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Nadia TV series

The story is loosely based on Jules Verne's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, perhaps inspired by would be a better term. Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water is a rich and well crafted work about a young inventor, Jean, who meets a young dark skinned circus performer, Nadia, and helps her escape from a woman with two thugs who are trying to get Nadia and the blue gem she is wearing around her neck.

After their dramatic escape Jean and Nadia end up setting out to find about her past, and so the adventure begins as they are pursued by more than one group after the gem. But I'm getting ahead of the events in the first few episodes.

Made for NHK, the Japanese public broadcasting system.

Nausicaa: Valley of the Wind - Movie

The tale of a young princess from a small kingdom who is drawn into a war by a powerful allied state. The setting is a world where there are few places left for people to live, much of the world is covered by large poisonous forests inhabited by large insects, incests who when agnered attack and spread deadly spores enlarging the forest.

Neon Genesis Evangelion TV series

The highly acclaimed TV series from Gainax this was aimed at an older audience and is a science fiction extravaganza that is more about human feelings and trust than dealing with some very alien attackers. Many of the staff who worked on Nadia also worked on this title. If you have seen Nadia you will recognize many references to that earlier series.

There is also a manga series.

Cultural Details: Foods, etiquette, locations.

Cautions: Violence and nudity.