GKIDS, the New York-based film producer and distributor of animation for all ages, announced that it has acquired the North American rights to the 1990 anime series Nadia: The Secrets of Blue Water, and will be releasing it this year on home entertainment platforms with a new 4K restoration.
The animated series hails from acclaimed director Hideaki Anno, showcasing his early directorial vision before he went on to create the popular, critically-praised anime, Neon Genesis Evangelion, which GKIDS also released last year in North America on Blu-ray.
Loosely based on Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Nadia: The Secrets of Blue Water is set in the 19th century, specifically in 1889, a time when the world is on the apex of amazing technological discoveries. It’s the year of the Paris Exposition Universelle, and people from all around the world are coming to the capital of France to witness the latest scientific accomplishments. While attending the fair, young inventor Jean Roque Lartigue meets Nadia, the mysterious protagonist who holds in her possession a sought-after crystal known as Blue Water. When an evil being called Gargoyle, who is obsessed with restoring the Atlantean empire, starts putting his plans of taking over the world into motion, Nadia, Jean, and Captain Nemo aboard the submarine Nautilus must work together to save the world.
The studios behind the series are Toho and Korad. Anno directed Nadia: The Secrets of Blue Water, with Yoshiyuki Sadamoto in charge of the character design, Katsunori Shimizu working as sound director, and Shiro Sagisu as musical composer. Nadia: The Secrets of Blue Water has 39 episodes, with a total run time of over 16 hours.
Since 2010, GKIDS has scored 12 Best Animated Feature nominations at the Academy Awards. The company also handles North American distribution for Studio Ghibli films, which include famous titles like Spirited Away, My Neighbor Totoro, and Princess Mononoke. In addition, the producer-distributor hosts the Los Angeles-based Animation Is Film festival, which embraces animation as any worthy cinematic art form.
Nadia: Secrets of Blue Water was previously released on DVD and Blu-ray by Sentai Filmworks. As of right now, there is no concrete release date for the GKIDS 4K restoration version, but it is expected to come out sometime this year.