Name: The Jovian Lizards
You would think an alien civilization wouldn't be human, wouldn't you?

Well, that's what many humans on Earth, Mars, and the Moon felt the invaders from Jupiter would be.  That's why they were called the Jovian Lizards, right?  So why the confusion?  This all stems from government mysteries and conspiracies.  Now, forgive me if I get this somewhat wrong, but I do remember some of it, so here goes.

Generations ago, there was a very big rebellion going on on the Moon.  The rebels wanted to Moon to become independent from the Earth, while others wanted to keep things the way they were.  In order to shut the rebels up, the Earth Forces secretly attacked the rebels and forced them off the Moon.  Trying to escape, the rebels went to Mars, Jupiter and its moon and tried to live their lives there.  The Earth government, however, the same government that pushed them off the Moon (even though they had NO jurisiction up there), pushed them out of Mars as well after a while.

All they had left was Jupiter and its moons.  Meanwhile, back on Earth and the colonies, all memories of the rebellion were washed away by government lies, conspiracies and by just not telling people of it.  By the time this war began, no one (a.k.a. the general public) knew about the rebellion or about the banishment of the rebels to Jupiter, except, of course, those on Jupiter.  The government just didn't allow anyone to know about it.  Only those in the know (high military officials, Erina Won and Akatsuki Nagare) knew the real story.

Amazingly, they strived and created a civilization of their own.  Strangely enough, this civilization is based on everyone's favorite fanboy series, Genkigander III.  They had taken up the show's teaching of bravery, valor, and love as their morals.  They hold up the heroes as the examples of purity in humans, in themselves.

They also remember the true story behind their banshiment to Jupiter and are rather bitter about it.  This is a big reason to why they attack Mars, the Moon, and Earth.  On Jupiter, the rebels found a factory, long abandoned, obviously of non-human origins.  With the technology that this factory produced (the unmanned weapons, of course, as well as the Tulips) they found a good way to exact their vengance against the evil Earth.

We first get a glimpse (or something) of the "Lizards" at the end of ep. 13, when the enemy, through individual bosom jumps, attacked a city on Earth.  One of these pilots' mobile suit was captured.  The pilot, who escaped, left behind his "treasure", a Genkigander III plushie.  This pilot is Shiratori Tsukumo.

This guy really looks like his hero, Tenku Ken, just like Gai did.  An important figure in the Jovian military, Tsukumo now finds himself scampering around on the Nadesico and finally hides himself in a big stuffed bunny in Megumi's room.  Problem is, Meg decided to watch some of Akito's Genkigander tapes, and began watching some of the "forgotten episodes."  All exited by this discovery (the Jovians heard of these episodes, but no one have seen them), he blows his cover.

It was in the those two episodes after the recap (15-16) that we see the results that fighting a human enemy can have on the crew, but, more importantly, how does knowing the truth about everything affect your wish to fight.  The crew of the Nadesico, the victims after the last Jovian attack that were on board, Megumi and Minato (who were treated as guest rather than prisoners on the Jovian battleship that Tsukumo captained), (and the audience) found out about the true past and it's connection to this war in ep.16.

Tsukumo and Minato soon find themselves falling in love with each other after he, Minato, and Megumi spend that time away from the Nadesico, but this causes a few problems.  One of the people in Tsukumo's live that doesn't like this "falling in love with an Earth chick" idea is his friend, Genichiro.  While Shiratori-san looks like Ken, Genichiro-san looks like another Genki-pal, Umitsubame Joe.  He doesn't understand how Tsukumo could even think a woman (especially one that looks like Minato) could be held higher in his heart than even the immaculate, oh-so-perfect Miss Nanako of Genkigander III.  Feelings of his friend's betrayal of their people and Genkigander III may have caused him to do what he did.

The other person who didn't like this love-love idea of Tsukumo is his little sister, Yukina.  A little brat of sorts, she is best characterized by her belief that Genkigander III is an annoying show that sucks, her love of making sound affects for her actions, and love for her brother.  She gets on board the Nadesico to confront the woman that took her brother's heart, but she too soon grows fond of Minato-san.

The future of the war soon surrounds the Nadesico when Tsukumo makes it his home, of sorts.  The Nadesico, and its crew, who, by this time, wants the war to end now, agrees to be the ambassador of peace and bring Tsukumo to Jupiter.  They were to sign a treaty to end the fighting, but because of the double-dealings on the side of the Jovians, not only does the war continue, Tsukumo is shot during the talks, which is, when I first saw it, very twisted of the writers to do.  The love affair between Minato and him was a very beautiful side story, but now he's dead.  You do see it coming, but it hurts.  Meanwhile, the people of Jupiter are told that the Earth-people did it and are motivated to use this sad event as inspiration to go on.

The sad thing is that it was Genichiro himself that shot down Tsukumo.  He reasoned that it was the best thing for Jupiter to do so.

Minato, who truly loved Tsukumo, was more than heartbroken by this terrible turn of fate.  She took refuge watching Genkigander alone in her dark room.  When she watched the final episode, in which Joe reappears, alive and well, she thinks to herself how convient for Joe that he can be brought back to life.  Only in anime, obviously....

Because there is no one left for Yukina and because she had already cared for the girl, Minato became her guardian.  She IS the only part of Tsukumo she has now, so she will care for Yukina as best she could.

*sighs as she thinks of Tsukumo's death scene*

One think I want to add is a small retelling of a small love scene between Tsukumo and Minato, if I can remember it.  The pair thought they were alone in the rec room on the ship, but, by chance, Akito and Yurika were underneath the table next to them, listening on the entire scene.  Tsukumo's shyness comes through as Minato tries kissing him.  He never kissed a girl before, but after Minato kisses him, it's obvious he doesn't mind.

The fact that Yurika and Akito are the sole witnesses to this reminds me of a lovely thing that is hard to describe.  It is typical of one romantic couple with some troubles not allowing them to be together to be the only witnesses to another couple's special moment.  Another time I saw a similar scene was in the Mexican movie, Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate), in which Tita, the heroine, and Pedro, her love interest, were the only witnesses to her sister Gertudis' sexually-charged snatching by a rebel.  Only they saw them ride off in each others' arms.  In a way, Akito and Yurika witnessed a similar scene, only their scene didn't involve sex on a galloping horse.  (Go watch Como Agua now, you!)