ADV Films presents

Nadia, The Secret of Blue Water #9: Nadia in Love (1989)

"I'm afraid to know everything. I'm afraid it will all become real."- Nadia (Yoshino Takumori/Meg Bauman)

Stars: Yoshino Takumori, Noriko Hidaka, Muko Mizutani, Kumiko Takizawa, Minoru Inaba, Motomu Kiyokawa, Akio Otsuka, Koshi Tsujitani, Katsihei Yamaguchi, Masuhi Ebura
Other Stars: Meg Bauman, Nathan Parsons, Margaret Cassidy, Sarah Richardson, Ken Webster, David Joes, Ev Lunning Jr., Jason Phelps, Cory Cruser
Director: Hideaki Anno

Manufacturer: M.O.F.C.
MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (violence, nudity, suggested for 12+)
Run Time: 01h:41m:22s
Release Date: 2002-06-04
Genre: anime

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B+	B+	B+	B	C-

 

DVD Review

Well, here we are nine volumes later and young Jean and Nadia are still in trouble, largely thanks to the mysterious Blue Water gem that Nadia wears around her neck. But things are clearly nearing a climax in this penultimate volume, but first there is a matter of romance to get through.

Finally in Africa, Nadia meets young Hamahama and falls madly in love. At the same time, King has been captured by Gonzalez, former lover of Grandis, and she may still have feelings for him as well. But their affections lead to big trouble and a daring rescue is called for. Meanwhile, Jean must come to terms with his own feelings and their frustration by Nadia's willfulness. And the secrets of Nadia's homeland beckon the group on.

Nadia's character continues to develop in interesting ways in these installments, growing more complex and intriguing. Her relationship with Jean undergoes ever more changes, and some old foes and friends make a reappearance as well.

Episode 34 is an amusing oddity, a musical episode (long before the Buffy episode made headlines), with most of the characters getting to set their feelings forth in song. Most amusing is the love ballad Jean performs for Nadia, accompanied by his automatic ukulele. Their many-faceted relationship is given a comic airing here, much to Nadia's increasing fury. Little Marie gets a memorable tune as well, complaining of how boring all the adults are.

By the end of this volume, with only three episodes to go, many secrets are unfolded: Nadia returns to her homeland, and the mysteries of her ancestry are finally unraveled. Oh yes, and the Secret of the Blue Water itself is also revealed at last.

Rating for Style: B+
Rating for Substance: B+

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: The low quality inserts that I've complained about before are mostly gone, but a few still stick out like sore thumbs in these episodes. In general, however, the program continues to look sharp and bright thoughout, with solid and rich colors. On a few occasions aliasing is evident on diagonal lines, but generally this looks quite nice.

Image Transfer Grade: B+
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English, Japanese	yes

Audio Transfer Review: Both the English and Japanese tracks are presented in 2.0. The music and dialogue are quite clear and hiss-free. Very little surround activity is evident outside of the occasional explosions and the sounds of the Gratan as it moves about, and directionality is limited. It gets the job done.

Audio Transfer Grade: B 

Disc Extras

Static menu with music
Scene Access with 16 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English with remote access
Packaging: generic plastic keepcase
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extra Extras:

1. Interview with voice actor Nathan Parsons (Jean)
2. Preview of vol. 10
3. Previews for six other ADV discs

Extras Review: The text interview on vol. 8 is followed up here by a similar interview with the voice actor portraying Jean on the English language track. Again, it's not profound, but I found it interesting nonetheless to find out a bit about these characters (and to learn that the French accent wasn't his fault; it was forced upon him). A very brief preview of the final volume gives away almost nothing of its content beyond whetting the viewer's appetite for the conclusion. Wrapping up the package are brief and generally cryptic previews of Soul Hunter, Princess Nine, Power Stone, Excel Saga, Steel Angel Kurumi and Wild Arms.

Extras Grade: C-
 

Final Comments

The story continues to provide fun character moments as it nears its end, with plenty of pyrotechnics and even some musical numbers to boot. The usual fine transfer is present, as is a brief text interview with Jean's English voice actor.

Mark Zimmer 2002-09-19