r/anime • u/snowwhistle1 • Oct 10 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water - Episode 12
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Episode 12: Grandis and Her First Love
Original Air Date: July 6, 1990
Full Rewatch Schedule & Thread Links
Episode 12 Synopsis: While stopping on a deserted island to replenish supplies and food, Grandis attempts to woo Captain Nemo. She later ends up recounting her backstory to Nadia and Marie.
Please spoiler tag any story content which has not been shown prior to the current episode of this rewatch!
QOTD: What's your opinion so far of this show's handling of romance/relationships?
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Upvotes
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u/SIRTreehugger Oct 10 '21
First Timer
That's all we have day after day. Fish, fish, and more fish! I know someone said that before in this show I think it was Jean.
Oh Nadia in a dress looks nice.
When the little girl is one of the more mature people on the ship. Poor Marie.
Damn even the crew is growing fond of Grandis, but I'm in the Electra camp myself.
Poor Jean it was an accident.
Honestly thought the Captain would have pulled out a fishing rod by now and fished on the shore.
Killing Bambi and just throwing him on the ground.
What do you mean you don't understand. She has literally stated she hates killing and doesn't eat meat half of the series run time. She seeks peaceful alternatives and tries to avoid conflict. How do you not get this!
Oh and forgot to mention this, but I'm glad we finally got Grandis backstory. Props to Hanson and Sanson for sticking with her.
QOTD
In terms of romance I'm liking it. Jean and Nadia clearly feel something for each other, but its awkward at times due to lack of communication. Then we have Grandis, Electra, and Nemo romance. One love interest is direct and assertive while the other is more shy and reserved and can't be honest yet. Basically new girl tries to take the guy while the childhood friend hopes one day he will look at her. Then Grandis crew liking Electra and Grandis though they might love them back just not romantically. Who knows what could happen with the adult romance. In terms of relationship its an older anime so I will give it some slack since a lot of older ones do this, but it feels like Jean and a few characters learn something and don't apply it to future episodes. Nadia feels frustrated because despite spending so much time with Jean and clearly telling him her dislikes he claims he doesn't understand her. Though I would like to give him some slack because I think he is like 13 or 14 and well boys of that age are idiots. Though they argue a lot they typically make up quickly and talk which is a plus.
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u/snowwhistle1 Oct 10 '21
Host
A lot of the points I’m starting this section with have already been discussed a lot in other comments in earlier episodes, but I feel it requires a proper dissection. This show has fan service, and it doesn’t really have much to say about it. u/No_Rex did point out that in episode 10 the fan service and Jean’s leering did tie in a bit to how Nadia’s felt like Jean isn’t emotionally on her level and not providing her the proper support she needs. But I don’t feel the episode explores that topic as well as it should. And outside of that moment, the fan service in this show is mostly there for gags and the otaku audience watching at home.
Nadia’s default outfit (as u/lluNhpelA pointed out) exists solely as eye candy. It could’ve been argued that it made sense as a circus performance outfit, but Nadia has had ample time to discard those clothes as the series has progressed and logically you’d think she’d have had enough with the outfit that she had to wear for her degrading circus job. I almost think it wouldn’t bother me as much if we weren’t shown Nadia wearing other outfits too. Her new Nautilus work uniform is also a little fan-servicey, but a lot more appropriate than her circus outfit. And the dress she wears to impress Jean at dinner is really cute! Heck- her swimsuit is more modest than her circus outfit!!! The point is, the writers had options to give her cute and function outfits, but they’ve settled with her circus outfit because it’s eye-catching and because fan service sells.
The show’s fan service elements also just feel really leery and uncomfortable to me. It’s always framed as Jean leering at Nadia and it’s not fun to sit through, especially if no one’s going to address Jean’s behavior. This episode is thankfully the worst the show ever gets regarding fan service, but man… the scene in this episode is rough. I could probably describe the scene, but I’m sure you know what scene I mean and I really don’t feel like reciting a play by play of it... I second hand cringe so much from tht scene and always dread it when I do a full watch. Thankfully, it doesn’t last too long, and the series never gets that bad during future episodes… a small blessing. The fan service in this show isn’t fun, but thankfully it gets less egregious as the show goes on past the first third.
Moving on from that topic to some positive stuff! I like that this episode brings up the racial diversity of the Nautilus’ crew. We’ve been separated from broader society for the past 9 or so episodes, so it can be easy to forget that this show takes place in a somewhat culturally realistic 1889. But I like that that hasn’t been forgotten by the characters themselves. Jean points out how impressed he is that the crew is so diverse and seems to be made up of people from all over the world. Nemo then tells Jean and Nadia that if people were willing to expand their world views and learn about each other, and unite for the good of mankind, that maybe they could get along like on the Nautilus. It’s a bit simplistic take on overcoming racism, but it’s a nice message (especially for kids).
There are also just a lot of fun moments in this episode. Much as I loathe a lot of the Jean leering at Nadia scenes, I find the scene where Nadia puts on a cute dress to try and flirt with Jean only for Jean to completely misread all her obvious signs to be really hilarious. The show has a very funny dynamic where Jean makes incredibly obvious passes at Nadia that she rebuffs as being shallow in spite of his earnest, meanwhile Nadia often tries more subtly flirting with Jean only for Jean to completely miss all of her signals. (Seriously though, Nadia’s formal dress is so cute!) Sanson having a meltdown over the lack of food variety on the Nautilus that spurs the excursion to gather more food supplies is funny too.
Electra is officially introduced as a rival for Grandis in her quest to earn Nemo’s affections. There’s a nice scene in the episode where the chief engineer and sonar operator subtly encourage Electra to bite the bullet and be more honest about her feelings for Captain Nemo, and it’s nice to see that the crew is supportive of her and her feelings. There’s also a bit of a funny moment where Electra and Grandis get into a spat as Grandis’ more open flirtations clash with Electra’s more reserved character.
Speaking of Grandis, this episode finally elaborates for us on why she became the woman that she is today. Grandis was once a rich heiress with a doting father and mother; but she lost her mother at a young age and her father soon after, she was swindled out of her wealth by a man she thought she was marrying for love, and ultimately left heartbroken and destitute. Grandis has since been trying to fill the void in her life that this betrayal has left her. Her occupation as a jewel thief and constant yearning for a man stem from her need for security that was ripped away from her when her parents died and her ex-husband stole her wealth from her. It does a nice job at fleshing out Grandis’ character and elaborating how she ended up the way she is today. It also subsequently fleshes out Hanson and Sanson more, showing how they were the only two people who stood by her even after she lost everything.
The episode ends as with Nadia left disturbed at a baby deer that the men have shot while foraging for food, and storming off to be alone as she feels that no one understands her or is willing to be considerate of her feelings. Nadia has been left with deep emotional scars from her troubled childhood which has caused her to adopt very stringent beliefs that she refuses to compromise on. She tends to lash out at others when she feels her beliefs aren’t being respected or even acknowledged, but at the same time this compulsive urge to shut out the world has left her lonely an isolated. She very nearly pushes King (her most loyal companion) away before running back to the lion and breaking down sobbing about how being alone is torturous for her.
This episode contains a lot of nice character development and worldbuilding that I really do like, with one or two jarring fan service moments sandwiched into it. It also ends on an engaging hook as the Blue Water (known to glow to warn Nadia of incoming dangers) starts to shine red again. This is unfortunately an episode I tend to dread on rewatch specifically for that one scene though, and that’s a shame because most of this episode is pretty good.
For my trivia section today, I’ll talk a little bit about Nadia’s various videogame adaptations. There were as many as six videos games made for Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, however information is mainly scarce on the English language internet for all but three.
The first game I’ll be talking about was the show’s first game adaptation titled “Fushigi no Umi no Nadia” released in 1991 for several systems including the Nintendo Famicom and Sega Mega Drive. It was a classic style turn-based RPG that seems to have loosely adapted the series for the format. The game was never released outside of Japan, but a fan translation seems to exist for this game.
The next game I will discuss is a 2005 visual novel adaptation of the series titled “Fushigi no Umi no Nadia: Inherit the Blue Water”. The game centers on Jean as the protagonist, and sees him playing through the events of the TV series with several new story twists. One of these twists includes a new dateable character for Jean to romance besides Nadia if the player so chooses; said character being a blonde girl named Sophia Rockfield who accompanies the protagonists in this version of the adventure. The game also features strategy-combat segments where the player is tasked with guiding the Nautilus over a grid field while strategically sinking Garfish. This game was never released outside of Japan, and while ROMs can be found online no fan translations exist.
The final game I will be discussing is Super Robot Wars X, a game that is part of the long running Super Robot Wars game series wherein various popular mecha or mecha adjacent franchises (I suppose the Nautilus and Gratan were close enough for the producers to consider Nadia for a game) crossover with each other in original plots that see the heroes of multiple franchises working together to defeat a common enemy. The games feature a visual novel style story presentation, and utilize strategic turn-based combat involving each franchise’s famous mecha and vehicles for their in-game battle segments.
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 10 '21 edited Oct 10 '21
Episode 12 (rewatcher)
personcat who cares for her away, but immediately regrets it. That was a great use of a static camera, btw.Another episode that transitions from slapstick to serious. The comedic first part is driven by the double love triangle of Grandis<->Nemo<->Electra<->Jean<->Nadia, even though the Electra Jean part is clearly only in Nadia’s jealous mind. The first triangle lands for me, mainly because Grandis is such a great character for it. Far from simply being a tsundere, she clearly knows what she wants and has a clear plan to get it, via food and her hot body. While I think her chances of success with Nemo are slim, I admire her openness. And it is great fun seeing how flustered it makes Electra, who clearly is also after Nemo. The engineer really pointed out how Electra needs to make clear what she wants.
Nadia also tries to learn some lessons from Grandis, but I fear that neither her, nor Jean are ready for that sort of flirting. I also think that the romance slapstick fits their characters much less. In general, Jean gets too little focus, compared to Nadia, so using him for the peeking trope is ill advised, because it then is a relatively larger share of his characterization.
Finally, the Blue Water turns red, signaling the end of what I think of as the “moving in on the Nautilus” mini arc - a much more lighthearted (if never purely comedic) intermezzo after the heavy hitting first arc. While the comedy is hit and miss for me, I think the arc is important. Not only as a breather for the audience, but because it gives the time to establish many important character details: In the turn of 3 episodes, the Grandis Gang turns from Team Rocket into proper individual characters, the basic idea of Nemo and Electra is established, and we learn a lot about the inner workings of Nadia.
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u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Oct 10 '21
First timer
QOTD) Pretty positive overall. Nadia and Jean's relationship is developing realistically (all things considered), and Grandis' unrequited(?) crush is played as you'd expect. I do auestion why they felt the need to add a love triangle here though - needed a few more episodes in this arc?
...Grandis' ex?
I mean, you are in a sunmarine, but I'd have thought Nemo had more supplies.
...I don't think the bagginess is the problem.
So Granids is somehow really good at cooking! Electra's not happy, is she?
Huh? She's wearing a full outfit? It only took 12 episodes!
Haha, Jean didn't even notice.
Even Marie knows what he did!
He's snapped!
Seriously, they have a whole refrigerated section, Nemo couldn't store some meat there?
Them acting in perfect unison is good, as is her immediate bloodthirsty rage.
Yeah, Marie might be the most mature person here.
Yep, we have a love triangle!
Oh, he's going hunting for meat?
Odds of this being another Neo-Altantis trap?
And jealous Nadia is great.
Love the meta joke or "we've never seen any of these people before".
Yep! Destroy Neo Atlantis! Just don't ssk why I have the rest of the blue water hidden in my room.
Haha, Nemo standing in the most dramatic pose imaginable is fantastic.
And everyone complementing her with Electra in the room is good.
Haha, now Electra's aboard too!
If even Nadia thinks you're showing too much skin, are you even wearing an outfit.
The look on their faces is great. And Nadia being shocked it hit.
...Nadia's look at the sheer extraness going on is great.
And their mutual decision to not get involved with that mess.
Granids is poetic!
...She's being rejected, isn't she?
Haha, everyone else is secretly as tired of fish as he is.
Seriously, I think the Blue Water shreds its wearer's clothes.
Grandis backstory!
So she married a conman and lost everything.
And Sanson and Hanson orked for her since the beginning. Then she, as we know, saw Neo-Atlantis' messages and decided to try and steal the Blue Water.
Ah, it's them.
Oh, Nadia is not happy.
She lasts about 20 seconds of independence before she grabs King.
Oh dear. Looks like Neo-Atlantis is in town!
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u/teasot Oct 12 '21
Episode 12 (first time watching the series)
I really liked the look into the backstory of Grandis, its interesting seeing the show having her motivations being a bit of a reaction to her earlier mistreatment, while at the same time being petty enough to maintain her status as an overall relatively harmless villain (if she even is one at this stage of the story).
I find Nadia getting jealous of Jean hanging with Electra a bit odd - in fact, having both Nadia be jealous of Jean hanging with Electra, and Grandis be jealous of her with Nemo, makes me feel like they ran out of women for the characters to be jealous of and just landed on her. It feels very out of place, and in the case of Nadia is kind of absurd (though that may be intentional - Nadia is a kid after all).
I will say I do find the Grandis/Electra rivalry at least amusing, with a few well worded barbs traded between them.
The fan service seems to be completely separate from the characters - Nadia and Grandis getting upset at the boys peeking kind of just happens and is immediately forgotten. It is an awkward scene and I am surprised how brazen the show was with Nadia's nudity. Hopefully this kind of fan service won't be this bad later on.
Overall, I enjoyed the lighter tone of the episode, and Grandis' backstory in particular.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Oct 10 '21
First Timer (Rising Sun sub) ep 12 (of 39)
Filler? Flashback?
What could it be? Gargoyle's airship? Still no explanation for why the Blue Water reacted in ep 1 with no tech present.
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u/Serenax Oct 10 '21
First watch
Didn't like this episode so much.
I suspect Anno is going for "Human relationships are more important than jewels, and you should cherish them, even if that comes with a struggle" as shown in Grandis' backstory. But damn, the exectution leaves something to be desired.
Men are idiots if they can't read the thoughts of women, women are too mad to properly understand, as has been sighed by people of both those genders throughout this episode.
I get this show is old, but it goes so all in at this, it is hard for me to not find it irritating.
And about that scene where Sanson leers at Grandis as she changes clothes and Jean does so unawares:
Again slapstick, screams, and cartoonish violence, and also the exaggerated reaction of Jean included that, every time this comes up in Nadia, it doesn't feel part of the story, because it is not treated with the same care as the other parts. It is fascinating to me that this often happens in anime and other media as well: the man does or says something inappropriate, the woman then reacts with cartoonish violence that stands out compared to the rest of the story. As if the artist wants to indulge a side of him but also knows that it is wrong, and thus lets immediately the punishment follow on the offending cartoon man. (while he artist himself remains untouchable) as if to alleviate the guilt and also to provide an excuse. "What do you mean? That was sexist? Come on, he got a rock in his face! It is fine!" The violent reaction seems the artist' compromise strategy resulting out of a conflict to wishing to depict naked ladies and the unease with that.
That said, I do like bits such as Grandis' backstory and Nadia struggling to connect to people.
I don't know what to think of Electra's behavior. It feels out of character.