Nova Satori

Infobox animanga character
name = Nova Satori
series = Robotech


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first = Episode 37 - "Dana's Story"
last = Episode 60 - "Catastrophe"
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voiced by = Edie Mirman
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gender = Female
species = Human
born = January 19, 2010
death =
nationality = American
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occupation = Global Military Police Officer
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Nova Satori is a fictional character from the Robotech anime television series. The character was adapted from Lana Isavia in The Super Dimension Cavalry Southern Cross.

Biography

At 19 years old, Nova is the youngest military police officer in the Global Military Police (GMP). She is also the highest ranking female officer, and is the personal aide to Colonel Alan Fredricks.

By 2029, the GMP had considerable power and importance. Due to the feudal society that had evolved in the 15 years following the First Robotech War, the GMP constituted the only truly worldwide law-enforcement organization, and was a check and balance on those who had at their disposal the tremendous power of Robotechnology. As a result, the GMP was not merely a police force but also maintained its own war machinery, combat forces, and intelligence network. Nova, like others who sought a career in the GMP as a possible road to swift personal advancement, was forced to say farewell to all outside friendships due to the rigid doctrines that the GMP required.

Nova takes her duties very seriously and allows for no compromises regarding protocol and regulations. Her rivalry with 15th ATAC leader Lieutenant Dana Sterling can be viewed as a subtle game of "cat and mouse" or as a "fencing match". In the beginning of the series, Nova appears to be colder and less personable than TASC officer Marie Crystal. But as the story progresses, she is revealed to be even more of a romantic than Dana.

Initially, Nova repeatedly tries to root out possible traitors and spies from within Earth's military. But her interrogations of Zor Prime cause her to lose focus while reviewing several personnel files and negatively impact the record of TASC pilot Dennis Brown. When she apologizes to him, he surprisingly thanks her for helping him stay on Earth to keep an eye on an overzealous military leadership. The two later become romantically involved.

As the series progresses, Nova becomes frustrated at continually being outfoxed by Dana and the 15th ATAC squad. She tries to arrest Zor, lock up Bowie Grant, and capture Musica as a prisoner of war. However none of her plans come to fruition. Eventually, Nova's military training conflicts with her sense of justice, and she is forced to choose between her duty to the Southern Cross and her friendship with the 15th Squad. Realizing that the war has become one of survival and freedom from an overwhelmingly powerful enemy, Nova switches sides and joins the 15th in their mission to stop the Robotech Masters.

Current Status

The Eternity and Academy comic book series Robotech: Invid War, has Nova acting as a liaison with various resistance groups during the Invid occupation. In the decanonized Jack McKinney novel "Rubicon" (book 17 of the Robotech series), all of the main characters who survivied the Second Robotech War, except Nova Satori and Dennis Brown, acquire Jonathan Wolfe's ship, travel to Tirol, and meet up with the Robotech Expeditionary Forces 2033 but there is no explanation of why Nova and Dennis were not with them. Towards the end of book 18 of the Robotech series (entitled "The End of the Circle"), Scott Bernard is told "to keep an eye out for Nova Satori, the charismatic leader of the Homunculi Movement." Whether this sentence (which is the only mention of Nova in books 10-18 of the series) is enough to conclude that she is still alive is a matter of opinion.

The last page of the Jack McKinney novel Before the Invid Storm also mentions Nova Satori and the Homunculi movement, although the novel gives no information on what this is or why. It also states that there is reason to believe that this Nova Satori is an imposter. The real Satori, however, was said to be secretly involved in the Reconstruction period following the Invid Invasion. With the redesignation of all non animated Robotech material to secondary continuity, her current status in the rebooted timeline, if still alive, is unknown.

Lana Isavia

The third central female of the Southern Cross. At 19, Lana, who is voiced by veteran Japanese seiyu, Mika Doi, is the youngest military police officer on Glorie, and one of the highest ranking. Lana takes her duties very seriously and allows for no compromises regarding protocol and regulations. Her rivalry with Jeanne can be viewed as a subtle game of "cat and mouse". In the beginning of the series, Lana appears to be colder and less personable than Marie. But as the story progresses, she is revealed to be even more of a romantic than Jeanne. Her military training eventually conflicts with her passionate emotions, and she is forced to choose between her duty to the Southern Cross, and her friendship with the 15th Squad. She slowly develops feelings for TASC pilot R. Brown, and they later become romantically involved.

Trivia

- Nova Satori was voiced by Edie Mirman in Robotech, as was the Macross Saga character Miriya Parino. The original Japanese character, Lana Isavia "(from Southern Cross)", was voiced by the famous seiyuu Mika Doi, who also voiced Misa Hayase (aka Lisa Hayes) of The Super Dimension Fortress Macross and Houquet et Rose (aka Rook Bartley) of Genesis Climber Mospeada.

- Nova can be seen as an earlier version of Kanuka Clancy from Mobile Police Patlabor, as both their looks and personalities are similar. Also, the rivalry between Nova and Dana can be seen as an earlier version of the relationship between Kanuka and fellow Labor pilot, Noa Izumi.

- The word "nova" is Latin for "new", and the word "satori" is a Buddhist word meaning "calm" or "tranquility". Hence the name "Nova Satori" (New Tranquility) can be seen as ironic, as Nova is older than both Dana and Marie, and is the most hot-headed of the three. On the other hand, her name could represent the change of heart she has in the Protoculture cave at the end of the series.

References

External links

* [http://www.robotech.com/infopedia/characters/viewcharacter.php?id=35 Official Bio]