GKIDS Acquire 'Nadia: The Secret Of Blue Water' For Home Entertainment Release

GKIDS Films are best known as a theatrical distributor of animated films. In more recent years however they have diversified, premiering some titles on home video formats. They have also made the move into television, with the releases of Neon Genesis Evangelion, Ronja The Robber's Daughter and Future Boy Conan.

Although they haven't released many series, they have been very selective with the titles they pick up, picking prestigious series with impressive pedigrees. That's just as true with the new series about to join this select club: Nadia: Secret Of Blue Water.

Originally aired in Japan in 1990, the series was an early title from the fan-favorite studio Gainax and directed by Hideaki Anno, the studio and director that would bring us Evangelion just five years later. Not only that, but it also reportedly came from an original idea from one Hayao Miyazaki inspired by the works of Jules Verne, in particular his classic novel Twenty Thousand Leagues Under The Sea.

It’s 1889 and people from around the globe are flocking to Paris to see scientific achievements at the Exposition Universelle despite rumors of dangers lurking in the oceans. While attending the fair, teenaged inventor Jean meets Nadia, a mysterious girl who possesses a highly sought-after crystal called Blue Water. Pursued by nefarious forces, the pair journey by sea and by sky to escape their would-be captors and to discover the secret of the crystal. 

The 39-episode series (and accompanying movie) has previously been available on DVD and Blu-Ray in the US, most recently from Sentai Filmworks. The new GKIDS release will be the best looking one so far, coming from a new 4K restoration. GKIDS will be releasing the series on home entertainment formats sometime this year, but more specific details are to be announced at a later date.