Customer Reviews

Nadia, Secret of Blue Water - The Adventure Begins (Vol. 1)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This neglected series, which I saw in its entirety on fansubs, might very well be the best TV series adventure drama for younger audiences produced in anime--but I'm not so familiar with anime aimed at younger audiences, so that's not something I say with total confidence. There are still numerous flaws in the storytelling, especially in the middle episodes that were made after Director Hideaki Anno handed over production to his assitant Shinji Higuchi and the animation was farmed out to cheaper, overseas animation studios. (I guess he came back for the final episodes, which are pure Anno indeed.) On the whole, "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water" is an age-appropriate series that doesn't fail to include compelling characters, a twisting, consistently interesting plot, and a grand finale that's logical and actually worthy of everything that came before it. Anno didn't even manage to pull something like that in "Evangelion," no matter what the greater strengths of that later show were.

What's actually rather amazing in seeing this series is how many parallels the storyline and even the characters of Nadia, Captain Nemo, Electra, and the Neo-Atlantean organization were carried over into "Evangelion." Suffice to say that in the second tape, the middle episodes before the infamous "Island" sequence, and in the final five episodes--the echoes are undeniable. (Biblical references abound, for example.) Situations, lines, and themes turn out to be similar, and occasionally they even rival the brutality that "Evangelion" portrayed so vividly--though of course, this show was made for children and thus Anno had to pull his punches. Reportedly, he was unhappy about this fact; I suppose "Evangelion" made up for that! Even the infamous close-up montages of still objects that would be a hallmark of Anno's later work shows up from time to time in this show.

The colors are bright and sharp, if a bit 80s-ish and slightly dated by today's anime standards. The character design is also much more "round" and "cartoonish," with the eerie exception of Nadia herself--a dead ringer for Shinji, if I ever saw one. (Of course both "Eva" and "Nadia" shared the same character designer, so it's no surprise.) Special note must be made about the delightfully Jules Vernes-ish mechanical devices--the Gratan, for example, or the intricately designed Nautilus, which has throwbacks to the spaceships in Anno's debut OAV, "Gunbuster." As a previous reviewer has noted, the influence of Miyazaki, especially "Laputa: Castle in the Sky," is significant, though they're not specifically the flying machines that Miyazaki has a special affection for. The alternate late 19th Century portrayed in this series is quite charming and intricate, in a Jules Verne-ish way again.

What I liked about this show is that while the above-mentioned brutality and plot twists are definitely present, the strong sense of faith and vitality is never lost in the characters--especially in Jean, who never loses hope, even when the moody, introspective Nadia does. Jean's optimism is believable, not contrived, and it is his devotion and energy that drives this show, even as many of the characters around him start to fall apart in remarkably similar ways that the "Eva" characters did. I think this ultimately was the secret of this anime's true success in Japan and in the early US anime fan community, besides the humor and impressively detailed mechanical devices and plot twists.

I look forward to completing this series on DVD, hopefully with the valuable, revealing, and necessary omake/extra bits released as well.

I love the Beatles White Album, but I only love about half the songs on it. Beatles manager George Martin always said he thought it should have been done as a single album, taking the best from both records, and it would be the best rock album ever. This is basically how I feel about "Nadia." Director Hideaki Anno chose to make the series 39 episodes long rather than the usual 26; I feel that if he condensed the series to 26 episodes long, he would have a killer show on his hands.

Nadia was Anno's first series, and essentially spins halfway between his work under anime legend Hiyao Miyazake (Princess Mononoke, Nausicaa) and his own landmark series Neon Genesis: Evangelion. The best elements of Nadia feature remnants of Miyazaki's spellbinding magical qualities, and Evangelion's scorching and unsettling vision of looming apocalypse. Our heroine Nadia finds herself exploring a vast and strange lost underwater kingdom, while coming to terms with her own tortured family life and the frightening proto-Nazi organization that her Atlantean kingdom has turned into. Anno doesn't fail to dazzle us with a glimpse at a haunting and magical world, but he pulls no punches either.

Tragically, both of these aspects are rather damaged by Anno's handling of comedy in the series. The mixing of comedy and serious material within Nadia is nothing extraordinary; the Japanese have a knack for handling this brilliantly (see Cowboy Bebop, Slayers: Try, and even the incredible Irresponsible Captain Tylor). Anno himself handles this masterfully - albeit with a vicious streak - in Evangelion, where he lures the viewers in with lighter-hearted fare before dumping unspeakable horror on them. But in Nadia, there is simply too much comic relief; the gag characters don't know when to shut up. When the Hitleresque Gargoyle is nearly destroying Nadia with a horrific battalion of organic spaceships, silly jokes are still being cracked. It just spoils the purity of the moment.

Likewise, the comic sequences stretch on too long at times. Nadia and Jean's stay on the island, for example, lasts at least six or seven episodes, with most of the plot taken up with Jean's comic swipes at Nadia's obsessive vegetarianism. By the time they get off, you nearly forget that the plot that landed them there.

This is not to say this a bad series by any means; it's simply a warning. Don't expect THE most incredible series ever; truth told, it is probably not as solid a show as Anno's Evangelion is. But it remains his close second, and one of the best anime series in recent memory. If you've seen Evangelion, Nadia has some of the same feel, but in much gentler way... Nadia takes you by the hand where Evangelion stomps on your face with a metal boot.

So definitely check out Nadia. You'll get the bonus of seeing where Disney stole their newest movie from, too...

This series, which I saw in its entirety on fansubs, might very well be the best TV series adventure drama for younger audiences produced in anime--but I'm not so familiar with anime aimed at younger audiences, so that's not something I say with total confidence. There are still numerous flaws in the storytelling, especially in the middle episodes that were made after Director Anno Hideaki handed over production to his assitant, but on the whole, "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water" is an age-appropriate series that doesn't fail to include compelling characters, a twisting, consistently interesting plot, and a grand finale that's logical and actually worthy of everything that came before it. Anno didn't even manage to pull something like that in "Evangelion," no matter what the greater strengths of that later show were.

What's actually rather amazing in seeing this series is how many parallels the storyline and even the characters of Nadia, Captain Nemo, Electra, and the Neo-Atlantean organization were carried over into "Evangelion." Suffice to say that in the second tape, the middle episodes before the infamous "Island" sequence, and in the final five episodes--the echoes are undeniable. (Biblical references abound, for example.) Situations, lines, and themes turn out to be similar, and occasionally they even rival the brutality that "Evangelion" portrayed so vividly--though of course, this show was made for children and thus Anno had to pull his punches. Reportedly, he was unhappy about this fact; I suppose "Evangelion" made up for that!

The colors are bright and sharp, if a bit 80s-ish and slightly dated by today's anime standards. The character design is also much more "round" and "cartoonish," with the eerie exception of Nadia herself--a dead ringer for Shinji, if I ever saw one. (Of course both "Eva" and "Nadia" shared the same character designer, so it's no surprise.)

What I liked about this show is that while the above-mentioned brutality and plot twists are definitely present, the strong sense of faith and vitality is never lost in the characters--especially in Jean, who never loses hope, even when the moody, introspective Nadia does. Jean's optimism is believable, not contrived, and it is his devotion and energy that drives this show, even as many of the characters around him start to fall apart in remarkably similar ways that the "Eva" characters did. I think this ultimately was the secret of this anime's true success in Japan and in the early US anime fan community, besides the humor and impressively detailed mechanical devices and plot twists.

I look forward to completing this series on DVD, hopefully with the valuable, revealing, and necessary omake/extra bits released as well.

Studio Gainax's Hideaki Anno directed this NHK produced tv series which aired in the early nineties. This enigmatic and thoroughly entertaining series is the whimsical dexter to Evangelion's sinister. Ironically, both works feature biblical icons and cautionary moral tales. This story is loosely based on Jules Vernes 20,000 leagues under the sea, but features a cast of characters mirroring a greek tragedy. The first few episodes are action packed, and set this powerful story in motion. I believe that the properly subtitled complete version will place this work with Nausicaa of the Valley of Wind, Honneamis and Evangelion. I hope to see a DVD collector's version.

Before EVANGELION, the anime for which Gainax was best-known was probably FUSHIGI NO UMI NO NADIA ("Nadia of the Seas of Wonder"), a TV series which aired on NHK during 1990-91. The series was a huge hit in Japan at the time, but has since been overshadowed by the more well-known EVA, which is a shame since NADIA is a better example of all-around entertainment than EVA. Streamline Pictures made the first attempt at an English release of the series in the mid-1990s, but for some reason they didn't finish it, and so A.D. Vision - the U.S. distributors of EVANGELION - tackled the job of translating the series anew in 2000. And I think it turned out great - I've only seen the first four episodes, which I rented from my public library, but they've left me hungry for more.
I've seen a lot of complaints about the dub here. Yes, Nathan Parsons needs work with his French accent as Jean, and Meg Bauman's Nadia sounds a bit green in parts too (albeit very good overall), but keep in mind they were still kids when they recorded these parts - no one expects a 14-year-old to be a Shakespeare-caliber actor, and personally I think it was innovative of A.D. to cast actual kids as Nadia and Jean, rather than adults pretending to be kids. I don't believe that their performance makes the show "unwatchable" at all - I think it makes the characters seem more believable. But the best voice talent among the whole bunch is Sarah Richardson, the voice of Grandis Granva. Grandis is definitely my favorite character - even if she is supposedly a "villain," you can't help but love her. I also love Shawn Sides' purrs and growls as King, who is one of the most adorable anime characters I've ever seen.
The show itself might be a bit too intense for very young children, but audiences 10 and older might get a kick out of it. This definitely isn't your typical sugary, syrupy-sweet kids' show. It deals with a lot of issues you wouldn't ever see in, say, "Rugrats," particularly in the personality of Nadia, who is a strict vegetarian and a strong believer in animal rights. (In episode three where the ship is being attacked by a supposed sea monster, Nadia is concerned mainly for the safety of the sea monster.) There are also a few situations adults and those old enough to understand will get a chuckle out of, including a shower scene in which Nadia smacks Jean for trying to peep into her stall.
As for the production values, they're great. The animation has aged very well and doesn't look at all dated, and like his work on Gainax's later hits EVANGELION and KARE KANO, Shiro Sagisu's music is superb. The theme song is relentlessly catchy and has that late '80s/early '90s "feel" to it - it sounds a bit Paula Abdul or Madonna-ish - and the pseudo-English lyric "Don't forget to try in mind" always makes me crack a smile.
All in all, a very enjoyable series thus far. It's a children's series, but it's sophisticated enough that adults can enjoy it too. Recommended.

I am a 13 year old girl and I love everything Japanese. This video is as good as other Japanese anime like Sailor Moon and Tenchi Muyo. I would really like to see more of this series. The two other Nadia videos Amazon sells are both on this video. There are a total of 4 stories on this video, so it is worth paying a few extra dollars for it. These stories are perfect for kids my age.

A longtime fan favorite for many years, this 39-part TV series has quite a bit of secrets of its own, one of which I'll talk about before I start my review. In the mid 1970's, prior to obtaining his well-deserved status as Japan's greatest animator ever, a young Hayao Miyazaki was hired by Japanese movie giant Toho to develop ideas for TV series. One of these concepts was "Around the World Under the Sea", based on Jules Verne's 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA, in which two orphan children pursued by villains team up with Captain Nemo and his mighty submarine, the Nautilus. Although it was never produced, Toho nonetheless kept the rights to the story outline. Miyazaki would reuse elements from his original concept in later projects of his, notably the Sci-Fi series FUTURE BOY CONAN and the action-adventure feature CASTLE IN THE SKY.

Flash forward about ten years later. Animation studio GAINAX was appointed by Toho in 1989 to produce a TV series which would be broadcast on the Japanese educational network NHK (the equivalent of PBS). Miyazaki's outline for "Around the World Under the Sea" was the one which captivated GAINAX the most. Under the direction of brilliant but angst-ridden Hideaki Anno, the animation studio took the central story and setup Miyazaki had developed and touched it up with their own creativity. Thus, NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER was born. (Incidentally, Anno had previously worked for Miyazaki as an animator on projects such as NAUSICAA.) The show was a tremendous success in its initial 1990 Japanese broadcast; the title character, Nadia, showed up on the Japanese Animage polls as favorite Anime heroine, dethroning Miyazaki's own NAUSICAA, the previous champion.

The story, set in 1889 Paris, follows the adventures of Nadia, a brooding, dark-skinned circus acrobat who has grown up to become a suspicious, strong-willed girl with no clue of her past other than her jeweled necklace, the Blue Water. She refuses to trust anybody other than animals or the diamond, and acts aloof and uninterested when, on a chance day at the Eiffel Tower, she happens to meet a boy her age known as Jean. An ever-lovable, eager-to-please, precocious aviator-wannabe, Jean is easily the most likable character in the show; the sort of best friend or love interest ANYBODY would ever want to have. Nadia, by contrast, is not always lovable; as mentioned, she does not respond to Jean's friendly overtures when they first meet. But Jean, unwilling to take no for an answer, earns her trust when he rescues her from a comic trio of bandits -- the Grandis Gang (a smashingly funny trio consisting of the red-haired, short-tempered Grandis Granva, and her two accomplices, vain Sanson, and mechanic Hanson who threaten to steal the show) -- and unabashedly shows Nadia that he'll do anything to make her happy. Needless to say, Nadia's self-centered, anti-social nature slowly begins to change through her newfound relationship with Jean. The pair are soon thrust into an even bigger adventure when they set off to find Nadia's birthplace, supposedly located in Africa. Rescued by a US battleship hunting down sea monsters, and later taken aboard the Nautilus, the two, already fast friends, will have a lot to deal with during the course of their surprising adventure.

The above synopsis sets the stage for a promising beginning to a TV series which unfortunately doesn't always stay afloat. NADIA has twenty-two terrific episodes and the last five ones are equally fantastic, but the remaining episodes vary in quality. However, this is merely another story, as the show still manages to pull enough goodies out of the bag to keep us interested. Plus, the first DVD has tremendous entertainment value, so no problems there. The animation is quite excellent, bursting with wit and imagination, considering that this is a 1989 Anime TV show (most Anime TV series have, at the time, had smaller budgets resulting in choppy frame rates). Shiro Sagisu's music has its occasionally bland moments, but it somehow suits the show. Plus, the opening and ending theme songs (sung by Miho Morikawa) are gorgeous, too.

In July of 2001 (ironically, the same time Disney unveiled ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE), ADV Films released the first DVD in the series for new fans to discover. The visual transfer is very good, despite some minor nicks at points, and the audio is competently mixed. However, the extras aren't really anything special, just the creditless opening and ending as well as trailers for other ADV Films releases, which aren't bad, but they just don't feel like enough.

I should also mention that while serious hardcore fans would rather watch the series in Japanese, the English dub made by ADV Films' Austin-based Monster Island studios isn't bad at all for what it is. It was a very nice idea to cast actual children to play the roles of Jean and Nadia, and the results are quite pleasing. Fourteen-year-old Meg Bauman makes a wonderful Nadia, capturing much of her multi-faceted personality and determination. I also liked twelve-year-old Nathan Parsons, who plays Jean. His French accent isn't the greatest, but his enthusiasm shines through, making his performance very enjoyable, despite his slippery dialect. The two youngsters do great chemistry alongside the more experienced adult members of the cast. Sarah Richardson (Grandis), Martin Blacker (Sanson), Corey Gagne (Hanson), Ev Lunning, Jr. (Captain Nemo), Ed Neal (Jean's Uncle), and Jennifer Stuart (Nemo's First Officer Electra) all deliver good, solid performances. Lowell Bartholomee's adaptation maintains the spirit of the show and actually outshines the unpolished, awkwardly translated subtitle script. Granted the dub is not perfect -- aside from the accents, some of the incidental characters sound like they're warming up -- but on the whole, this is a commendable English track, and one to which I don't mind listening.

NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER may be longer than it was originally supposed to be, but there's enough to enjoy, particularly this first volume. It's quite a lot of fun.

I first saw Nadia when it aired on TV in Japan at the end of the 80's. I was mesmerized then, and couldn't wait to get my hands on a copy once I got back to the states. Only volume one was available on LD, and I thought that was the end. But now it's on DVD! I am thrilled.

Taking elements from "20,000 leagues under the sea", "Fushigi no Umi no Nadia", or "The Secret of Blue Water", as it's also known, is a wonderful adventure involving Jean, a genius inventor, Nadia, a mysterious girl whom he befriends, and the "Blue Water"--a jeweled pendant which Nadia keeps.

If you enjoyed Laputa, or other Miyazaki Hayao animations, you will love the beautiful, detailed scenes in Nadia. Watch it in Japanese, with subtitles, for the best affect. I switched to English, but not for long--the dub made me grimace.

This neglected series, which I saw in its entirety on fansubs, might very well be the best TV series adventure drama for younger audiences produced in anime--but I'm not so familiar with anime aimed at younger audiences, so that's not something I say with total confidence. There are still numerous flaws in the storytelling, especially in the middle episodes that were made after Director Hideaki Anno handed over production to his assitant Shinji Higuchi and the animation was farmed out to cheaper, overseas animation studios. (I guess he came back for the final episodes, which are pure Anno indeed.) On the whole, "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water" is an age-appropriate series that doesn't fail to include compelling characters, a twisting, consistently interesting plot, and a grand finale that's logical and actually worthy of everything that came before it. Anno didn't even manage to pull something like that in "Evangelion," no matter what the greater strengths of that later show were.

What's actually rather amazing in seeing this series is how many parallels the storyline and even the characters of Nadia, Captain Nemo, Electra, and the Neo-Atlantean organization were carried over into "Evangelion." Suffice to say that in the second tape, the middle episodes before the infamous "Island" sequence, and in the final five episodes--the echoes are undeniable. (Biblical references abound, for example.) Situations, lines, and themes turn out to be similar, and occasionally they even rival the brutality that "Evangelion" portrayed so vividly--though of course, this show was made for children and thus Anno had to pull his punches. Reportedly, he was unhappy about this fact; I suppose "Evangelion" made up for that! Even the infamous close-up montages of still objects that would be a hallmark of Anno's later work shows up from time to time in this show.

The colors are bright and sharp, if a bit 80s-ish and slightly dated by today's anime standards. The character design is also much more "round" and "cartoonish," with the eerie exception of Nadia herself--a dead ringer for Shinji, if I ever saw one. (Of course both "Eva" and "Nadia" shared the same character designer, so it's no surprise.) Special note must be made about the delightfully Jules Vernes-ish mechanical devices--the Gratan, for example, or the intricately designed Nautilus, which has throwbacks to the spaceships in Anno's debut OAV, "Gunbuster." As a previous reviewer has noted, the influence of Miyazaki, especially "Laputa: Castle in the Sky," is significant, though they're not specifically the flying machines that Miyazaki has a special affection for. The alternate late 19th Century portrayed in this series is quite charming and intricate, in a Jules Verne-ish way again.

What I liked about this show is that while the above-mentioned brutality and plot twists are definitely present, the strong sense of faith and vitality is never lost in the characters--especially in Jean, who never loses hope, even when the moody, introspective Nadia does. Jean's optimism is believable, not contrived, and it is his devotion and energy that drives this show, even as many of the characters around him start to fall apart in remarkably similar ways that the "Eva" characters did. I think this ultimately was the secret of this anime's true success in Japan and in the early US anime fan community, besides the humor and impressively detailed mechanical devices and plot twists.

I look forward to completing this series on DVD, hopefully with the valuable, revealing, and necessary omake/extra bits released as well.

The first time I saw this show I was really excited because it deals with adventure, love, and secret (as it is sais in the title). Let me tell ya, you've been looking for a great japanese anime you found it. Really better than everything Gainax has done, I mean, Eva, Fulikuli etc... Besides, everything is incredible in this anime : character design, music, characters'psychology... Thank you gainax. Buy it buy it ! WONDERFUL.