The domestically-released Martian Successor Nadesico soundtrack is definitely one of the more interesting soundtracks I have in my collection. You will note that I do not say that it is one of the best soundtracks in my collection, just that it is interesting. Why is this the case? I'm glad you asked!

The first rule for soundtracks is that you should put the music from the actual show on the soundtrack album. While you get some of that on this album, the album also contains a lot of songs that do not appear anywhere in the TV show at all. But, unlike an image album, they are all closely related to the show, so what you really end up with is a soundtrack album with some rejects and anomalies on it. And it isn't even a true soundtrack, as none of the instrumental themes and background music are present. Instead, this album is all about vocals.

The first track is the TV edit for the opening theme, "You Get to Burning," known and loved by Nadesico fans everywhere. The song works very well as the opening to the show, but in its edited form and on its own it doesn't hold up as well. The heavy keyboard sounds give the song a cheesy feel, and it is simply over too fast. Unfortunately, the full version of the song is nowhere to be found on this album, so you will simply have to make do with the edited version.

The second track is much better, and in fact it is one of my favorite songs on the whole album. "Christmas in the Galaxy" hails from the (in)famous Christmas episode, halfway through the series. This song is sung by the 'Howmei girls' (the ladies who work in the ship's galley). The song only has about 15 seconds of screen time during the show, so getting the full version of the song is a nice treat. I always liked the Howmei girls, so I enjoy this song a lot, as it captures their "feel" very well. Non-fans (who really have no business listening to this album in the first place) will be lost, however, and will rightly wonder what a Christmas song is doing on an anime soundtrack.

The third track is "Soar, Gekigangar 3," a theme song for the in-show anime, Gekigangar 3. However, it is not the theme song used in the actual TV program. That is a different song. Funnily enough, the actual song used in the show is not on this album. What we do have, then, is a theme song that was never actually used for the show. No, it doesn't make any sense to me, either. Luckily, this song is much cooler than the lame song used in the actual TV show. With a driving beat and some clever use of horn sounds, this song easily differentiates itself from the rest of the album.

The less said about the fourth track, "V is for Victory! Gekigangar V," the better. The song was written to sound like an anime theme song from the '70s, which means it is highly repetitive and annoying. To add insult to injury, it is sung by the goofball Aestivalis pilot Hikaru. At least this song was in the actual show, getting about five seconds of air time in episode 19.

Now on to the good stuff! Tracks five and six are both sung by Yuki Matsuura. Ms. Matsuura doesn't actually sing in the show, but she did write the ending theme song, which is what track five, "Just As I Am," is. Granted, this isn't the actual ending theme used in the show. This is the version recorded by the person who wrote it, but at least we get the full song this time. And Ms. Matsuura has better control of her voice than the voice actress that sings the song in the show, so I'm not gonna complain. This song is really happy and bouncy, with a lot of keyboard work. It is pretty much just pure bubblegum J-pop. The sixth track, Just Only You Know, is another song that was never used in the actual show. (By this point, I really don't care anymore.) At least the song is quite good. With a slower, more flowing feel than the previous song, this track brings things back to earth a little bit. I happen to like it quite a bit, if only because it helps balance out the album a bit.

Track seven gives us some more silliness, once more delivered by the Howmei girls. As we should all be expecting by now, this is a song that was not used in the actual TV show. The liner notes explain why, and a different version of the same song is used in the show, just not this version. Just from the way it is sung, you can tell that Delicious Island is a little nuts. This is the song sung by the Howmei girls during the captain contest in episode 19. It got about ten seconds of airtime in the show, but you get the pleasure of listening to the whole thing on this album. The whole song is about confessing love through food, which actually makes some sense for the Howmei girls. As with the other song of theirs ealier on the album, it will make no sense to you if you haven't seen the show.

Onward, then, to track eight, "The Aestivalis March." This is the song sung by the aestivalis pilots during their march to the Jovian cannon in episode eight of the TV show. It is a march, with a decent military feel to it. The main appeal of this song is remembering all the craziness that happened to Akito while the song was being sung during the afore-mentioned episode. It doesn't hold up all that great on its own, though the goofy, earnest way it is sung should elicit a chuckle or two. Track nine is another version of "V is for Victory! Gekigangar V." This time it is sung by a 'regular' singer, and not a character from the show. Other than that, it is exactly the same as track four. It was annoying then, and it is only slightly less annoying now. But in all seriousness, why on earth would you put the exact same song on the album twice? What were they thinking?

Track ten is for all you Ruri fans (you know who you are). "I Want to Be Your Number One" is the song she sings during the captain competition in episode 19. The song is pretty slow in comparison to the rest of the album, and the delivery is a little dry. I'm sure that was supposed to fit the personality of the character, but as a standalone song it is somewhat lacking. It is a standard love ballad with a lot of keyboard and some electric guitar during the back half of the song. There is nothing special from a musical perspective to make the song stand out from the crowd. Outside of its association with a popular anime it would be easily forgotten.

The last track, number eleven, is "Just As I Am" again, this time the TV edit used during the closing credits of the show. This time we get to hear the song as sung by the voice actress for Yurika, Houko Kuwashima. Because it is edited to fit the ending credits, it is pretty short. Also, Ms. Kuwashima sounds an awful lot like the singer in the full version of the song, so it's not that different from the earlier version, just shorter.

If you've made it to the end of the album, you have more in store for you when you dive into the cover liner that comes with the CD. The first two pages provide some informational blurbs for each track. I don't know where all of this comes from, but some of it is pretty funny. The really funny stuff, however, comes on the next page, where the assistant director and the musical supervisor try to explain a rather significant snafu that kept one of the tracks on the album off of the actual TV show. I won't explain it here, but it provides a neat look into the schedule stresses that go along with producing a television show where you have to have an episode each week no matter what. After that we get translated lyrics for every song, followed at the end by production and song credits.

So, to sum up, this soundtrack breaks pretty much all the rules for a soundtrack album. It doesn't have the background music, it doesn't have the full opening and ending themes, and it doesn't even have all the vocal songs used in the show. What it does have is a bunch of songs that were never actually used in the show. In the end, though, even though the album really makes no sense, it is kind of fun to listen to. Only real Nadesico fans need apply, though.

For those of you who insist on buying import soundtracks rather than less expensive licensed versions, this is the same album as the Nadesico: Vocal Collection published by King Records. It even has the same cover image.