I will say that while watching the very first episode of "Nadia - Secret of Blue Water" that I was completely blown away. It takes a very common trope and completely does away with it in a single episode. I will not spoil any of it, but what Nadia does in just a few episodes, it takes many anime an entire season to accomplish. To put it mildly, the anime has fantastic pacing, does a lot in a single episode's time, and continues to do so for about eighteen episodes before bouncing around with fourteen episodes of filler. The filler episodes can be skipped, but do have some character development which occur - take your pick. After the filler the series resumes as normal and concludes things nicely - I was left with that 'this is awesome' feeling the minute the series wraps things up.Nadia itself stars a girl of the same name; she carries a mysterious pendant called "Blue Water" which plays center stage for the entire series. She becomes intertwined with the fate of a young boy that is also an inventor - he promises to take her to Africa, but not before saving her repeatedly from villains that want her pendant. Fast forward a bit and she and Jean are thrust into a much larger plot of destiny involving an organization dubbed "Neo Atlantis". They've been working on a special project for nearly a decade that can bring down a pillar of light from the sky. They intend to use this weapon to dominate the planet and bend humanity to their will. Only a certain captain by the name of Nemo, and his ship the Nautilus, stand in the way of this organization. It isn't exactly a pirate tale, but it comes awfully close; further it directly references "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea".I will say that I wasn't all that impressed by "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea" anymore than I was impressed by the character of Nemo (from the book), and the one reference the book gave to Atlantis. On the flip side, the anime does a complete three-sixty and otherwise has Atlantis as center stage for some episode plot points, and goes into Nemo's character and why he acts the way he does. Most of the main characters actually have some kind of background that is alluded to, and their personality and way of dealing with things matches it. Further, character personalities often get some development time - especially during the fourteen episode filler arc. Depending on how you view it, the filler is either a welcome addition, or serves as the weakest link within the series. I felt it was a bit redundant after about eight episodes and I largely skipped the "Africa" episodes which seemed to really change Nadia's character. By the time the series comes full circle, it is as if the filler episodes never happened.Of more interest in the series is the fact it was directed by "Hideki Anno", a certain director that would later work on "Neon Genesis Evangelion". If it isn't obvious, there are many throwbacks and influences from Nadia that make it into "Evangelion". I'm a bit surprised that it worked out this way, when it felt like "Evangelion" was an original series - yet Nadia seems to take that one! Also, there seems to be some parallels between "Disney's Atlantis" and "Nadia". Some say it was blatantly copied; you decide! Either way, this is a great series to watch and I highly recommend it.Originally posted to Orion Age (http://www.orionphysics.com/? p=11531).

Before anime characters started sporting gravity defying hair and using freaky psychic powers to subvert the laws of physics, we got a few gems like these. Nadia is one of the most popular series of the 80s and one of the best looking, especially over the first few episodes. The visuals are breathtaking and the action is edge-of-your-seat exciting. The action is driven by exciting stunts and the (then) cutting edge inventions from the age of steam make for wonderfully unpredictable getaway vehicles. The first episode alone has one of the best anime chase scenes of the period, as memorable as anything in Castle Cagliostro, and the excitement keeps up from there. The 'villainous' trio pursuing the main character are my only real complaint with the series; they are meant to be both threatening and comical, but they just come off as goofy and tend to get in the way. The pace also tends to slacken a bit after episode two, but the rest of the series is still worth watching for its likable characters and gorgeous visuals. The first couple of episodes are maybe the best in the series and start things off at a frenetic pace, making for memorable entertainment and good fun.

A few years back, Disney announced they were going to be dubbing and releasing major Japanese anime in the US. So far, KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE and PRINCESS MONONOKE have been the only ones to make it. It's dang obvious though, that someone at Disney watched NADIA and took notes, because the character design of the Atlantean girl in ATLANTIS looks to have been lifted directly from here.US release of the dubbed NADIA stalled at an early section on the series. I hope that the release of ATLANTIS prompts someone to complete the US release of NADIA, as I would like to finally understand what the heck I watched a decade ago in Japanese!

This series, a creation of Studio Gainax, is a perfect example of why I love anime. It has everything: Adventure, romance, action, comedy, and drama. Oh, does it have drama. And all of these elements are brought together in such a way that "perfection" doesn't do it justice. Running for 39 episodes, this series starts out in Paris in the late 1800's. Jean (pronounced the French way), a young boy with an incredible knowledge for designing aircraft, meets a girl named Nadia. Nadia is a mysterious girl, and quite unusual. Her companion is a grey lion cub named King, and they are being chased by a band of jewel thieves (Graten, Samson, and Hanson, three of the coolest anime characters ever)because Nadia has a pendant around her neck, a diamond-shaped, blue crystal. But, that's just a small part of the story, for you see, that crystal holds a secret capable of destroying the world. Nadia and Jean meet other characters, including the enigmatic Captain Nemo, captain of a high-tech, almost futuristic submarine named the Nautilus (the series borrows some elements from the Jules Vernes novel 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, then adds it's own spin to them). They also encounter the series' true villain, the leader of a society called Neo Atlantis. This villain, named Gargoyle, is perhaps the single most evil villain I've ever seen, as well as one of the coolest. He's very proper, with a calm, smooth voice, not loud and over-the-top like most typical villains, and hides his face behind a mask (take Darth Vader's coolness and multiply it by about 10, and you've got Gargoyle). Eventually, the series explores the secrets of Nadia's past, her relationship with Nemo and Jean, and the awesome power her pendant, the Blue Water, unlocks. The series' finale, the final four episodes, are some of the best viewing you can get (why, oh why can't American animation be this good?), with heart-wrenching drama and glorious animation. The music, by the same composer as the Evangelion music, is heavenly, and the character designs by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto are as good as his Eva character designs (the man is an artistic genius). The opening and ending themes are fantastic, also. All in all, this series is the only anime I can think of that equals Neon Genesis Evangelion in every respect, and in some may actually surpass Eva. After all, Eva was great, but lacked a cool villain (and Gargoyle is one of the coolest). If A.D. Vision ever gets around to releasing this officially over here, buy it (and please buy the subtitled versions, the voices are just TOO GOOD to watch a dubbed version). An 11 out of 10.