History YMMV / NadiaTheSecretOfBlueWater

* BizarroEpisode:
** The Island/Africa episodes (23-34), save 30 (well, parts of it anyway) and 31. All you need to know about them is: Jean, Nadia, Marie, and King wash up on an island and meet up with Grandis, Sanson, Hanson, and Ayerton on another island. At this point, one can watch 30 and 31 and skip right to 35.
** Also the sequel movie, which was not produced by Gainax, has nothing to do with the original plot, and recycles over half an hour of footage (a third of its runtime).

** There are no fans of the aforementioned sequel movie, ''[[TheMovie "Nadia: The Motion Picture"]]'', mainly due to the fact that Gainax was forced to opt out at the beginning of production and ultimately had nothing involved with it[[note]]While they are listed as the studio that animated it on Website/MyAnimeList, the animation was actually done by Sogo Vision, who did work on some of the TV series, but were not in charge[[/note]], as well as the fact that it had major [[ContinuitySnarl flaws in continuity]], and reset most of the CharacterDevelopment.
** Sentai Filmworks evidently feels the same way. The Movie was excluded from their Complete Series DVD and Blu-Ray Sets when they reissued ''Nadia'' in 2014, which is a contrast to the original ADV Complete Sets in the mid-2000s, which ''had'' included the Movie. The 2022 reissue by [=GKids=] similarly excludes the Movie from the Blu-Ray set.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Even if it was butchered with censorship, odd original music and a divisive dub, the anime became a minor success in Spain, where it was titled ''Nadia: The Mystery of the Blue Gemstone'' and broadcast in the good old times of Telecinco in TheNineties.

* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: [[spoiler: Ensign Fait. While his death in Episode 15 is one of the show's most powerful moments, it's also arguably undermined by Fait only having been introduced in that episode (and not even having been seen as an Extra in the ''Nautilus'' crew shots). Had Jean befriended Fait in the preceding episodes once they came aboard the ''Nautilus'', his death would've been even more of a gut punch for Jean and the audience.]]
* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: The movie arguably. While Episode 39 gives the series closure, [[spoiler: the Distant Epilogue doesn't allow ''Nadia'' to explore the repercussions of Gargoyle taking the Secret War public. It's also plausible and realistic that not every Neo-Atlantean would've been aboard ''Red Noah'' when it went down. Having surviving Neo-Atlanteans operating from the shadows and without the oversight of Gargoyle (and possibly even tying them into the lead-up to the First World War) could've been an interesting, compelling storyline if it had been executed differently.]]

* WTHCastingAgency: The Spanish dub features a slight base breaking with the casting of Jaione Insausti, who is sometimes criticized for sounding too childish for a teenager like Nadia, and Maribel Legarreta, who is criticized for sounding too ''adult'' for Marie.

* OohMeAccentsSlipping:
** In ADV's dub, Jean speaks with a French accent which is noticeably inconsistent in at least the first couple of episodes. Keep in mind, though, that his actor Nathan Parsons was only twelve years old when he did the part, and otherwise the accent works in favor of the character. He gradually improves on the accent as the show progresses. Parsons even admitted on the original DVD interview that it took him several episodes to really get the hang of it.
** Critics have often (and unfairly) attacked the ADV dub, declaring it "unlistenable" on account of the accents alone, never mind that this is a show where the characters are ''supposed'' to be European. To the average listener, however, the accents work in favor of the story, and other critics, like Bryan Hensen at Anime Jump, Ryan Matthews at The Dub Track, and Brett Barkley from Mania all commended the dub, overlooking its accents and acknowledging the solid performances throughout.
** It should also be noted that some of the characters Nadia, Marie, Hanson, and the Sonar Officer speak with neutral accents in the ADV dub. (The dub directors said that this was to work in favor of Nadia being all over the world and not having had time to adopt an accent.)

** Despite being voted as the favorite anime heroine in the famous Japanese magazine ''Animage'', Nadia has had her fair share of detractors overseas, who find her whiny and unlikable. Ironically, even much the Japanese staff of Gainax shared the view of said overseas detractors.