Review Nadia, the secret of blue water

Almost everyone has heard or seen Evangelion. This will lead people to watch other Gainax works. There is also the Disney movie that some claim is a rip off of Nadia. Either will draw someone to see this series. So the question is, is the show worth it?

The show starts in 1889 France as a young boy named Jean is going to try flying a plane with his uncle in a contest. He runs into an exotic woman by the name of Nadia. Nadia is an orphaned circus performer that is being chased by some jewel thieves. Fortunately she evades them with her amazing agility and the help of Jean. She is unable to return to the circus however and Jean and Nadia go on a Journey to find out where Nadia was born. She is not sure but she thinks it is in Africa. They try flying away in one of Jean’s planes but crash (Jean makes a lot of inventions that break) and are picked up by an American battleship. The ship is on a mission to find a sea monster that has been sinking commercial ships. Our heroes run into not one but two sea monsters and in the ensuing chaos are dumped into the sea again. Fortunately they are rescued by one of the Sea monsters that turns out to be a submarine. This submarine is the Nautilus and is captained by a mysterious man named Nemo (this show is loosely based on Jules Verne’s twenty thousand leagues under the sea). Nemo is hunting someone by called Gargoyle. The mystery behind Nemo, Gargoyle and Nadia slowly unravels throughout the show.

Nadia is a classic show but one that draw it’s far share of complaints. Most of these complaints center around the fact that the show is very leisurely paced. Some of the episodes in the beginning and the middle (known as the island episodes) are considered to be of lower quality than the others. In my opinion both of these are understandable but neither ruin the story as a whole. The beginning of most anime shows are rarely as good as the episodes that follow. As for the island episodes they are a brake in the intensity of the show that allows for some important development.

The animation for Nadia is rather good, especially considering that fact it was before the advent of computer animation. One of the benefits of this style is that you can find some truly beautiful background pieces.

Overall Nadia, the secret of blue water is good show to watch. So the question I gave at the beginning of the article, the answer is a solid yes. I give Nadia and the secret of blue water a rating of very good.
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