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Rating: 
Summary: Even better than the first one!
Review: In the second volume of the 39-part TV series NADIA - THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER, Nadia, King, and Jean end up stranded on an island that appears deserted at first. But NO! There is a sinister cult organization, the Neo Atlanteans, ruled by the mysterious and very sinister Gargoyle, who have built this incredibly powerful tower that can wipe out an entire island in one strike! Nadia is kidnapped by Gargoyle, and Jean must rescue her. But in doing so, he teams up with unexpected allies - Grandis, and her two bumbling assistants, Sanson and Hanson (Picking up on a theme here?), who have been chasing them all this time! (Similarities to CASTLE IN THE SKY here.) Can they rescue her in time?Finding out will have you glued to the screen and clinging to the edge of your seat. In addition, the mood of the story changes from a lighthearted adventure (which is what the first DVD was) to a more dark, brooding struggle for survival. We are also introduced to an adorable new character, a little girl named Marie, who very much reminds me of Mei from MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO. She has a lot of the same qualities that made her so lovable. The scenes where she picks flowers with King and throws tantrums about being hungry (yelling "Mama-mama-mama-mama-mama-mama, I'm hungry!!!") are precocious, and we find ourselves growing attached to her. But the first episode which we meet her in ends rather sadly; her parents (and pet dog) have been gunned down by Gargoyle's men, and she doesn't realize that they are dead... until Jean and Nadia finally reveal it to her in the episode's heartbreaking ending scene, where they stand praying by the grave. That, and everything else about the four episodes contained on here make this DVD even better than the first NADIA. I wouldn't recommend picking this up as a first choice; I'd suggest purchasing NADIA VOL. 1 first, and then this one afterwards. That way, you'll be able to follow the story through. (In fact, this is the best advice to follow when picking up the remaining eight -!- DVDs that are to be released!) As for the DVD, the qualities of the video and audio departments remain the same. The English dub is even more decent than the first one - Nathan Parsons's attempt at a French accent offended me somewhat on the first NADIA DVD, but somehow it didn't bother me here. Perhaps it's because he has finally hit the mark. Meg Bauman, for her part, has only gotten better as Nadia. And Sarah Richardson, Corey Gagne, and Martin Blacker are as hammy as ever as Grandis and her henchmen. The new voice actors are also good. Eleven year old Margaret Cassidy is perfect as little Marie; her childishly cute voice wins us all over. Her laughs are infectious, her cries are sympathetic, and she offers some of the best lines. David Jones as Gargoyle sounds a little flat (I expected something more menacing), but it was probably intended that way, and it seems more than appropriate. Again, the subtitle script is changed for the dub, but not drastically, and the accents aren't as bothersome this time around. The extras are identical to that of the first one (textless opening and ending, trailers), but the menus are a boost; the water and clouds look more realistic, and flow by even more impressively than they did on the first one. If you haven't gotten this DVD yet (along with the first NADIA DVD), it is highly recommended that you do, and soon.
Rating:
Summary: Action, drama, excitement, and more!
Review: The second installment of NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER is arguably the best of the ten volumes (until Volume 10), and, even if one decides to stop watching the show by the time Volume 2 comes to an end, he/she will feel as they've watched truly first-class entertainment. There's action sequences, truly maniacal villains, and just enough emotional trauma to keep viewers engrossed. And each episode only builds one's interest, encouraging him/her to keep on watching until the grand climax.
It starts off with Nadia, Jean, and King (her pet lion cub) getting shot down from their aeroplane over a strange island. The two seem to be falling for each other as they work together to survive in this mysterious new world which happens to be filled with danger. Little do they know that Grandis, Sanson and Hanson have also ended up on the island and are continuing to pursue them. But the tables become abruptly turned when it is revealed that an evil cult organization is governing the island.
This organization is Neo-Atlantis, whose inhabitants constantly go around wearing menacing-looking masks, almost to suggest the Nazis or any other powerhungry army in real life. Its leader, Gargoyle, is one of the most unusual villains in any Anime I've seen to date. Like his fellow soldiers, he, too, hides his face behind a mask, covers his head in a tall hood, but he wears a red suit and black tie. He's not an over-the-top monster like, say, Wagnard from RECORD OF LODOSS WAR, but a cruel, calculating, misanthropic fiend obsessed with world conquest. He's also manipulative, sarcastic, and very deadly -- he threatens to kill anybody he pleases, and taps into other people's weaknesses in order to make them do his bidding. He even employs a supercharged weapon, the Tower of Babel, which can wipe out an entire island in one blast... much to his glee and delight. "It is glorious! The world will know the wrath of God once again, and they will kneel in fear to our authority!" he gloats as he observes the destruction of one such island, demonstrated by the power of his weapon.
In their efforts to stay alive, Nadia, Jean, and King encounter a little girl named Marie (an absolutely adorable cutie who is the spitting image of Mei from MY NEIGHBOR TOTORO), whose parents, we find out, have been gunned down by the Neo-Atlanteans. Marie and King are both captured by the soldiers, and Nadia and Jean sneak into the secret base to rescue them, only to have Nadia be captured herself. In Gargoyle's clutches, Nadia is brutally interrogated and almost forced to betray Jean by revealing that she left the Blue Water with him before turning herself in. Jean nevertheless is determined to rescue her, and, in doing so, finds unlikely allies in Grandis, Sanson, and Hanson, who are also captives at the base.
To reveal anything more would be giving major spoilers, but the buildup in this volume is so spectacular you'll wish it would stay that way throughout the show. (More on that in a later review, however.) The artwork is imaginative and spectacular for a 1990 Anime TV series, and the music, which started out as a bit bland, turns dark and mysterious, like the show. What makes this volume stand above the rest is that it can be watched as an individual adventure *without* seeing the first installment. It's suspenseful, action-packed, and full of interesting twists and turns which will leave you dangling on the edge of your seat.
ADV Films' second DVD continues to share the same great qualities as its predecessor, video and audio wise, even though the extras have remained unchanged. I spotchecked the Japanese language track, and while it's good for the most part, I'm not sure if I liked the voices of Marie or Sanson. Marie sounded too high-pitched and Sanson too deep. Fortunately, the dub does not suffer from this problem. The principals from the first volume continue to display great work (even Jean's French accent becomes less distracting as the show goes on), and the voices for the new characters introduced are well matched. Eleven-year-old Margaret Cassidy -- the third of the child performers which make the dub special -- plays Marie, and she does an excellent job sounding like a cute little girl. Her childish voice is convincing, her giggling endearing, her cries mournful, and she offers some of the best lines too. Cassidy's biggest moment, however, is to sound stressed and frightened as she recalls the death of her parents. This is a very demanding scene which requires a lot of emotion to pull off, and Cassidy truly shines here -- a rare feat for child actresses at any age. Gargoyle's English VA, David Jones, was the one voice that I found to be questionable. The problem isn't that Jones doesn't do a good job, but his inflections of Gargoyle are a rather different contrast to that of Motomu Kiyokawa. Rather than sounding menacing and scary, Jones instead comes off as casual, sarcastic, and arrogant. However, this is all in line with the character. If the dub directors were trying to emphasize his attitude a little bit more, then Jones succeeds in doing so. Despite this debatable performance, Monster Island's dub of NADIA is good work, and probably one of their most underrated efforts.
The quality of the show varied after this volume (the Nautilus episodes are on the same level as these four episodes, however), but the second addition to NADIA: THE SECRET OF BLUE WATER remains a classic.
Rating:
Summary: A 5 STAR DVD!
Review: This is the best DVD i ever bought! The story is good! The characters are good! every thing is great! that's why this is a 5 star DVD!
Rating:
Summary: A 5 STAR DVD!
Review: This is the best DVD i ever bought! The story is good! The characters are good! every thing is great! that's why this is a 5 star DVD!
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