Episode Ratings/Comments

This topic is for fans of Nadia to post their reviews and ratings for each episode of the show. Here are my comments.

Episode 1: Girl at the Eiffel Tower (Rating 5/5)
Every show needs an opening to draw newcomers into the show, and Nadia delivers this in full. The animation is beautiful, despite showing its occasional age, and the pacing, editing, and mixture of humor, action, and is spot on. A classic.

Episode 2: The Little Fugitive (Rating 4.5/5)
Less action-packed, but this episode does benefit from the asset of Jean and Nadia getting to know each other--this is one of the more charming aspects of their relationship: his generosity and genius disarming her suspicious, doubtful heart. This episode also suggests a hint of prejudice, particularly in the characterization of Jean's cantankerous aunt and her refusal to take Nadia in due to her dark skin.

Episode 3: The Riddle of the Giant Sea Monsters (Rating 5/5)
Episode 4: Nautilus, the Fantastic Submarine (Rating 5/5)
These two episodes are very close in spirit to Jules Verne's original story, "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea", and, although they develop slowly, each serves its purpose well and is never boring to watch.

Episode 5: Marie's Island (Rating 5/5)
Episode 6: Infiltration of the Secret Base (Rating 5/5)
Episode 7: The Tower of Babel (Rating 5/5)
Episode 8: Mission to Rescue Nadia (Rating 5/5)
Sometimes when a collection of episodes is so good that its hard to write individual things about them, I'll just clump them together, and this four-part arc where Jean and Nadia rescue little Marie and battle Gargoyle for the first time is one such example. These four episodes build up to an exciting, slambang climax and are very close in spirit to Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky, which is what drew me to this show in the first place. What's really spectacular about these episodes are the ingenious mixture of danger, adventure, raw tragedy (in the case of Jean and Nadia struggling over the dilemma of revealing to little Marie her parents' fate or not), comedy (Grandis and her boys own all their scenes), and a small hint of romance (as evidenced when Nadia, in trying to save Jean, gives him the Blue Water--and a quick kiss--before surrendering herself; this shows that she's beginning to have romantic feelings for Jean, even though she's too young to recognize it). There are also lots of frightening moments, particularly the scene where Gargoyle interrogates Nadia into cooperating by threatening Marie and King's lives...adding that she is responsible for their fate. Its moments like this, plus a tone of innocence and excitement that make this arguably a classic in the Nadia episodes.

Episode 9: Nemo's Secret (Rating 4/5)
This episode begins the "Nautilus" arc, in which our pals are taken aboard Nemo's submarine. Compared to the above, these episodes unfold at a slow, languid pace, particularly this one, but while we see mostly character development, we are also treated to clues about Nemo and Nadia as well as the Blue Water.

Episode 10: A Crowning Performance by the Gratan (Rating 4/5)
The highlight of this episode is Jean, Hanson, and Sanson saving the Nautilus from a dangerous minefield in a race against time. Exciting, suspenseful, with a real tinge of tension, this episode is also notable for showing what a courageous (and forgiving) fellow Jean is, particularly after Nadia apologizes for unjustly lashing out at him when they have to switch rooms. We all wish we had such generous friends like that, don't we?

Episode 11: New Recruits for the Nautilus (Rating 4/5)
Not action-packed, like the previous one, but still enjoyable, this involves our pals getting involved with different jobs. We also get to see the first evidence of Electra and Grandis's jealous rivalry for Nemo's love--this is one of the funniest parts of the show, due in no small part to the contagiously energetic performances provided by the dub actresses and the seiyuu, respectively. We are also treated to yet another dangerous hint about the Nautilus, the particle annihilator engine, as well as a very cute quiet discussion between Jean and Nadia (I'm a sucker for these kind of scenes!).

Episode 12: Grandis and Her First Love (Rating 4/5)
This episode begins a three-part arc. Mostly it unfolds slowly, but there are some amusing highlights, like Jean accidentally stumbling across Nadia changing into a swimsuit, Grandis and Electra's hilarious exchanges and competition over Nemo, Sanson fretting about eating fish over and over again, as well as Jean and Nadia taking a brief stroll on the beach. The high points of this episode are when Grandis delivers a very intriguing and well-thought out backstory about her first love (a substory that is unfortunately sabotaged in the abysmal African adventure episodes --32, 33--) and Nadia overreacting when her pals come back from a hunting trip.

Episode 13: Run, Marie! Run! (Rating 4.5/5)
It's best to view this episode as the second part of the aforementioned arc, because it begins just after the previous one. This is also one of the few times where we see Jean trying to reason with the irrational Nadia about killing and eating meat--this aspect is grostesquely distorted and overblown on later episodes, but at least here it's done with credibility. The real highpoints are the tightly-edited, fast-paced cart chase sequence with Marie and Sanson, as well as the powerful moment at the end where Nemo faces off with a Neo-Atlantean to save Nadia, much to the latter's fury.

Episode 14: The Valley of Dinicthys (Rating 5/5)
There are many reasons why I like this episode so much: for the first time we see a caring, softer side to Sanson where he worries about Marie, and the remainder is an alternately wondrous and nail-bitingly intense rescue mission where Nemo, Jean, Sanson, and Hanson attempt to find a herb for Marie and Nadia in an underwater cavern guarded by a very territorial eel. The latter aspect is superbly plotted and builds to its climax and a rewarding finale.

Episode 15: The Nautilus Faces Its Biggest Crisis (Rating 5/5)
Episode 16: The Mystery of the Lost Continent (Rating 5/5)
These two episodes are absolute must-see classics. No questions asked. The subject matter involving dealing with death and especially by technology that Jean had so idealized with in the first episode is gutwrenchingly heartbreaking--we feel his anguish and pain as he argues desperately for a sailor's life--and action-packed, particularly when the Nautilus and Garfish come nose to nose in a brutal battle. The next episode is one of the very best, involving a trip to the underwater realm of Atlantis. Imaginatively animated, well-paced and sensitively told, this episode provokes wonders and is very moving. We also get to see Nadia's bond with Jean deepen as she tries to comfort the latter about finding out about his father's fate. A tearjerker.

Episode 17: Jean's New Invention (Rating 4.5/5)
Although it lacks the awe and wonder of the previous episode, this is still a very charming, enjoyable character development "filler." Grandis and Electra are amusing as ever, as are Sanson and Hanson, but ultimately, it's all about Jean as he struggles to come to terms with the challenges of adulthood, and being accepted by the Nautilus crew. The best parts of this episode are Nadia encouraging Jean to build a gyrocopter (it ends with a very sweet flight sequence involving the two) and Marie teasing Nadia about her feelings for Jean. I really love this one.

Episode 18: Nautilus vs. Nautilus (Rating 4.5/5)
Episode 19: Nemo's Best Friend (Rating 5/5)
These two episodes are a two-part arc, so it's best to review them together. Basically they involve the Nautilus crew journeying to Nemo's base in Antarctica. The first episode is a bit slow, but things pick up with the fight between the giant Nautilus shellfish (an obvious homage to Jules Verne's story). The tour of Nemo's base is even better; like the Atlantis episode, this sequence combines a sense of awe, mystery and wonder with amazing sights to behold, particularly the frozen dinosaur-like beasts and a breathtaking aurora in the skies. This is great stuff.

Episode 20: Jean Makes a Mistake (Rating 3.5/5)
Probably my least favorite of the Nautilus episodes. It's good in that it provides some important turning points and sets up a cliffhanger suggesting for a big battle, but at the same time it doesn't have the wonder or excitement as the better ones. You may find Nadia very annoying in this episode, particularly the way she mistreats Nemo (based on her irrational grown-ups are evil view), and later Jean (about his friendship with Electra, even when he clumsily tries to compliment her), but one has the sense that she realizes the error of her behavior when she has a talk with Electra.

Episode 21: Farewell, Nautilus (Rating 5/5)
Episode 22: Electra the Traitor (Rating 5/5)
These two episodes close off the Nautilus arc; the former is a masterpiece of spectacular animation, pyrotechnics, tightly edited action set pieces, and frantic intensity. The second episode--a good portion of which is an extended flashback sequence where Electra reveals her tragic past, conflicted feelings for Nemo, and a connection between Nemo and Nadia. This talky scene is amplified by the experimental black-and-white, charcoal-like illustrations that portray the fateful sequences. An emotionally powerful climax for a lengthy but never boring set of episodes. It's too bad that after this, the show never again reaches this standard of excellence until the finale.

Episode 23: Young Drifters (Rating 2.5/5)
Episode 24: Lincoln Island (Rating 2/5)
Episode 25: The First Kiss (Rating 1.5/5)
Episode 26: King, the Lonely Lion (Rating 0.2/5)
These are the start of the "infamous island episodes," in which the quality of the scripting, animation, and character development goes downhill. The artwork starts to look like a cheap Saturday morning cartoon, the "concepts" for the episodes are both terribly conceived and needlessly padded out (you wonder if anything actually DOES happen at all during these episodes), but it's the warped characterizations that make these episodes despicable. Nadia, Jean, Marie, and King, all act out of character and engage in goofy, bizarre, hastily conceived half-hours where they get absolutely nothing done and speak dialogue that could have come from a poorly written sitcom. There are also many instances where the style of the animation clashes with the previous 22 episodes, the cartoonish visual gags resemble a third rate Looney Tunes cartoon rather than Nadia. As you can tell by my ratings, these episodes get even worse as they progress. The single enjoyable moment in these episodes is the kiss shared by Jean and Nadia underneath the night stars, but even that potentially romantic bit is sabotaged by the writers coming up with a totally un-Nadia like concept where our heroine gets ticked off at Jean for not remembering that she had kissed him while he was stoned on hallucinogetic mushrooms(!). It was obvious that he wasn't himself the night before, so why does she expect him to remember it? Other bizarrely painful moments include Nadia attempting to live with nature, going crazy all the while; Marie abusing King viciously, swinging him by the tail; and especially Jean having a dream where he invents invention after invention. Even potentially interesting flashback dreams which involve Nadia at the circus are more dull than interesting. Instead of expanding on the story or characters, these episodes warp everything that Nadia was developing toward before. It's absolutely appalling to believe that filler this painful could exist in a show as high-profile as Nadia. It's best to skip past these episodes; you won't miss much, trust me. :)

Episode 27: The Island of the Witch (Rating 2/5)
Episode 28: The Floating Island (Rating 2/5)
Episode 29: King vs. King (Rating 1/5)
Actually, there are two islands that our pals become stranded on; the above four episodes are the "Lincoln Island" episodes, which, so far, set a low standard for Nadia. These new three installments aren't quite as offensive (half of the first episode here involves our pals surviving a hurricane on Lincoln Island), but they're not any better. In fact, the whole idea of living on a floating island is logically impossible, as is the concept that it can allow people to run faster than ever, change weather rapidly, and be small in size. A character from episode 3, Ayerton, is brought into the picture in an attempt to add humor, but he only comes across as a pointless addition. Even the return of Grandis and her boys aren't enough to make them credible or interesting. Seriously, who wants to sit through Nadia's cooking attempts cause Jean to faint? Or a petty argument between Sanson and Hanson turning into a race between two mechanical Kings(!)? There is one interesting explanation on why Nadia is such a strict vegetarian, but other than the third quarter of the first episode and at least the first half of the second, these "moving island" filler episodes aren't worth sitting through. During the aforementioned King VS King race, Grandis states "this is getting ridiculous!" Ironically, she could very well be speaking for the audience!

Episode 30: Labyrinth in the Earth (Rating 2.5/5)
Episode 31: Farewell, Red Noah (Rating 3.5/5)
Believe it or not, these are the only episodes to have any genuine plot developments. But while they rank as the best of the Nadia island episodes, they cannot be considered among the greatest episodes of the show for several reasons. The animation remains sloppy, the cartoonishly goofy antics continue, and much of episode 30 is pretty pointless... until Nadia and Jean explore a mysterious underground cavern. Where things really get juicy is where Nadia learns from a monotonous android about who she is and her Blue Water's power. Of all the hideous island episodes, 31 is the only one worth watching. Otherwise, you can skip the rest as well as the following three episodes and jump straight to 35. The next episodes to be mentioned bring "Nadia" to even lower depths.

Episode 32: Nadia's Love (Rating 0.5/5)
This episode actually starts out OK, but it quickly goes downhill once our pals crashland into an African tribal village. An attempt at creating a rival for Jean concerning Nadia's love is very contrived and not at all credible. It's all the more frustrating because it happens after Nadia had confessed that she needed Jean, and, heck, embraced him--so why does Nadia become infatuated with a native villager? The only thing he does is recognize Nadia's Blue Water and give her a totally bizarre compliment, but otherwise he's a boring cypher. There also seems to be a serious flaw in the script regarding his age--he says, sort of, that he's 13, but he looks and sounds like he's 21! That only represents one of the incompetent aspects of this episode. In addition to being dreadfully boring, the animation is worse, and the dialogue is painful. There are lots of other stupidities to be found as well: look at how fast our pals get to Africa; that's more cartoonish than credible! And whoever heard of an African tribal village whose sacred treasure consists of a tin of food and a bottle of super-fast juice? I betcha the writers were still thinking of those Island Episodes when they conjured up this story. Added to which, the village itself is badly stereotyped--almost as if it came straight out of a lame GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE ripoff.

Episode 33: King's Rescue (Rating 0/5)
Four words: WORST NADIA EPISODE EVER. It's bad enough that Nadia devolves into a totally unlikeable b***h in this episode, but the Snidely Whiplash like characterization of Grandis' ex-fiance as a villain is worse. There are also many other holes to be detected in the plot--how can King survive being tied to a cross for two days? The lion's in trouble, yet Grandis and Nadia can take a bath? By what right does Nadia have to treat Jean poorly when he's done nothing rude at this point and even tries to help in the rescue? Grandis falls again for her ex-fiance? And what the heck is up with that mecha King? Avoid these two African adventure episodes at all costs. They are very damaging to both the series and the characterizations.

Episode 34: My Darling Nadia (Rating 1.5/5)
The only good things about this episode is that it's the last of the bad filler arc, as well as the interesting bonus that even the dub actors get to sing (Nadia's English VA has an especially lovely singing voice). Otherwise, this is, again, a skippable episode. The concept of Jean getting Nadia to think about his feelings is a good one, but it's executed very clumsily and not at all credibly.

Episode 35: The Secret of Blue Water (Rating 5/5)
Episode 36: The New Nautilus (Rating 5/5)
Episode 37: Emperor Neo (Rating 4.5/5)
Episode 38: To the Sky (Rating 5/5)
Episode 39: Successor to the Stars (Rating 5/5)
All five of these episodes are fantastic and amazing, no questions asked. Even though it does come a little too late, they do return Nadia to its roots of excellence. Episode 35 is notable for being mostly in black and white, but the subsequent episodes only get better from there, building to a satisfyingly spectacular, emotionally charged finale. A high note for Nadia to go out on.

If anyone wishes to submit their own ratings, please feel free to do so. :)

-Jon T.