Nadia - The Secret of Blue Water (TV)

"Nadia" was originally intended to be a 30-part TV series, but because the show was so successful in Japan, backing distributor NHK Enterprises requested GAINAX to produce more episodes, extending the episode count to 39. The extraneous episodes, dubbed by fans as the "infamous island episodes" (which begin on Episode 23 and conclude on Episode 34), often take hits from critics and fans for needless plodding, character stupidities, and ill-conceived plotting.

In 2001, when Disney released "Atlantis: The Lost Empire", Anime fans accused the film of ripping off of "Nadia". But longtime "Nadia" fan Dr. Marc Hairston disproved such claims in a lengthy essay in an ANIMERICA 2001 edition, where he found that both "Atlantis" and "Nadia" were inspired by the same source material: the works of Jules Verne.

Shortly after "Nadia" completed its first broadcast in Japan, Streamline Pictures purchased the license for "Nadia" in the hopes of bringing the show to U.S. television. But because of financial difficulties, Carl Mecak's company could only dub the first eight episodes. In 1996, Streamline's rights for the show expired. Later, ADV Films purchased the rights for "Nadia", and commissioned a new dub to be recorded at their Austin-based Monster Island studios. This dub cast actual children in the roles of Nadia, Jean, and Marie: Meg Bauman (who also plays several roles in "Steam Detectives", "Samurai X: Reflection", and "The Devil Lady"), Nathan Parsons (who also plays a cameo role in "The Devil Lady"), and Margaret Cassidy (several roles in "Getter Robo: Armageddon").

Twelve-year-old Nathan Parsons, the voice of Jean, did not know how to do a French accent at the time of his audition. So he asked Ev Lunning, Jr., who was voicing Nemo, to teach him how to do a French accent.

Eleven-year-old Margaret Cassidy, the voice of Marie, originally auditioned for Nadia.

Shinji Higuchi, who made storyboards for most of Gainax's earlier anime, took over as director for the "infamous island episodes" as well as the series finale after Anno left the project.

In the series "The Secret of Blue Water" (Nadia), two ancient Atlantean battleships are discovered beneath the sea. Both of them are known as the Eletrium and Excelion. Sound familiar? They should be as they were named for the famous warships Eltreum and Exelion from "Aim for the Top!"

Captain Nemo in this anime resembles Bruno J. Global from "Superdimension Fortress Macross" while wearing a uniform similar to that of Juzo Okita (Abraham Avatar) from "Space Battleship Yamato" (Star Blazers).

In the Sega Genesis videgame "Gunstar Heroes": Hanson, Sanson and Grandis, along with the Gratan (Grandis Tank), make an appearance as the first stage final boss.

The concept of Nadia dates back to the mid-1970s, when Toho commissioned Hayao Miyazaki to develop a TV series based on Jules Verne's classic novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. The series was never made, but Toho retained the rights to the storyline while Miyazaki reused elements from his original concept in his works such as Future Boy Conan and Castle in the Sky

In episode 26, 'King in solitude', there is an homage to the famous 1960's (British)puppetseries 'Thunderbirds'. The whole launch of the Thunderbird Two (here it is called de Etoile de la Seine X) is imitated in a dream that Jean has.