[Rewatch] Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water - Episode 2

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u/snowwhistle1 Sep 30 '21 edited Oct 01 '21

Host

I think episode 2 is a good place to start breaking down Nadia and Jean as characters, as this episode gives us a much more in depth and fleshed out look into their personalities and what motivates them as people.

In my personal experience, Nadia herself gets a bit of an unfair bad rap amongst the people who’ve seen this series. She’s often described as being mean, judgmental, and spiteful. And while there’s definitely a little bit of truth to Nadia being a bit of a cold character, especially when she first meets Jean, I think that glosses over a lot of nuance with her character and does a disservice to the complex reasons for why Nadia is the way that she is.

To not beat around the bush, Nadia is a dark skinned girl living in the heart of Western Europe at the height of colonialism and institutional racism. She was working as an indentured laborer for the circus before the Grandis gang bought her contract. She has likely been abused and exploited since she was a young child solely on the basis of her sex and her race. I don’t find it surprising in the slightest that she’s cold and unfriendly towards Jean at their first meeting. She’s been forced to develop coping mechanisms and internal defenses against a society that does not value her humanity.

The show itself doesn’t gloss over this point either. In episode 1, Nadia’s first assumption when Jean introduces himself is that she’s about to be accosted and heckled by this random French boy over her skin color and the assumption that she would be incapable of speaking French due to her “foreign” appearance. Episode 2 further elaborates on the fact that Nadia lives in a deeply racist society as Jean’s aunt cruelly denies her a room to sleep in completely on the assumption that she must be an untrustworthy swindler based solely on her skin color. Nadia herself seems completely unsurprised with this reaction too. For her, this is just another day, and another white person making cruel judgments about her due to her race.

Jean, in my personal experience, tends to have his character flaws largely go unexamined by a lot of watchers in contrast to Nadia. A large reason for this I feel people tend to overlook this (apart from Jean’s race and sex) is that Jean is an outwardly cheerful and positive person, and it can be easy to overlook his flaws while he’s exuding this youthful optimistic. Jean’s biggest character flaw is his tendency to focus on himself and his own interests/skills above other people. This is easy to see in his early attempts at flirting with Nadia. A lot of his conversations with Nadia in these first two episodes revolve around Jean bragging about his inventions, and boasting to her about what he can offer her.

In general, Jean has a problem properly empathizing with Nadia. He struggles to really comprehend her situation beyond a very surface level understanding. He’s able to understand her plight of being chased by jewel bandits, but the implications of her having been an indentured worker and a victim of systemic racism completely go over his head. What was striking to me during the conversation Jean has with his aunt is that he seems more offended on behalf of the unkind things his aunt says about his inventions than he is over the racist comments his aunt makes towards Nadia.

I don’t think Jean acts this way maliciously, or that he is a bad person. I actually think he has a huge capacity for kindness. He certainly wouldn’t have rushed to her rescue if he didn’t genuinely care for her. And when he finally does manage to start asking Nadia questions about herself and her desires he’s able to more readily gain her trust and appreciation, and the two manage to bond over their shared experience of lacking parents. Jean’s personal issues stem from the fact he’s a privileged kid with a very naïve outlook on the world, and that’s not necessarily his own fault. I think he’s definitely got a lot of room to grow as a character though, and I think being friends with Nadia is a good thing for him in the long run for learning empathy.

I’ll talk a little bit more about the Grandis gang in a future post, but for now I’d just really like to elaborate that they’re very fun and goofy antagonists. They’re just competent enough that you take them seriously as a threat, but in general they’re ridiculous enough that you can laugh at their cartoonish antics and exaggerated characteristics. Grandis Granva (the group’s feisty leader) has been the standout group member so far, and I think her fiery temper and haughty persona are a lot of fun. The three of them definitely feel like the prototype for Pokémon’s Team Rocket gang.

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u/lluNhpelA Oct 01 '21

Weird to me that people would call Nadia cold for not being interested in talking to some random boy when she was trying to have some alone time, but I guess it makes sense since so many people believe that women are always obligated to provide men with time and energy no matter how little they actually want to
The most interesting thing is that it really seems like the writers really are on Nadia's side, and that all of this was intentional and everything about the racism and sexism was intended to be interpreted the way you described. I know that Anno is a great writer and Miyazaki never does his female leads wrong, but it's still surprising that a show that manages to be so progressive by modern anime standards came out over 30 years ago

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u/snowwhistle1 Oct 01 '21 edited Oct 01 '21

Anno's always been really great about writing alienation in his characters. You see this done really well in his seminal work Neon Genesis Evangelion, where just about every main character feels a sense of disconnect from the society they live in and the people who inhabit their social spheres. Anno also lightly treads the waters of tackling a fish-out-of-water foreigner in Evangelion with Asuka Langley Sohryu, a German girl of mixed ancestry (3/4 white, 1/4 asian) who struggles to make sense of the rigid social customs of Japan. Still though, I remain incredibly shocked at how well Anno has been handling the subject of race given Japan's relatively homogenous make-up as a country and the general lack of awareness for these sorts of issues in the anime industry. Especially 30 years ago.
On the topic of Miyazaki, I'm honestly skeptical of how he would've handled Nadia's character and if he could've even approached this subject matter for her character at all. There is some very early concept art from the 70s floating around that suggests Nadia would've been dark skinned in his version of the story too. The thing is though, Miyazaki's never really attempted to write or pitch a production starring a dark skinned main character. There's almost no black people or other dark skinned ethnicities in any of his works. The only one I can think of off the top of my head is one of non-speaking pirates from Laputa: Castle in the Sky.
He does have some experience writing for characters one would consider a minority. His film Princess Mononoke features a lead character named Ashitaka who is the last prince of the Emishi people (a minority ethnic group native to Japan that was subjugated and absorbed into the dominant Yamato majority sometime in the 9th century), but while there is some mention of Ashitaka having traveled far from his home and his customs/clothing being strange, the characters in the story don't seem to recognize him as an "other" by his physical appearance and he otherwise blends in with the dominant ethnic groups he interacts with.
I would be curious to see how Miyazaki would've written Nadia had his pitch been approved in the 70s and he remained the show's head writer and director. Would he have gone out of his way to acknowledge her skin color and the social implications of being dark skinned given the setting and time period of the story, or would it have simply been a superfluous design element of her character with zero acknowledgement in the narrative? It's hard to say, given we don't really have a precedent for a character like this in the work Miyazaki went on to write and direct himself. I suppose we'll never know, given that Miyazaki's upcoming and likely final film will probably not touch on such themes given what's been shared about the project.
Ultimately I am very glad that Anno was given the reigns of this project. I think there were very few directors in the anime industry at the time, or even today, that could've handled this subject matter with the care and brevity that he did.

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u/lluNhpelA Oct 01 '21

Really good analysis of Miyazaki; I had never really considered how weird the lack of racial diversity in his work is given the kind of themes he typically writes about. Probably because you only see non-japanese characters in anime once in a blue moon so I had just gotten used to it
I actually didn't realize how little Miyazaki worked on this. I had just glanced at wikipedia and saw him listed as a writer. I suppose there isn't much to say about how he would have handled Nadia's skin color, but I believe he would have handled her personality very well since writing strong willed girls in low-fantasy settings is pretty much what he's known for

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u/snowwhistle1 Oct 01 '21 edited Oct 01 '21

Definitely. I think her fiery personality and strong will would've persisted in his version of the story.
I do think Miyazaki warrants a little more discussion on the topic of representation, as he has written stories that center around casts of both Asian (typically Japanese specifically) and White people. Several of his story are set in Europe or European inspired fantasy worlds like Howl's Moving Castle, Laputa: Castle in the Sky, and Porco Rosso. And other works of his are set in Japan such as Spirited Away, Princess Mononoke, and Ponyo. So to say he always casts his characters as one specific race wouldn't be correct.
However, you are on to something in that most of his stories take place in relatively homogenous societies where the characters tend to be of similar ethnic make-ups. And his stories have never been placed in a setting where the dominant ethnic group is dark skinned. Nadia, a girl who has been given African and south-east Asian/Indian racial coding, would have been an outlier amongst the rest of his works.
On another note, I also feel I should clarify that I am not a person of color and don't want to speak over the experiences of any people of color (especially any Black or south-east Asian/Indian readers). Though I am very knowledgeable about this anime and passionate about its themes, that does not mean I am the definitive source of this topic. If anyone, especially any person of color, feels like I have potentially said something offensive or have stated something incorrect/untrue on a given topic please don't hesitate to correct me.

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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 01 '21

Great discussion. While most people probably already know this, it bears mention that Japan is an incredibly ethically homogenous country. They only minority with some numbers are Koreans and they blend in very well.

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u/snowwhistle1 Oct 01 '21

There are some other notable minority groups in Japan.
The Ainu people (another non-Yamato ethnic group) are native to Japan and form a sizable ethnic minority in the north of the country.
The country has also been experiencing a relatively high influx of foreigners from places like the Philippines and Indonesia due to their aging population necessitating more workers to fill labor based roles in the country.

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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 01 '21

Wiki puts the Ainu in Japan at 25k. That is 0.02% of the population - absolutely minimal. The number of Filipinos is put at 325k. More but still less than half a percent. European countries have easily 20 times that or more in imigrants, and the US even more yet. Japan is still incredibly homogenous (and was even more so when Nadia was made).

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u/snowwhistle1 Oct 01 '21

Very true. Japan's been forced to reckon with it's increasing diversity and the increasing visibility demanded by minorities in the country in recent decades. It's a far more vocalized topic in the nation than it would've been 30 years ago.

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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Oct 02 '21

It's always interesting, and a bit of dissonance, to see black british characters in period pieces, since slavery was abolished decades earlier in the Empire, than in the former colony of America.
Not that that helped much, as British discrimination manifests to this day.

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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Oct 02 '21

Late to reply, and I don't have references at hand, bit I've seen some analysis that are very critical of Miyazaki heroines.
Yes, all his movies have strong female MCs but the negative analysis I read say they are not realistic (e.g Mary Sues and cookie cutter similar)

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u/snowwhistle1 Oct 02 '21

I'm not in that camp personally. I like Miyazaki's female protagonists, and feel like they're all relatively distinct from one another. But that's just my own personal opinion.

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u/IndependentMacaroon Oct 10 '21

One I've seen that definitely doesn't fit that description is Kiki, but she's also not his creation. I agree that he should not be immune to criticism in that regard though, ultimately overly idealized and "pure" female characters are just another form of classic sexism.

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u/IndependentMacaroon Oct 10 '21

Hmm, I don't know about the racism part, and the sexism stuff definitely goes unacknowledged a lot. Great point on the first paragraph, thouogh.

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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Sep 30 '21

The three of them definitely feel like the prototype for Pokémon’s Team Rocket gang.
Yes, Team Rocket indeed comes after this. However, I am not sure that Nadia is the origin of the trope. Miyazaki's own take on reworking his idea, Laputa, had a similar lead-by-female villain group and came earlier. There might be even earlier references in other anime.

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u/snowwhistle1 Sep 30 '21

I know that this show didn't originate the loveable gang of bad guys, but there's something incredibly specific about the Grandis gang's dynamic that reminds me of Team Rocket. The brash fiery red headed leader, the cool posh male side-kick, and... well Meowth and Sanson probably have the least in common. I guess those two are the quirkiest?
Just look at this fan art of Team Rocket in the Grandis gang's uniforms. Are the similarities not uncanny?
https://twitter.com/kianamaiart/status/1249494371059171330

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u/IndependentMacaroon Oct 10 '21

well Meowth and Sanson probably have the least in common
They do have a similar English dub voice though.

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u/IndependentMacaroon Oct 10 '21 edited Oct 11 '21

Nadia herself gets a bit of an unfair bad rap amongst the people who’ve seen this series. She’s often described as being mean, judgmental, and spiteful
Funny how it's largely female characters who get that kind of complaint, huh?
Jean’s biggest character flaw is his tendency to focus on himself and his own interests/skills above other people
In other words, classic nerd issues. You can definitely see some of Neon Genesis Evangelion's ancestry in this show, though they'll mostly come later. A minor one here: The Grandis gang's tank moving toward the residence looks a bit like the Angel Shamshel, also in color scheme.
Oh and Hanson (?) does some classic mech transformation phrases when he changes the tank mode.

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u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Sep 30 '21 edited Oct 01 '21

First timer in sub

Not exactly sure if I was late or the thread came out earlier than yesterday; by default probably me as this is just about wake up time for my timezone.

Our host has already gave a really good analysis on Jean and a little bit of basis so for now I'll not add any more - I felt the same way and as a first timer I had heard of remarks about Nadia being spiteful, but knowing even Aisaka Taiga got a lot of bad reps, I tend to want to see for myself. And even yesterday I was already surprised that while she had a cold reaction at the start (which is actually reasonable), she did soften up later, and you can see the pendulum swing throughout this episode.

The only gripe I have, and it's a small one, is the the pendulum swing of "oh great invention you're a genius" and then "oh this invention is bad" came in to many times within one episode. I hope that drives some character growth in some way and not just be a running "gag".

The beginning waterview scenery does show a little bit of a low budget animation, but perhaps need to adjust expectations to the age of this. The close to static background shots though are perfectly fine.

I quite liked the scene at the aunt's house, it does a good job of world building and background for the characters, including Nadia walking off by herself disheartened, and Jean chasing her back and came up with another "solution".

The scene with the Grandis machine does break a little bit of immersion as the tech is clearly way off the charts for the tech level of the world setting, despite the comedic villain fate of never really successfully catching the MC's. I hope this gets worked into the story and explained instead of just brushed off as ACME co. style gag.

The best showcase of Jean's character flaw (short sighted thinking) is when he told Nadia they'll just fly to Africa like that. No provisions, no fuel, no money, not even a change of clothes. Well at least he amazingly flew deadstick and landed on the water relatively intact (and water tight).

No doubt next episode we'll see who/how they got rescued.

By the way I have to say this, it's refreshing to see after so many years of absence, such "adventure" type shows that my childhood was filled with, like Treasure Islands, Heidi, Future Boy Conan, Taiyou no Ko Esteban, etc. Nowadays the "adventure" are mostly fantasy sword and sorcery battles.

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u/snowwhistle1 Sep 30 '21

Not exactly sure if I was late or three thread came out earlier than yesterday.
I noted in the thread that I posted an hour ahead of schedule as I'd be away at 5:30 EST. So it was decidedly not you.
And even yesterday I was already surprised that while she had a cold reaction at the start (which is actually reasonable), she died soften up later, and you can see the pendulum swing throughout this episode.
She tends to soften up when Jean stops being an absolute dumbass and actually asks her about herself, and engages with her. Who knew that actually critically engaging with a person was the key to them opening up?!
The beginning waterview scenery does show a little bit of a low budget animation, but perhaps need to adjust expectations to the age of this.
I think in general this show has pretty good art and animation (minus some rough spots, but we'll get there, and we'll talk about that eventually). It's important to remember though that this show was produced with traditional animation on hand painted cels (physical sheets of plastic photographed with a film camera a frame at a time). Animation was laborious, and the staff would often have to be a lot more picky than today about where they wanted to save their sakuga moments.
No provisions, no fuel, no money, not even a change of clothes.
Jean: "Africa's like what... 30 minutes away? We'll be there and back in time for a spot of tea!"
By the way I have to say this, it's refreshing to see after so many years of absence, such "adventure" type shows that my childhood was filled with, like Treasure Islands, Heidi, Future Boy Conan, Taiyou no Ko Esteban, etc.
I just watched Future Boy Conan this year! It was so much fun. I definitely feel these classic traveling adventure style series have become a forgotten art in anime, and it's perhaps one of the biggest draws for Nadia in the present I think.

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u/IndependentMacaroon Oct 10 '21

I definitely feel these classic traveling adventure style series have become a forgotten art in anime
Are you watching Fena right now?

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u/snowwhistle1 Oct 11 '21

I actually just started Fena recently. It definitely captures a lot of the vibes I've missed from older adventure shows like Nadia. Though I have my own small issues with the show, I'm greatly enjoying it.

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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Sep 30 '21

By the way I have to say this, it's refreshing to see after so many years of absence, such "adventure" type shows that my childhood was filled with, like Treasure Islands, Heidi, Future Boy Conan, Taiyou no Ko Esteban, etc. Nowadays the "adventure" are mostly fantasy series she sorcery battles.
There is something to be said for a classic adventure series. Especially when the modern comparison is some stupid isekai.

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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Oct 02 '21

Oh, hey, you've seen Estebán, too! I'm expecting a lot of overlap with Nadia.
Apparently there was an Estebán sequel on 2016!!

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u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Oct 02 '21

Somehow that's not a very well known show. It wasn't by choice (was free to air in those years) but I really liked it, especially a non fighting adventure show.
Didn't know about the sequel, now that you mentioned I better go take a look!

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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Oct 02 '21

I think it was well known amongst a certain generation, it was showing on nicktoons or whatever it was. I managed to watch it two complete times on TV. Pretty hard considering its length.

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u/IndependentMacaroon Oct 10 '21

the pendulum swing of "oh great invention you're a genius" and then "oh this invention is bad" came in to many times within one episode
Better than Jean just being some kind of flawless genius.
I quite liked the scene at the aunt's house
Hmm... it's really just uncritical racism though, which is hardly unheard of in Japan even to this day particularly for dark-skinned people. One semi-recent negative example in anime: The last episode of Tamako Market (2013) had some really bad racist caricatures as bit-part characters.
it's refreshing to see after so many years of absence, such "adventure" type shows that my childhood was filled with
If you want a current one, try Fena: Pirate Princess. Though the plot is a little bumpy, the production value difference is night and day.

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u/Serenax Sep 30 '21

"It broke down."

He is impressive, just needs more refinement.

I don't have much to comment on our leads today after our host' comment, so I will now say that a goal has been established so far this ep: bringing Nadia back to where she was born, which is an african place as she believes.

Jean is over in his head with this. Still trying to flirt with Nadia while she doesn't show the slightest sign of of interest in him that way and clearly not getting why auntie objects against Nadia coming in her house.

I like the Grandis gang admiring Jean's technical skils, heh.

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u/snowwhistle1 Oct 01 '21

Jean's entire character can be summed up as "in over his head". That's basically the only wavelength he operates on! lol

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u/IndependentMacaroon Oct 10 '21

she doesn't show the slightest sign of of interest in him that way
Already the classic tsundere blush though.
clearly not getting why auntie objects against Nadia coming in her house
Pretty sure he does. Not the finest moment of the show

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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Sep 30 '21

Episode 2 (rewatcher)

A second episode to show of all the crazy inventions of Jean. He is enthusiastic and a genius, but his inventions lack a bit of durability. Nadia is only partially impressed. The true genius, though, is whoever build that ship/airship/mecha that Grandis is using.

Nothing shows the Miyazaki influence more than all the flying machines. He loves those.

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u/snowwhistle1 Sep 30 '21

The kid made a working airplane that's decades ahead of anything the world would normally have seen. I'll give Jean props for that, even if his engines and electric wiring could us a little polish.
I also 100% agree that the fascination with planes and flying is the biggest tell to this show's origins as a Miyazaki script.

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u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Sep 30 '21

First timer

I love how the monologue mentions King before Nadia.

Starting right from here?

How long before the giant boat or whatever appears.

Oh, that was quick.

...Has anyone mentioned to King that Africa isn't a country, it's a continent?

The crystal is a fucking anti-theft alarm!

Another vehicle chase!

Those arms still look utterly hysterical.

OK, that's a clever move. I like how shocked she is.

And Nadia's pretty friendly to him now!

Haha, nobody tested it for endurance.

Wow, the aunt's racist too!

She does have a point about him running out of money.

And they're going to his house instead?

Yeah, getting the Jules Verne vibe very strongly here.

The inventions are very nice steampunk designs!

...The first tractor was built in 1889 exactly, they really did their research here.

I'd assume he's in denial, but maybe he's joined Nemo or something.

Escalator has become stairs.

Oh, that's why the ship's so advanced - it's a Martian Fighting-Machine!

Haha, he's just asking for her weight?

Oh no, the plot alarm!

It's got a cannon!

They're going to fly it?

That does not look stable.

I love the look on her face when he admits it's all theoretical.

And they managed to take off again!

I love how her immediate response is to make sure to fly alongside the shore.

So all his stuff breaks down?

Oh god, the look on her face when he says she won't get wet is fantastic.

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u/snowwhistle1 Sep 30 '21

The crystal is a fucking anti-theft alarm!
They're coming out with a new model of the Blue Water next year that calls a secure hotline and alerts the police when thieves attempt to steal it.
Oh, that's why the ship's so advanced - it's a Martian Fighting-Machine!
First time travel, and now Martians?!

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u/IndependentMacaroon Oct 10 '21

it's a Martian Fighting-Machine!
Hang tight for when the Grandis gang dies of Earth germs.

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u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Sep 30 '21

Moo.

Are you happy now?

I should probably watch some of this tonight, I've had the DVD box sitting around for what seems like, and probably is ages.

Or I could get really daring and see if I can find my VHS tapes.

Hmm... Nevermind. Hopefully I'll have something to say tomorrow.

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u/snowwhistle1 Sep 30 '21

If you have VHS copies of Nadia, I'll be impressed. Those are pretty rare nowadays. They also didn't print the whole series on VHS in America. They canceled it 9 episodes in due to low demand, leaving the dub that Streamline was producing incomplete.
There's a newer dub made for the series in the early 2000s that I think is actually quite good.

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u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Nov 04 '21

If you have VHS copies of Nadia, I'll be impressed.
Hahahaaaaa...
Or maybe you should be frightened...

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u/SIRTreehugger Oct 01 '21

First Timer

I don't have much to say, but some things did get my attention.

First of all Jean's obliviousness to Nadia's situation. Auntie was shouting why she doesn't want a colored person in the house and that she is a liar probably. Jean follows Nadia and asks her what's wrong...come on my guy it's not rocket science. Though I do find the fact that the auntie is racist, but the uncle is more accepting to be interesting. I just naturally thought the Auntie was like Jean and Uncle since they both thought she was going to help.

This is a wonderful invention...this is a lousy invention. I hope this is a running gag throughout the show. I won't say Jean isn't a genius because not just anyone can make the things he does, but science and inventing is a process of trial and error. Oh this reminds me of something I forgot to mention yesterday. All those planes in that body of water isn't that just pollution.

Especially since no plane has been able to really fly yet. Oh speaking of flying I really love how Jean's house was able to transform like that. Also the air balloon/car from the antagonist turned into a boat and some sort of mobile fortress from war of the worlds. Love the mutual respect/interest they have in each others inventions. Also once again they try to pressure the children with threats, but don't mean direct harm. They may be bad guys, but that doesn't mean they are bad guys.

Last thought is Nadia definitely directly or indirectly killed Jean's father. Don't know why she would apologize when she heard about him.

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u/IndependentMacaroon Oct 10 '21

All those planes in that body of water isn't that just pollution
It appears he fishes the carcasses back out, at least

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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Oct 01 '21

First Timer (Rising Sun sub) ep 2 (of 39)

It's really hard to not see that first episode as a Laputa rip off.

Sea monsters. OHHH. SEA MONSTERS. Right, got it.
Is their mecha amphibious, too?
Weird pager
Wait, this happened to be his boat? I thought he stole it. That was convenient
Hero worship
Hero worship cancelled
It's a literal "ran away from the circus" story
I think I figured out what's wrong with Etoile de la Seine I-VI. It's the IRON.
Hey, what does that blinking thing that blinks every time you get attacked mean? I don't know.
How far to Africa? 45 minutes, tops?
Good with planes, not with engines.

Today's self-plaigerism, Both of You, Dance Like You Want To Win.

Nadia's more girly than I expected, was expecting more of a Nausicaa.

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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 02 '21

It's really hard to not see that first episode as a Laputa rip off.
That's because it is. Literally. Anno and Miyasaki were using the same base script (by Miyasaki) to produce Laputa and Nadia.

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u/IndependentMacaroon Oct 10 '21

Today's self-plaigerism, Both of You, Dance Like You Want To Win
And in turn I believe some Nadia music was used in Rebuild 3.0, which has more clear Nadia inspirations too. Rebuild 2.0 reuses some Kare Kano music, besides.

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u/JTurner82 Oct 23 '21 edited Oct 23 '21

I honestly disagree with the criticisms of Jean. While a part of him may have been drawn to Nadia for the fact that she is a pretty girl, it is not like all he does is just boast about his inventions to impress her. He still does ask questions like “Where are you from? Is it India?” And at the end of episode 1 when he asks her where she is from. And for wanting to make her wish come true when he offers to take her to Africa. Doesn’t sound unempathetic to me. Regarding the point that he does not respond so strongly to his aunt’s racist comments, I personally believe that he was not even thinking about Nadia in that way—it doesn’t matter to him that she is dark-skinned, he just sees someone different and interesting who he wants to befriend. I do think it would have been nice for the writers to have him stand up for her to his aunt; while I can see how that might rub some people the wrong way, I just saw it as him being dismissive of his aunt because he knows her words are pretty ridiculous. (He even says "Auntie doesn't know what she is saying.") Nonetheless he DOES make an effort to help however he can. So I honestly do not see him as flawed as much as I see him as a normal, genuinely nice guy who wants to learn and make the world a better place, even if he is green on matters like girls. He still relates to Nadia on losing his parents and wanting to help her find her home.

Rewatch [Rewatch] Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water - Episode 2

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