There are those who suggest skipping eps 23-34. This is actually good advice, save for one thing. Seeing these episodes is the only way to know how Grandis, Sanson and Hanson ended up back with Jean and Nadia. It's like a bad joke they pulled on us.
High school, the workplace and the internet. You can always find plenty of @ssholes there.
I didn't say ALL those episodes were skippable--27 and 28 ARE important in how they reunite with the Grandis Gang and even director Hideaki Anno has commented he would have saved episodes 30 and 31 if given the choice of eliminating the rest. Those are the only worthwhile episodes, but the rest... I'd probably reccommend zooming past them.
-Jon T.
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27 & 28 too, huh? I've seen this show before, but I honestly can't remember which number episode had what. Those island eps really do suck though, especially in how they portray Nadia. Sure, she was bratty and annoying on The Nautilus, but she was also relatively sane. Then they get to the island and she turns into a psychotic.
High school, the workplace and the Internet. You can always find plenty of @ssholes there.
<<I've seen this show before, but I honestly can't remember which number episode had what.>>
When I said 27 and 28, I meant the second half of 27, and the first half of 28, because that could technically count as an episode. (That's when the floating island comes along and where they find Ayerton, followed by that ridiculously super-speedy dash before finally reuniting with Grandis and co.)
<<Those island eps really do suck though, especially in how they portray Nadia. Sure, she was bratty and annoying on The Nautilus, but she also relatively sane. Then they get to the island and she turns into a psychotic.>>
Agreed. I liked Nadia as a character better in the Nautilus and opening five episodes. Yes, there were moments when I disliked her, but the writers also showed her opening up to Jean (the Atlantis episode, #16, is a personal favorite of mine, as is the subsequent one where she encourages him to build a gyrocopter). But on the island episodes and in Africa (32-33), it was almost like the scriptwriters forgot the development she had on the Nautilus and reverted her around. The worst of these episodes, IMO, were #26, in which Jean has a rather pointless and overlong dream sequence about being the world's greatest inventor--after Nadia blows up at him for not knowing that she kissed him WHILE he was stoned on mushrooms (problem: since when is she so stupid to do something like this in the first place?), and in the Africa sequence. There were numerous other problems with those episodes as well (the sloppy animation and implausible, poorly written scenarios), but Nadia's unexplained and bizarre regression was one of the most grating aspects of them.
As a matter of fact, I thought of a way that the episodes could be shortened (you can PM me for more details). Even on the Nautilus Story compilation version of "Nadia", these island and Africa episodes were either trimmed and/or omitted altogether.
-Jon T.
Nautilus Story compilation version of "Nadia"
The Nautilus Story is an edited down version of the TV series that was primarily made in Japan, with narration recorded by Noriko Hidaka (Jean) to carry the transitions. I have not seen it, but from what I understand, it concentrates on the battle between Gargoyle and Nemo. Interestingly, the man in charge of the edit was none other than director Hideaki Anno. The edit also omits, I think, the Africa arc, while reducing the Island arc to only Episode 31.
Actually, I've also read elsewhere that he had interest in doing a Nadia feature, with a deletion/reworking of the island/Africa sequence, but the executives at NHK, who owned the rights to the show, wanted an entirely new story. Due to conflicting ideas, it was ultimately decided to waste the first 30 minutes on recycled footage from the show, and the remaining 60 minutes with a story that reportedly is every bit as guilty of raping the characters as the filler and trapping them in a half-heartedly crafted story. The resulting movie, Nadia: The Secret of Fuzzy (yes, I said Fuzzy), released here in America as Nadia: The Motion Picture was so badly received that even Gainax disowned it.
Anyway, there's your answer.
-Jon T.
Thanks for that. Btw, have you ever seen Miyazki's "Castle in the Sky"? If you have, then you should know why I'm asking. Personally, I think it's his best movie.
High school, the workplace and the Internet. You can always find plenty of @ssholes there.
I was drawn to Nadia in the first place BECAUSE of my enthusiasm for Castle in the Sky, as there are many similarities between the two films. Back when I was waiting for Disney to release it, I learned that Nadia was being released on DVD by ADV Films, hence why I became curious. I personally like all of Miyazaki's movies equally, but I agree that Castle in the Sky is among his best.
And, at the risk of sounding blasphemous, I'd say it outclasses Nadia overall. Not that the show doesn't have its charm (I like most of it, as mentioned), but Miyazaki's movie wins out because it flows more consistently and never once derails. (Of course, given that it's a movie, there's less opportunities to screw up.)
-Jon T.
And, at the risk of sounding blasphemous, I'd say it outclasses Nadia overall.
I definitely agree; the Nautilus episodes are important to the story, no questions asked, and they're leaps and bounds above the island and Africa episodes, but yeah, there are some moments that I don't always enjoy, and yes, Nadia's occasional brattiness is one of them. At least the writers do balance out her objectionable moments here with scenes where she's growing out of her shell and being nice to Jean, so I'm cool with that. It makes her a more real character, whereas the Island/Africa eps turn her into a caricature.
-Jon T.
I didn't really mind the island episodes. I could tell they were being used as filler, but I still enjoyed them.
Can't stop the signal.
True, but I'm not sure knowing that is worth sitting through those episodes.
It's very obvious that when the company ordered more episodes be made, that all that was done, was they made literally filler to pad it out. The series goes from story > story > story> story > FILLER > story. The filler stretch is jarring too, because the show suddenly goes from serious, to outright silly, with Looney Tunes type *beep* where Jean accidentally doesn't notice he's walked off a cliff, and then comically tries to run in the air before falling (this happens more than once). It just doesn't fit the tone of the rest of the show, and very little of any real story value even happens during these episodes. In fact, the show also makes a jarring turn in that stretch, from Nadia finally starting to grow up and to grow closer to Jean, to suddenly acting VERY childish again for several episodes, which is absolutely out of character for what they just went through, not to mention super annoying.
It felt at times like the show was really trying to make me dislike Nadia, the main character. I wanted to like her, and she wound up likable enough by the end, but so often she acted very moody and immature, and those filler episodes made it worse. A very bad choice on their part. The 30 ep. arc likely would have been more concise, with better flow and characterization.
In fact, the show also makes a jarring turn in that stretch, from Nadia finally starting to grow up and to grow closer to Jean, to suddenly acting VERY childish again for several episodes, which is absolutely out of character for what they just went through, not to mention super annoying.
It felt at times like the show was really trying to make me dislike Nadia, the main character. I wanted to like her, and she wound up likable enough by the end, but so often she acted very moody and immature, and those filler episodes made it worse. A very bad choice on their part. The 30 ep. arc likely would have been more concise, with better flow and characterization.
But I still enjoy these episodes because they gave us more information, more stories and the happiness and sorrow about the characters. Then we will get a better understanding of their thoughts, choice and fate.
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