Nadia Secret of Blue Water

[jetex1212]

I see this show has appeared in the trusty Bargin Bin. Can anyone give me any feedback on this series?

[Dagger]

It's an epic, powerful adventure series directed by Hideaki Anno before he went on to make Evangelion and His & Her Circumstances. It also boasts the worst filler episodes of all time (trust me, you'll know when you get there). But it shapes up again for an awesome ending, so despite sagging badly in the middle, it's very much a worthwhile buy.

[aquapermanence]

Classic adventure with a sense of humor. Good vs Evil with mystery, intrigue, romance, special effects, and lots of other good stuff writ large. If you're a fan of GAINAX's other shows like Evangelion, Gunbuster, and FLCL, then this is must-see material, provided of course you can handle shows done in an older style.

If you're not familiar with GAINAX, then I'll compare Nadia favorably with some other titles you might recognize: Ghibli's Castle in the Sky, Miyazaki's Future Boy Conan, Dezaki's Treasure Island, The Secret of Cerulean Sand (also based on Verne's work), Macross, Matsumoto's Yamato and Captain Harlock, and of course Sadamoto's character designs from .hack//SIGN. Action and animation are fluid, and often reminiscent of the retro style seen in Giant Robo.

Basically if you liked what you saw in the other shows I've mentioned, you should get the 10 TV volumes of Nadia. The movie is pretty poor and completely skippable, but it's also not the worst follow-up out there.

[Thanatos]

It's excellent. I like the Island episodes because of the character development, but in that regard I appear to be some kind of crazy-ass mutant. At least one other shares my opinion, though.

It is true that the "movie" (which I believe is actually an OVA) is an abortion and should never be viewed ever. It wasn't made by the people who did the TV, much less people who WATCHED the TV series. It's telling that while Nadia has been released on Japanese DVD multiple times, the "movie" has never been released on DVD ever in Japan.

[Gollum]

Originally Posted by Thanatos

It's excellent. I like the Island episodes because of the character development, but in that regard I appear to be some kind of crazy-ass mutant. At least one other shares my opinion, though.

I agree with you that the island episodes were good for character development, although they were a bit late in the series.

I picked up volume 1 of this series on a whim a bunch of years ago when I was first getting into anime and really enjoyed it. I found myself rushing out to get the rest so I could watch the whole series. It is an intesting take on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea which I thought was pretty well done.

[ooga]

Nadia is great. I loved that show. And I found the island episodes to be fairly ok-ish. Not as bad as everyone makes them out to be. The Africa episodes were much worse IMO.
I definitely recommend this show though.

[EWD]

I consider Nadia one of the best 26-episode anime series ever made. :>

[Gundamhead]

"Nadia" is a very good old-fashioned (in a good way) adventure show with a great story and a real feeling of wonder about it. It's fairly kid friendly while at the same time intelligent. And yes as everyone else has said the Africa episodes and that "movie" (which is about 25% stock footage) are the very definition of DEEP HURTING.

[Kellory]

Originally Posted by Gundamhead

And yes as everyone else has said the Africa episodes and that "movie" (which is about 25% stock footage) are the very definition of DEEP HURTING.

It wasnt even the Island episodes that were bad for me. It was that one singing episode. Yes, now that definied pain and suffering for me. The dub was especially bad, but even the Japanese had my ear's hurting. I admit it, I finally had to hit the chapter skip button and move on.

I found the rest of the show to be quite fun though. And I liked the fact it actually had a real ending. That tied stuff up. I so appreciated that.

[Captain Impulse]

Originally Posted by EWD

I consider Nadia one of the best 26-episode anime series ever made. :>

Heh...this should be the final word IMO. :>