Search - Nadia, The Secret of Blue Water - The Prophecy Fulfilled (Vol. 10) on DVD

A Satisfying Conclusion to an Epic Series.

mpa5698994 | Navarre, FL United States | 07/18/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"For a long time, I waited and waited for the final DVD of "Nadia" to come out. And finally, it did. And the conclusion is more then satisfactory!
The characters return, and we are treated to one of the best animated battle scenes (Non-CGI!) with excellent animation and FX.
The English voices for Nemo and Gargoyle hit their best in this; making their lines one of the best English voice-acting I've heard in a long time.
The ending is one of the best I've seen. Original in a lot of ways, and a great ending with no letdowns. And the interviews of the voice actors was definately a plus, showing a rare glimpse into the actors who offered such great vocal performances for an anime dub.
Definately a great series with an even greater conclusion.
My few problems: the transfer is not as crystal clear as other DVDs I've seen. And for a final DVD, all we really get as "Extras" are credit-less opening and closing animations, (Which is what we got in the first four DVDs)."

The Best Ending in Anime

T. Hooper | Osaka, Japan | 07/28/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Don't be put off by the fact that this final volume of the Nadia series only has 3 episodes instead of the usual four. This last volume is worth all of the others put together. It's simply amazing. In my opinion, the ending of this series is the best in all of anime. It'll have you in tears. I really don't want to give away much of the story, so I'll describe it in general. In the last few episodes of this series, this steam-punk adventure gets a strong dose of alien technology, as it is revealed that there is some alien involvement in the storyline. Needless to say, humanity is threated, and it's up to our heros to save the day. Without spilling any details, the story covers alien conspiracy, genetic modification, and the identity of God. If you really want a mind-blowing animation experience, you have to pick this up."

Brilliant Ending !

T. Hooper | 08/29/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This show is the Babylon 5 of anime. Who'd have thought that the simple storyline of a young girl pursued by jewel thieves at the start would finish like this ? I've just finished viewing this finale and still cant get over how well done it was. What a great, no AMAZING series ! My only gripes are that its now finished (I wish they had done a sequel series, yes I know there is "The Movie" to come ... however I've been told that was done to cash in on Nadia's popularity, different writers/animators, so I'm not expecting anything great from it) and the minor video artefacts throughout. I dont want to "spoil" anything so I wont give any of the storyline away in these final episodes. The cover recommends viewing by 12 years and up however I've sat through this entire series with my 8 year old niece and had to fast forward only one scene I thought would have been too disturbing for her, where the crewman is sacrificed to save the Nautilus, Jean's heart rending cries were just too well acted. To finish, fantastic ending, great storyline throughout, characters you'll love and hate (Gargoyle !) that'll make you laugh and cry, to me (an anime newbie) this is what anime is all about. P.S. Love the music too !"

A truly wonderful finale.

Jonathon Turner | Highland Park, NJ USA | 08/28/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"GAINAX's NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER has been a show of ups and downs. It started out wonderfully with eight engaging, exciting episodes and an equally entertaining sequence of fourteen chapters on the Nautilus. There was much to enjoy in these 22 episodes, from imaginative marvels to deeply moving character development to memorable, spectacularly executed action sequences.

But things got completely out of hand when GAINAX was pressured by the executives of backing distributor, NHK Enterprises, to produce more episodes. What resulted were what fans dub the "infamous island episodes". Only 20% of the filler content moved the story along (landing on a floating island which turns out to be a spaceship, and learning of Nadia's birth origins). The remainder of the content, which ranged from mediocre to just plain awful, should have remained in the trash can where it belongs, as it does nothing except sink a brilliant production.

On the penultimate volume, however, the last two episodes showed that GAINAX had finally returned to the roots of wherein lay NADIA's appeal. But these two are not even half of the five-part finale of this show, which blows the dreadful filler out of the water as though they never existed. This, the last volume of the TV series, also is the best of the bunch, ending the story and everything related with it on a high note.

Oddly, some critics downgraded this final volume, claiming that it fails to deliver the goods... probably because they were so infuriated at the filler garbage. Despite how horrible the extraneous episodes were, one can simply choose to skip the worst of the filler excess and pretend they never happened. Or they can pass them off as not worth dwelling on, for when something is irrelevant to the plot, it's not worth the time to grouse about it.

What IS important, is that the content on this volume is so strong that, when one watches it with the good material, they're sure to find it an engrossing, tearjerking, and ultimately rewarding experience.

Unlike the other NADIA volumes, I will not give you a summary about what happens in the last three episodes. Doing so would be involve revealing spoilers. I will say, however, that there are action-packed scenes, shocking revelations, unexpected twists and surprises, emotionally gripping drama, love beyond death, and a tearjerking ending that will leave you on the edge of your seat... or rather, blow you away; either one works just fine. Featuring spectacular animation effects, clever writing, and some truly terrific music, the ending of NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER more than lives up to its name as being one of the best climaxes in any Anime.

The voice actors on the English language track are at their best ever, despite some technical oddities: notably occasionally awkward sentences, sometimes fuzzy sound quality, and some lines on the Japanese language track not spoken at all on the dub. (The Japanese language track, which I spotchecked, consists of similarly excellent quality.) The only other drawbacks are a not-as-decent video transfer and the same textless opening and closing animations as extras (we already got those on Volumes 1-3). However, the good far outweighs the bad, with text interviews with the cast members (some woefully short), and, well, the content presented here.

In short, it is probably best to appreciate this show as a 27-episode series, because much of the filler material that plagued its second half was never supposed to have taken place. But ADV cannot be faulted for their presentation of this show, which, despite its fatal faults, is by no means a waste of time. For its first 22 episodes and the showclosing five, NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER is a series with more than a share of priceless moments to overshadow its frustrating weaknesses."