History Anime / NadiaTheSecretofBlueWater

Set in 1889 and ''extremely'' loosely based on Creator/JulesVerne's ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'' and many other of his works, ''Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water'' (original Japanese title: ''Fushigi no Umi no Nadia''[[note]]Literally, "Nadia of the Mysterious Seas".[[/note]]) tells the story of Nadia, a girl who's trying to find out about her past, Jean, a boy who wants to build a flying machine, and the Blue Water, a mysterious gem of Nadia's with strange powers. Their world is home to two shadowy groups in conflict: Neo-Atlantis, who want to rule the world, and the crew of the submarine ''Nautilus'', who have sworn to oppose Neo-Atlantis. These two plots are not unconnected...

* ''Fushigi no Umi no Nadia: Inherit the Blue Water'', released in 2005 on PlayStation2, is a VisualNovel divided in 10 chapters in which the player controls Jean. Two new characters are introduced: Sofia Rockfeld, heir of a wealthy American family and who owns a Blue Water too, and her maid Lazu. It is also a DatingSim: depending of his choices, Jean can end up with Nadia but also with Grandis, Marie, Electra or Sofia. In the Windows version, he can also end up with Lazu or Icolina.

** The spin-off Japanese-only UsefulNotes/MegaDrive game by Namco (which is a loose retelling of the show) handles this much better. There, it's treated as a genuine turning point in Jean and Nadia's friendship and there are no mushrooms involved. (Nadia also admits her love for Jean, which is something that never really happens in the show.) The [=PS2=] spin-off game also handles this scene as a natural progression.

* ''Fushigi no Umi no Nadia: Inherit the Blue Water'', released in 2005 on PlayStation2, is a VisualNovel divided in 10 chapters in which the player controls Jean. Two new characters are introduced: Sofia Rockfeld, heir of a wealthy American family and who owns a Blue Water too, and her maid Lazu. It is also a DatingSim: depending of his choices, Jean can end up with Nadia but also with Grandis, Marie, Electra or Sofia.

* ''[[https://www.mobygames.com/game/fushigi-no-umi-no-nadia- Fushigi no Umi no Nadia]]'', released on 1991 on [=MegaDrive=], is an RPG roughly following the canon story, although it diverges at the end. Interestingly, it was released ''before'' the end of the series and appears to be based on older concepts for the series. [[https://twitter.com/Morolian/status/1549101572491284482 There's]] a ''Twitter'' thread where a specialist precisely describes the intrigue of the game, pointing out the main features and how it diverges ([[spoiler:the island Marie is found on isn't under Neo Atlantean occupation but she has been welcomed, after her parents accidentally died, by the local tribe, Jean's father was an archaeologist who had been murdered by Gargoyle, Neo wasn't under MindControl but still made a HeroicSacrifice, Gargoyle was the one who destroyed Tartessos and Electra was a mole to him and, in the end, sacrifice her life to save Nemo, and finally, after Nemo dies, Nadia and Jean go to Egypt to plant the TreeOfLife; in addition, she had to sacrifice her ability to speak to animals]]). An English-language fan patch has been made.

* ''Fushigi no Umi no Nadia: Inherit the Blue Water'', released in 2005 on PlayStation2, is a VisualNovel divided in 10 chapters in which the player controls Jean. Two new characters are introduced: Sofia Rockfeld, heir of a wealthy American family and who owns a Blue Water too, and her maid Lazu [[spoiler:who's really a spy for Gargoyle]]. It is also a DatingSim: depending of his choices, Jean can end up with Nadia but also with Grandis, Marie, Electra or Sofia.

* FriendToAllLivingThings: Nadia, though she's suspicious of most adults.*
FullyAutomaticClipShow: A good twenty minutes straight of the movie.

* SpiritualSuccessor: ''Nadia'' has certain similarities to [[Creator/HayaoMiyazaki Miyazaki]]'s ''Laputa: Anime/CastleInTheSky''; the original plot outline/treatment was written by Miyazaki himself back in the 70s – pre-''Laputa,'' and in fact reused by Miyazaki for his film.

Books have also been made from the serie.

* DoesNotLikeShoes: Not overtly, but Jean can be seen often barefoot when lounging in their room in the Nautilus and/or when getting a change of clothes. Also, in the Spanish dub, Nadia claims to love the chance to be barefoot when they go to the beach.

** Electra, as in ''ElectraComplex'', which basically sums up her relationship with Nemo. She's also close to Electra of mythology. Her main motivation is revenge against the people who killed her parents. [[spoiler:At one point, she even threatens to take it out on her adoptive father.]]

Since Gainax had no way to earn money with the series, they were incentivized to make as many spin-offs and derivative products as needed to break even. None were ever released outside Japan. Among these games were:

(Also little known: director Creator/HideakiAnno recuted the show into a six-hour compilation released only in Japan called "The Nautilus Story." Also he changed some scenes of the show for the LD-Box release as "Perfect Edition")