A while back I watched this show that I've seen been mentioned looking at Mysterious Cities of Gold and other animes with a coherent story or even western shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender. Pretty decent, nice animation, interesting story and I really like the steam punk setting and the Jules Verne inspirations. It's about this kid Jean who is an inventor creating flying machines and show them of the Paris world fair in the 1880's I believe. There he meet Nadia who he helps escape the Grandis gang that are after her Blue Water (some jewel). After escaping out on the sea they are picked up by the American navy who are searching for a sea monster that sinks vessels all over the oceans. The ship is attacked and the children fall into the water where they are picked up by the Nautilus (a twist to the Verne story is that Captain Nemo is hunting the one doing the actual sinking). Nemo lets them of the closest inhabited island which turns out to be overrun by the Neoatlantians (yes, you are supposed to think Neonazis). Here the kids find Maria, a little girl who was left under her killed parents... what is it with the Japanese and dead parents... and now flashbacks of it, my god. Anyway, they get captured since the leader Gargoyle wants the Blue Water and uses the other kids as pressure points on Nadia. Somehow the Nautilus appears and save the day and picks up the kids and the Grandis gang (who now reforms) and set out once more to stop the Neoatlantians and Gargoyle from achieving their goal of world domination.
Really, well worth watching although it can be pretty dark for kids. One episode introduces this mechanic that helps Jean with his interactions with Nadia, but the Nautilus is cornered by the American fleet, lured there by the Neoatlantians and hit it so hard a radiation leak occurs trapping three mechanics in the machine room (you guessed it, one was introduced earlier in the episode). Since they can't submerge the captain orders lock down, sealing their fate. Jean runs toward the engine room and uses the com-system to beg of them to rethink. The mechanic says it's the only way and he has no regrets. Silence... and then his screams of agony as the radiation is killing him and how he wished he could do so much more and then... silence. That is pretty gut wrenching.
In the end the Japanese go all out. Nemo is a former king of the last Atlantean kingdom in existence and Atlantis originated from space coming on three ships where one is THE Arc and Nautilus is is of course a space ship that can travel everywhere. The goal of Gargoyle is to take control of a satellite controlled by the so called Tower of Babel and deliver the judgment of God since humans are inferior to the Atlantian race. Of course it turns out that Gargoyle himself is human, accepted to become prime minister by Nemo in his kingdom, a truth he didn't know until he died. Like all genocidal dictator, you are what you hate and such.
Some complaints occurs around episode 30 where there is 10 episodes with the kids stranded on a deserted island after the first Nautilus is badly damaged. The tone shift to some Warner Brothers cartoon and the animation clearly has a lower standard. I liked it enough, but many apparently didn't like the tone shift. so many argues to skip those. It's up to taste really since those episodes didn't impact the story more than take them from point A to point B.
Somehow I feel I already wrote about this show, but I can't find it
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