Kit Review

Straight build

Size comparison with a cigarette pack.
It's about 33cm long.

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus (1/6)

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus (2/6)

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus (3/6)

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus (4/6)

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus (5/6)

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus (6/6)

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus - Detail shots. (1/8)

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus - Detail shots. (2/8)

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus - Detail shots. (3/8)

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus - Detail shots. (4/8)

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus - Detail shots. (5/8)

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus - Detail shots. (6/8)

Detail shots.

Underside view

Underside detail.

Main cannon articulation.

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus - The main cannon can be swapped out for a version with the barrel st

The main cannon can be swapped out for a version with the barrel stowed.

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus - This kit has a neat internal gimmick — you move a lever part to act

This kit has a neat internal gimmick —
you move a lever part to actuate the wings on both sides and on top.

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus - When you rotate the main nozzle at the very back, all 5 wings are l

When you rotate the main nozzle at the very back, depending on which direction you turn it,
all 5 wings are linked together and simultaneously deploy or close.

Wings half-closed.

Wings fully stowed.

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus - You cut out the printed Blue Water pattern paper with scissors and

You cut out the printed Blue Water pattern paper with scissors,
and slip it between the two stand parts.

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus - And just like that, you get a surprisingly impressive-looking Blue

And just like that, you get a surprisingly impressive-looking Blue Water stand.

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus - You can also adjust the stand's joints to display it at all sorts o

You can also adjust the stand's joints to display it at all sorts of angles.

The Nu-Nautilus from Nadia has made its way into Kotobukiya's plastic model lineup. "Nadia: The Secret of Blue Water" by Gainax is personally one of my all-time favorite TV anime series — it was a masterpiece that took the concept of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and gave it a brilliant modern reimagining. (I still have my Nadia LD and OST CD to this day... ^^;)

The Nadia anime features the submarine Nautilus that appears in the early part of the story, and the space battleship Nu-Nautilus that shows up in the latter half. The submarine Nautilus was released as an injection kit by Bandai a long time ago. Perhaps that's why Kotobukiya went with the Nu-Nautilus — since no injection plastic model of it had existed before.

At 33cm it's a nice big model and comes together cleanly. The parts count is lower than you might expect, so assembly is quick and easy, and it's snap-tight enough that you don't even need glue. Very Kotobukiya of them — the color separation is solid, so even a straight build gives you a pretty stylish result. That said, the color separation is skipped on the wings and a few other areas, which is a bit of a shame.

The detail is honestly a little soft compared to Bandai's recent Yamato series, though on the flip side it does feel sturdier for it. (And it actually is more durable than the Yamato kits.) There's also a large linked gimmick in the center of the body — rotating the main nozzle at the back works like a screw mechanism to simultaneously open or fold all 5 wings: the front wings, rear wings, and vertical tail fin.

A big linked gimmick like this is pretty rare for a Kotobukiya kit, and you've got to hand it to them for pulling off such a clever linkage across 5 wings. That said, the durability is a bit worrying — the linkage pins under the large wings are small and can snap easily. If you try to open or close the wings by grabbing them directly instead of rotating the main nozzle, those pins will 100% break... (Ask me how I know T_T) So if you're building this kit, please — never move the wings by hand.

Aside from the wings, the only other moving part is the gun barrel, which can be swapped out for a stowed version. Another highlight is the Blue Water-shaped stand — a large clear cover with a foil sheet inserted underneath, and it looks absolutely stunning. Depending on the lighting angle it sparkles with multiple layers of brilliance just like a real gemstone, making it arguably the most dazzling and stylish stand ever made. ^^

All in all, this is a very welcome item for any Nadia fan, and the quality — decent color separation, the wing gimmick, and that gorgeous stand — is satisfying for a model this size. Though for the relatively low parts count, that ¥6,800 price tag does make you think: yep, that's Kotobukiya for you. :-)

Nadia : The Secret of Blue Water Nu-Nautilus | 2014. 11 | ¥6,800

AIThis page was translated by Claude Sonnet.