Sentai Filmworks licenses Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water

[JTurner]

Re: Sentai Filmworks licenses Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water

It doesn't even have to be filler. I can name a couple (otherwise-good) shows that have their share of not-so-good episodes that are 100% CANON (I actually thought the first half of Slayers Season 1 was pretty boring). Though DBZ and SM do have some good filler and terrible filler (the SM episode with Chibi-Usa and the dinosaur just might be one of the worst anime eps ever made). I don't like skipping any part of any TV or movie series. I treat it all like it's one big experience. There's the good and there's the bad.

Yeah, that's true, the first half of Slayers 1 DID take time to find its footing (it didn't help that both Zelgadis and Amelia's English VAs were lame during that arc -- Veronica Taylor and Crispin Freeman blew them away IMO). Still, it wasn't that awful.

[PurpleWarrior13]

Re: Sentai Filmworks licenses Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water

Yeah, I wouldn't call it "awful," just boring and lackluster compared to the rest of the series (and yes, the English voice acting took a while to find it's footing too), but my point is that I see no problem in watching an entire series, even if not everything is that great. As long as it's still mostly enjoyable. My only exceptions are if I seriously have to make an effort to watch the rest (like really long running series where only the first few seasons are any good).

[JTurner]

Re: Sentai Filmworks licenses Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water

Yeah, I wouldn't call it "awful," just boring and lackluster compared to the rest of the series (and yes, the English voice acting took a while to find it's footing too), but my point is that I see no problem in watching an entire series, even if not everything is that great. As long as it's still mostly enjoyable. My only exceptions are if I seriously have to make an effort to watch the rest (like really long running series where only the first few seasons are any good).

Nadia IS mostly enjoyable. The first twenty-two episodes provide a rich, creative tapestry of a steampunk adventure with shout-outs to Jules Verne, real-life (the story starts in Paris in 1889 on the first day of the Exposition Universelle, which sets on the grounds of Champ du Mars -- although it's not mentioned in the show, it technically starts on the sixth day of May, and 34 episodes later, the cast arrives one year and twenty-five days LATER at their destination), and sometimes Miyazaki, particularly in the way the story initially seems to echo Laputa in the beginning. But it's a much more complicated story than that. Jean is as close as you'll get to a Miyazaki protagonist; he's sweet, caring, brave, intelligent, and literally adorkable -- he's a genius inventor who wants to fly, and for a fourteen-year-old he's quite accomplished. The Grandis gang are also akin to Dola and her pirates from Laputa -- they start out as villains, but become heroes. There's also a magic pendant, a real bad guy, and a history involving the lead character's birthplace. Particularly great episodes are the opening eight, episodes 13-19, and the climactic 21-22. All of those episodes are excellently executed and well done. The final five episodes are similarly satisfying and bring the show to a fitting end -- arguably one of the few Gainax shows to do so.

The problem is that Nadia feels like a 27-episode series unnecessarily extended by twelve. And those twelve episodes, unfortunately, aren't in the same league as the previous ones. In fact, it feels like a jarringly different show altogether. Nobody acts like their usual selves, the animation and the story lines go downhill, and the overall vibe is one of a Looney Tunes cartoon. Now there ARE some comic moments in the first 22 episodes, but this filler sequence throws in cartoon physics that we don't see anywhere else in the first 22 or the final five. Wile E. Coyote stunts. Bugged out eyeballs. Characters getting large from swallowing water and turning into balloons. There's even an episode where the characters all break into song. (That episode, incidentally, was actually a commercial for upcoming character song CDs in disguise -- no doubt NHK wanted GAINAX to participate in promoting what they had commissioned. A product of corporate stupidity if there ever was one.) Simply put, it just doesn't feel like the same show. It feels inorganic and very tacked on. That was what detracted me from it. The same staff members who did 1-22 and 35-39 were not responsible for this. Even Anno admitted that only 31 was the only episode worthwhile.

Still, in spite of my gripes is Nadia worth checking out? Absolutely. As I mentioned, episodes 1-22 and 35-39 are the stuff of a rich, intriguing adventure novel. And there are some memorable set pieces that still hold up well. It just happens to have a third-rate filler arc sandwiched in that really wasn't supposed to be.

[jala12]

Re: Sentai Filmworks licenses Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water

There's even an episode where the characters all break into song.

Lol. That is the only episode that I would never watch in full under any circumstances.

[JTurner]

Re: Sentai Filmworks licenses Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water

There's even an episode where the characters all break into song.

Lol. That is the only episode that I would never watch in full under any circumstances.

Apply that to episodes 26, 32-33. All three of those episodes are irredeemably awful.

[chronoclast]

Re: Sentai Filmworks licenses Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water

When I watched Sentai's BD of Nadia earlier this year that was my first time seeing the show and I too hated the filler episodes. The canon episodes are excellent and even proto-Evangelion at times. I really enjoyed the good parts of the show. To go from that to the filler is jarring and ruins it. I agree that 26, 32, and 33 are the worst of it. 26 in particular is one of the worst episodes of any anime that I've seen. I just can't with that one.

Whenever I re-watch Nadia again, I'm skipping the filler.

[Buckeye]

Re: Sentai Filmworks licenses Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water

There's even an episode where the characters all break into song.

Lol. That is the only episode that I would never watch in full under any circumstances.

Yep, that stupid song got stuck in my head after watching that, and it is the very image of something that totally ruins an otherwise amazing show. All of that island filler is just awful and totally irrelevant to the story. Everything in this show is great, except for those fillers that totally blow my brain. The show should have been only two cours if the extra cour resulted in this stuff that is quite out of place in the whole scheme of things.

[JTurner]

Re: Sentai Filmworks licenses Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water

There's even an episode where the characters all break into song.

Lol. That is the only episode that I would never watch in full under any circumstances.

Yep, that stupid song got stuck in my head after watching that, and it is the very image of something that totally ruins an otherwise amazing show. All of that island filler is just awful and totally irrelevant to the story. Everything in this show is great, except for those fillers that totally blow my brain. The show should have been only two cours if the extra cour resulted in this stuff that is quite out of place in the whole scheme of things.

That's what Anno wanted as well, except when NHK ordered them to extend it, it was basically out of his hands, and the poor guy really didn't have creative control over the whole project, so… who knows what could have been?

Oddly, though, in spite of the unfortunate musical episode, I DO have to give props to the dub cast for rising to the challenge of dubbing the songs; that arguably may have been the best part of the episode for me -- Megan Bauman fared best in her numbers, although I thought the Grandis gang and Marie were done well too. And Jean was basically SUPPOSED to sound off-color in his singing; Parsons handled that very well. So kudos to these guys for the effort, even if it was wasted on such an unfortunate and stupid filler episode.

[Diakia89]

RightStuf just posted a photo of Limited and OOP items in their Birthday sale. Nadia is in the photo so it looks like it might be going out of print.

[JTurner]

I wonder if it'll be reprinted someday?

EDIT: I clicked on the link and someone was hoping for a redub of NADIA. Well, sorry to say, but ADV's dub of Nadia is a redub. A redub of a poorly received Streamline dub which got about as far as episode 8. Don't expect a new dub of this title any time soon.

[Garasharp K7]

I'm glad I picked up Nadia when I did. Though I have to admit I never finished it - I still haven't seen the infamous island episodes yet.
It's always a little sad to see certain shows go out of print, especially older ones.

[JTurner]

I'm glad I picked up Nadia when I did. Though I have to admit I never finished it - I still haven't seen the infamous island episodes yet.
It's always a little sad to see certain shows go out of print, especially older ones.

I'm sure Nadia will eventually be reissued. Maiden Japan's BD for Wings of Honneamise went out of print for a time, and now it's back in print. I hope this isn't a case of Sentai losing the license to Nadia. I'd hate to see all the work they did on the show become undone ala Evangelion.

The less said about the island episodes, the better.

[mamochan]

Ahhh. Not the atrocious island episodes. I don't know how I made it through all of that.
If Discotek could pick up Nadia, I wouldn't mind double dipping.

Now I have to get those island episodes out my head.

[Buckeye]

It's a shame that it's going OOP and I'm hoping that it gets reprinted someday. That said, I still can't stop thinking about those infamous island shows that ruined what is otherwise an amazing series. While there would be worse filler than this in other shows, this goes to show that filler should be avoided whenever possible. Anyway, I'm quite sure it will be picked up again, but there's just no telling if somebody is willing to do it given how old this show is.

[JTurner]

Agreed: the island/Africa arc was, and still is, the downfall of an otherwise fabulous series.

Hold on, though, doesn't Sentai still have the license despite it going out of print? Last I saw it's still showing on VRV and HiDrive.

It's also still listed here: https://shop.sentaifilmworks.com/pro...a8718151&_ss=r