Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
North American DVD Collection 1 cover
ふしぎの海のナディア (Fushigi no Umi no Nadia)
Genre	Adventure, Historical, Romance, Science fiction
Anime television series
Directed by	Hideaki Anno Shinji Higuchi
Written by	Hisao Ōkawa Kaoru Umeno
Music by	Shirō Sagisu Yukihiro Takahashi[1]
Studio	Group TAC, Gainax, Sei Young
Licensed by	NA Sentai Filmworks
Network	NHK-G
English network	Anime Network
Original run	April 13, 1990 – April 12, 1991
Episodes	39
Anime film
Directed by	Sho Aono
Written by	Kaoru Umeno
Music by	Shirō Sagisu
Studio	Group TAC (production) Gainax, Sei Young (production cooperation)
Licensed by	NA Sentai Filmworks
Released	June 29, 1991
Runtime	90 minutes

Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (ふしぎの海のナディア, Fushigi no Umi no Nadia, lit. "Nadia of the Mysterious Seas") is a Japanese animated television series inspired by the works of Jules Verne, particularly Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and the exploits of Captain Nemo. The series was created by NHK, Toho and Korad, from a concept of Hayao Miyazaki, and directed by Hideaki Anno of Gainax.

The series follows a young inventor named Jean and a former circus performer named Nadia, who wishes to return to her home in Africa.

In its original Japanese broadcast, it aired from 1990 to 1991 and ran for 39 episodes, and was distributed by ADV Films in the United States. ADV's Anime Network has broadcast the series in the United States. Following the 2009 closure of ADV, Sentai Filmworks has re-licensed the anime series and will be re-released on Blu-ray and DVD in March 2014

Plot

The series centers around Nadia, a young girl of unknown origins, and Jean, a young French inventor. Early in the story, the two protagonists are chased by Grandis Granva, Sanson, and Hanson, a group of jewel thieves who pursue Nadia for the blue jeweled pendant she possesses. After being rescued by Captain Nemo and his submarine, the Nautilus, the jewel thieves and the young protagonists join forces and participate in the struggle against the Neo-Atlantean forces, who seek to dominate the world.

In the process, Nadia and Jean save the world from violent domination by the Neo-Atlantean forces led by Gargoyle, explore worldly mysteries and the powers of the blue pendant, uncover Nadia's hidden family ties, and ultimately discover the secret origins of Nadia.

Production

This show's origins date to the 1970s when Hayao Miyazaki was hired by Toho to develop a television series. One of these concepts was "Around the World in 80 days by Sea", (adapted from Jules Verne's Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea), in which two orphan children pursued by villains team up with Captain Nemo and the Nautilus. It was never produced, but Toho retained the rights for the story outline, while the animator reused elements from his original concept in later projects like Future Boy Conan and Castle in the Sky.In 1988, Gainax was appointed by Toho to produce a series for NHK General TV. Miyazaki's outline for "Around the World Under the Sea" captivated the Gainax staff and, under the direction of Hideaki Anno, created The Secret of Blue Water.^[2][3]

The series was scheduled to run for two cours, but the show's popularity prompted the network to request more episodes. Production on new episodes ran late. Starting with episode 11, Anno was working up to 18 hours a day. After episode 20, NHK put Nadia on hold due to limited budget. The series returned a month later with episode 21. Production was still slow, and Anno asked friend and Gainax co-founder Shinji Higuchi to take over the direction from episodes 23 to 34, while he focused on crafting the final five episodes. These were occasionally referred to as the "island episodes" by fans who consider them oddly animated and poor-quality filler, a sentiment that even Anno shared. Out of the newly commissioned episodes the director has later stated that he would have saved only episodes 30 and 31 if he were given a chance of omitting them; he produced a shortened compilation of Nadia called "The Nautilus Story", which deletes much of the island/Africa continuity and focuses more on the struggle between Gargoyle and Nemo.

Media

Shortly after Nadia completed its first broadcast in Japan, Streamline Pictures purchased the rights toNadia. Streamline released 8 episodes dubbed into English on VHS in 1996.^[4]

ADV Films released the series on 10 DVDs between June 12, 2001 and July 16, 2002.^[5][6] They later collected the series into 2 box sets, released on May 18, 2004 and July 06, 2004.^[7][8]

Sentai Filmworks have announced that they will release the series through digital outlets as well as on DVD and Blu-Ray in 2014.^[9]

A Nadia feature film sequel premiered in Japanese theaters in 1992. The events take place three years after the defeat of Gargoyle and Neo-Atlantis. Gainax had no involvement in the production of this movie, and the quality suffered greatly as a result; nearly one third of the ninety-minute feature consists of frequently edited clips from the show. Due to its perceived poor quality, the movie is not well known in the United States. ADV licensed it and released as Nadia: The Motion Picture on DVD in August 2002.

Episodes

Video games

The first Nadia video game was released in 1991 for the Famicom console. The player controls a cast of characters in a simplistic strategy battle game. Battles are carried out through an RPG style turn-based system.

This list is incomplete; you can help by expanding it.

• Fushigi no Umi Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (Family Computer, March 15, 1991, developed by Advance Communication Company and published by Toho)
• Fushigi no Umi no Nadia (Mega Drive, March 19, 1991, published by Namco)
• Fushigi no Umi Nadia: The Secret of the Blue Water (NEC PC-9801, March 27, 1992, developed and published by Gainax)
• Fushigi no Umi Nadia: The Secret of the Blue Water (Sharp X68000, October 23, 1992, developed and published by Gainax)
• Fushigi no Umi Nadia: The Secret of the Blue Water (FM Towns)
• Fushigi no Umi Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (PC Engine CD, January 29, 1993, published by Hudson Soft)
• Fushigi no Umi no Nadia: Inherit the Blue Water (PlayStation 2, September 22, 2005, published by Jinx)

Reception

The series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix in 1990.

Nadia was the first character to overtake Nausicaä as the favourite female anime character in Animage's readers poll.^[4]

See also

• Castle in the Sky, a 1986 anime film based on a similar idea by Hayao Miyazaki.
• Atlantis: The Lost Empire, a 2001 Disney film that bears certain similarities.

Notes

1. ↑ "Synthpop's YMO to Hold 1st L.A. Concert in 32 Years". Anime News Network. 2011-01-31. Retrieved 5 August 2011. 
2. ↑ Patten, Fred (2004). Watching Anime, Reading Manga: 25 Years of Essays and Reviews. Stone Bridge Press. pp. 185–189. ISBN 1-880656-92-2. 
3. ↑ Clements, Jonathan; McCarthy, Helen (2006). The Anime Encyclopedia: A Guide to Japanese Animation Since 1917 (Revised and Expanded edition). p. 572. ISBN 1-933330-10-4. 
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Camp, Brian; Davis, Julie. Anime Classics Zettai!. pp. 228–231. ISBN 978-1-933330-22-8. 
5. ↑ Chris Beveridge (June 12, 2001). "Nadia Vol. #01". Mania.com. Retrieved February 2,2024. 
6. ↑ Chris Beveridge (May 28, 2002). "Nadia Vol. #10". Mania.com. Retrieved February 2,2024. 
7. ↑ Barkley, Brett (December 2, 2005). "Nadia, Secret of Blue Water Collection 1 (w/CD)". Mania.com. Retrieved February 2,2024. 
8. ↑ "Nadia, Secret of Blue Water Collection 2 (w/CDs)". Mania.com. Retrieved February 2,2024. 
9. ↑ "Sentai Filmworks Adds Gainax's Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water TV". Anime News Network. November 9, 2013. Retrieved February 2, 2014. 

External links

• Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water at the Internet Movie Database
• Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water at TV.com
• The Notenki Memoirs -(Yasuhiro Takeda)
• "Conscience of the Otaking" (Toshio Okada interview, Animerica)