Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water (ふしぎの海のナディア, Fushigi no Umi no Nadia), also known as Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, is a 1990 original television anime series created by Hayao Miyazaki & Hideaki Anno, directed by Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi and produced by studios GAINAX & Group TAC, inspired by Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Staff credits also include series composition writers Hisao Ōkawa & Kaoru Umeno, character designers Shunji Suzuki & Yoshiyuki Sadamoto, and music composed by Shirō Sagisu. The series first broadcasted in Japan on April 1990.
Background:
“It’s 1889 and people from around the globe are flocking to Paris to see scientific achievements at the Exposition Universelle despite rumours of dangers lurking in the oceans. While attending the fair, teenaged inventor Jean meets Nadia, a mysterious girl who possesses a highly sought-after crystal called Blue Water. Pursued by nefarious forces, the pair journey by sea and by sky to escape their would-be captors and to discover the secret of the crystal.”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, November 2023.
GAINAX has gone to bankruptcy but back in the day they were known for their iconic anime titles, either original stories or adaptations of existing materials. Whilst many will be familiar with Neon Genesis Evangelion, Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, they also created classic anime including Appleseed, Gunbuster, Otaku no Video, Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnêamise, and the main point of discussion for today – Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water, or Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water which has been renamed for the UK release for some weird reason, so for consistency I’ll stick to the UK naming.
I have not seen the series beforehand and I know full well it’s noted as a classic anime with a few episodes in the middle that were considered not particularly amazing by all means, but I like to be optimistic and give them a watch regardless. While it’s based on the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea story the anime’s premise did remind me of Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire (coincidently there were reports of plagiarism when the film was released due to various similarities).
So Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water has been released on Blu-ray in high definition before. There was a restoration done that was used for numerous home video releases throughout the world, and one of those was by Sentai Filmworks. Previously ADV Films in North America had the home video rights and then Sentai Filmworks rescued the license to release it on Blu-ray in 2014, which is ten years ago now. Eventually they sub-licensed the series over to UK distributor Animatsu in the United Kingdom.
For those who weren’t around back then, Animatsu was founded by a few former members of Manga Entertainment due to wanting to pick up anime and other mediums (such as cartoons and live-action) without any restrictions from the distributor’s owner Starz. Sentai gave them the sub-license to release it on Blu-ray for the United Kingdom in 2015, and they offered a surprisingly good-looking package.
Then licenses eventually expire, with the series going out of print once again. But out of nowhere came a 4K restoration which GKIDS in North America secured the North American rights and re-released the series on Blu-ray in 2022, while Anime Limited in the United Kingdom got the same rights for this country for a 2023 release. So from here we now have a new Blu-ray release with a new restoration and in the UK a new 4K Ultra HD release for the first time.
Ultimate Edition Contents:
So this is another ultimate edition release by Anime Limited which makes complete sense on paper because you have a classic series made by well-known directors and staff members. The model here almost follows the same route that Eureka Seven and Wolf’s Rain were packaged, but there is no unique packaging box to cover the whole offering but for the shelf you have two separate components.
This release is presented with a rigid box containing a 4K Amaray case to house the 4K Ultra HD discs and an Amaray case to house the Blu-ray discs. Alongside the rigid set is a 136-page A4-sized Artbook called the Material Archive which offers an overview of the series, character and mechanical designs, interviews with the Japanese staff and cast members, illustrations, a making of and more.
The rigid box artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The ultimate edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray combo pack has 1000 units printed for an SRP of £219.99, with a standard edition two-part 4K Ultra HD only release available for an SRP of £69.99 each (with Part 1 whilst supplies available also including a rigid box to house the two cases), and a complete series standard edition Blu-ray available for retailers at an SRP of £49.99.
This release has been around for a while and I didn’t pick it up during its early bird offering at Anime Limited’s 12 Days of Christmas 2022 sale, which went on offer for £149.99. Whilst I’m aware of the 4K presentation, I wanted to have options so being able to own both versions of the series and have access to the artbook is the reason why I wanted to go after this particular release, at a lower price of course. It was eventually included in a Flash Sale during their 12 Days of Christmas 2024 sale for £59.99, though I used the 15% Anime Unlimited membership one-time Christmas discount to lower the cost (which totalled £50.99 overall).
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with Amaray packaging and clean artwork
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- 136-page A4-sized Materials Archive Artbook
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 6th November 2023
The ultimate edition release for Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water contains the complete series, episodes 1-39, across four 4K Ultra HD discs and five Blu-ray discs.
Now let’s provide some further context on what is being provided here. As mentioned, the series received a 4K restoration and has received a lot of grain removal so there’s detail that ends up going missing as a result. Now I believe Japanese fans prefer this approach whilst Western fans want to keep the grain. The preference comes down to what you prefer, but the overall presentation isn’t as well managed for 4K compared to the likes of Future Boy Conan and Mobile Suit Gundam: The Movie Trilogy.
The 4K Ultra HD discs have been authored and encoded by VDMS, who have worked with Anime Limited on their previous 4K releases including Mobile Suit Gundam: The Movie Trilogy, One Piece Film: RED and Violet Evergarden the Movie. The audio options available include Japanese with English subtitles and the Monster Island ADV Films English dub. The white subtitles are locked during playback, and the disc is all-region with Standard Dynamic Range (SDR).
As for the Blu-ray discs, well this may come as a surprise but these discs instead are using the older master that have been utilised by previous distributors Animatsu & Sentai Filmworks, so this will include the grain and such. In other words, you have the choice to either buy the individual standard edition to get either version, or pickup the ultimate edition and have both versions together. The Blu-ray discs have been authored and encoded by Sentai Filmworks via their 2014 release (modified to include Animatsu, Anime Limited & Siren Visual logos during the disc start), and the audio options available include Japanese with English subtitles and the Monster Island ADV Films English dub. The yellow subtitles are unlockable during playback, and the discs are locked to players set to B.
4K Ultra HD Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Linear PCM 2.0 Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 |
| Video | 2160p Ultra High Definition format 1.33:1 aspect ratio SDR |
| Region | All Region |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 4 BD-100s |
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 1.33:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | No |
| Discs | 5 (4 BD-50s, 1 BD-25) |
4K Ultra HD On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 4:
- Textless Opening ‘A’ “Blue Water”
- Textless Opening ‘B’ “Blue Water”
- Textless Ending “Yes, I Will…”
- TV Spot (00:36 runtime)
- Prologue Promotion (01:14 runtime)
- PR Video (05:09 runtime)
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 5:
- Clean Opening Animation “Blue Water”
- Clean Closing Animation “Yes, I Will…”
- Japanese Promo (05:05 runtime)
- Japanese Spot (00:32 runtime)
- Also Available on Blu-ray:
- Girls und Panzer
- From the New World
- Kokoro Connect
- Little Busters!
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
Nadia: Secret of the Blue Water is available to purchase on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray by Anime Limited in the UK & Ireland. The ultimate edition 4K Ultra HD & Blu-ray combo pack release can be bought through the AllTheAnime Store, and the two part 4K Ultra HD releases can be bought across different retailers including Amazon UK (Part 1, Part 2) and Anime-on-Line (Part 1, Part 2). A complete series standard edition Blu-ray is also available to own via retailers AllTheAnime, Amazon UK and Anime-on-Line.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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