A vague memory of a school, of parents robed in shadow, and the sound of water haunt her dreams. Not only is young Ruri's life touching and sad, but it carries a powerful statement about the future implications of genetics and social engineering.

Over the course of 8 tapes, the dub of Nadesico has significantly improved from the seemingly standard mediocre dub, to one of the most potent and dynamic dubs produced to-date. Several big names in the anime industry provide voices for the crew of the Nadesico. Spike Spencer and Tiffany Grant, both Neon Genesis Evangelion vetrans, provide excellent voices for various officers aboard the Nadesico. Cynthia Martinez's portrayal of Ruri is strikingly different from the original, voiced by Omi Minami. Although Cynthia brings out a strong, mature Ruri, she cannot adequately portray the translation of Ruri's famous "Baka baka" line in the English dub. There simply is no easy way to compare the differences between "Baka baka" and "Idiot".

The one other drawback with Nadesico is the continued use of overlays. Although presented in a better fashion than the early Neon Genesis Evangelion overlays, the excessive number of pop-ups overlayed can really irritate the eyes in certain scenes. Luckily, this tape is fairly light on overlays. Unfortunately, one major disappointment with overlays ties into the plot of the second episode. In one scene, as young Ruri learns Japanese, we see her ask about the meaning of a word. Instead of providing the proper Japanese kana for it, ADV chose to overlay romanizations of the word. It's understandable that most viewers would be unfamiliar with the Japanese syllabary, but it is hard to believe that a student of Japanese has only been taught how to understand romanized words.

All-in-all, Nadesico is already one of the best sci-fi drama series released in recent years, and it's only slightly over half over! Even more drama and action await the crew of the Nadesico as they unravel the secrets of the Jovians and come to grips with the sudden changes in reality that life has flung them.