How to properly watch Nadia

[ericm]

So I've seen suggestions on how to watch the Nadia series, most state approximately to watch eps 1-22, then skip to ep 35, agree/disagree?

[BornIn1142]

That would work, yes. I personally just grit my teeth and sat through the awful Island & Africa arcs just to say I watched it all, and I don't particularly regret it, but skipping right to the end might be preferable.

However, episodes 30 and 31 are actually pretty decent and introduce an important plot element that reappears in the finale, so you might want to consider watching those as well.

[NemZ]

I watched it all. Painfully bad at at times, but I watched it.

I did have to mute the musical episode though.

[Xard]

So I've seen suggestions on how to watch the Nadia series, most state approximately to watch eps 1-22, then skip to ep 35, agree/disagree?

Ep 31 is actually important and the one episode Anno himself salvaged from the Island Arc for his Nautilus Story as it is IIRC.

Ep 30 might be worth watching as it setups events of ep 31.

Apart from that the episodes are pointless though. I did watch it all but bastards didn't even give me purple heart

[The Eva Monkey]

There are some redeeming elements in those episodes. Not very much though. My recommendation is to watch the whole thing once. After that, feel free to skip the island arc.

[Allemann]

I've come late to the show. What's this about Nadia?

[BornIn1142]

I've come late to the show. What's this about Nadia?

Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water was Anno's previous series before Evangelion. Episodes 23-34 - animated by a different studio and directed by a different director - are infamously bad.

[Xard]

Reason for this was that GAINAX had planned it as 26 episode series but its immense popularity led to NHK extend series lenght to 37 episodes. Anno who was already drowning in work gave the "filler episodes" to be handled by his friend Shinji Higuchi. In practise the episodes were mostly farmed out to other studios which led to drop in animation quality, out of character behaviour of characters and in general bad writing.

Only crucial part of the infamous "island episodes" is ep 31, rest is skippable filler.

And if you watch the island episodes by all means skip three times more horrifying episodes 32-34 "Africa arc" which are ten times more horrible. Even after the decision to do island episodes these aren't found from GAINAX's original plans so why they even exist is beyond me. Worse than that, return of Anno & GAINAX in ep 35 pretty much flows straight from ep 31 in terms of mood and characterization. It's as if Africa arc never happened.

So the "island episodes" can be split in two: island episodes 23-31 and Africa episodes 32-34

34 is horrible musical episode.

That's all I need to say

[InstrumentalityOne]

And episodes 35/36/37 are good again?

[Xard]

And episodes 35/36/37 are good again?

Of course, they're real GAINAX stuff directed by Anno. In fact I think 35/36/37 is one of the best finales in any anime ever, fantastic stuff.

When Island episodes were given to Higuchi Anno focused full-time on crafting the finale so the difference between the infamous fillers and the finale is pretty dramatic.

[BornIn1142]

And episodes 35/36/37 are good again?

Yes, and 38 and 39. In fact, I agree with Xard about the greatness of the finale. The final episode of Nadia is the only anime moment that's come close to making me cry.

[symbv]

Reason for this was that GAINAX had planned it as 26 episode series but its immense popularity led to NHK extend series lenght to 37 episodes. Anno who was already drowning in work gave the "filler episodes" to be handled by his friend Shinji Higuchi. In practise the episodes were mostly farmed out to other studios which led to drop in animation quality, out of character behaviour of characters and in general bad writing.

[...]

So the "island episodes" can be split in two: island episodes 23-31 and Africa episodes 32-34

Something does not add up:
- NHK required the series to extend by 11 episodes (26->37)
- The really really terrible, non-Anno, episodes are from ep23 to ep34, which is 12 episodes

So Anno got lazy and decided to give one episode from the original plan to his friend to direct? Perhaps the NHK request to extend the series is not the only thing to blame?

[Xard]

Something does not add up:
- NHK required the series to extend by 11 episodes (26->37)
- The really really terrible, non-Anno, episodes are from ep23 to ep34, which is 12 episodes

So Anno got lazy and decided to give one episode from the original plan to his friend to direct? Perhaps the NHK request to extend the series is not the only thing to blame?

It was up to 39, actually

I remembered episode count wrong. The point is they extended episode count to 39 somewhere around ep 20 or so...there were few breaks during episodes 19-22 airing if I remember correctly so presumably they planned the adjustments then.

In any case you know it's bad when even director (Anno) says he only would've saved one episode from it all

[BrikHaus]

Oh god, not this again.

I agree with Monkey, watch the whole thing through once. If you want to rewatch it later on, then you can choose to skip the "island episodes."

[drinian]

Yeah, why skip any of the episodes? You'll just be left wondering what you've missed.

The movie, on the other hand...

[Twin Drive Sigma Aquarion]

I've never seen Nadia, would I like it (and don't anyone say "oh it has no mech hur hur hur")?

[Tankred]

^

I don't think anyone can honestly answer that question.

[Sailor Star Dust]

I haven't watched Nadia save for a fansub of the first two episodes... I'll probably watch the dub of Nadia--The Nautilus Story
( viewtopic.php?t=8798 ) because the island arc sounds like there's tons of character derailment on Nadia's part, and what little I saw of her, I found her to be interesting/mysterious. (Although I probably read spoilers about the series sometime ago, they don't bother me and/or I already forgot about said spoilers.)

And fun fact: the Renewal/Platinum booklets state NGE Episodes 08 and 09 were called the "island arc" amongst the staff because they supposedly have a similar feel to the episodes in Nadia.

[Xard]

I've never seen Nadia, would I like it (and don't anyone say "oh it has no mech hur hur hur")?

Funny thing is that it does have mechs of certain kind.

But no, I have no idea whether you'd like it or not.

[Reichu]

I'm watching Nadia right now, and, hell with it all. I'm skipping the island episodes except for 30 and 31 and going straight to the finale. Maybe I'll "watch" the others here and there while I'm doing dishes or something.

SSD: Definitely don't skimp out on the original Japanese version because you're afraid of the filler episodes. Here are some needlessly fangirlish reasons why...

- The main villain is voiced by Motomu Kiyokawa, aka Fuyutsuki, which is a source of endless amusement.
- Male protagonist Jean is voiced by Noriko Hidaka, aka Noriko Takaya from "Gunbuster".
- Sanson could be considered Kamina's "ancestor", and you really have to hear him in Japanese to appreciate this fully. (Not the same seiyuu or anything, but the way they talk when they go full throttle...)