Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water simulwatch

[Neil.T]

Episode 37 continued


Nadia: human prototype "factory"?

versus...


Evangelion episode 23: Eva "graveyard"

plus...

Spoiler: Eva 3.33 image

Eva mass-production plant?

* * * * *


Nadia: "Adam"

versus...

Spoiler: Eva 2.22 image

Eva Unit-01 under repair

* * * * *


Nadia: the New Nautilus's main engine

versus...

Spoiler: Eva 3.33 image

The Wunder's main engine, a cocoon containing Eva Unit-01

* * * * *


Nadia: the crew of the New Nautilus ready the ship for take-off

versus...

Spoiler: Eva 3.33 image

The crew of the Wunder ready the ship for take-off

(continues)

 

[Neil.T]

Episode 37 continued


Nadia: Captain Nemo gives the command to launch the New Nautilus

versus...

Spoiler: Eva 3.33 image

Captain Katsuragi gives the command to launch the Wunder

* * * * *

And for the sake of completeness, here's a couple of good images I found online that compare the Tower of Babel in Nadia with "Neo-NERV" headquarters in Evangelion 3.33:

Spoiler

 

[Professor Irony]

Episode 36

Nadia seems to have resolved the fact that she holds the key to destroying worlds awfully quickly, after her break down in the previous episode. Perhaps it's not all that surprising - this episode seems lighter in tone generally - but strangely, I think I find Nadia more endearing when she's in despair. When she opens up like that, she seems more human and sympathetic.

Anyone skipping the OP might also note that it's now changed slightly to show the New Nautilus and its crew.

So when that person appeared I thought more new characters this late in the game. Then everyone’s like oh Electra. Wait what? Has her skin always been that tone?

The show is occasionally a bit inconsistent about it, but she is olive-skinned in the official art, yeah. Speaking of which, the sight of Electra in her plug suit uniform with a gun on her hip reminds me - one of the official images shows her practicing at a firing range. Bit of an in joke about her not being able to hit Nemo?

Spoiler: large image

The subtitles for this episode omit (for reasons of brevity, I imagine) Electra's reference to the ship originally having the name Excelion.

That's interesting, I'd completely missed that.

I think I'd rather have been following Nemo's crew than what Jean and co. were up to.

Same, tbh. Much as his involvement with the Island arc was minimal, I do wonder what the show might have looked like if Anno had been left to his own devices, without the extra episodes to deal with.

So if we go by that, we can assume it took a full year and 25 days for our heroes to finally reach Tartessos, especially since they do so on Nadia's birthday (May 31).

I meant to bring this up as well - wouldn't have thought to work it out so exactly as that, but I was surprised that the show suddenly acknowledges a significant amount of time has passed in such a specific way.

 

[WMD]

Episode 38

Love how the episode goes straight into battle. No messing about!

Anno seems to enjoy destroying capital cities.
1 billion volts! Dr Evil much?

The barries are like an AT field. Also the timers are a good dramatic tension tool. No wonder it was used so intrinsically in Eva. Visually great


Surprised Jean didnt try to stow away on the katherine again! Hes tried so many times before. Guess the seriousness if the situation has really hit him this time.

Basicslly everything that happens from 1st Babel shot on the Nautilus to Nautilus ramming and getting aboard the red Noah is so epic!

Love this shot rising up


Is Nadia more likeable without a personality lol joke!
What will Jean do? One more to go!

 

[JTurner]

Episode 38 really does go all out with the stops. The animation and direction in this sequence is so spectacular that it's almost hard to believe we had to sit through 12 half-hours of absolute rubbish beforehand. That these final five episodes act like the previous dozen (save 30 and 31) didn't happen is all the more telling that this is what Anno had in mind when he was doing the show.

 

[Neil.T]

Episode 38

Love how the episode goes straight into battle. No messing about!

Anno seems to enjoy destroying capital cities.

I could make another comparison between the Paris scene and Eva Rebuild, but... too spoilery, so I'll leave that.

###

Episodes 38 and 39

Sanson, you fiend!
You met her when she was, like, five years old.

###

Even when the show gets back on track I did feel there were some missing pieces of the puzzle.

I had... quite a few qualms with the whole thing come series' end, personally. All the disparate elements never really quite gelled for me, and things never recovered from Nemo's preposterous backstory.

 

[WMD]

Episode 39

Poor Jean stuck in a rock and a hard place. An impossible decision to make to shoot the one hour love.

So glad Gargoyle was actually in charge this whole time and Neo wash a brainwashed pawn. Great double bluff that got me and great explanation for Neo being an emotionless zombie!

Electra has the loudest whisper!

Neo being freed was quite the event! And what an over engineered plug! His self sacrifice to use his last sense of self to save his sister was amazing. For a character we barely knew it was actually quite emotional.

Oh my god! what a fall into his neck. That totally blindsided me! That they would be quite that brutal with the main character!

Gargolye being human all along is one of the best pieces poetic justice I’ve seen in anime. Such a fitting end for him.

Love the symbolism of choosing humanity and love over power in saving Jean.

When did Electra have time to change here destroyed clothes?

Stunning explosion of red Noah going off and Nemo finally self sacrificing for everyone. Though didnt he see Electra as a daughter and now shes pregnant?

Sanson marries Marie wtf. Seriously wtf. Not cool. Really odd note to end on.

 

[Professor Irony]

Well, the cat's out of the bag now then. I don't mind the way the show ends (other than Marie x Sanson, pls no), but I'm still not convinced this ending really belongs with what's gone before.

It's interesting how the series has these four distinct phases. The first part being like a chase-style childrens adventure story, then we get the second act onboard the Nautilus itself with the seafaring combat, followed by the 'marooned on an island' arc, but my problem is that when we get into the fourth part, it's pretty much a full-on science fiction show, and I feel it's lost something of its original identity.

Going through it a second time, it's a lot easier to say that the science-fantasy element was always there in the background, but knowing more about Anno and his interests, it I find it hard not to accuse him of sheer self indulgence for his own apparent love of the '70s space opera. Famously, the production was not a happy time for him and maybe he was just at the point of 'I don't care any more, I'll do whatever I want', but I'd much rather they'd concluded the series within the proto-steampunk trappings it had already built up over the previous episodes.

Part of this is probably on me. When I was very young, the children's period adventure serial Mysterious Cities of Gold was still being re-run on TV and, on some level, what I wanted was a version of that I could appreciate as an adult.

I still enjoy Nadia overall, but my favourite part of it is undoubtedly that second act and my enthusiasm for it does wane a bit once we get away from that. As the end was approaching, I got a bit curious about the film, but from the few clips I've seen of it online, it really does look stunningly poor. I do intend to go back and finish the omake shorts though, and I randomly spotted that the 'making of' special has been subtitled into English, so I'll probably check that out too. Apparently it doesn't contain an awful lot about the actual making of the series, but it does star this fresh faced young fellow - wonder whatever happened to him?



Also did Jean and Nadia have a son or did Jean just clone himself, seriously?

 

[JTurner]

Also did Jean and Nadia have a son or did Jean just clone himself, seriously?

Of course they had a son. My real question is where did those two lion cubs come from?

 

[Professor Irony]

I was being facetious, but the boy does look like a carbon copy of Jean - he doesn't look anything like Nadia. It's a fair point about the lions though.

 

[Neil.T]

Island episodes round-up, part 1:

Episode 23

Who says nothing significant happens in an Island episode? Unless I'm mistaken, episode 23 saw the debut of this iconic shot. Look familiar at all?


Nadia island shoreline


Shoreline from The End of Evangelion

* * * * *

Episode 24

I loved the electric guitar version of the theme tune that played during the scene where Jean is unloading supplies from the jettisoned captain's cabin. He's so busy and moving at such a fast pace back and forth that he actually bumps into himself! I thought that was hilarious.




Truly, for me, this episode works as a genuinely effective pisstake of Nadia's awful personality.
Particularly the bit where she has some "difficulties" trying to open the tins of potatoes she's stolen from the camp Jean's single-handedly set up:






Also hilarious was this brief sequence that happened in Jean's imagination:



Marie is Gargoyle, and King is Captain Nemo!

* * * * *

Episode 25

Jeez, this episode's on the money, too. I think Anno's stand-in's far more aware of Nadia's character than he is himself. God, she's so annoying.

* * * * *

Episode 26

This fantastical outing contains the Thunderbirds reference @Professor Irony mentioned earlier in the thread. And it's happening behind Anno's back!

* * * * *

Episode 27

It took me until the last of the three olden-style demon illustrations before the penny dropped that it was the Grandis gang that Ayerton was referring to.

Again, I've got to say that the punchline landed really well for me.


(continues)

 

[Neil.T]

Island episodes round-up, part 2:

Episode 28

Oh my god.
This episode's got its fair share of unfortunate animation gaffes.


Jean the ventriloquist? Jean speaks two short lines without ever moving his mouth


Jean the ventriloquist's dummy? He flaps his mouth open and closed silently in time with Sanson speaking


This cut keeps using the wrong top cel of Ayerton's molten-hot tongue on each frame. The shape is supposed to match what's underneath it


Same again: Sanson never once moves his mouth as he says this

* * * * *

Episode 29

This is the only Island episode that would actually be skippable in terms of story continuity. The previous ones have all had some kind of ongoing continuation from one to the next.

* * * * *

Episode 30

So... Nadia just angrily killed a mosquito that had landed on her arm, and did it without even a second thought? Hypocritical, much?
Insects are living creatures, remember?

Part 1 of a two-parter.

* * * * *

Episode 31

The big plot details of episode 35 are first delivered here in a sudden infodump.

* * * * *

Episode 32

Another two-parter.


Oi, watch your mouth, Ayerton. No, seriously: watch your mouth. There's something wrong with it in this frame:




Also...


(Hands-free)
↓

One frame later: where'd you get the flaming torch from all of a sudden, dude?

* * * * *

Episode 33

Oh, well... I suppose Jean will just have to do for Nadia after all that, then.

* * * * *

Episode 34

Putting the musical numbers to one side (please, let's ), the defining moment of this episode for me was the telling off Grandis gave Nadia, and the words of wisdom she offered:

"Man becomes most earnest when he's trying to do something for his love. Never forget that."

It was so direct that it caught me off guard.

 

[Deleted member 4555]

Ayerton is a Pablo Picasso masterpiece

 

[JTurner]

I think Anno's stand-in's far more aware of Nadia's character than he is himself. God, she's so annoying.

See, to me I feel the complete opposite. I don't think Mr. Higuchi or anyone involved with these fillers had any major understanding of any of the characters or the progress they were making in the canonical episodes of the story. What we see these characters do in these filler arcs are stuff that we never see them do otherwise. I actually found Nadia a bit more likable in the canonical episodes of the story (minus episode 20 and parts of 12), and in many ways a much more realistic, rounded character. In these fillers, however, all the nuances of her personality are stripped away and we see only a hopeless caricature of her former self, not the real Nadia. It's the same thing with the rest of the characters. The horrid animation doesn't help matters at all, but it's the stupid, offensively inept stories that really sink these episodes for me.