There were just a couple of things that took away from this show easily being a 7 or 8:
1) Too long, it felt like it was meant to be 26 eps and the studio forced 39 out of it. Besides the first and last sequence of episodes you never get a constant flow of relevant story. There were multiple straight episodes on the Nautilus or Africa etc. That could have been straight up removed.
2) After about 10 eps there are basically 0 new characters. I liked the arcs with some of them but d*mn can we please just meet someone new over this much screen time?
3) Marie's character is super annoying (sub) and I hate how much screen-time she gets
There were a great amount of pluses with this show however:
1) Too long, it felt like it was meant to be 26 eps and the studio forced 39 out of it. Besides the first and last sequence of episodes you never get a constant flow of relevant story. There were multiple straight episodes on the Nautilus or Africa etc. That could have been straight up removed.
2) After about 10 eps there are basically 0 new characters. I liked the arcs with some of them but d*mn can we please just meet someone new over this much screen time?
3) Marie's character is super annoying (sub) and I hate how much screen-time she gets
There were a great amount of pluses with this show however:
- art style: beautiful
- music: amazing, I'm genuinely shocked that the score was as good as it is, and the good tracks are not overused to the point that the good pieces get old
- maturity: I didn't realize til later that Hideki Anno and Miyazaki played a big role in this production, and it really makes a difference. Sometimes characters die unexpectedly, plot twists come out of nowhere, some moment are genuinely violent and heart-wrenching. When the story slowly becomes much more cataclysmic and cosmic toward the end was when this really felt unique and rewarding for a (kids?) show. The way the overarching story gradually unfolds is honestly very satisfying. It's like Evangelion where your biggest questions are answered slowly and methodically and sometimes you need to make your nest guess before they're confirmed (like the mysterious first interaction between Nadia and Nemo that stuck with me even though no new info was revealed)
- the themes of old-timey exploration and wonder are done amazingly at best, and onyl slightly repetitive at worst.
- the first and last sequence of episodes is so exciting to watch, the rest of the show is (mostly) one episode plots that sometimes feel like they didn't need to occur
- the ending is basically feels like Evangelion and very much shifts toward sci-fi but I was fine with it
- the Nadia fan service is pretty dated though.