Forum - View topicNadia--The Secret of Blue Water Tokuma Shoten Picture Books
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TurnerJ
Posts: 481 Location: Highland Park, NJ |
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Just today I purchased from amazon.co.jp the Tokuma Shoten Picture book editions of "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water." Priced at 1500 yen each, these two books are a simplified retelling of the series. While the basic plot remains the same, there are some notable differences and omissions that intrigued me. (NOTE: This could be very detailed and plagued with spoilers, so if you haven't seen this series yet, turn back now. You have been forewarned!)
--At the beginning of the adaptation, Jean does not pursue Nadia to the Eiffel Tower, but to the circus. He then rescues Nadia with his airplane and instead of heading back to LeHarve, they crash-land into the sea and are picked up by the American battleship Abraham. --Jean and Nadia's first stay on the Nautilus is noticeably shorter. (They don't have the shower scene or the first Garfish battle.) --The important parts of their adventure on Gargoyle's island are also highlighted--finding Marie, confessing her parents' fate, Grandis and her boys getting kidnapped, Marie and King captured, Nadia turning herself in to save Jean, the Tower of Babel demonstration, and the rescue, etc. --The Nautilus arc is squashed down to 47 pages, and the scenes which are cut include: 1. Jean, Hanson, and Sanson saving the submarine from Gargoyle's underwater trap. 2. The hunting trip on the island which involves Grandis's story about her lovelife, the chase sequence with Marie, Sanson, and the mechanical crab, and the trip to Reef 64. 3. Ensign Fait and Irion the Whale never appear. Since I liked both of these characters so much, it was a little disappointing, but understandable. 4. Nadia's blind hatred of Nemo, and the latter saving her from being shot by the Neo-Atlantean soldier is skipped over. 5. The development of Jean and Nadia's relationship are omitted or condensed; Nadia no longer lashes out impulsively, there's no disagreements about meat, killing, or technology, etc. In all fairness, these episodes handled these issues in a realistic, believable way, but on the second half they were so overdone that it no longer made their relationship convincing or realistic. 6. The tension of jealousy between Electra and Grandis (over Captain Nemo's love), and later Nadia and Electra (the former over her fear of stealing Jean away and the latter about losing Nemo's affections to his daughter). 7. After the funeral at Atlantis (where Jean learns about his father's fate), the book skips over episodes 17-20 (which involve Jean building a new plane for Nadia, the battle with the Nautilus shellfish, the Antarctica base, and Jean's latest invention alerting Gargoyle's battleships to attention). 8. The battle between Nautilus and the Neo-Atlan battleship is simplified. (i.e. The battleship no longer attempts to transfer Nadia onboard.) 9. At the climax of the Nautilus arc, Electra does not pull a gun on Nemo (nor does she reveal the tragic past of Tartessos--or Nemo's connection to Nadia). That all comprises the first book. In the second, we have the following.... --Jean, Nadia, and Marie's stay on the deserted island (Lincoln Island) is noticeably (and thankfully) cut down to two pages. No more psycho-Nadia, hallucinogenic mushrooms, silly dream sequences, or overblown food disputes (YAY!!!). Sadly, Jean and Nadia do not kiss under the stars either, but on the other hand, we don't have Nadia stupidly doing so to a stoned Jean… or going uncharacteristically crazy at him for not knowing about it, so that's a relief. 
--The floating island/Red Noah sequence is also shortened and/or altered--after a brief page summary of the island appearing after a storm, we jump straight to Ayerton--and they don't have to pull him out of the sand, either. (And, even though my Japanese isn't all that good, it appears that he remembers them.) --On the following page (12-13) Jean, Nadia, and Marie are reunited with the Grandis gang, they don't do that super speedy dash around the island. --After this, the book jumps straight to Jean and Nadia's discovery of the factory beneath the Floating Island; the scenes which involve Nadia's meals causing Jean to faint, the King VS. King race, and Ayerton making his move on Grandis, etc. are all gone. Sadly, so is Nadia's explanation on why she's such a strict vegetarian. --The only legitimate island episode, "Farewell Red Noah" is now 12 pages long; interestingly, when Red Noah gives Nadia that long lecture about the Atlanteans landing on Earth, he also mentions Nemo's destruction of Tartessos, where the kingdom itself is located, as well as Electra's story from episode 22 (which explains #9 in the Nautilus changes). --In that same chapter, when Jean returns to rescue Nadia, he does so before the island begins to sink. --After that, the book jumps straight to the final five episodes--the African adventure story (which involves the stereotyped village, sacred treasures of food or juice, Grandis's ex-fiance, and Nadia treating Jean like dirt for no reason while being infatuated with some bland villager) is gone. YAHOO!!! (I always believed that sub-story never belonged in the continuity of the script anyway, so good riddance!) --The "singing" episode is also gone; while I didn't hate that episode as much as others did, I do have to confess that it was pretty unnecessary (although I do like that the English voice actors sing.) --The final five episodes play out from pages 34 to 109, with few changes-- 1. Nadia does not rant about how "evil" she is or attempt suicide, but sadly, we don't celebrate her birthday, either. (Pity, I liked those moments) 2. Our pals' reunion with Electra and Nemo as well as the New Nautilus are shortened, and we don't have a demonstration of the battleship's awesome electron turret power. 3. Tartessos is not destroyed again; and Gargoyle does not lecture Nadia about humans being creations of Atlanteans (neither does Jean receive any similar lesson from Electra). 4. The New Nautilus no longer stops at that island to let off much of its crew members (including Ayerton, the Nurse, or Marie and King). 5. The battle between Red Noah and New Nautilus omits two details--the destruction of the red saucer's electromagnetic barrier, and Grandis and co., sacrificing the Gratan to destroy the power center. 6. Nemo does not order Jean to shoot Nadia. 7. Electra is not electrocuted. 8. The revelation that Gargoyle is a human doesn't seem to be made, and we don't find out who the mysterious voice inside the Blue Water is. 9. At the epilogue, we don't find out what happened to Grandis, Sanson, Hanson, Marie, or even Electra. All in all, it was a very interesting abridged version. While I was a little surprised at how the books cut out some of the best parts of the show, considering the limitations, the author did a credible job. The best part is that all the bad stuff from the latter half is gone. I figured this would be very interesting for all you "Nadia" afficionados (me included). -Jon T. |
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Callik
 Posts: 12 Location: North America/ Not Mexico |
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Oh my.... Well at least that stuff about the shrooms was gone, but it sounds like they took out alot of what made that show truly memorable.
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TurnerJ
Posts: 481 Location: Highland Park, NJ |
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When adapting one thing to another medium, there are some changes to be expected. I'm at least glad they didn't include the aforementioned mushroom sequence and especially the African tribal village--both of those were the absolute worst parts about Nadia as a show. -Jon T. |
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