Name: The Secrets Behind the Scenes of Nadia and the Blue Water - Part 1
Uploaded: 2014-02-01T23:19:30.000Z
Duration: 21 min 47 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

The year was 1990. On the thirteenth of April, an all-new animated serial premiered on Japanese

television which would take viewers around the word, above the clouds, underwater, and

beyond. The serial was "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water", a science-fiction action adventure

tale with a little bit of everything: mystery, intrigue, humor, romance, melodrama, techno

marvels, references to real life, and inspiration from Jules Verne's classic novel, "20,000

Leagues Under the Sea." The show became a favorite of millions of people around the

world. Like Nadia herself, however, the series has many secrets of its own. Hello, my name

is Jon Turner, and over the next half hour, we shall embark on a journey of a different

type. We're about to uncover the mysteries behind this classic show, from its production

phases to its creators, and a whole lot more besides. Allow me to be your tour guide on

this momentous occasion. So sit back, strap yourself in, put on your diving gear, and

get ready to delve into "The Secrets Behind the Scenes of Nadia and the Blue Water."

Secret #1: "The Title of Blue Water". Believe it or not, there is a surprise secret

behind "Nadia"'s title around the world. In Japanese, the show is called "Fushigi no Umi

no Nadia." In the land of the rising sun's native language, "fushigi" means "mysterious.

"Umi" means "ocean" or "sea," while "no" is a possessive article. Literally, the title

translates as "Nadia of the Mysterious Sea." However, during its initial television broadcast

in Japan, the English phrase "The Secret of Blue Water" was associated with it. Because

the phrases "mysterious sea" and "blue water" could technically be considered subtitles,

it was decided that "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water" would be the final title. When

the show was broadcast internationally, the title had rather different translations. For

instance, in Italy, it was known as "Il Mistero Della Pietra Azzurra", or rather, "The Mystery

of the Blue Stone," with no mention of the title character's name. The same is true for

Spain's "El Misterio de la Piedra Azul." Germany, meanwhile, calls it "Die Macht des Zaubersteins"

("The Power of the Magic Stone"). Oddly, in Taiwan, it's even called "20,000 Leagues Under

the Sea!" Arabia, meanwhile, rechristens the show as "Blue Diamond." Only in France is

Nadia's name referenced in its title: "Nadia et le Secret de L'eau Bleue." Russia's translation

also retains Nadia's name. Isn't it interesting how local translations can differ from nation

to nation? For a story that takes place around the world, that could arguably be another

Secret #2: "The Origins of Nadia". How was "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water"

born? Its origins date back to the mid-1970's when Anime pioneer Hayao Miyazaki was hired

by Japanese movie giant Toho to develop ideas for televeions series. One of these concepts

was "Around the World Under the Sea," based on Jules Verne's "20,000 Leagues Under the

Sea," in which two orphan children pursued by villains team up with Captain Nemo and

the Nautilus. Although it was never produced, Toho kept the rights to the story outline.

This explains why Anime fans often liken "Nadia" to a Miyazaki production; the animator reused

elements from his original concept in later projects of his, notably the sci-fi series

"Future Boy Conan" and the action-adventure feature "Castle in the Sky."

Flash forward about ten years later. Animation studio GAINAX (formed by a group of animation

fans) was commissioned by Toho in 1989 to produce a TV series which would be broadcast

on the Japanese educational network NHK (the equivalent of PBS). Miyazaki's outline for

"Around the World Under the Sea" captivated GAINAX the most. Under the direction of Hideaki

Anno, the animation studio took the central story and concept Miyazaki had developed and

touched it up with their own creativity. Incidentally, Anno had previously worked for Miyazaki as

an animator on projects such as "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind." For Anno, "Nadia"

was an opportunity to produce his own interpretation of his former mentor's work.

"Nadia"'s first episode premiered on Japanese television networks in April of 1990, concluding

the following year. Reaction to show was nothing short of overwhelming. Anime viewers in Japan,

who are normally separated by age and gender lines, were won over by the show's eclectic

of action, adventure, romance, comedy, melodrama, and sci-fi techno marvels. Since then, it

has been shown to millions of fans on TV in Italy, France, Germany, Spain, Taiwan, South

Korea and the Philippines. Adding to the show's success, Nadia showed up on the Japanese Animage

polls as favorite Anime heroine, dethroning Hayao Miyazaki's Nausicaä, who had been the

Behind the scenes, however, production on "Nadia" proved to be anything but smooth sailing.

In the words of (then) GAINAX president Toshio Okada, "'Nadia' was true chaos... good and

According to now lost sources dating from the 1990s (or at least fan speculation), it

seemed as though Anno's direction for "Nadia" wasn't what NHK had in mind. Often the network

would send feedback to the studio on how to "improve" the series. GAINAX's response, however,

was to disregard such suggestions (without even reading them) and continuing production

their own way. Considering the tight deadlines for producing episodes, the studio could get

away with this practice, but it also resulted with a major clash of disagreements between

the two companies. In fact, GAINAX never again worked with NHK on another show, perhaps because

Differing views weren't the only obstacles GAINAX had to overcome, though. Starting with

Episode 11, Anno was working overtime — 18 hours a day. Eighteen hours! As such, many

new episodes running late and/or missing their deadlines. Then there were financial issues;

in the words of GAINAX co-founder Yasuhiro Takeda (author of "The Notenki Memoirs: Studio

Gainax & The Men Who Created Evangelion") the studio "was left facing an impossibly

large budget" while working on the show. "[T]he company ended 80 million yen (roughly $800,000)

in the red, and was denied any of the rights associated with the project." (It should also

be known that GAINAX has a history for mismanaging budgets, as evidenced from the varying animation

quality of its later shows, particularly the ever-popular "Neon Genesis Evangelion.") Because

of budget restrictions, "Nadia" was temporarily put on hold after episode 20 was broadcast

on September 21, 1990. The 21st episode would air the following October. It also led to

a drastic drop of quality when the show received an unexpected extension from its initial episode

count (as will be discussed in another secret). There were numerous other mishaps that occurred

during the making of "Nadia", but Takeda chooses to neglect talking about them to this day,

"[B]ehind each of these events," he says, "several other events were simultaneously

taking place." Even GAINAX founder Hiroyuki Yamaga admits that they felt "regret... that

Even if GAINAX neglects to mention "Nadia" among their finest achievements, however,

the show still had a major impact on the company. Earlier, few knew of GAINAX's work. The studio's

first production, 1987's expensive sci-fi epic "Wings of Honneamise," although widely

acclaimed, was a commercial failure in its theatrical release. While their subsequent

1988 direct-to-video series "Gunbuster" fared much better, it was "Nadia" that truly brought

mainstream attention to the fledging Japanese animation studio. Since then, GAINAX would

achieve even greater success with "Evangelion", which would share many similarities with this

adventure serial, but that's another story.

If Nadia's quest to find her birthplace was stormy, her own show's journey to find an

audience in America was even more turbulent. Shortly after its first Japanese broadcast

in 1991, the late Carl Macek and his company, Streamline Pictures, purchased the license

for "Nadia" in the hopes of dubbing it for broadcast on U.S. television. Although the

first eight episodes were dubbed, financial problems and difficult conditions prevented

the company from completing the series. At the end of 1996, Streamline's license expired.

It was not until the summer of 1997 that Texas-based ADV Films acquired the rights to the show.

The first volume of the subtitled series was not released on videotape until March of 2000.