Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water
(Fushigi no Umi no Nadia)

(TV Series 1990/1991 - 39 Episodes - Gainax)

3 reviews - 14.0 total score (Explanation of the rating system)
avg. score: (4.7)

3. Iodine

A marvellous adventure series that's never short on exotic locales, brilliant characters, and impressive technological creations. This is easily one of GAINAX's most impressive works, chronicling the breathtaking journeys of a dark-skinned circus girl named Nadia as she searches the world for her past and family. It is certainly the characters who are the most responsible for the show's successes. Nadia and her eager inventor friend, Jean, make a remarkable duo. They're supported by a delightful cast of secondaries, including three hilarious would-be villains in the world's most fabulous tank, and the crew of the mysterious submarine, Nautilus. The writing is fresh and fun, but there are also some very serious messages incorporated into various episodes. Many plot turns can be very dark, and the ending is intensely dramatic.

Most of the animation is excellent, and the designs for everything, from the characters to the machines, are detailed and evocative. Quite a lot is drawn from the time period, giving the series a feeling of authenticity, despite its more outlandish elements. The story is a joy to watch and the dialogue fits perfectly. The music is suitably fantastic and well utilized. Perhaps the only negative of the series is the long stretch of filler episodes in the middle, that were neccessary to appease broadcasters, and eventually had to be contracted out to inferior studios to save money. These, unfortunately, manage to stop the series dead in its tracks for quite a stretch of time. The stunning finale, however, more than makes up for them.

2. Cross Scars

My first impressions when starting to watch Nadia were not altogether positive ones. The sight of a cute animal sidekick and slightly goofy villains who made an appearance every episode had me wondering if this series was going to be a kiddy one. Silly me for doubting Gainax! Although the series does have elements of a show that may aimed at younger viewers Nadia is a great series full of depth and questions yet it never really gets into a state of angst like Gainax' and Anno's other early works, Gunbuster and Evangelion.

The characters in the series are one of its best aspects. Jean and Nadia are very well rounded and the relationship between them is great to watch and see developing. The feelings between the two and how their relationship grows seems very realistic and is extremely well executed. All the other characters, even if they only appear in half the series' episodes, are nicely developed (Captain Nemo builds an outstanding character for the time that's devoted to him in the series) and Nadia can get away with this being 39 episodes compared to the usual 26.

The plot of Nadia flows very nicely and is essentially made up of several mini-arcs which perfectly join together, all of which helps to keep things new and interesting throughout the long series. Admittedly not every arc is completely action packed and that may bore some people, but those episodes which are laid back help to develop the characters and that's something I myself am always keen to see. Although it's made clear from the start the series was going to be 39 episodes Anno does seem to run a little out of time near the end of the series and there's one plot leap which seems a bit sudden but apart from that everything else moves along fine and the conclusion to the series is well worth the wait.

The animation in the series is fairly consistent throughout. There are a few episodes along the way where the quality seems to dip and the characters don't look quite as sharp as usual but the trade off for that is some very nice looking action sequences. Being such an old series the overall animation, while consistent, isn't up to modern standards but I actually found the slightly retro character designs very appealing. The soundtrack is largely made up of Evangelion-like background music, which is alright but nothing particularly memorable.

Despite my slight apprehension about Nadia at the start of the series it quickly became a hugely enjoyable series with a great main relationship and plenty of action along the way. Nadia was only Gainax's second series, following Gunbuster, and it shows that they carried on the quality of that excellent series even further. It's merely a pity that their more recent efforts lack the charm of this older work.

1. Arcage

This show was Gainax' (The Eva guys) first attempt at a long series and it was certainly one of the best. Think Laputa by Miyazaki and turn it into a TV series and that'll give you a rough idea of what you'll likely to be expecting. The animation quality is outstanding considering this was made in the early 90's and shares an uncanny familiarity with Miyazaki's style (not necessary a bad thing). The story follows Jean and Nadia through exploring places and defending themselves against the mysterious Gargoyle organization, this is of course accompanied by a great cast of supporting characters that adds a lot twists for their ride. The pacing was fine for the most part but it seemed to dwindle a bit from episode 22 till mid 30's, I really think this show could've turned into a 26 episode series but there were like 13 fillers add in between basically just to lengthen the series. You won't find anything related to the main plot within those fillers as they mainly serve as comedy relieves and relationship developments between Nadia and Jean. In the end we have a show that can be enjoyed by people of all ages and it's definitely worth picking up!