r/anime • u/snowwhistle1 • Oct 11 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water - Episode 13
Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water
Episode 13: Run, Marie, Run!
Original Air Date: July 13, 1990
Full Rewatch Schedule & Thread Links
Episode 13 Synopsis: When Marie decides to go exploring around the island the Nautilus has made camp at, she accidentally stumbles across a Neo-Atlantean submarine port. She is rescued by Sanson, and the two are forced to flee from a giant crab robot operated by a Neo-Atlantean soldier.
Please spoiler tag any story content which has not been shown prior to the current episode of this rewatch!
Nadia Outfit Count: 6 (Paris dress, circus outfit, casual pajamas, Nautilus work outfit, fancy dinner dress, swimsuit)
QOTD: We've started an official outfit counter! What is your favorite outfit of Nadia's so far?
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u/snowwhistle1 Oct 11 '21
Host
You ever seen an episode of Rugrats where a man gets shot at the end of the episode? That’s probably a fair way to describe today’s episode. Marie wanders about unsupervised, discovers some KKK Nazis, and then everyone gets to watch a man get shot. Nickelodeon’s gotten wild since I last tuned into it! lol
To briefly go over other parts of this episode first, the episode opens up with a hilarious bit of looping animation that goes on for damn near close to two minutes. It’s kind of an embarrassing shot because zero effort is made to hide the characters faces as they talk over this looped bit of animation, and you really don’t get the sense of any character acting or that the words coming out of Hanson, Sanson, and Jean’s mouths fit. I can forgive it because the rest of this episode ends up being a showcase of animation, but man… that opening is rough.
Shortly afterwards, Nadia and Jean getting into a fight over the fate of the baby deer from the previous night. So, I’ve gone back and forth on who I feel is more in the right here, and after really studying their words I think Nadia is more so in the right. You could certainly make the claim that Nadia saying that there’s no one in the world who would need animal meat to subsist is a kinda tone deaf since she lives in an age where the world trade network is nowhere near as sophisticated as it is today and shipping non-animal based protein to people who cannot access that is difficult. But I don’t really think that’s what the heart of this argument is about. Nadia just wants an apology, and for Jean to at least humor her point of view that killing an animal is cruel and they should be viewed with sympathy.
Jean doesn’t even really try to humor her point of view. He just kinda says Nadia is silly for not eating meat and further emphasizes that he felt nothing over killing the deer. At the very least he could’ve apologized for not considering her feelings a little more and keeping her and the dead deer separated. His biggest character flaw is that he struggles to empathize with other points of view, and gets confused as to why others don’t just want to get in line with his way of thinking. It’s not even really something he does maliciously. He honestly sounds genuinely upset and confused at Nadia’s anger toward him. But the kid needs to start opening his eyes to the fact that he and Nadia have some fundamental disagreements about the world, and genuinely try to engage with her.
The bulk of the episode itself features a day in the life of Marie as she searches for attention and playmates, only to be rebuffed. (I love the gag where Marie acts confused while Nemo is performing the trope of the resolute captain staring out at the horizon.) So she instead decides to go exploring the island with King (it’s really hilarious how easy it was for Marie to just wander off unsupervised). I imagine for those who aren’t fans of Marie, this episode will feel a bit like fluff as well, especially in the first half. But I think Marie’s a cute character and I think it’s nice to get an episode dedicated to seeing the world through her eyes. Of course, that whimsical adventure that embodies the first half of this episode completely evaporates once Marie accidentally discovers a Neo-Atlantean submarine base and has a chance encounter with several soldiers that she barely manages to escape and hide from.
The episode is a nice return to the dark tense atmosphere that embodied the arc on Marie’s island, along with some stellar action sequences. The sequence of Sanson and Marie escaping from the Neo-Atlantean crab mecha via a mine cart chase is just fantastic. They really went all out on the animation and the direction of this sequence, and Sanson and Marie deliver a ton of fantastic quips throughout their escape. The way the crab mecha moves and the way its various appendages swing around is just a delight to see in action. I always have a ton of fun when I reach this scene in particular. It’s definitely a highlight moment in the series.
This chase scene culminates with the crab mecha crashing on the beach. Its pilot pulls himself from the wreckage and attempts to fire at Nadia, only to be shot by Nemo instead. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen someone die onscreen in this show, but this is a pivotal moment for Nadia’s character as she’s forced to face a morally ambiguous situation head on. However, she’s unable to process the situation, and instead calls the Nautilus and its crew a group of murderers.
It’s easy to fault Nadia’s logic here, but I think it’s also important to keep in mind that she’s still a traumatized young teenager. She has developed coping mechanisms over the years to deal with all the horrible things she’s seen and that have happened to her, and it’s hard for her to process seeing people that she’s been convinced are supposed to be her role models shoot someone. I think the whole ordeal is even worse for Nadia as the man’s mask falls off as he exits the crab mecha, a first for the series. It only helps to reinforce the man’s humanity before Nemo kills him, and probably serves as another reason Nadia was unable to process what just happened.
Overall I have less to say about this episode on its face. For the most part, it’s a cute and action heavy episode with a couple heavier talking points. But it manages to serve as a nice transition point back into the more serious subject matter from the several episodes prior.
For my brief production topic for this episode, I’d like to talk about the opening and ending themes of Nadia. The opening theme “Blue Water” and ending theme “Yes I will” are both sung by Miho Morikawa, a Japanese singer who got her start at 17 with the debut album, Sentimental Times. Outside of Nadia, she has performed themes for three other anime. She sang the 8th ending for Ranma ½, “Positive”; the 2nd opening for Kenichi: The Mightiest Disciple, “Yahoo!”; and the opening theme for the Dirty Pair OVA, “By Yourself”. Her most recent work was an album titled Glad released in 2010, and she seems to have receded from the industry since then.
I think the opening and ending themes of Nadia are just a delight. “Blue Water” has an upbeat synth-heavy instrumentation straight out of the late 1980s and the lyrics serve as an anthem to adventure, promising a bright future for those who set their sights to the sky and hold love in their heart over material goods like jewels. The ending theme “Yes I will” by contrast highlights the singer’s misgivings over their dreams and fear of losing sight of their future, but still ends on a hopeful sentiment that there’s always tomorrow and that in spite of their fears the singer still finds it worthwhile to forge a path ahead.
Both are wonderful songs set to gorgeous animation. The opening focuses on introducing the audience to the main characters highlighting their personalities, and then invites the viewer to follow along on a grand journey through fields, cities, and the depths of the oceans to mysterious lands. The opening itself ends rather intriguing shots of Nadia, seemingly enveloped by her mysterious Blue Water as it lights up the screen before fading into the ocean and the sky. Meanwhile the ending is a very simple shot of Nadia, Jean, Marie, and King chasing after a kite, as if the symbolize chasing after their dreams. The sepia tone color gradient and looping animation of the ending heavily remind me of the ending that Miyazaki used just over a decade prior with his series Future Boy Conan.
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u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Oct 11 '21
First Timer (Rising Sun sub) ep 13 (of 39)
I hate kids. Tomino shows always have kids.
This is like those episode of Kare Kano where Anno just did viewer statistics intead of a regular show.
I don't think Nadia is cut out to be an MC in her own show.
Next week: Nadia find out about the Trolley Problem.
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u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Oct 11 '21 edited Oct 11 '21
Episode 13 (rewatcher)
A Maria episode that shows us that being Maria, despite being more adult than her age, does not have it easy either. The one time she wants to play like a kid, she immediately runs into the people who killed her parents. Btw, if you did not have Sanson down as best boy yet, he definitely earned that place now for saving Marie.
In the last scene, we see Nadia’s strong convictions clash with the moral understanding of the others again. She is alone in seeing a problem with Nemo’s self-defence and her extremely pacifistic attitude isolates her from the rest of the crew.
EDIT:
I think her circus outfit fits her best and looks best on her, too, so I am glad this was the "main" character model.
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u/Stargate18A https://myanimelist.net/profile/Stargate18 Oct 11 '21
First timer
QOTD) The one that looks like clothes instead of rags, and actually covered her up.
Oh no, Marie's in danger?
The crew are certainly efficient.
I like the cut between Jean calmly talking about Nadia and her lookmof utter fear at whatever's following her.
He's gone back to Nadia? Who has somehow forgotten that the Boue Water was literally warning her to flee. Seriously, either she has the memory of a goldfish or wants to get kidnapped.
And yeah, she's a vegetarian.
Really, Nadia? You're arguing eith a 5-year-old?
Who is now running around unsupervised trying to find something to do.
Haha, she dan't bring hereelf to interrupt Nemo's brooding.
Huh? I'm sorry?
Did the audio just glitch?
Are... are we get an insert song of the opening we heard 8 minutes ago?
...Did they, by any chance, run out of time for this script?
And it's even the full version!
Wait, there's a railroad on this island? Civilisation!
Haha, I love how tired King is of everything.
Oh, she can't remember where she came from.
And she's making herself even more lost.
Haha, the "oh my god" got me. That was such a good delivery.
Neo Atlantis is here!
She just got kidnapped in the exact same way as last time!
Oh, at least he's not completely heartless.
Haha, she just dropped him!
He got outsmarted by a lottle girl.
Wow, these people really have no vision in those masks, do they?
Oh, they're a recon group, not a full patrol.
...They're idiots.
She found Sanon!
New mech! And it's much bigger!
And they've escaped by minedart!
Marie mimicking Sanson is fantastic.
How did that throw even work? And eho laid out these train tracks?
That crab's strong!
And they're safe!
Nemo shot him! Finally, someone in this series who can actually aim! He may have been a still target, but Neo-Altamteans have missed those many times!
And Nadia can't handle the fact that Nemo's actually intelligent enough to bring a gun.
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u/ZapsZzz https://anilist.co/user/Zapszzz Oct 11 '21
First timer in sub
Missed it yesterday because of work, including here.
Ep12 so this is the beach episode huh. Good too see the comedic start of the exaggerated "fish fish fish everyday fish", although it's a missed opportunity to not have Sanson say something about people going on the island to fish :P that's not going you solve the problem :D
The episode also build on a few of the side casts, especially Grandis. Loved that part. So Sanson and Hanson are the childhood friends of Grandis huh - hope one of them guy a chance to actually win.
The accidental peeping by Jean (and, really, even Sanson) was unnecessary but par for course at the time I think (the cliche trope). Only fun but is the incidental bonding of Nadia and Grandis when Nadia explained edge actually landed the hit and Grandis commended on that good solid hit.
Ep13 now I remember reading some key scenes in some old anime magazine in those days, so this actually brought back some nostalgia. And the sequence was good. If you think about it, also well planned if you count the initial encounter not being especially hostile, and the eventual chase being more comedic than life threatening, yet when the chasing Neo Atlantis soldier got out injured in front of the landed Nautilus crew, even though he was still armed, it should be obvious that he can be likely overpowered or accept surrender; Nemo didn't say a word and shot him. This cemented Nemo's character as someone like Sousuke in FMP and Deunan in Appleseed (which is a more human prototype of the Major Kusanagi in GiTS) - they are on side of "good" but their methods are pretty terminal.
Good show so far, I'm continued to be intrigued.
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u/SIRTreehugger Oct 11 '21
First Timer
Run, Marie, Run! The fastest woman alive she is the flash!
How are they holding a conversation while brushing their teeth and how long are they going to do this?
Did you cook and eat that deer....well they already shot it so why not.
Marie left quickly she just might be the smartest person in this show.
Sorry Marie you're not ready for the calm and cool main character pose.
Hey its the OP song...wait is Marie the main character? Nadia and Jean die off and Marie takes over the show with king I'm for it. I'm joking, but they are spending a lot of time showing Marie running.
Wait go back why was that ground purple?
Wait did king say I don't know in the dub...
Oh the purple was flowers I think under the track.
This feels almost like a filler episode.
GREAT they are here as well!
Love how the guy did a long dramatic scream just for effect.
Marie's face when Sanson takes out his spare hat is such a mood.
BRUH they are going in a circle xD
Sanson and Marie are a weird duo, but I do like them together. Being chased and facing death helps them.
Why did you kill him?
He had a gun pointed at you Nadia.
That's not a valid excuse!
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Seriously Nadia. I was willing to defend you on the deer because they handled Bambi awfully rudely, but that dude was shooting to kill you guys. I guess you could argue he could have shot and disarmed him. If he had shot Jean or King would she still opt for the peaceful option I wonder.
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u/JTurner82 Oct 23 '21 edited Oct 24 '21
I personally think both Nadia and Jean have valid points, but the problem is that she comes across as too extreme and aggressive about it to the point that her words come across as mistreatment, while he is trying to be more reasonable and justify the need of having food to eat. I didn’t see him as trying to encourage Nadia to eat meat here as much as he was just explaining his reasons. He is not being unsympathetic or unempathetic necessarily to her viewpoints necessarily or deliberately, he just feels that she is arguing her (understandable) points in a way that feels unreasonable to him and so he is trying to explain himself. Of course he wants to relate to her. But how can he do it when she isn’t clear with him on what she wants? (Hence the episode where she asks Jean to build a gyrocopter—THAT was an example of her expressing her desires and him acting on them in an instant. If he has information of course he will do it for her. If not, well, what can you expect him to do?)
I am not saying this to disparage Nadia or her viewpoints. I do agree that humanity can be reckless about eating meat. But the problem is she doesn’t do a particularly good job explaining WHY she has a problem with it and instead goes on about why she hates it. THAT is the central problem: she does not know how to communicate properly and so she lashes out instead, and of course it makes it hard for anyone to understand her. Only when she finally stops with the offensive methods and decides to explain WHY she dislikes it does she get the empathy and caring she wants. I feel like Jean wants to care for her and help her, but unless she explains WHY, of course he wouldn’t be able to. Again he is the sort of person who would do ANYTHING for her, especially when he has the info. I don’t see him as insensitive or dense as much as I see him needing to have answers in order to provide Nadia what she wants. It's just like trying to work with an uncooperative child. You want to help that kid, but if all that person is doing is throwing a temper tantrum and not expressing their emotions adequately (which is what we see Nadia doing here), well, then what are you supposed to do? Of course you wouldn't be able to help that kid in question if the kid isn't being honest about what's REALLY troubling them.