Why you should watch Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

 

When most people think of Hideaki Anno I’m sure the first thing that comes to mind is Neon Genesis: Evangelion because that was his baby. He built it from the ground up, and the series’s ending has become almost a legend in anime circles. He recently wrapped up the rebuild series of those movies and I’m not sure what his next big thing might be. If you want to go into the past and see something he worked on in his early days then look no further than Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. 

Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water is loosely based on Jules Verne’s Twenty-Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, and I mean loosely. It’s been forever since I had anything to do with that book/movie but I’m pretty sure the only thing similar this series has with it is that it deals with going in the ocean and there’s a captain named Nemo. I would say this show is most similar to Disney’s Atlantis but this came out well before that so maybe Disney does like anime more than I gave them credit for.

If you’re like me and have been on a bit of 90’s anime kick, this is the perfect show for you. I will answer one of the most important questions: where can you watch Nadia? Well, there are two options. You can buy the Blu-Ray which is what I did when I saw it at a store randomly, or you can subscribe to RetroCrush through Amazon Prime. You might be able to sign up for RetroCrush individually but I’m not sure. I did a mix of both so I could watch in a room without a Blu-Ray player and RertroCrush is only $2.99 a month with Amazon so if you want to watch this show and cut it loose it won’t cost you much.

For the English dub, there was some confusion for me at first. There were two dubs but one group only dubbed the first eight episodes and to the best of my knowledge there was no way to watch that one. In that one Wendee Lee voices Nadia but that was the only notable actor I can recall. The voice cast for the full season that I watched was good. I didn’t recognize any of them but I enjoyed them.

The two leads, Jean and Nadia, are voiced by Nathan Parsons and Megan Nicole Bauman respectively. Jean is French so Nathan of course does his best to do a French accent and it wasn’t horrible but whether you love it or hate it, I barely noticed once I got into it. After listening to clips of both Wendee Lee and Megan Nicole Bauman I have to say I prefer Megan’s take on the character. Wendee tries to give Nadia a French accent but for certain story reasons I think it’s a good idea that Megan didn’t go that route. I had some slight annoyances with the character of Nadia but the voice acting wasn’t the problem.

Since Nadia is an anime original it has one of the things I appreciate most from an anime and that is a satisfying ending. There’s no waiting to catch up with the source material or anything like that. You will however find some filler episodes which I find odd in an anime original. I read that some people said you should skip some of these episodes and there is a comprehensive list of those episodes if you decide to go that route but I would say you shouldn’t. The only episode I skipped was the recap episode because those types of episodes are horrible and shouldn’t exist. But I watched every other episode and other than maybe one of them I felt they all added to the experience and the characters.

I only have two negatives for the series which I will address here, as spoiler-free as possible. First is the character of Nadia, she’s a great character, from her design to the different things we learn about her. But just like any teenager, she can be insufferable at times. Jean isn’t the most socially aware person when it comes to how he should act around friends or especially a girl he’s in love with. But she treats that boy like shit sometimes and maybe they were going for the tsundere trope but she just felt mean sometimes. There was one instance she was very upset with Jean and I didn’t think it was fair but at the same time they’re young and hormones are a hell of a drug.

The other thing was in the epilogue itself, which let me say that I love that it has an epilogue. I love it when we get to see how characters end up spending their lives after the big events of a series. But two characters ended up together that came completely from left field and felt a little gross. It didn’t outright ruin the series or anything but it did leave me wondering what I just witnessed.

I think every anime fan should watch Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. You can see some of the different ideas that eventually led to Neon Genesis: Evangelion but this feels complete. If you love fun characters you’ll love this. In fact, I feel like the trio of Grandis, Hanson, and Sanson might just be where idea of Pokemon’s Jessie, James, and Meowth came from. I love a seafaring adventure and there is just something about 90’s animation that is so enjoyable to watch. Make sure you give this series a chance and I’m sure you won’t regret it.