#the mystery of fuzzy

[evanniversary]

A Basic Guide to Nadia

Fushigi no Umi no Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water

ふしぎの海のナディア THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER, released in English as simply Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, is a show created by Gainax for NHK that ran for 39 episodes á 25 minutes from 1990 to 1991. It is in my opinion one of the most underappreciated anime ever. It directly prefigured Evangelion, it's almost completely singular in being an Adventure story that directly confronts the colonial underpinnings of the genre, and it's often one of the least talked about entries in the filmographies of the people who made it.

It's not unproblematic, no african people were involved in its production, but neither were any europeans, so its cultural insensitivity is a good bit more even-handed than many of its contemporaries in the Adventure genre.

While there are different releases of the show, they don't vary hugely. The biggest difference is that newer releases don't include the "Next Episode" previews, which featured postcards sent in by fans.

ふしぎの海のナディア roughly translates to "Nadia of the Mysterious Sea"

Fushigi no Umi no Nadia Gekijōyō Originalban / The Mystery of Fuzzy

ふしぎの海のナディア劇場用オリジナル版 , released in English under a few different titles including Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water: The Movie, Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water: The Motion Picture and Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water: The Secret of Fuzzy, a theatrical film released two and a half months after the show's conclusion in 1991, set three years after the show. It was largely outsourced, it's barely over 80 minutes, including a good 20 minutes of clips from the show, it's not very well regarded but I personally actually quite like it, its janky animation just has a certain gap moe appeal, and it weirdly introduces a lot of ideas that show up again in Evangelion, despite neither the writer nor the director of the movie going on to work on Eva.

Fushigi no Umi no Nadia: Nautilus Story

ふしぎの海のナディア　ノーチラス・ストーリー is a re-edit of the show by Anno Hideaki that condenses the story into three two-hour movies. They were to my knowledge only officially released once in Japan in 1991, but there is a fan re-creation of the films using HD footage from modern releases of the show that has English subtitles and is very easy to find if you know where to look.

As is usual for recap movies, these are a fine way to get the main plot of the show, but especially the first part ends up feeling incredibly rushed and you lose a lot of thematic and emotional depth. 39 episodes is long, I get that, and I'd rather people watch the Nautilus Story than nothing at all, but you really should watch the show.

Movie 1: Ep. 1-9

Movie 2: Ep. 11-22

Movie 3: mostly Ep. 35-39

Nadia Omake Gekijō

ナディアおまけ劇場 (Nadia Bonus Theatre / Nadia Specials) is a series of 10 shorts included on physical releases of the show, some set between episodes of the show, some set after the show, and some that are completely non-canonical. To my knowledge they've never been officially released outside Japan, but someone uploaded them to YouTube and there's fansubs if you know where to look too.

Fushigi no Umi no Nadia Film Comic

ふしぎの海のナディア　フィルム・コミック is a comic/manga adaptation of Nadia using visual material from the show with 7 volumes in total, released from 1990 to 1991. To my knowledge it has not been translated into English, although I think I have seen an Italian translation somewhere, but most of the dialogue is probably taken from the show so it should be easy enough to follow, and copies are fairly affordable.

Volume 1: Ep. 1-4

Volume 2: Ep. 5-8

Volume 3: Ep. 9-10 & 14-15

Volume 4: Ep. 20-22

Volume 5: Ep. 23, 26, 31

Volume 6: Ep. 35-39

Volume 7: The Movie

Nadia novels

There are six novels based on Nadia. The first three are adaptations of the show, the fourth is an expanded version of the film's story, and the last two, titled Nadia Stories, are completely original stories set seven years after the TV show. These all almost certainly have not been translated into English, there are no official translations and fan translations of entire novels are pretty rare.

1. 小説ふしぎの海のナディア上　青い光を抱いたプリンセス (1990) (roughly: Princess in Blue Light)

2. 小説ふしぎの海のナディア中　未来を夢みる大海戦 (1991) (roughly: A Great Naval Battle That Dreams of the Future)

3. 小説ふしぎの海のナディア下　はるかなる高い空 (1991) (roughly: The Far Up Sky)

4. 小説ふしぎの海のナディア NADIA THE MOVIE　ー海から来た妖精ー (1991) (roughly: Fairy From the Sea)

5. ナディアストーリーズ１　ジャンとナディアのいちばん長い日 (1992) (roughly: Jean and Nadia's Longest Day)

6. ナディアストーリーズ２　ふしぎの森のマリー (1992) (roughly: Marie of the Mysterious Forest)

Albums

There's obviously soundtrack albums, as well as two albums of original songs titled VOCAL COLLECTION and two remix albums titled Mixed up NADIA and HOOKED ON NADIA, but there are also two narrative albums, Bye Bye Blue Water, released in 1991, and Good Luck NADIA 〜Bye Bye Blue Water PART 2, released in 1993, that feature audio drama segments interspersed with music. The first part mostly contains segments taking place during the story of the show, while the second part is mostly set after the show's conclusion, ending in 2005 with a descendant of Nadia named Itō Nadia living in New Tōkyō. Considering the similarity to NGE's setting, and that NGE started development in 1993 as a sequel to Nadia, it's possible this was at one point intended to be a setup for the show, with Itō Nadia most likely being developed into Misato when the rights to Nadia couldn't be obtained from NHK.

Interestingly, unlike most Nadia media, which used the Fushigi no Umi no Nadia branding, these albums use the English THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER logo. However, despite this and their titles being entirely in English, there is no English version of these albums, or even a text translation, at least not that I've been able to find.

Lastly, there's also an audio cassette titled やったらこうなっちゃったナディア (roughly: This is what happened when I tried it, Nadia) that I haven't been able to find out much about, but seems to also contain audio drama segments set over the course of the show.

Others

徳間アニメ絵本 (Tokuma Anime Picture Book) - A series of children's books based on children's anime films and series, particularly those made by or somehow with the involvement of Miyazaki Hayao. Books 7 and 8, released in 1991, adapt Nadia.

Famicom game: Appears to be a strategy game with Nadia characters & vehicles as units. Doesn't seem to have much of a story to speak of. Released in 1991.

Mega Drive game: An RPG adaptation of the show, but with a different ending based on earlier drafts of the ending of the show, due to the fact it released in March 1991 before the show's actual ending aired. It was re-released in 2022 by way of being included on the Japanese version of the Mega Drive Mini 2.

コミック・ブルーウォーター / THE SECRET OF COMIC BLUE WATER - An anthology of short Nadia manga created by various staff and other artists, released in 1992

ARE YOU THE ADVENTURER?.......THEN PURSUE ME.　THE SECRET OF THE BLUE WATER - PC adventure game developed by Gainax, released in 1992 for PC-98, followed by ports for X68000, FM TOWNS CD-ROM and various mobile devices, telling an original story set around episode 14 of the show.

PC Engine SUPER CD-ROM² game: Visual novel released in 1993, telling an original story set around episode 29 of the show, centring a new character named Physis.

You may have noticed that all of the above released in the years 1990-1993. After Neon Genesis Evangelion started development, Nadia as its own franchise basically died and mostly only lives on through its ties to Evangelion, with characters from Nadia being featured in games like the 1998 mahjong game Eva to Yukai na Nakamatachi and Super Robot Wars X, as well as Evangelion artbooks and calendars. However, there have been two new pieces of Nadia media released in the 21st century:

ふしぎの海のナディア 〜 Inherit the Blue Water 〜 is a game released in 2005 that adapts most of the story of the show, mostly taking the form of a visual novel interspersed with gameplay sections and clips from the show as cutscenes, while also weaving in an original story about a new character named Sofia Rockfeld, who Jean can end up in a relationship with depending on player decisions.

Wikipedia also lists a visual novel for mobile devices that released episodically in 2006, but is, as typical for mobile apps, no longer available and poorly documented.

ふしぎの海のナディア　コミックアンソロジー (Fushigi no Umi no Nadia: Comic Anthology) is another anthology of short manga by different artists, released in 2012, and the last new piece of official Nadia media to date, at least that I've been able to find.

Over the coming years, I hope to be able to write individual posts about each of these, and as I do so, I will add links to those posts to this one, although currently my Japanese knowledge is not good enough yet to be able to talk in-depth about the untranslated works, nor do I know if I'll have the time for all of them, so if anyone would like to help with that, it would be greatly appreciated.

[arvoze]

i am once again drawing cacturne

[poirott]

David Suchet filming AGATHA CHRISTIE'S POIROT 3x01 "The Mysterious Affair at Styles"

Rare behind the scenes footage from AGATHA CHRISTIE: UNFINISHED PORTRAIT documentary via BBC, aired September 20 1990 (please excuse the blurriness).

[sincerely-sofie]

okay something I need to mention about the ending of Rescue Team

When you first encounter Rayquaza and he attacks you, he does so because he believe that Pokemon that cant fly should stay on the ground, and that the opposite holds true aswell. He even boasts about having never once descending to the ground and having vowed never to do so.

BUT

Once he realizing about the Big Freaking Meteor that you came to ask for his aid about, he immediately asks if you are certain because you might die if he breaks it at this range. The guy does a compete 180 once he realizes he messed up.

Theres also the fact that after getting dragged through the afterlife(???) by Gengar (who may or may not be trying to save you? idk its vague) you just wake up back at the Great Canyon.

So not only did Rayquaza purposely ignore Hero and Partner's (+ potentially Absol and/or Magnemite) plea for help, but once he did realize why they were at Sky Tower he showed genuine concern for their safety only for his earlier willful ignorance got them - as far as he knows - KILLED.

you can also recruit Rayquaza and bring him to ground level, thus breaking his earlier vow.

so like

have fun with that

#dadquaza

Oh my word…

Dadquaza.

[wheresurboytonighthelookslikeenj]

ok chat the poll is over time to reveal the answers

someone is killed in a giant microwave - YEAH season 12 episode 1 murdoch mystery mansion. the potato cooking room was at first a hypothetical presented in an earlier season that murdoch made a reality during the designing of his house ! someone then used the room to kill someone inside uh oh

sigmund freud's gaydar - YEAH season 15 episode 12 murdoch on the couch. sigmund freud, who's at the station house because of a threat to his life, reads henry's letter addressed to george and believes it to be a letter for a lover. when henry brings this up to brax and watts later, they don't contest this ! (in fact claiming this was the only thing he was right about) was going to make a joke about how he was like i know what you are but he actually seemed like genuine and objective with it honestly what the hell was up with that.

re-enactment of the last supper with dead bodies - YEAH season 9 episode 4 barenaked ladies. to make a poetic point about guilt and betrayal, someone kills some people who they think have wronged someone and electroplates them in the poses of various figures from the last supper.

one of the main characters kills jack the ripper - YEAH season 2 episode 2 snakes and ladders. a serial killer on the loose suspected to be jack the ripper is in toronto, and in a fight with him in the morgue, julia kills him. she is understandably shaken by this and the end of the episode she dances with murdoch because she’d like to be held <3

sherlock holmes meets arthur conan doyle. yeah they meet each other - YEAH season 6 episode 4 a study in sherlock. due to childhood trauma, there's a guy in toronto living as sherlock holmes :)) murdoch is frustrated that he won't believe that sherlock holmes isn't real, so to convince him, he invites arthur conan doyle, who happens to be visiting toronto, over.

reincarnation is real - YEAH season 6 episode 11 lovers in a murderous time. cant believe yall forgot this one this was one of my fav episodes the first time i watched s06 but anyways. two people bear a striking resemblance to two doomed lovers from many years ago, and the woman has visions and dreams of memories of details she can't possibly know ! they're reincarnated lovers. whoah

pig flies - YEAH season 6 episode 1 murdoch air. james pendrick, flying his test craft in the race for the world's first controlled air craft, tested a harness by using a dead pig as a passenger. was reminded of this one because in a s15 episode the brackenreids were laughing abt something and margaret said "when pigs fly!" and brax was like "i've seen that happen actually" <3

murdoch invents uber - NAH. murdoch does not invent uber. the closest we get to uber is not murdoch's invention but george and henry with henry's cab :) this lie kind of falls apart when you consider that murdoch's inventions are almost always technological innovations, while uber is. a business. and murdoch doesn't even like cars.

murdoch dies in a tub but only temporarily - YEAH season 5 episode 10 staircase to heaven. murdoch investigates a death within a club (one member being emily) who compete for a chance to "die" to see what the afterlife looks like, dropping them as close to death as possible and then reviving them, and murdoch tries it out yeah 👍

murdoch beats up santa claus - YEAH season 17 episode 9 the christmas list. in possibly his most out of character episode, murdoch suspects department store santa claus of theft and tries to arrest him in front of the children, then when santa resists, murdoch beats the shit out of him

[mysandwichgiver]

This twitter post

from Washington Post columnist columnist Karen Tumulty is soooooo funny.

[nyxisnotafictive]

we are evidently in a Mood tonight

[seithr]

powerful sorcerer with magical storm blood who can still magic and rend minds and transform people btw

[dykevanny]

had a really funny idea for an ask blog ft. Vanny and another plex employee oc,,

[thelovelybitten]

that's my daughter right there :')))))

[anotherdescentintomadness]

The Duality of Xiao Zhan

XZS update 231123

[smolwormadventures]

“Uncle Potato Chip sends an update about his friend that had the surgery awhile back. Apparently, they’re both up to their shenanigans.”

“A day in the life of an office worm. I quote Uncle Potato Chip. He says he does a lot of typing on his slow days. His friend is in the desk next to him.”

“Uncle Potato Chip, who took the photos, said you gotta do it to them.”

“The joke was Uncle Potato Chip’s friend told him he was looking mighty tasty.”

“Uncle Potato Chip says this is where they keep the cryogenically frozen heads of their past bosses.”

“They had a nice potluck at work yesterday. Probably for the holidays. Uncle Potato Chip said the crockpot dish above wasn’t the greatest. Edible, but not the greatest.”

“I don’t remember what Uncle Potato Chip said his friend’s name was. I don’t think he ever mentions his friends by name in texts, but I think he once said over the phone this one’s name is Tango? I can’t remember.”

[mountndo]

I bet this guy has the answers. And I kinda like it. 👀

[sirensea14]

Day 3 Desert

Snatched a (fuzzy memory) scene from the Far West desert (dunno but context here is that the horse Bendy was on is going crazy--cuz u know horses dont like him--and mugman was talking to Cuphead)

[sincerely-sofie]

Thinking about one of my favorite redraw memes of all time.

Original image under the cut.

[robinsnest2111]

yknow that pic of Mick in that denim vest and slightly leaning into Nikki back to chest? makes me think about both of them on a sofa (or other horizontal surface), Nikki gently holding Mick like that, arms wrapped around his waist, placing gentle kisses on Mick's temple... bonus points if it's part of the sick fic concept I have rolling around my brain... 🙏