User reviews

Nadia seems to have fallen off the radar when it comes to 90s anime, but it's truly one of the classics of the decade. Few shows feel as equally accessible to kids and adults alike, and the show's themes about technology, power, and love remain provoking.

The characters are all so memorable. Jean and Nadia are the finest protagonists one could ask for in this sort of adventure, likable while still leaving a lot of room for character development. (Nadia can get supremely irritating at times, but she's such a unique heroine and her growth is so powerful that her more zealous moments can be tolerated.) The child Marie and Nadia's pet lion cub King are cute without being cloying, and the Grandis trio are comic gold who come to be more fleshed out as the story goes on. Nemo, Electra, and the rest of the Nautilus submarine crew are all fantastic, and the villains are sinister without feeling one-note.

The animation in the first season is breathtaking for a television series, though it notably declines in quality by the second season. Speaking of the second season, it is awful, the one true drawback to this great show. The characters lose much of the development they gained at the end of season one and little of interest happens. Unless you are a completion-ist like me, it could be skipped altogether without losing much narrative cohesiveness.

Secret of Blue Water needs rediscovery. It's much superior to some of the more popular 90s anime and as far as coming-of-age adventures go, this series dwells with the best of the genre.

"Nadia: the Secret of Blue Water" (originally called "Fushigi no umi no Nadia", literally translating "Nadia of the Mysterious Seas") is 39 episodes long anime series, which was originally aired in the years 1990-1991. Series primary director was Hideaki Anno, who had previously worked as one of the animators in Hayao Miyazaki's film "Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind" (1984) and who would later direct one of the most successful anime series ever; "Neon Genesis Evangelion" (1995-1996). The story of the series has been inspired by the novels of Jules Verne, especially "20.000 Leagues Under the Sea" (1870). Also Miyazaki's film "Laputa- Castle in the Sky" (1986) has inspired some elements of the story.

Set in the year of 1890, Nadia, an orphaned acrobat girl working in circus, is trying to find a way to get to Africa to look her possible family and origins. While coming to Paris to perform, she is chased by a very Team Rocket- like gang of thieves, who try to steal "Blue Water", a mysterious blue stone Nadia is wearing around her neck. She is helped by Jean, a young inventor boy, who out of good heart decides to help Nadia to get to Africa. While trying to avoid any more contacts with the thieves, Nadia and Jean find themselves in the middle of a secret war between Captain Nemo, a mysterious scientist who lives in his submarine "Nautilus" with his crew, and Gargoyle, a power-mad masked villain. Just what is the secret of "Blue Water" and what is the connection of Nadia to both Nemo and Gargoyle?

When I watched the series I was already well passed the age when the animations with good guys vs. evil world dominating villains were interesting. Yet, "Nadia" is not as simple as it may first look like. The characters are not just two-dimensional but have some real life in them. Especially Nadia's character; who first appears as temperamental and distrusting, but learns to become caring and what she most values in her life, when she nearly looses all. Also, her relationship with Jean is very realistic for a change. Music is captivating and the story telling dynamic. The animation itself is not the best possible quality but it really doesn't bother. Voice actors (I'm talking the original Japanese ones, for I have not heard either of the two English dubs) are doing a great job. Noriko Hidaka (who has done such great anime roles as Akane in "Ranma 1/2", Kikyo in "Inuyasha" and Near in "Death Note") really convinced me that she was voicing a 14 year old boy; Jean. Yoshino Takamori did a great job with temperamental but caring Nadia and Motomu Kiyokawa (Walter in both "Hellsing" and "Hellsing OVA" series) was absolutely chilling as Gargoyle.

Sadly, series does have one terrible down side to it: the filler episodes directed by Shinji Higuchi, that for some unclear reason were demanded in the middle of the series. During those episodes story hardly moved at all, characters loose their interest and almost every minute is spend with some of the worst anime humor ever. These filler episodes are episodes 23-29 and 32-34. Episodes 30-31 are worth seeing for the story actually moves there somewhat and the relationship of Nadia and Jean strengthens there.

If you can forgive some simple animation, unbelievable plot twists and skip the previously mentioned filler episodes, then you have a great and entertaining anime series here, that will keep you interested from the beginning to the end. Warmly recommended.

I have this in Japanese, English subbed and dubbed and even in French. Slightly different edits for each. A superb show with first class animation, especially in the first episode. Some very slight nudity was removed from several edits (including the French aired shows) and there are some very powerful emotional moments - such as Marie's grief at the loss of her parents. If you can, sit down and enjoy the whole show - it will not leave you untouched. Highly recommended introduction to the real art of Japanese animation. NB: The movie which followed is not so good.

Before anime characters started sporting gravity defying hair and using freaky psychic powers to subvert the laws of physics, we got a few gems like these. Nadia is one of the most popular series of the 80s and one of the best looking, especially over the first few episodes. The visuals are breathtaking and the action is edge-of-your-seat exciting. The action is driven by exciting stunts and the (then) cutting edge inventions from the age of steam make for wonderfully unpredictable getaway vehicles. The first episode alone has one of the best anime chase scenes of the period, as memorable as anything in Castle Cagliostro, and the excitement keeps up from there. The 'villainous' trio pursuing the main character are my only real complaint with the series; they are meant to be both threatening and comical, but they just come off as goofy and tend to get in the way. The pace also tends to slacken a bit after episode two, but the rest of the series is still worth watching for its likable characters and gorgeous visuals. The first couple of episodes are maybe the best in the series and start things off at a frenetic pace, making for memorable entertainment and good fun.

I've watched so many anime's throughout my life, the shows with massive fandoms and are very popular, and the shows with small fandoms and it's hard to find a fellow fan. After all those shows 'Nadia : The secret of blue water' has stuck with me, been in my heart since I watched it. The writing was phenomenal. Yes, there were some 'meh' moments and the animation wasn't the best since it was made in the 90s but other than that I will always recommend this to everyone. This show really stuck with me. I feel bad for the people who only focus on watching the big and very popular shows. There's so many anime's that are so beautiful in their own way, but no one seems to know about them since no one talks about them. 'Nadia: the secret of blue water' is one of those forgotten anime's.

I really love stories like that because they truly present of there really present how anything is possible and there really is a big world out there beyond the sight of our everyday existence.

This is one of my favorite anime of all time, it's also another under the radar gem. It was a hit for its time, but as time went on just like Atlantis it sunk down into the depths of obscurity. This show predates the show "Stargate Atlantis" and even the Disney movie "Atlantis: The Lost Empire" another under the radar gem.

I really love the storyline, it's was loosely inspired by Jules Verne's "2000 Leagues Under the Sea" as it takes bits here and there but really is its own story, as it really correlates to some of the pulp adventure stories of yesteryear, which I've always loved because they are very imaginative stories. Like with a lot of the pulp adventure stories they always play with the concept of what if, here it's the possibility of what if Atlantis truly existed and being able to go with some advanced sophisticated means you never would have thought possible in the present.

But what also stands out is its story format as it's the ongoing plotline format which wasn't common at the time but is now common place in shows like "Stranger Things", "Game of Thrones", "Battlestar Galactica" (revival version), which I thought was really cool seeing a show that had a continuously developing story but this format also stays true to the pulp adventure serials that always ended on a cliffhanger and never finished until the next film.

Music is great, I really love the theme song which is one of my favorite theme songs. I really love the animation which I think is very good, from the character animation but I really like the animation of the backgrounds bring out the pulp adventure quality from its locations, Atlantis itself and other things but also to help show a time when the world was still young. But also the vehicle and other scientific wonders we see from that tank Grandis and company ride which looks like a precursor version of the Tatchcoma's from "Ghost in the Shell" but the Natilis itself which is awesome looking and similar to the Yamato from "Space Battleship Yamato" but what I love about this ship is that it not just sails smoothly on the surface of the ocean but can go underwater and even up in the air which is cool because you can be mobile and have three kinds of warfare to utilize sub and ship warfare along with aerial assault.

The characters are all solid, each of them is three dimensional and there are some well rounded dynamics that you find yourself caring for them almost as you would a real person which is part of what constitutes good/great characters. And what I really like is how some of these characters show development making them feel a little more human.

Like supporting characters like Grandis, whom is a hot and sexy with that red uniform and hair. What I like about her is how she is just sassy (in a good way), she's fiery feisty. She's a person that seem like she's always looking for something but doesn't always know what it is, that I can emphasize with a little as I myself am a constant searcher. Though if there is a couple of things thing she's guilty of is being a little immature and having the mentality that she'll always get what she wants, but throughout the adventure she does exercise some maturity and that life don't go one way for no one.

Really like her subordinates Sanson and Hanson whom are sort of like a Bulk and Skull from "Power Rangers" only both are smart if slightly cumbersome and actually useful. Both really are a bronze and brains dynamic as Hanson he's the one that is inventive whom could literally put Ford to shame as he's invented a mobile tank before there even were any, while Sanson seems to have super strength. Really like the clashing back and forth between them but also like their interactions with other characters like Jean, let alone are actually useful which I feel fleshes both out showing their not just comic relief.

Electra whom is Nemo's number two I also really like, she a character also hot and sexy she's like the mysterious femine fatale in the noirs, she looks great in both uniforms though my fav is the white uniform which form fits her. Ahem anyway, I really like the she is serious as she seems duty bound but there is hidden depth to her and the feelings with it, which do play a crucial part in the storyline.

Jean is another of my favorite fictional protagonists he sort of could almost be a young version of Daniel Jackson from "Stargate SG1" or MacGyver. Just like those two he is highly knowledgeable in science, he's defiantly a person ahead of his time as he is always inventing and coming up with certain concepts that are what we have today. He's not a person of muscle, his best weapon is his intelligence which really is the best kind of weapon anyone can have as he is using his smarts and certain inventions to get out of some predicaments. But what I really love is he's has big dreams in having his inventions becoming reality but also a positive and ambitious outlook on both science and life. Nadia she's a solid character as she is feisty fiery, aggressive and has only her acrobatic skills and can-do aggressive attitude and strong feelings toward nature and humanity. Her only Achilles heal is she has a short temper and really jumps to conclusions about certain things too quickly. However, she is capable of being open minded and from everything going on around her she slowly but surely accepts the truth in the matter of things.

Jean and Nadia are one of my favorite fictional couples. I really love the chemistry between both Jean and Nadia, and it significantly develops. In a way it represents the relationship between both science and nature, the new ways and old values as both are in constant conflict but at the same time really do need each other. Both Jean and Nadia really are right for one another it sorts of reminds me of that in a Howard Hawks film as we see both really become more of a man and woman. Jean keeps her out of trouble or doing something stupid that could jeopardize both their lives, while Nadia she challenges him and really helps him be more assertive brings out an aggressive energy and strength inside him, he never knew he ever had.

I like how it's funny when both at times tend to misstep with one another mostly unintentional. We see Nadia's give Jean some grief intentional or unintentional because Jean sometimes steps in at the wrong place wrong time or says one wrong thing which leads to dire misunderstanding, this is funny because it's kind of true with some of us that don't really know how to interact properly or ask a girl out on a date right.

But what I like is how Jean despite the licks he takes he doesn't give up, he has deep feelings for Naida and he going to use everything in him to act and express them despite the result. Nadia also has deep feelings her problem is she hides them in a mask but also doesn't know the appropriate way to express them but is also impatient and acts and judges prematurely and foolishly. But throughout the adventure she learns to calm down and to be patient with Jean, and as both interact more she opens up more and lets Jean into her life which is something she hasn't done at all.

The show I wouldn't say is perfect there are a few slow spots in places, like for example that island arc was a bit long though making the show lose a little momentum as it was riddled a bit with filler. I don't think that was because of the story but because they had ordered a few too many episodes and had no choice but to use them. I don't know, most TV seasons and series have this fundamental problem. However, once they get back on the Nautilus things to start back up again.

I even like how the show meditates on certain issues like the slightly unsteady balance and relations between both science and nature, mankind and their place in both areas, the danger in progress and trespasses toward nature. But also, our constant need to evolve and explore beyond our boundaries and limitations, but at the same time keeping ourselves in check; as well as appreciating what you have while you still have it.

This hidden anime gem is a secret worth submerging.

Rating: 4 stars

I loved this anime and everything about it. Especially, Nadia.

I only knew it by the name translated into my language. Years later, I think it was 2008 or something, I found the show on the net with the only thing I clearly remember in English: the phrase in the opening song, "don't forget to try in mind".

Yep, that was how I found the song on the net, then on YouTube.

It was a great throwback to my childhood. I am planning to start 2021 watching it again.

Set in Pairs, France 1889, young inventor, Jean Roque Lartigue while showing off his latest aircraft at the Parisian Exposition comes across young orphaned dark skinned circus performer Nadia and her pet lion, King and becomes smitten with her. Jean by chance encounter helps Nadia elude Grandis Granva and her two henchman Sanson and Hanson who desire a jewel in Nadia's possession known as the Blue Water. While Nadia is reluctant to accept Jean's help and friendship the two eventually form a bond and begin traveling via Jean's unreliable aircraft in search of both Jean's missing father and Nadia's missing past. Along the way the two join up with Captain Nemo and his crew on board the submarine, The Nautilus, as Nemo and his crew fight against an enigmatic villains known as the Neo Atlanteans headed by equally mysterious Lord Gargoyle who plan to use extraordinary technology to take over the world.

Running for 39 episodes from 1990 to 1991, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water's origins go back to the 1970s when the show began as an outline by none other than Hayao Miyazaki. Miyazaki's outline then titled Around the World Under the Sea took heavy influence from Jules Verne particularly 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and whole the project was never made, elements were reused in Miyazaki's subsequent works such as Future Boy Conan and Castle in the Sky. Gainax after being approached by Toho to produce a show for NHK, the staff of Gainax came across Miyazaki's outline and became captivated by it. Production on the show was tumultuous with Hideaki Anno often working as much as 18 hours a day trying to get the show done and having Shinji Higuchi to take over the direction from episodes 23 to 34 while Anno worked and finishing the final five episodes (which lead to the infamous "island episodes").

Viewing Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water is an experience. What starts out as a high adventure science-fantasy inspired by the works of Jules Verne soon moves to the background as the show shifts focus to analysis of characters and relationships with the main plot used more as a bridge for transitioning and exploring these character moments. The primary storyline of the show with the instigating mysteries of Nadia's origins or Jean's search for his father lost at sea are often relegated to the background as we see Nadia and Jean explore their characters in interactions with various side characters both major and minor we meet throughout the show. While the tone of the show starts out fairly light and optimistic, the show gets progressively darker (for the most part, but we'll get to that) with Nadia's search for answers to who and what she is often leaving her more lost than before and Jean's love of science and engineering challenged as he sees the darker side of scientific prowess used for conquest and murder.

The show feels like it's the product of two clashing visions as episodes such as "Run, Marie, Run!" have that childlike whimsy that characterizes much of Miyazaki's work with the focus of the episode being the youngest character Marie who spends much of the episode frolicking and playing with no real sense of direction plotwise until the final third, then other episodes are more indicative of Anno's work with The Mystery of the Lost Continent containing many scenes wherein Nadia tries to understand her feelings by talking to character based representations of her thoughts, fears and insecurities in a way that's not too dissimilar to how Anno approach such topics with the character of Shinji Ikari in Evangelion. Much like Shinji, the show makes it very hard to sympathize with Nadia as her personality is confrontational to a fault taking a dour view of killing anything for any reason be it hunting for meat or even killing in self-defense. It's not like there isn't ground to be explored in topics like this but Nadia's rationale regarding her stance on these issues never goes beyond "killing is wrong because it's wrong" and the show keeps coming back to it in one shape or another with not much in the way of development beyond the initial iteration of the point. Much like Shinji from Evangelion, Nadia's arc for her character boils down to the "hedgehog's dilemma" with Nadia gradually lowering her defenses and allowing for emotional and romantic intimacy between herself and Jean

The show is unfortunately undercut in quality with 12 episode batch from episode 23-34 known as the Island/Africa arc episodes. Overseen by Shinji Higuchi after Anno stepped aside to fine tune the final five episodes to wrap up the storyline and born from an executive mandate from NHK to expand the series run following its initial success, the batch of episodes not only feel regressive in terms of story and character following the revelations from episode 22 (which is seen as the best episode of the series by many) but the fact that NHK refused to shell out the money lead to a noticeable drop in quality as these episodes were farmed out to a third party Korean animation studio. Not only is the animation awful, but calls attention to how far it's dropped in quality with frequent flashbacks to the previous 22 episodes which meshes with the new footage the same way a mash-up of the London Symphony Orchestra alongside a bunch of kids playing the Oscar Mayer Weiner song on kazoos. I cannot stress enough how bad the island/Africa arc is, as its slapstick heavy approach that removes the high adventure and replacing it with what feels like a demented take of Gilligan's Island. There are individual salvageable moments of character and wonder in these island episodes and the episodes 30 and 31 are easily the strongest of this run and come close to the standard set in the previous 22 episodes (albeit with many issues keeping it from complete success). When we get to the final arc as scripted by Anno the course correction is nothing short of miraculous. While the show still needs to carry over plot points from the island arc it mostly disregards much of the petty unimportant squabbling that made up the majority of the island arc with only the plot points from episodes 30 and 31 being called back to. Episodes 35-39 of Nadia: Secret of Blue Water are basically a proto take on themes and points that would be revisited and expanded upon in Gainax's follow-up projects like FLCL, Gurenn Lagann, and of course Evangelion whose concept was salvage from a scrapped Nadia sequel after Gainax couldn't obtain the rights from NHK.

Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water has a complicated legacy. While it laid the groundwork for subsequent works that would serve as industry benchmarks of the anime industry, the show itself has flaws that are hard to ignore. With nearly 33% of the show's run taken up by the abysmal Island Arc, Nadia's filtering of Miyazaki by way of Anno with a substandard patch job by executive mandated filler material is a rollercoaster in quality with highs and lows. There's definitely more highs than lows in Nadia, but the lows burn a lot of good will established in the series, however despite possessing a terrible run of episodes in its middle section, the series is saved with one of the most amazing final act course corrections that serves as a refreshing break from a show faltering at the end and instead giving us some of its best material. While the series itself is a mixed bag that doesn't come together as well as it should, as a historical curiosity Nadia's influences be seen to have had a lasting impression.

There were just a couple of things that took away from this show easily being a 7 or 8:

1) Too long, it felt like it was meant to be 26 eps and the studio forced 39 out of it. Besides the first and last sequence of episodes you never get a constant flow of relevant story. There were multiple straight episodes on the Nautilus or Africa etc. That could have been straight up removed.

2) After about 10 eps there are basically 0 new characters. I liked the arcs with some of them but d*mn can we please just meet someone new over this much screen time?

3) Marie's character is super annoying (sub) and I hate how much screen-time she gets

There were a great amount of pluses with this show however:

• art style: beautiful
• music: amazing, I'm genuinely shocked that the score was as good as it is, and the good tracks are not overused to the point that the good pieces get old
• maturity: I didn't realize til later that Hideki Anno and Miyazaki played a big role in this production, and it really makes a difference. Sometimes characters die unexpectedly, plot twists come out of nowhere, some moment are genuinely violent and heart-wrenching. When the story slowly becomes much more cataclysmic and cosmic toward the end was when this really felt unique and rewarding for a (kids?) show. The way the overarching story gradually unfolds is honestly very satisfying. It's like Evangelion where your biggest questions are answered slowly and methodically and sometimes you need to make your nest guess before they're confirmed (like the mysterious first interaction between Nadia and Nemo that stuck with me even though no new info was revealed)
• the themes of old-timey exploration and wonder are done amazingly at best, and onyl slightly repetitive at worst.

• the first and last sequence of episodes is so exciting to watch, the rest of the show is (mostly) one episode plots that sometimes feel like they didn't need to occur
• the ending is basically feels like Evangelion and very much shifts toward sci-fi but I was fine with it

• the Nadia fan service is pretty dated though.

This series, a creation of Studio Gainax, is a perfect example of why I love anime. It has everything: Adventure, romance, action, comedy, and drama. Oh, does it have drama. And all of these elements are brought together in such a way that "perfection" doesn't do it justice. Running for 39 episodes, this series starts out in Paris in the late 1800's. Jean (pronounced the French way), a young boy with an incredible knowledge for designing aircraft, meets a girl named Nadia. Nadia is a mysterious girl, and quite unusual. Her companion is a grey lion cub named King, and they are being chased by a band of jewel thieves (Graten, Samson, and Hanson, three of the coolest anime characters ever)because Nadia has a pendant around her neck, a diamond-shaped, blue crystal. But, that's just a small part of the story, for you see, that crystal holds a secret capable of destroying the world. Nadia and Jean meet other characters, including the enigmatic Captain Nemo, captain of a high-tech, almost futuristic submarine named the Nautilus (the series borrows some elements from the Jules Vernes novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, then adds it's own spin to them). They also encounter the series' true villain, the leader of a society called Neo Atlantis. This villain, named Gargoyle, is perhaps the single most evil villain I've ever seen, as well as one of the coolest. He's very proper, with a calm, smooth voice, not loud and over-the-top like most typical villains, and hides his face behind a mask (take Darth Vader's coolness and multiply it by about 10, and you've got Gargoyle). Eventually, the series explores the secrets of Nadia's past, her relationship with Nemo and Jean, and the awesome power her pendant, the Blue Water, unlocks. The series' finale, the final four episodes, are some of the best viewing you can get (why, oh why can't American animation be this good?), with heart-wrenching drama and glorious animation. The music, by the same composer as the Evangelion music, is heavenly, and the character designs by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto are as good as his Eva character designs (the man is an artistic genius). The opening and ending themes are fantastic, also. All in all, this series is the only anime I can think of that equals Neon Genesis Evangelion in every respect, and in some may actually surpass Eva. After all, Eva was great, but lacked a cool villain (and Gargoyle is one of the coolest). If A.D. Vision ever gets around to releasing this officially over here, buy it (and please buy the subtitled versions, the voices are just TOO GOOD to watch a dubbed version). An 11 out of 10.

i bought a package of various bootleg anime series (bad, i know) and spent a few months muddling my way through them all. some were really good (pretear, love hina) some grew on me (macross 7) and some flat-out stunk. (to heart, and ironically, the series for which i bought the bundle, angelic layer) i approached them all with a certain amount of skepticism and nadia was no different. the story takes place in the 1880's and spent its first few minutes placing the viewer within the frame of the times. however, a few minutes later the story introduces the villains/heroes known as the grandis gang and their apparent mastery of a level of technology unavailable now 100 years later. so if anachronisms and anthropomorphisms bug you, nadia won't appeal to you.

as the plot develops, the characters take on depth and voice and you can't help but be charmed. the story becomes complicated and textured and not a little dark. then suddenly the first act closes and the second begins by abruptly changing from a tense drama into a wile e. coyote cartoon. then as soon as you settling into the admittedly funny and loopy island adventures, the series swiftly switches back into its formerly dramatic theme. so if wild swings in tone bug you, nadia won't appeal to you.

can a series flip and twist back and forth between drama and slap-stick comedy and still work? watch nadia for yourself and you be the judge. i found myself forgiving its flaws because it created characters i cared about, who seemed to have the depth to consider who they themselves were and what motivated them. the series lovingly embraces its characters flaws rather then exploiting them. (as was the case in evangelion, also by hideki anno) i forgave the surreality of the plot because it had the profound insight and courage to craft REAL teenagers. (i know a real kid who in his loving teenage cluelessness could have written jean's painfully funny "nadia" song) i especially appreciated the fact that marry's 5-year-old character wasn't nearly as obnoxious as she could have been. nadia could have been done differently, eliminating either its most serious moments or its most ridiculous, but it might not have been the same.

somewhere between the wide swings of our own pendulum is where real life happens.

p.s. there is a movie. it stinks, and adds nothing to anyone or anything in the story. resist the temptation to find it or watch it.

Possible spoilers ahead.

I don't know what I can possibly say about this phenomenal series that hasn't been said already, but I'm here to try anyway. From the moment I saw a review of this series in Gamefan magazine (rest in peace), I fell in love. I had to see it. I dashed out to the mall and grabbed the first copy I saw. And it grabbed me right back, and would not let me go.

The series uses 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (and to a lesser extent the sequel Mysterious Island) as a jumping point for its own story. It takes place in 1889, and revolves around two teens, Jean, a French boy who wants to change the world with inventions and is the biggest weenie who's ever been the hero of an anime, and Nadia, a circus acrobat and animal trainer who has a magical crystal, the Blue Water, and no clue about where she comes from. During the course of things they embark on an adventure to get to the bottom of Nadia's past, meet Captain Nemo and help to stop a group of people from Atlantis from taking over the world. And I loved every minute of it.

I mean for crying out loud, what kind of mad genius does it take to make episodes on end of adjusting to life on a submarine entertaining? Whatever kind it is, the guys at Gainax had it. Their smarts in storytelling show in other areas too, mainly the finely tuned characters, like the obligatory kid, Marie, who manages to be anything but the obnoxious brat the kid in an anime series almost always is. Nadia's the only short-tempered anime girl I've ever actually liked. The Grandis Gang go from the comically inept antagonists to helpful and resourceful back-up for the other characters once the real menacing villains show up. In the two really big battles of the series it's arguably them who ultimately save the day.

It does warrant mentioning that this show kind of flounders in the middle, owing to a bunch of quickly-proudced episodes that were shoehorned in to pad out the length of the series when it became an unexpected hit. Most of the mid-to-late 20's of Nadia can be skipped without missing anything worth seeing.

If you're an anime fan, want to watch a series with people in it you'll care about, and don't mind being expected to root for a dork like Jean, please do yourself a favor and pick this up. Oh, and do yourself another favor and watch it with the subtitles on. I'm sure Nathan Parsons is a wonderful human being who'd give me the shirt off his back, but a friend of mine actually started laughing out loud at how dumb Jean's voice sounded when we watched it with the English voices.

And before I go, I want affirm what everyone else is saying, that the sequel movie is terrible and should be avoided by fans of the series at all costs. Unless you want to see how badly a story can undermine itself (pretty much every suspense issue is defeated by watching the series epilogue and twenty five minutes straight of the movie is series flashbacks). Otherwise, stay away. You'll thank me.

"Fushigi no umi no Nadia", or "Nadia of the Strange Sea" is loosely based on Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, however, I say 'loosely'. Anno Hideaki, who would later be recognized for his direction on 'Neo Genesis - Evangelion', directed this series in cooperation with NHK(Primary Japanese TV station), intended to be broadcast on TV.

The story centers on an intelligent(a nerd:), inventive boy named Jean(pronounced jAn-g) and a mysterious girl named Nadia. A close encounter with a trio of mercenaries led by a very attractive red-headed lady, Jean finds himself attracted to Nadia and a whole lot of adventures.

Of course, if you wanted to break down the series into recognizable formulas you could say: 1)The boy is nerdy but will stop at nothing to make the girl happy and rescue her, should the girl find herself in perilous situations 2)The girl kicks ass(and literally does too:) 3)The story is immensely complex 4)The action scenes are some of the most memorable in recent history, especially the detailed movements of machines left me breathless and in awe 5)Did I say the story is immensely complex?

Anno Hideaki, in later interviews, commented that the direction of the plot and character interactions for Nadia wasn't really what he wanted and he actually considers Nadia to be something of a failure.

Nadia was aimed at the primetime viewers of animation, namely, roughly anyone under the age of 14, I'd say. So, there are some dark overtones within the story that fans of Evangelion would easily identify with, however, the overall plot got 'serviced' to facilitate the wishes of NHK, so, I'd recommend this animation heartily to any one(even adults), however, with the intent of insuring future generations of literate human beings, how about guiding the kids to read the original '20,000 leagues under the sea' afterwards?

If you felt compelled to root for the bad guys in Nadia and loved their attire, and had previous experiences of warm and fuzzy feelings whenever you saw a red, double bladed light saber, why not watch 'Evangelion', a true master piece from the same Anno Hideaki, or perhaps 'Memories', an omnibus of animations that are best watched than explained.

If, on the other hand, you wanted a child just like Jean or wanted to build a time machine that sent you into the same era, I suggest 'Future Boy Conan' from the master of Japanese animation, Hayao Miyazaki.

A few years back, Disney announced they were going to be dubbing and releasing major Japanese anime in the US. So far, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE and PRINCESS MONONOKE have been the only ones to make it. It's dang obvious though, that someone at Disney watched NADIA and took notes, because the character design of the Atlantean girl in ATLANTIS looks to have been lifted directly from here.

US release of the dubbed NADIA stalled at an early section on the series. I hope that the release of ATLANTIS prompts someone to complete the US release of NADIA, as I would like to finally understand what the heck I watched a decade ago in Japanese!