So why is the ship named Nadesico anyway? That's the name of the flower "sweet William," or "pink," (Dianthus spp.) in Japanese. What, you say, a battle cruiser named after a flower? Actually, it seems that the other ships are named after flowers, too. But there's a method to the madness. There is a phrase in Japanese, "Yamato nadesico," that means "Japanese woman" ("the country of Yamato" being an old way to say Japan), signifying the strong spirit of women in the samurai era. Something sound familiar? That's right, that's Yamato as in "Space Battleship Yamato." And if there's a Yamato, then it's only natural for there to be a "Mobile Battleship Nadesico," right?... Right? No wonder the ship is populated by women. (Not to rub the connection in, but the writers paid a special homage to Captain Okita last episode.)

Remember the picture Gai used in episode 3 to describe the "Ganger Cross Operation?" That was actually drawn by a 5-year-old kid, the son of Nobuyoshi Habara, the drama director of Nadesico. Wow, if he could draw that well as a 5-year-old, it's scary to think what he could do when he grows up.