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Nadia: Secret of Blue Water
Anime DVD Review
Fan favorite and anime legend Hideaki Anno (Evangelion) and Gainax bring the fan-favorite anime series Nadia: Secret of Blue Water to us poor slobbering fanboys in one complete package. If you've never seen this groundbreaking, awesome, and cleverly done series, this is the time to savor it.
Try and imagine a plot outline by Miyazaki, animation by Gainax, and a series chock full of in-jokes, anime references, an immersive story set in the "steampunk" era of late 1800's Europe, with a mixture of comedy, romance, mystery and drama. It is a true classic of anime; you'd be hard-pressed to find a fanboy who has not heard of this series. Fans consider this series to be on-par with Evangelion, and many think it's even better because of the Miyazaki influence.
 Inspired by various Jules Verne novels, particularly "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" (note that this Captain Nemo bears a striking resemblance to Captain Gloval of Macross) the series plays on Atlantis legends (and thus it appears that Disney ripped off the entire series for its feature "Atlantis: The Lost Empire") The eclectic cast of characters keeps the series running at a brisk pace and the action sequences are of course, pure Gainax. Within the episodes are lots of references to other anime, so an astute student or fanboy will pick up on these references and enjoy them as they appear.
The World's Fair, Paris, 1889: Young inventor Jean Ratlique crosses paths with an enigmatic girl named Nadia and her pet lion, King. Suddenly, they find themselves pursued by a villainous trio intent upon stealing the Blue Water, a mysterious jewel Nadia wears around her neck. Join Nadia and Jean as they travel the high seas in search of Nadiaís homeland and her past, with the Blue Water as their only clue.
 And meanwhile, a sinister foe known only as Gargoyle, obsessed with restoring the former Atlantean empire to the glory it once held, begins his plans to take over the world. Nadia, along with Jean, and Captain Nemo of the submarine Nautilus, must fight to save the world from Gargoyle and Neo-Atlantis. Can they unravel the secret of Blue Water, and use its power to defeat Gargoyle before itís too late?
Containing all 975 minutes of the legendary anime, presented in both English 2.0 and Japanese 2.0 with English subtitles, packaged in a limited edition — including all the extras from the original single disc releases, this really is a PERFECT collection of one of the best-ever anime series of all time (Note that Nadia was voted as favorite anime heroine by Japan's Animage magazine, dethroning the then top champion, Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaa).
Reviewed by Brian Cirulnick, November 2007
Below: Promotional artwork from
Nadia: Secret of Blue Water
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