Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (Season 1)

Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water (1990) is a Gainax adventure anime you can watch online on iFILM. The year is 1889, an age of steam and the first flying machines, and the world's shipping lanes are rattled by wrecks no one can explain — sailors whisper about a sea monster prowling the deep.

At the heart of it is Nadia, a fourteen-year-old circus performer who wears a strange blue gem. A band of treasure-hunters led by the imperious Grandis wants that jewel, and at the Paris World's Fair a young inventor named Jean comes to her rescue, whisking her off in his homebuilt aircraft. When the engine quits over open water, the pair are pulled aboard a warship hunting the "monster" — a trail that leads straight to Captain Nemo and the submarine Nautilus. Jules Verne's bones are here, reshaped into a sweeping saga about a lost Atlantis and the schemes of the villain Gargoyle.

This was one of Gainax's early calling cards, years before Evangelion, and it carries the same blend of wide-eyed adventure and uncomfortably grown-up questions about identity and belonging. Warm character art, real emotional stakes, and a story that turns surprisingly dark before the end. Stream every episode of Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water online on iFILM.