Anime as we know it wouldn’t exist without Evangelion, and Evangelion wouldn’t exist without the executives at Gainax forcing Nadia’s creators to shoehorn in an entirely new story arc mid-production because the ratings were so good. So in a weird way, Nadia and its creation is responsible for the shape of the modern anime landscape. And when he finally returned to the director’s chair, he channeled those mental health struggles into his new project, resulting in the absolute game-changer that was Neon Genesis Evangelion. The show’s tumultuous production was so destructive to Anno’s mental health that he stayed away from directing another project for years. Originally a pitch from Hayao Miyazaki himself, it was eventually picked up to be directed by Hideaki Anno, a man who’s creative sensibilities couldn’t be farther from Miyazaki’s if he tried. If nothing else, the circumstances of Nadia’s creation are fascinating enough to engage with on their own. And sadly, that’s exactly what happened with Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water. I want to like old anime, and I’m sure there’s plenty of stuff I’ll love that I just haven’t found yet, but a lot of the time, engaging with anime’s history means running into barriers that I’m not always able to overcome. Or maybe some of this stuff just straight-up sucked and we were too young or inexperienced with the medium to realize. Maybe it’s the difference of growing up in a post-Evangelion world and finding it hard to return to anime that were made before that franchise’s overwhelming influence. Maybe it’s a disconnect with the visual and thematic aesthetics of the time compared to how modern anime looks and feels. As many excellent shows and movies as I’ve seen in the years before the new millennium, a lot of stuff from back then has just not aged well. But I tend to drag my heels on it because, well, me and old anime don’t always get along. It’s an oversight I know I need to correct there’s plenty of great stuff to be found in anime’s long history, and I’d be doing myself a disservice if my only experience with this medium’s past came in the form of Miyazaki movies (as fantastic as those movies may be).
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