my humble opinion on 'Ashita no Nadja' ~ make me unsee it

there are a lot of spoilers - though I highly doubt anything can be spoilt in this anime by telling/showing something about the plot... >___<

there were two proper reasons for me to start watching this anime - Saiga Mitsuki voicing one (oh I am sorry, two) of the main characters (this fact being an impulse to want to watch) and the fact that the story takes place in the time and place I am interested in (this fact being an impulse to download and watch immediately). however, after I started watching, I realised only one of those two remained. guess which one? of course Saiga-sama

plot and story

the first several episodes were of a priceless importance to me. now I know there is one way to determine whether the anime is for children or not - I only need to try watching it without subtitles. the second reason why this anime is supposed to be for children is the simplicity of the plot and ideas conveyed. I am not saying those were hollow or lacked depth, I am only saying that everything looked like a fairytale taking place in reality

this simplicity sometimes got on my nerves greatly. I just couldn't close my eyes to the fact that Nadja would start singing and everybody stopped crying or quarreling immediately

...or that under the impression of Nadja's kindness Rita regained her ability to speak - and more than that, after she could speak, even her personality changed
...or that the characters spoke naturally to all the people in different countries, but didn't know what 'mamma mia' means
...or that Nadja learnt flamenco in a couple of days only after remembering her orphanage (and how did it help her? I didn't get it)
...or to a battle with pirates with cancan as an accompaniment when little children and women win over old sea wolves... o___O
'twas not even a half of the episodes I watched when I already got tired and decided simply to skip episodes or at least moments that didn't impress me
one should be prepared to see things like this

and SD and funny faces

and other features. of course, one of my favourite characters is 'Obaba' Anna. her genki-ness and positive attitude attracted me, but more than that I adore her slyness and ready wit

though there were other enterprising characters like an old man selling 'Jeanne's cement' in the place where Jeanne D'Arc lived...

'tis also praiseworthy that the authors paid attention to the epoch and places some characteristic items like the Art-Nouveau paintings on the wall here. who cares that the paintings were the same in every house they visited?

were there other kinds of episodes at all? yes, there were - sometimes, as if the director and screenplay writer were different, the episodes were not the fairy-tale-happy-end ones, and looked much more realistic. I could probably say I wish there were more episodes like this... if not for the fact that I actually don't approve this way either. the real end of those storylines came only several episodes later, or even before the very end of the anime, so the structure is pretty interesting and unusual, but what frustrates me greatly is the fact that still no moral or conclusion (or just something) could be drawn from those episodes
in the end, one may wonder why I didn't drop it long ago. there was only one thing that made me go on - oh, but have I ever mentioned how I love Saiga-sama? every time her characters appeared I forgot everything and listened to her magnificent voice
romance is an important point here. it exists, yes, but please don't forget that this is a very strange kind of shoujo. to put it mildly, I saw nothing special about this average IEE heroine Nadja
oh but really, is she not just a typical 'canon' heroine? always 'genki', but immediately turns into a crying damsel when it comes to pitying other people, or into a maiden in love who can't even understand which guy she loves...

at first sight, her romance is full of rose petals and sparkling stars - just like a usual shoujo must be

though... did you notice how Keith was whipped in a very fanservice-ish way? did you believe this was a really necessary detail?
and I have to admit that sometimes the direction was unexpectedly good in the episodes where Francis or Keith appeared. I liked a lot the structure of the episode about Granada with nice 'camera angles' and a bit strange but attractive dialogues

and also tricks like this

however, what I felt after those episodes was not an absolute bliss. something inside told me that there is a contradiction... my intuition and my experience, probably, but first of all - my imperturbable sense of balance. if 'Ashita no Nadja' were an average shoujo for young schoolgirls, that would be ok, but this feeling lasted only up to ep. 8 - after that, each new episode was completely different from the previous. this one is a comedy about searching for a treasure, and suddenly this one reveals all the sins of the aristocrats of those days... this one is a romantic fairy-tale and that one suddenly ruins it all. dear people from Toei, I considered your studio one of the best in creating classical shoujo, and non-shoujo, too, but could you please determine whether you do a normal shoujo or not?
what became the last straw is the fact that in the manga there was no Keith and therefore Francis was the Black Rose. the manga story seems to be much more like a shoujo is supposed to be. though this means being plain, I would rather see that kind of story, because this would at least make some sense. yes, it would, and the idea about two brothers does not

music

from the beginning I was quite skeptical about the music. the OP theme is performed by Honda Minako-san, one of my favourite singers ever, but the song itself is boring and sounds like an average 'genki' one. the ED theme performed by Nadja's seiyuu - Koshimizu-san - was the same, but even cuter. I dislike songs like this, so I was disappointed. and I was even more disappointed when I heard Koshimizu-san singing a capella - her voice turned out to be even worse that it seemed from the beginning. on the other hand, I've heard seiyuus with much worse voices chosen to sing an a capella insert songs, so I have to admit Koshimizu-san is not the worst seiyuu-singer ever
however, the background music and insert songs redeem for this fact completely. I especially adore the episode about travelling musician Raphael, or the constantly repeated waltz - on balls, in the orgel, etc., but other themes were also beautiful. well, in the end I never bothered to download the OST. listening to music from the anime I dislike is a rare thing for me

seiyuus
did I mention that I started watching because of Saiga-sama??? I can repeat many times how much I love her voice but now I am not happy that she did her job in 'Nadja'. her voicing Jing is forever my favourite
other seiyuus were ok, though the most memorable got only minor roles, like a young woman Simone whose necklace was stolen by Kurobara in the end - voiced by Araki Kae-san, which surprised me, or Carmen, or a young boy in Italy who wanted to give the brooch to his granny, etc. perhaps I can praise Orikasa-san as well, her singing voice was nice, though I cannot say she impressed me a lot with her speaking

graphics

well there were two types of pictures - static backgrounds looking pretty good and detailed

 and sometimes tasty 'close-ups'

sometimes I adored the level of details and accuracy

but sometimes you know... the unnecessary 3D was unbearably odd and rough

and the characters were very, very simply drawn, with minimum lines and colours and shadows

conclusion
logic that I will never be able to perceive. in the end, can't we simply acknowledge that Nadja is a girl who can't understand her own feelings, but while gathering a huge harem (I counted 10 guys, can you count more?) - never bothered to understand their feelings fully? moreover, am I, the spectator, supposed to admire this heroine?

and the guys... to mention only the two main ones - Keith was probably able to see dozens of other girls to choose among. Francis had Marianne by his side who always admired him and knew him very well. I only cannot understand... why did they both - and many other people - fall for, or at least were enchanted with, such a good-for-nothing girl....?
there were a lot of good points - some I mentioned, some I probably forgot already, but the absolute epic fail in creating the main heroine simply made them all 'null and void'

p. s. Saiga-sama... why did you agree to take part in this anime... I wish you never did...  make me unsee it all
p. p. s. and Engrish is killing me again...