SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

David Roggenkamp I will say that while watching the very first episode of "Nadia - Secret of Blue Water" that I was completely blown away. It takes a very common trope and completely does away with it in a single episode. I will not spoil any of it, but what Nadia does in just a few episodes, it takes many anime an entire season to accomplish. To put it mildly, the anime has fantastic pacing, does a lot in a single episode's time, and continues to do so for about eighteen episodes before bouncing around with fourteen episodes of filler. The filler episodes can be skipped, but do have some character development which occur - take your pick. After the filler the series resumes as normal and concludes things nicely - I was left with that 'this is awesome' feeling the minute the series wraps things up.Nadia itself stars a girl of the same name; she carries a mysterious pendant called "Blue Water" which plays center stage for the entire series. She becomes intertwined with the fate of a young boy that is also an inventor - he promises to take her to Africa, but not before saving her repeatedly from villains that want her pendant. Fast forward a bit and she and Jean are thrust into a much larger plot of destiny involving an organization dubbed "Neo Atlantis". They've been working on a special project for nearly a decade that can bring down a pillar of light from the sky. They intend to use this weapon to dominate the planet and bend humanity to their will. Only a certain captain by the name of Nemo, and his ship the Nautilus, stand in the way of this organization. It isn't exactly a pirate tale, but it comes awfully close; further it directly references "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea".I will say that I wasn't all that impressed by "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" anymore than I was impressed by the character of Nemo (from the book), and the one reference the book gave to Atlantis. On the flip side, the anime does a complete three-sixty and otherwise has Atlantis as center stage for some episode plot points, and goes into Nemo's character and why he acts the way he does. Most of the main characters actually have some kind of background that is alluded to, and their personality and way of dealing with things matches it. Further, character personalities often get some development time - especially during the fourteen episode filler arc. Depending on how you view it, the filler is either a welcome addition, or serves as the weakest link within the series. I felt it was a bit redundant after about eight episodes and I largely skipped the "Africa" episodes which seemed to really change Nadia's character. By the time the series comes full circle, it is as if the filler episodes never happened.Of more interest in the series is the fact it was directed by "Hideki Anno", a certain director that would later work on "Neon Genesis Evangelion". If it isn't obvious, there are many throwbacks and influences from Nadia that make it into "Evangelion". I'm a bit surprised that it worked out this way, when it felt like "Evangelion" was an original series - yet Nadia seems to take that one! Also, there seems to be some parallels between "Disney's Atlantis" and "Nadia". Some say it was blatantly copied; you decide! Either way, this is a great series to watch and I highly recommend it.Originally posted to Orion Age (http://www.orionphysics.com/? p=11531).

shukigk I didn't expect a masterpiece after checking out some of the mixed ratings on a few anime sites, but I loved director Anno's Evangelion and Gunbuster, so I had to check this one out too. I was not disappointed.As far as the story goes, this series is basically Miyazaki's Laputa (Castle in the Sky) mixed with a bit of Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. This makes sense because the original script was written by/for Miyazaki in the '70s even before the Laputa film.The show starts out by introducing a genius 14 year old inventor, Jean, who happens upon a mysterious (and attractive) circus girl, Nadia. She is soon chased after a gang of Jewel thieves - the Grandis Gang: Sanson, Hanson, and The leader Senora Grandis - who are after her "blue water" stone. Eventually the whole gang befriends each other and joins forces with Captain Nemo of the Nautilus submarine and does battle with an absolutely terrifying villain named Gargoyle in order to save the world from destruction and slavery.The story moves along at a nice brisk pace with lots action and humor. Perhaps the plot is a bit generic, however, Anno more than makes up for that with his signature character development and visual imagery; Shiro Sagisu's musical score works wonders as well, especially in that last episode. Finally, the show does contain some nudity, but it's nothing too objectionable staying in the PG-PG - 13 rating.The only major problem with the entire series is the batch of episodes near the end, the infamous "Island" and "Africa" arcs consisting of episodes 23-34 which were animated in a different studio and directed by a different guy. I've seen numerous people recommend to just skip them all except 30-31 then just watch from 35, but I just watched them all anyway, just to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Here's my opinion of each of those episodes: ep23: Skip, unless you absolutely need to know how the gang got to Lincoln Island (Nadia give it that name later, who knows why).Ep24: This episode will make you Hate Nadia, and she doesn't deserve that; skip by all means.Ep25: Watchable. There's some decent humor and an off screen kiss scene.Ep26: There's another kiss which is sorta cute, but that's the only good thing in this episode; Skip.Ep27-28: Watch if you want to know exactly how the Grandis gang and Ayerton got back into the picture.Ep29: Hanson and Sanson duel against each other with robotic lions, WTH! There's a touching moment in the middle of the episode which explains why Nadia won't eat meat and can speak to animals though, so the episode isn't a total waste.Ep30-31: Very good for the most part, don't skip! Ep32-33: Skip. These are the two worst episodes in the show bar none.Ep34: An episode where we get to hear the gang sing about their adventures. Nadia has a lovely singing voice in both English and Japanese.After that it's five glorious episodes to the finale! Final rating 8/10

David Edward Martin 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!

iceblack "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.