Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [final ep - 39]

[st_owly (witch)]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

Ep 1. I'm really enjoying this. I agree about the Ghibli-esque feel. It felt like Castle in the Sky or Howl's Moving Castle. I like the kinda steampunk before steampunk was a thing setting too. I'd only heard the name of the show before, so thanks for introducing it to me!

 

[msgeek]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

The creepiness of that scene wasn't really apparent to me when I watched it but thinking about it I guess so. I guess it could be made even more creepy by the fact that Grandis is dressed up like some kind of brothel madame.

 

[st_owly (witch)]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

I didn't really notice that too much either. It seemed in keeping with the setting so I didn't think much of it. Now that people mention it it does seem a bit creepy.

 

[Professor Irony]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

Ep 1. I'm really enjoying this. I'd only heard the name of the show before, so thanks for introducing it to me!

Really pleased to hear you say that. I think it's that kind of experience that makes these threads worthwhile.

 

[Ath]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

I watched episode 1 a few weeks ago, so I'll jump in properly posts-wise with ep 2 tomorrow. I did like the first episode quite a bit from what I remember. Just something about cel animation that just resonates with me. I'm watching the dub because I dig Nathan Parsons' phony French accent for Jean for no good reason.

 

[Professor Irony]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

I'm quite curious to hear the dub now. Assuming the show doesn't suddenly go off a cliff, I could see myself just picking up the Animatsu set before we're done here.

Ep2

Not got too much to say about this one. I get the impression 'Jean can't catch a break' is probably going to be a recurring theme here, although it was nice how they touched on prevailing attitudes to race via Jean's aunt without hammering it home too much. "Those are the iron graves of aircraft that could not take off" really does sound like something Miyazaki would write as well.

 

[BanzaiJedi]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

Sorry I'm late, I watched the first episode earlier today and then completely forgot to mention it here :roll: I'll try to be more prompt in the future. In any case this is my first simulwatch and I think it will be very interesting to see everyone's thoughts on the series over the next five weeks.

Ep 1.
All I've heard of this series previously is that it's a kind of 'proto-evangelion', which seems like a misleading thing to say based on what I've seen so far. The tone of the series reminds me of Cagliostro somewhat with it's slapstick comedy and over the top action, and is not something I would normally watch but I'll give it a fair chance. The episode did a good job of establishing the main characters personalities, both protagonists and antagonists, and setting a fairly fast pace to proceedings. And if the 'baddies' are not seen at some point in a peddle-powered, fish shaped submarine then I'm docking this series a point from it's final score
And as for the 'selling' of Nadia, I viewed that more as a bribe to stop the circus manager from kicking up a fuss while Nadia was being abducted, since the antagonists made a point of keeping a fairly low profile until after they had captured her. Now that I think back on it though it could have been some kind of indentured servitude style arrangement between Nadia and her 'employer' since she is otherwise a homeless orphan.
I've not seen much 90's anime so it took me a few minutes to adjust to the different art style, but it really does stand the test of time remarkably well and has plenty of charm about it, no doubt carried over from Anno's time working with Miyazaki.

One final thought, monocycles are awesome.

 

[ilmaestro]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

Episode 1

I just love this show's attitude. I'll post more about the general and specific setting tomorrow since I'm only getting around to typing this now, but it's rare that you get a first episode that manages to be as exciting as this one whilst also doing a great job of establishing time, place, and character. Also Jean is completely ballin'.

Getting to watch this on BD is going to be quite a thrill, too - it already feels more like I'm watching someone's creations come to life than it has before.

I think it says a lot about the tone of the show (at least at this point) that they don't dwell on the circus owner for very long. The fact that someone was able to 'buy' Nadia from him was deeply creepy, although it feels plausible for the time period.

I think it's exactly that point in your spoiler, especially in the sort of "working" environment that a travelling circus would have promoted at the time.

I thought everyone was watching it today

I lolled.

 

[Smeelia]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

I think the first five episodes will probably give a pretty good indicator of whether you'll want to watch the show or not, if I remember correctly at least.

Episode 2
Jean's inventions may not always be perfect but they're still kind of impressive given his age. I wonder if the problem is the inventions or if Nadia herself is one of those people that things never seem to quite work right for.

Also, I wonder if Jean's dad made all this money from smuggling or something, I'd guess all those inventing materials would be expensive (though it's mentioned they at least owned a farm that might have had a steady income and been worth a fair bit).

I quite like that Nadia is a bit sarcastic but not mean-spirited. It probably helps that Jean is pretty easy-going as well.

 

[st_owly (witch)]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

Ep 2 - It's funny how Nadia keeps saying Jean's inventions are amazing. You'd think she'd get the idea. The bit with the boat detaching and becoming a hydrofoil made me laugh too

I wonder what's really going on with Jean's father?

 

[Smeelia]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

Ep 2 - It's funny how Nadia keeps saying Jean's inventions are amazing. You'd think she'd get the idea.

To be fair, they're pretty good while they last.

 

[st_owly (witch)]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

That's a good point.

 

[msgeek]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

ep2

OK I get it... Jean is a gadget freak, but he's not brilliant at it (still learning?)

I wonder if the boat splitting / hydrofoil idea was influenced by the bond film Thunderball. Of course Thunderball didn't come with the history lesson.

If I was married to the Aunt, and I had "escaped" to "Parie" for a while, I'd probably spend my time ogling the dancing girls...

So plan A was to offload Nadia onto his Aunt... I get it for purposes of story but would have thought Jean would have had her live with him as Plan A...

Didn't that tank thing have wheels previously? Lets use the incredibly inefficient legs! Also physics. No-one cares about physics right?

Floating plane is kind of reminiscent of tiny bronco from FF7.

Haven't noticed any significant screen time dedicated to kings balls thus far. I'm sure it seemed like they were never off-screen first time through.

 

[Professor Irony]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

All I've heard of this series previously is that it's a kind of 'proto-evangelion', which seems like a misleading thing to say based on what I've seen so far.

I think the comparison becomes a lot more apparent as the series goes on, but it might not be for a while yet.

Haven't noticed any significant screen time dedicated to kings balls thus far. I'm sure it seemed like they were never off-screen first time through.

Kind of remembered them being more prolific as well... Perhaps they got more air-time as time went on due to the animators getting fed up :/

 

[Smeelia]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

ep2

So plan A was to offload Nadia onto his Aunt... I get it for purposes of story but would have thought Jean would have had her live with him as Plan A...

I'd say Jean was probably thinking it would be more practical to have his aunt help to look after Nadia, since Jean is presumably not as skilled at things like cooking and cleaning for others. I know it was said to be a long road between the houses but it seems that Jean's uncle spends most of his time at Jean's house so I guess the houses would be close enough for regular visits. It's also possible that Jean would have wanted to keep his own space rather than having Nadia right there all the time when he's inventing.

Didn't that tank thing have wheels previously? Lets use the incredibly inefficient legs! Also physics. No-one cares about physics right?

If I have to choose between Mecha (or at least walking tanks) and Physics, it's going to be Mecha every time.

Also, to be fair, they may have used the legs so they could scout further from a height since they didn't know exactly where they should be looking (though there may only have been that one long road to search).

Haven't noticed any significant screen time dedicated to kings balls thus far. I'm sure it seemed like they were never off-screen first time through.

Kind of remembered them being more prolific as well... Perhaps they got more air-time as time went on due to the animators getting fed up :/

I think there's an entire of the island episodes practically dedicated to them. I don't remember noticing it that often but it'll be interesting to see if it's more noticeable as the show goes along.

This post seems kind of messy. Do we need the spoiler tags? Most people following the thread at this point are probably either watching the show or not worried about spoilers. I don't mind keeping them up if people prefer that though. I also just realised that my last spoiler is kind of for future episodes and that kind of thing could probably use some kind of distinction from spoilers that are for the current episode.

 

[msgeek]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

To be fair I'd choose the mecha too and the physics I was concerned with was more the flimsy plane making through a bunch of trees. More of a lighthearted observation than a criticism. Most of my favorite anime/films have extremely questionable physics/science.

re the spoiler tags. I don't know - I just spoilered the whole of mine as it seemed easier than working out what individual bits could be considered spoilers but it does make quotes a fair bit more difficult and in the end I guess there's nothing in there that could spoil anything for anyone who has completed ep2...

 

[Smeelia]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

To be fair I'd choose the mecha too and the physics I was concerned with was more the flimsy plane making through a bunch of trees. More of a lighthearted observation than a criticism. Most of my favorite anime/films have extremely questionable physics/science.

I was going for "light-hearted response" rather than "counter-argument". I like picking holes in things, trying to fill the holes and then picking holes in the filling. If it ever seems like I'm arguing then I'm probably arguing with you rather than against you... Wait, I don't think that quite works.

Good point about the plane, I wondered about that as well (it does come out slightly damaged but not as much as you might expect). I guess it's worth noting that this is the kind of show where any kind of reality and common sense can be put on hold in the name of a joke (or stunt or whatever). To be fair, that kind of thing is probably one of the reasons I like a lot of anime (and why Nichijou is one of my favourites, I guess).

 

[BanzaiJedi]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

Ep 2.
A very frank display of 19th century attitudes towards race in this episode, always a little surprising to see yet very accurate for the time. It makes you realise just how hard a time Nadia must have had growing up alone in such an environment. It's remarkable that she's as cheerful and emotionally balanced as she is, my respect for her as a character has gone up a few notches.
Jean on the other hand is some kind of Da Vinci level genius. Not only can he envision many different devices, but when he tries to build them they never quite work as he hoped. Or maybe that's a little unfair, since they do work briefly.
It really is the technology that keeps capturing my attention, especially that plane at the end. I know all this should not be taken so seriously, but I just can't help but analyse all the tech I see and pick holes in the designs. The twin-boom design of the plane is perfectly acceptable, aside from the fact that he was flying it backwards, but there's no way it would survive going through trees.
Oh, and this episode reminded me I still need to buy one of those hand cranked torches.
One final thought, hydrofoils are awesome.

 

[Smeelia]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

Oh, and this episode reminded me I still need to buy one of those hand cranked torches.

I had the same thought, useful for various types of apocalypse. Also, could potentially help prevent an apocalypse by being good for the environment I guess.

 

[msgeek]

Re: Simulwatch - Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water [current ep - 02]

Oh, and this episode reminded me I still need to buy one of those hand cranked torches.

I had the same thought, useful for various types of apocalypse. Also, could potentially help prevent an apocalypse by being good for the environment I guess.

Having used one I strongly recommend candles. Or anything else really. If environmental concerns are high on your list the energy required in calories to keep one of those things going probably has a worse environmental impact than burning candles. (now it's my turn to pick holes in things :lol: