"Fushigi no umi no Nadia" (1990) TV series

Seasons:

1

Release Date:

13 April 1990 (Japan)

Genre:

Animation | Adventure | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Romance | Sci-Fi | War

Plot:

Nadia is a teenaged circus acrobat, an orphan searching for her father at the turn of the 20th century...

Plot Keywords:

Sea | Orphan | Acrobat | Jewel | Young Girl

Cast

Noriko Hidaka	...	Jean (39 episodes, 1990-1991)
Carl Domaski	...	Additional Voices / ... (39 episodes, 1990-1991)
Judson L. Jones	...	Additional Voices / ... (39 episodes, 1990-1991)
Craig Kanne	...	Red Noah (39 episodes, 1990-1991)
Talbot McKitt	...	New Nautilus Radio (39 episodes, 1990-1991)
Nathan Parsons	...	Jean (39 episodes, 1990-1991)
Nanker Phelge	...	Additional Voices / ... (39 episodes, 1990-1991)
Guy Roberts	...	Additional Voices / ... (39 episodes, 1990-1991)
Douglas Taylor	...	Gargoyle's Cabinet / ... (39 episodes, 1990-1991)
James Arnold Taylor	...	Additional Voices / ... (39 episodes, 1990-1991)
Clay Towery	...	Gargoyle's Cabinet / ... (39 episodes, 1990-1991)
Meg Bauman	...	Nadia (38 episodes, 1990-1991)
Toshiharu Sakurai	...	King / ... (37 episodes, 1990-1991)
Shawn Sides	...	King (37 episodes, 1990-1991)
Yoshino Takamori	...	Nadia (36 episodes, 1990-1991)
Karen Kuykendall	...	Narrator (35 episodes, 1990-1991)
Kumiko Takizawa	...	Grandis (33 episodes, 1990-1991)
Martin Blacker	...	Sanson (33 episodes, 1990-1991)
Margaret Cassidy	...	Marie (33 episodes, 1990-1991)
Corey Gagne	...	Hanson (33 episodes, 1990-1991)
Sarah Richardson	...	Grandis (33 episodes, 1990-1991)
Ken'yû Horiuchi	...	Sanson (32 episodes, 1990-1991)
Yûko Mizutani	...	Marie (31 episodes, 1990-1991)
Ev Lunning	...	Captain Nemo (25 episodes, 1990-1991)
Akio Ôtsuka	...	Captain Nemo (23 episodes, 1990-1991)
Jennifer Stuart	...	Electra (23 episodes, 1990-1991)
Kikuko Inoue	...	Electra (22 episodes, 1990-1991)
Billy F. Harden	...	Nautilus Chief Engineer (21 episodes, 1990-1991)
Richard Smith	...	Nautilus Co-Pilot / ... (21 episodes, 1990-1991)
Greg Gondek	...	Nautilus Sonar Officer (20 episodes, 1990-1991)
Don Bisbee	...	Nautilus Pilot / ... (17 episodes, 1990)

Also Known As:

Nadia of the Seas of Mystery (Japan) (literal English title)
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (USA)
The Secret of Blue Water (Japan: English title)
El misterio de la piedra azul (Spain) [es]
Il mistero della pietra azzurra (Italy) [it]
Nadia (France) [fr]
Nadia, le secret de l'eau bleue (France) [fr]
Nadja - Die Macht des Zaubersteins (West Germany) [de]

Runtime:

25 min (39 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Gainax

Trivia:

Twelve-year-old Nathan Parsons, the voice of Jean, did not know how to do a French accent at the time of his audition. So he asked Ed Lunning Jr., who was voicing Nemo, to teach him how to do a French accent.

Quotes:

[at the beginning, we see a plaque with foreign writing]
Opening Voice: Do you seek adventure beyond the treacherous waterfalls? Do you seek the mythical being the dwells in this unreachable place? If you do, then you must first find me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Troldspejlet: (#34.11)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Yes, I will...

Jules Verne may turn in his grave....smiling

"Fushigi no umi no Nadia", or "Nadia of the Strange Sea" is loosely based on Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, however, I say 'loosely'. Anno Hideaki, who would later be recognized for his direction on 'Neo Genesis - Evangelion', directed this series in cooperation with NHK(Primary Japanese TV station), intended to be broadcast on TV.

The story centers on an intelligent(a nerd:), inventive boy named Jean(pronounced jAn-g) and a mysterious girl named Nadia. A close encounter with a trio of mercenaries led by a very attractive red-headed lady, Jean finds himself attracted to Nadia and a whole lot of adventures.

Of course, if you wanted to break down the series into recognizable formulas you could say: 1)The boy is nerdy but will stop at nothing to make the girl happy and rescue her, should the girl find herself in perilous situations 2)The girl kicks ass(and literally does too:) 3)The story is immensely complex 4)The action scenes are some of the most memorable in recent history, especially the detailed movements of machines left me breathless and in awe 5)Did I say the story is immensely complex?

Anno Hideaki, in later interviews, commented that the direction of the plot and character interactions for Nadia wasn't really what he wanted and he actually considers Nadia to be something of a failure.

Nadia was aimed at the primetime viewers of animation, namely, roughly anyone under the age of 14, I'd say. So, there are some dark overtones within the story that fans of Evangelion would easily identify with, however, the overall plot got 'serviced' to facilitate the wishes of NHK, so, I'd recommend this animation heartily to any one(even adults), however, with the intent of insuring future generations of literate human beings, how about guiding the kids to read the original '20,000 leagues under the sea' afterwards?

If you felt compelled to root for the bad guys in Nadia and loved their attire, and had previous experiences of warm and fuzzy feelings whenever you saw a red, double bladed light saber, why not watch 'Evangelion', a true master piece from the same Anno Hideaki, or perhaps 'Memories', an omnibus of animations that are best watched than explained.

If, on the other hand, you wanted a child just like Jean or wanted to build a time machine that sent you into the same era, I suggest 'Future Boy Conan' from the master of Japanese animation, Hayao Miyazaki.