Nadia – The Secret Of The Blue Water: Collection One (Animé)

 

Picture: C+     Sound: C+     Extras: B-     Episodes: B-

 

 

Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea surfaces (pun intended) when you least expect it.  Whether Captain Nemo surfaces in the League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen ensemble, the DVD re-release of the Disney live action feature film hit, or a comic book.  There have been several animated versions and variants, but Nadia (1989) is an Animé version with the twist of having a female lead.  Obviously, it takes liberties with the book and adds current technology twists, but it is pleasantly consistent and keeps the spirit of the book alive.

 

The title character is a young circus talent who lands up going on an unexpected adventure as she possesses the Blue Water pennant and other will want it.  She does not initially know this, but has clever young inventor Jean Ratlique and Captain Nemo due to intervene when more dangerous people come looking for her treasure.  This has its moments of silliness, but is lively and is presented here in an elaborate 5 DVD/2 CD set.  The CDs are the music soundtrack, while the DVDs offer 20 episodes of the run cycle of these adventures at about a half-hour each.

 

The full screen images are not bad for their age and the animation is not too dated, though you can see the pencil work.  This is not too distracting and the color and clarity are consistent.  The Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono is in Japanese and English, which are both good, though the Japanese is not as compressed for whatever reason.  Extras are brief on each DVD, offering previews on each and some text here and there.  We will count the CDs, which have good fidelity (a B rating, despite the recordings showing their age at times) and easily outperform the fidelity on all 5 DVDs!

 

The title character happens to be a young lady of color, something more surprising in 1989 than now, but the series never makes an issue of it, just that we live in a diverse world and that is what makes it so interesting.  This is some extensive material, but those who can get into it will likely enjoy it in the long run.  Nadia is accurately recommended for ages 12 and up, though some younger kids could also enjoy it.

 

 

-   Nicholas Sheffo