Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
File:Nadia002.png Main cast of Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
ふしぎの海のナディア (Fushigi no Umi no Nadia)
Genre	Adventure, Steampunk, Romance
Anime
Directed by	Hideaki Anno
Written by	Hideaki Anno
Studio	Gainax
Released	April 15, 1990 – March 16, 1991
Anime
Nadia: The Secret of Fuzzy
Directed by	Sho Aono
Written by	Kaoru Umeno
Studio	Sei-ei Animation
Released	1992

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 Toho, 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. The complete television series is available in the United States from ADV Films on DVD. ADV's Anime Network has broadcast the series in the United States. Reportedly, the series was to have been screened on TV in the United Kingdom in the mid-1990s, but the UK distributor balked because of the amount of violence in the series.

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 Super Sea Cruiser 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.

Characters

Main article: List of Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water characters

Nadia

Nadia is a 14 year-old African circus performer of Kenyan decent. She is stubborn, short tempered and a strict vegetarian. After Jean rescues her from the Grandis Gang, she sets out on an adventure with him to determine the origin of the "Blue Water", the jewel that beckons the criminals to her.

Voiced by: Yoshino Takamori (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English, Streamline), Meg Bauman (English, ADV)

Jean Roque Raltique

Jean is a young 14 year-old orphan from Paris who fell in love with Nadia at first sight. He is generous, patient, friendly, and devoted to science as well as his friends. His father is a wealthy trader who was lost at sea and declared dead, but Jean refuses to believe that and is determined to find him.

Voiced by: Noriko Hidaka (Japanese), Ardwight Chamberlain (English, Streamline), Nathan Parsons (English, ADV)

Marie en Carlsberg

Marie is a 4 year-old orphan found by Nadia and Jean whose parents were murdered by the Neo-Atlanteans. The two decide to stay with her and protect her. She is incredibly intelligent and charismatic for her age. Her playmate is "King" the Lion cub.

Voiced by: Yuko Mizutani (Japanese), Cheryl Chase (English, Streamline), Margaret Cassidy (English, ADV)

Grandis Granva

Grandis is a 28 year-old woman. She was born into a rich Italian family, but is now broke and disowned by her relatives. She is the leader of the "Grandis Gang", a trio of jewel thieves. After being rescued along with Nadia, Jean and Marie by the Nautilus, she and her henchmen befriend the children. She develops a huge crush on Capt. Nemo. She also becomes a mother-figure to Nadia.

Voiced by: Kumiko Takizawa (Japanese), Melanie MacQueen (English, Streamline), Sarah Richardson (English, ADV)

Sanson

Sanson is 22 years old and the muscle behind the "Grandis Gang". He considers himself an expert on handling women and is an excellent artist with a rifle. He develops a relationship with Marie and tries to help Jean grow closer to Nadia.

Voiced by: Kenyū Horiuchi (Japanese), Tom Wyner (English, Streamline), Martin Blacker (English, ADV)

Hanson

Hanson is 29 years old and the brains of the "Grandis Gang" who built the Gratan, the gang's small multi-purpose vehicle. Like Jean, he's into science and has a mild crush on Electra.

Voiced by: Toshiharu Sakurai (Japanese), Steve Kramer (English, Streamline), Corey M. Gagne (English, ADV)

Nemo

Nemo is the captain of the Nautilus, a submarine manned by individuals looking to stop the Neo-Atlanteans at all costs. He is a mysterious man with a dark past who acts cold when he first meets Jean and Nadia, but later warms up to Jean's outgoing cheerfulness and enthusiasm. He becomes a father-figure and mentor to both Jean and (most especially) Nadia.

Voiced by: Akio Ohtsuka (Japanese), Jeff Winkless (English, Streamline), Ev Lunning Jr. (English, ADV)

Electra

Electra is 26 years old and an orphan since the destruction of her hometown. She was saved by Captain Nemo and is his first mate on the 'Nautilus'. She and Nemo share a past experience that's never explained.

Voiced by: Kikuko Inoue (Japanese), Edie Mirman (English, Streamline), Jennifer Stuart (English, ADV)

Gargoyle

Gargoyle is the head of the Neo-Atlantean forces and is the primary antagonist. He is hell-bent on world domination, but to do that he must first destroy Nemo and the Nautilus, and take possession of the Blue Water. He is ruthless, cold and remorseless and will kill anyone who gets in his way.

Voiced by: Motomu Kiyokawa (Japanese), Steve Bulen (English, Streamline), David Jones (English, ADV)

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 Under the 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 Educational 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.

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.

Shortly after Nadia completed its first broadcast in Japan, Carl Macek and Streamline Pictures purchased the rights to Nadia. Because of financial difficulties, Streamline could only dub the first eight episodes, released over eight VHS tapes. The dub's cast included Wendee Lee as Nadia, Ardwight Chamberlain as Jean, Jeff Winkless as Captain Nemo, Cheryl Chase as Mary, Melanie MacQueen as Grandis, Tom Wyner as Sanson, Steve Kramer as Hanson, Edie Mirman as Electra, and Steve Bulen as Gargoyle. In 1996, Streamline's rights for the show expired. Later, In 2001 ADV Films purchased the series, and commissioned a new dub to be recorded at their Austin-based Monster Island studios. The new dub cast included actual children in the roles of Nadia, Jean, and Marie--Meg Bauman (14, Nadia), Nathan Parsons (12, Jean), and Margaret Cassidy (11, Marie).

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.

Pre-production discussion

Before production of the series, Hideaki Anno suddenly asked the production team why Neo Atlantis want to conquer the world, and why they do not simply use their superior technology to live a more comfortable life. More questions arose as to how they plan to conquer the world. An answer to the latter question was given that since the heroes are in a submarine, Neo Atlantis has to somehow conquer the world via operations using submarines. The final answer was that at that time period, the only method of trade is by sea, and Neo Atlantis planned to monopolize the trading routes. Another question that was asked was, since that it is set in a time where powerful empires colonize developing countries and make big profit from them, stopping the trade routes seems to not be evil but justice. Seeing that production was about to begin and no doubt should be left unanswered, Toshio Okada answered at first that the culture at that time viewed colonization as justice, thus Neo Atlantis' actions are evil at the time. Before the end of the meeting, he gave another answer, which was that Neo Atlantis stops the evil empires from colonizing developing countries, just so that it can colonize the whole world, thus it is the supreme evil. However, no answer could be given to the question asked by Hideaki, and 15 years after the anime, Okada wrote a book called "Seikai Seifuku" wa kanou ka? ("Conquering the World", is it possible?) on behalf of the question.

Media

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

Reception

The series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix in 1990.