Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
| Fushigi no Umi no Nadia | |
| Image:Nadia002.png | |
| ふしぎの海のナディア (Nadia of the Mysterious Seas) | |
| Genre | Action, Adventure, Comedy, Science Fiction |
| TV anime | |
| Directed by | Hideaki Anno |
| Studio | GAINAX |
| Network | NHK |
| Original run | 1990 – |
| No. of episodes | 39 |
| Related works | |
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (Japanese: ふしぎの海のナディア Fushigi no Umi no Nadia, Nadia of the Mysterious Seas) is a famous Gainax series very loosely based on various Jules Verne novels, particularly Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea and the exploits of Captain Nemo.
The lead characters are an orphaned young inventor named Jean who lives with his aunt and uncle, and a former, dark-skinned circus performer named Nadia who wishes to return to her (assumed) home in Africa. Many of the designs in the series, including characters' appearances and several machines, showed up in later Gainax works. In particular, several characters in Neon Genesis Evangelion vaguely resemble Nadia characters due to the same head design artist working on both.
About two-thirds into its run, the production ran into financial difficultes and the desired length of the series. It had to be budgeted to cheaper overseas animation, resulting in a noticeably sharp decline of animation quality and an odd shift in the use of sight gags. A less famous movie, "The Secret of Fuzzy", was released, but generally regarded as poorly plotted and animated. It is almost unheard of by most American fans.
In its original Japanese broadcast, it aired from 1990 to 1991 and ran for 39 episodes. The complete television series and aforementioned movie are currently available in the United States from ADV Films on DVD.
Contents |
Characters
Nadia
Born: May 31, 1875
Species: Atlantean
Origin: M78
Height: 156 cm
Weight: 38 kg
Bust: 73 cm
Waist: 56 cm
Hip: 75 cm
Foot size: 23 cm
Hair: Straight black
Eyes: Emerald green
Nadia is a 14 year old who works in a circus as an acrobat in order to survive, since she is an orphan and of unknown origins. She is chased by Grandis and her associates Sanson and Hanson, who are looking for the jewel that Nadia posseses, the Blue Water. While escaping from them, she meets Jean, and from that moment the two of them will be together in the series, where she tries to discover her origins and find out the truth about her past and the Blue Water, the jewel that seems to have an enormous intrinsic power.
Nadia is a vegetarian, stubborn, easily irritable, socially inept, and has to ability to talk with animals; for example she is able to communicate easily with her little lion King, thanks to the power of the Blue Water. Because of her unhappy past, she is extremely suspicious of grown-ups. As a result of her growing love for Jean, however, she comes to learn valuable lessons about friendship, respect, and trust.
Jean
Full Name: Jean Roque Raltique
Species: Human
Origin: France
Born: 1875
Hair: Orange
Eyes: Blue
Jean is a 14 year old too, like Nadia, but he has a completely different personality and interests. He is very generous, patient, enthusiastic, and devoted to the things he loves, which are his friends and the love for science. He is a genius inventor, in fact he is capable of creating complex machines at a very young age.
He is in love with Nadia, and he is always faithful to her, especially in the bad moments; he will help her find the truth about the Blue Water and about her past.
Nemo
Full Name:Eleusis Ra Alwar
Species: Atlantean
Origin: M78
Hair: Black
Eyes: Black
Nemo is the captain of the submarine called Nautilus, whose purpose is to destroy the Neo-Atlanteans at all costs. He is a mysterious man with a dark past; in fact only step by step we discover that he is Nadia's father and the real Emperor of Atlantis. Though he could have all mankind under his command, he chooses to live peacefully along with them on Earth, as he believes in humans and in their ability to love. While he acts cold and aloof when he first meets Jean, he nonetheless warms up to his outgoing cheerfulness and enthusiasm. Nadia, meanwhile, is very distrustful of him and is quick to accuse him of murder when he shoots a Neo-Atlantean to save her from death. However, she eventually learns to respect Nemo, and, at the end, at last acknowledges him as her father.
Nemo's name is a reminiscence of the Greek city Eleusis, the place in Greece where the cult of Demeter met annually to initiate members into the ways of the Earth-goddess, and Ra, the sun-god of Heliopolis in ancient Egypt.
Marie
Species: Human
Origin: Gargoyle's island
Born: 1885
Hair: Orange
Eyes: Blue
Marie is a 4 year child orphaned by the hands of Gargoyle and the Neo-Atlantean troops, who killed her parents. She is soon found by Nadia and Jean, who decide to keep her and to take good care of her. Although she is a kid, Marie is a very strong character, who is at the same time a child but also acts like an adult in difficult situations. She has a good relationship with King, her playmate. In fact, she later comes to see him as husband and Nadia and Jean as her new parents. Later on, however, she will develop an interest in Sanson; in fact, at the end of the series, we discover that they are married and waiting for their first child.
The spelling of the name is unsure. in the episode guide she appears as "Marie", in the Japanese series books she is "Mary", Streamline Pictures calls her "Mari", and in episode 24 she signs one of her drawings as "Marry". Even so, Marie is probably the most accurate spelling, as the French one.
King
Hair: Grey
Eyes: Black
King is a small lion, and he is Nadia's best friend before she meets Jean and the others. He will become eventually Marie's nursemaid during the episodes, playing with her all day. He is a very jealous animal, especially when Nadia and Jean become more intimate.
Grandis
Full Name:Grandis Granva
Species: Human
Origin: Italy
Born: 1861
Hair: Red
Eyes: Emerald green
Grandis is a 28 year old who grew up in a royal Italian family. At first she was rich and powerful, but she was tricked by her first husband, who married her just for her money and then left her alone. After that, her family declined and the only one who remained faithful to her were Hanson and Sanson, with whom she then made up as the Grandis Gang, jewel thieves. Her life and behavior change dramatically when she meets Jean and the others; once aboard the Nautilus she falls hopelessly in love with Captain Nemo. She tries to seduce him with any power she has until the very end, but her love is never returned.
Sanson
Species: Human
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Sanson is the brawn side of the team. His strength overcomes even the most powerful of mecha. When he was younger he was slim and girls made fun of him; as he trained day by day he became stronger but incredibly vain. He was the chauffeur to Granva's family before they lost their fortune, and he remains faithful to her until the end of the series.
His name is reminiscent of the biblical figure Samson, who appears in The Book of Judges Chapter 13 - 16., which tells the story of a man who had enormous strength, but if he were to cut his hair he would be breaking his promise with God and therefore lose all his strength. The Sanson in the series is very vain and pays particular attention to his hair.
Hanson
Species: Human
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Emerald green
Hanson is the mechanic of the of the Grandis Gang. He has exceptional skills; he built the Gratan and lots of other devices. He is in love with Electra, but alas, his love is not returned. Jean and Hanson become close friends thanks to their mutual fascination with technology, they spend a lot of time together discussing technical details and ideas about mecha. At the end of the series, Hanson would build his own car fatory and become one of the richest people of the world, but he never manages to find a good woman.
Electra
Species: Human
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Blue
Electra is an orphan since the destruction of her hometown, after which she is saved by captain Nemo and she the First Officer of the 'Nautilus', fighting Gargoyle and the Neo-Atlanteans. Electra is deeply in love with Nemo, although she also burgeons a deep grudge toward him for the deaths of her family. Even so, she becomes extremely envious of Grandis' mad infatuation for the Captain, igniting a heated rivalry for his love. She grows fond of Jean and his determination to learn about technology, seeing him as the equivalent of her long lost brother. Nadia, on the other hand, detests Electra and becomes increasingly jealous of Jean's friendship with the First Officer; likewise, Electra fears that Nadia will somehow steal Nemo's heart away from her. Eventually, however, both open up to each other.
Gargoyle
Full Name:Nemesis Ra Algoras
Species: Human
Hair: Blonde
Eyes: Green
Gargoyle is the head of the Neo-Atlantean forces. He was the prime minister of Tartessos, and his main objectives are:
- Destroy Nemo and the Nautilus,
- Take possession of the Blue Waters
- Dominate over the entire world and humans, whom he considers inferior.
He considers himself an Atlantean, but he is not aware of the fact that he one of the humans that he despises, as the mere creation of the Atlantean technology. He is a cunning yet brutal villain who speaks in a soft voice and taps into other people's weaknesses to make them comply with his wishes. We never see the face behind the mask until the final episode.
His name is also a mix of Latin and greek mythology, as for Nemo and Electra.
Emperor Neo
Species: Atlantean, Mecha
Hair: Straight black
Eyes: Emerald Green
Emperor Neo is apparently the leader of the Neo-Alanteans. Later in the story we discover that he is Nemo's son and Nadia's brother, but his body was destroyed in the collapse of Tartessos, and was mechanically recreated by Gargoyle. He is then controlled like a puppet by him; he tries to take over the world using his psychic powers and technology, and also shoots his own father against his will.
In the end he will eventually liberate his free will and love for his family, sacrificing himself to save Nadia.
Design controversies
While Nadia thinks she is from Africa and is in fact called a "colored girl" by a character, her hair is straight rather than 'kinky'. Although anime is known for taking great liberties with hair design and this is later explained in the series, designers admitted they could not draw the non-straight version of her as well as they liked. Conceptual art designs include the more 'africanized' hairstyle.
Also, an early character design for Captain Nemo suggested that he also was originally intended to be Black. Fans speculation on why this change was made range from the producers not feeling that Japanese audiences were ready for a Black main character to the idea that it would make too obvious, from the beginning, the connection between Nadia and Nemo. As a side note, the final design looks remarkably (down to the uniform) like Captain Bruno J. Global, from Macross, most likely as a tribute, Hideaki Anno's first job in the industry was as an animator in that series.
Atlantis: The Lost Empire was critized by some animation fans as borrowing too heavily from this series. Defenders insist the Disney version simply used very well established lore of Atlantis and more closely resembles Hayao Miyazaki's Laputa instead.
Trivia
- This show's origins date back to the mid-1970's when Hayao Miyazaki was hired by Japanese movie giant Toho to develop ideas for television series. One of these concepts was "Around the World Under the Sea," (adapted from Jules Verne's 20,000 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. This explains why Anime fans often liken Nadia to a Miyazaki production; the animator reused elements from his original concept in later projects of his, notably the Sci-Fi series Future Boy Conan and his action-adventure, Castle in the Sky.
- Approximately ten years later, Gainax was appointed by Toho in 1989 to produce a TV series which would be broadcast on the Japanese educational network NHK (the equivalent of PBS.) Miyazaki's outline for "Around the World Under the Sea" was the one which captivated Gainax the most. Under the direction of Hideaki Anno, the animation studio took the central story and setup Miyazaki had developed and touched it up with their own creativity. (Incidentally, Anno had previously worked for Miyazaki as an animator on Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind.
- Nadia showed up on the Japanese Animage polls as favorite Anime heroine, dethroning the then top champion, Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa.
- Nadia was originally intended to have an estimated 30 episodes. Since the show was so popular in Japan, however, NHK requested Gainax to produce more episodes, extending the episode count to 39. These episodes, dubbed as the "infamous island episodes" (which begin on Episode 23 and conclude on Episode 34), took hits for poor animation (since, as mentioned, other animation studios in Japan and Korea produced these episodes), ill-conceived plotting, and character stupidities; consequently, they drove many fans away. Only by Episodes 35-39 does the show return to its initial roots wherein lies its appeal. The setting of these episodes was suggested by Jules Verne's other novel featuring Captain Nemo, Mysterious Island.
- At the start of each episode, a Japanese inscription appears onscreen (written in the Latin alphabet) and is read by a man's voice challenging the viewer to follow him for an adventure. This derives from the perplexing challenge of Arne Saknussemm in Verne's Journey to the Center of the Earth.
- Shortly after Nadia completed its first broadcast in Japan, Carl Macek and his company, Streamline Pictures purchased the license for Nadia in the hopes of bringing the show to U.S. television. But because of financial difficulties, Streamline could only dub the first eight episodes. In 1996, Streamline's rights for the show expired. Later, ADV Films purchased the rights for Nadia, and commissioned a new dub to be recorded at their Austin-based Monster Island studios. This dub cast actual children in the roles of Nadia, Jean, and Marie (in the Japanese and Streamline versions, all three parts were played by adult actors).
See also
- M78 - Nadia's homeland, 1600 light years away from Earth (In the story, it gives a wrong distance 277.5 light years)
External links
fr:Nadia, le secret de l'eau bleue ko:나디아 it:Il mistero della pietra azzurra ja:ふしぎの海のナディア zh:冒險少女娜汀亞