The reason Nadia holds such influence is - partly - because the stress of working on the series was what lead to Anno's (in)famous four-year period of depression, which he would later channel into a sort of negative creativity in the form of THE psychological breakdown anime; Evangelion. The two share the same animation studio, Gainax, and a considerable amount of key staff, including Anno himself, the character designer (Sadamoto) and composer (Sagisu). So, thematically and aesthetically, there are NUMEROUS similarities.
Perhaps even more interestingly, Anno started out as an animator by impressing Hayao Miyazaki... and it was Miyazaki that came up with the original idea for Nadia, based on Jules Verne's 'Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea', which he himself would later transform into 'Laputa: Castle in the Sky'. Nadia could be described as Anno's version of Laputa; complete with his own brand of characterisation where very relatable, human failings become part of lovable characters.
Nadia begins in disarmingly lighthearted fashion. Set during 1889, the series opens with an aviation fair in Paris. The titular heroine, Nadia, encounters the male lead, Jean (a young French inventor), whilst working for a traveling circus troupe with her pet lion and series mascot, King. Jean falls in love at first sight and saves Nadia from comical, almost Team Rocket-esque 'villains' that later become endearing.
Then begins a world spanning adventure that starts out fun-filled. Along the way, an adorable "This is no fun!" young girl called Marie forms a close bond with Nadia, under surprisingly tragic circumstances. The tone then shifts, becoming darker, starting with the first encounter with the series enigmatic masked villain, Gargoyle. An organisation known as 'Neo Atlantis' controls the world from the shadows, using advanced technology from ancient Atlantis, and is pursuing Nadia for the mysterious 'Blue Water' pendant she possesses. The lead duo eventually end up as crew members on the futuristic submarine Nautilus and are forced to grow up quickly due to the crew having but one mission: to destroy Neo Atlantis. They are all that stands between Gargoyle and world domination. The series retains a lighthearted edge, but children having to confront the harsh realities of adult life after becoming involved with military chain of command is undeniably similar to Evangelion.
Before the small matter of Nadia-to-Evangelion influences, what made Nadia controversial to the point of sending Anno into the pits of depression and ALMOST ruined the series? For starters, there was a so-called movie sequel, which Anno and the original staff did not work on and is SO TERRIBLE people pretend it does not exist. And the TV series contains its very own non-Anno horror show. Anno only wrote/directed 26-29 episodes. Episodes 23-34 are the ultimate anime evil that Bleach/Naruto fans will be all too familiar with: FILLERS. The tone shifted to deserted island 'comedy' (complete with cartoonish exaggerations such as Jean filling up with water like a balloon)... bizarrely RIGHT AFTER the series reached its darkest depths. Every character trait was reduced to the most juvenile of levels as the series went in mind-numbing circles. Worse, Nadia's character did a 180 and was butchered to the point she regressed from having an understandably naive vegetarian viewpoint... to deciding she would live only with nature; later begging for animals AND FISH to save her. She also stole food after forcing Jean to build a camp on his own since "she hates science" and just outright started treating him terribly, out of nowhere.
The change in writing and direction was SO BLATANT that, when Anno resumed after the fillers ended, he ignored what came before. The worst involved Jean getting high on mushrooms and Nadia deciding she liked some random episodic boy more than Jean; completing her character self-destruction. And if you think the fillers are ok to begin with, believe me: when the second deserted island arrives, head -> wall.
Ignoring the filler HELL, though, Nadia is an excellent character and FAR from your typical anime heroine. For one, she is black and of African descent. For two, she is best described as the prototype tsundere for Evangelion's Asuka. A more human, less ANIME tsundere, if you will. What is most striking about Anno's work is that he clearly values characterisation above all else (almost in complete contrast to Miyazaki).
Anno's female characters in particular come across so strongly one would assume they were created by a woman. Nadia is no exception to this. Her love interest and companion, Jean, is no Shinji Ikari but she challenges him at every turn none the less with her dominant, strong-willed personality. Her jealousy over Jean unwittingly irking her by talking to other females; her hypocrisy over being a vegetarian / arguing with Jean over eating meat, whilst not minding her pet eating meat... there is a distinctly female charm about her 'evil eye' glares and the natural inconsistency between how she treats Jean and others that make her flaws as a person believable; reminding me of Kyoko from Maison Ikkoku. As I have always said, a flawed character is a human character. Nadia's maternal bond with a young girl, Marie, being reflected in Marie copying her comments about males and how she mimics another female character's comments about the bickering 'husband and wife' relationship between Nadia and Jean was priceless.
Other characters also clearly would later have an influence on Evangelion. Captain Nemo's unreadable persona in a military position and actions that traumatise adolescent characters is reminiscent of Gendo Ikari. Nemo's First Officer, Electra, and her relationship with Nemo has a touch of Misato Kusanagi's father complex issues, paired with Ritsuko's one-sided love seen in Evangelion. And Electra also shared a bond with Jean similar to that of Misato and Shinji. Even moving away from the characterisation and onto more superficial aspects, the submarine battles complete with radar tension and the more serious soundtrack pieces give off a distinct Evangelion vibe. One such track was even later remixed and reused in 'Evangelion: 3.0 You Can (Not) Redo'!
The version I (re)watched was Animatsu's UK Blu-ray release of Nadia, and the remastered high-definition video quality truly impresses. Seeing Sadamoto's distinctive, charming 'old school' art style in an image so sharp that the dirt on the anime cels clearly shows, paired with colours so vibrant, made it a joy to watch. At first I feared the slight 'jittering' of the image occasionally visible and what I assumed to be a related 'vibrating edge-shadow' issue were caused by the remastering process, but no: I checked my old ADV DVDs, and just about visible under the blurriness, it had the same effect. The video quality is just now so vivid I am able to notice those almost insignificant niggles. I did notice some issues during the filler episodes (a few brief parts not appearing remastered and colour bleeding), but nothing too terrible. Overall, it is up there with Cowboy Bebop's remaster; only let down by Nadia having a much smaller budget than that series.
The ONE disappointing aspect of Nadia in terms of audio is the old ADV English dub. It is one of THOSE older anime dubs where the cast read stiffly off the script, sounding painfully wooden. Jean in particular will make or break the dub for viewers: he speaks with a thick/fake French accent... whilst no-one else bothers with similarly totally overdone accents in what is a multicultural anime. Nadia certainly does not sound African. A bad idea, that. The dub cast either only have Nadia on their resume - still - or few to no other roles. And it is easy to see why. Whilst it was a nice touch to cast child actors to voice child characters, it was not a particularly wise move. Compare them against the array of Japanese talent, such as Noriko Hidaka as Jean and Akio Ootsuka as Nemo, and the writing is on the wall. Just the manner in which Nadia's voice actress in Japanese can say Jean's name with such tender affection, then seconds later convey almost venomous anger... the difference in range is night and day. I STRONGLY recommend watching in Japanese.
In summary, Nadia offers a charming adventure, grounded by Anno's human-relatable characters. The tone and pacing is initially inconsistent - only showing its darker edge around episode five - but, ignoring the fillers that weigh the series down like an anchor, there is honestly little to complain about. Jean did become less important as the series went on, in spite of some decent boy-to-man maturity--he simply had no relevance to the plot outside of his relationship with Nadia. Due to this, rather than Jean, my favourite male character was the villain, Gargoyle: his despicable, cunning nature was amplified tenfold by the mystery of a man that ALWAYS wore a mask. Truly a hate-worthy villain with a distinctively arrogant voice; never failing to entertain, much like the show itself.
Buy it, watch it and make it last: they do not make anime like this anymore.
