This is another Anime show I recommend to Eric (Animated93) aside from Magic Knight Rayearth. Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water is about this girl who holds a jewel called the Blue Water and her friend is Jean, a young French inventor. They both set out a journey to know her origins but by each episode, a mystery unfolds and it can get very surprising.

Here's one bit of trivia: This was originally a Miyasaki project but things weren't working out so he handed the concept to Hideaki Anno who was an animator who worked on Nausicaa. And not only that, the show is loosely based on the book 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea.

Here's the opening of the show and hope you guys get interested.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_OIGKjSs00

This is definitely a series worth checking out, and it's one of my favorites, too. The characters are all fully realized and endearing--young hero Jean especially; I love how his sweet, caring nature, generosity and intelligence slowly changes Nadia from an angry, self-serving, angst-ridden girl to a caring, courageous young woman. It's also interesting to note that this series is similar to Castle in the Sky; the layout of the plot and the role of the characters have lots in common (for instance, the comical "bad guys", the Grandis Gang, turn out to be true allies about eight episodes of the way through, just like the Dola Pirate Gang in Castle, the Blue Water crystal Nadia possesses contains mysterious powers beyond her imagination, and the real bad guys, a ruthless cult known as the Neo-Atlanteans and their evil leader Gargoyle, want to use that crystal to take over the universe). But there's also a mixture of "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" thrown into the show, too; there is an amazing submarine called the Nautilus, and yes, its captain's name is Nemo, whose crew of survivors from all over the world are on a quest to hunt down Gargoyle. The two plotlines merge together in ways that are unexpected but never boring.

Some of my favorite episodes involve the ones which involve pure action and adventure (the opening eight), tender moments (in episode 16, there is a tearful trip to the underwater graveyard of Atlantis where Jean discovers something that devastates him, and Nadia tries to cheer him up), hilarious moments (the Grandis Gang's doings), and truly heartbreaking and serious moments (one episode involves a discussion of death, while another involves a soldier sacrificing himself to save the Nautilus from a dangerous gas leak--this is much to Jean's horror, who, up till this point, had been so admiring of the technology).

Another plus is that it has an excellent dub, courtesy of the folks at the now-defunct Monster Island studios in Austin, Texas. In what may be a rarity for dubs, the two lead characters are portrayed by actual children (as is their little sidekick, 4-year-old Marie)--Meg Bauman as Nadia (14), Nathan Parsons as Jean (12), and Margaret Cassidy as Marie (11). All three do outstanding jobs, although Parsons' French accent is a bit shaky at the beginning (he compensates for this by providing Jean with a charm and exuberance that is impossible to dislike). The adult characters are similarly well-voiced, too, from the comical Grandis gang to the Nautilus crew to the Neo-Atlanteans. The script adaptation is also better than the rigid subtitle script; indeed, I find it so difficult to watch this show in Japanese.

There is one major shortcoming, however, that hampers this series drastically: the infamous island/Africa arc (episodes 23-34), which is basically filler material that does absolutely nothing to advance the plot, distorts the characterizations drastically (Nadia in particular becomes more and more annoying and unlikeable, for instance), and feature some truly hideous animation. This was never meant to be in the series; after the show provied so popular, it was decided to extend the episode count from 27 to 39. But sponsor NHK didn't provide Gainax with either the proper time or money to do it well, hence why the animation in these episodes were subcontracted to various studios (it obviously shows in each of these episodes--characters being constantly off-model and choppy frame rates) and the scripts in each of these stories are totally devoid of anything memorable or valuable. There are a number of fans who argue that these episode provide character development, but even Hideaki Anno stated that he only would have saved episodes 30 and 31 -- the only two of which have any legitimate value to the plot -- and eliminated the rest if he was given the decision to do so. Considering how many fans were so apalled by these added-on episodes (even critical reviews agree that they are the lowest point of Nadia), it's not surprising. (There's also a 90-minute movie whch is basically 30% recap, 60% bad-quality filler.)

If Nadia's content consisted solely of its opening 22 episodes and final five, it would indeed be deserving of classic status. However, the bitter aftertaste left by its dismal filler episodes leave a sour stain on its entertainment value. Probably the best way to watch this show is to view it like this: 1-22, 30, 31, and 35-39. It works much better that way.

-Jon T.