Blue Submarine No. 6 - Minasoko-Ocean (Vol. 4)

Starring:Hozumi GÃ´da, Hirotaka Suzuoki, Kazuya Nakai, Bill Flaman, Jeff Call, Gara Takashima, Dave Underwood, Shotaro Morikubo, D.C. Kennedy, David Richani, Mike Way, Justin Smith (III), Kazunari Tanaka, Shinji Ogawa, Danielle Sullivan, Andrew Masset, Jerry Riggs (III), Takeshi Wakamatsu, Peter Laniv, Pam McChino
Director: Mahiro Maeda
Studio: Bandai
Product Type: DVD

Description

The poles are shifting and most of the Earth's land is now underwater! The scientist Zorndyke has seemingly turned his back on humanity, creating a race of beast people to challenge the humans for global supremacy. Mankind's last hope is the Blue Fleet and its state-of-the-art flagship, the Blue Submarine No. 6. With the final battle at hand, Hayami and kKino must confront Zorndyke and stop his plans for destruction. But who is the real enemy - Zorndyke and his undersea army, or humanity itself? The climatic end to one of the biggest anime releases of the year!

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Blend of CG, Anime, and Jazzy Sounds.......2003-03-13

The story of Blue Submarine #6 (Ao no Rokugo) comes to a conclusion in this extended length episode. Revolutionary for its blending of computer generated graphics with traditional cel animation--done before but never to such extent or with such success--Blue #6 like many modern anime is a cautionary environmental tale of mankind's struggles to get along with Nature.

In prior episodes, a scientist has brought about devastating ecological changes to the Earth, flooding most of the land by melting off the polar caps and making Antarctica a habitable paradise populated with his sylvan genetically-engineered creations. The crew of Blue #6 have orders to launch a nuclear strike on the scientist's "base" (a small cabin in a village, as we later see) to stop his flipping of the world's magnetic poles and subsequent extinction of mankind.

The final episode features some incredible battle sequences between the forces of humankind and those of Nature (who have an giant submarine modified from an old battleship) and a somewhat confusing at times anticlimatic confrontation between the main character and the "evil" scientist. Who will win? Will humanity survive at the expense of Nature, or can the two coexist?

The soundtrack is outstanding, performed by a Japanese big band group and includes the stunning, sultry, Jazz-club-esque closing title, Minasoko ni Nemure (literally, "Sleep on the Sea Floor" or "(this thing that) Sleep Inside Everyone." Some may find the juxtaposition of brassy big band jazz sounds over climatic battle sequences a bit off-putting, but for me, they work hand-in-hand and offer a wonderful sensory experience.

Check out the whole series. I saw this episode first and went back to see what I had missed (most of the story won't make sense otherwise) and am glad that I did.

Looks Aren't Everything.......2002-08-14

...P>The story behind "Blue 6" is simple, but made meaninglessly complex. Apparantly the script writers decided that instead of coming up with their own ideas, it would be much more fun to borrow a story-line that seems less in place with anime and more in line with the plot of a Marvel comic book...

The story is completely redundant. You have everything in here to make a cliche'd movie that only the Sci-fi channel would want to run. Sure, there are a few imagninative moments here and there,...

The characters are possibly the rarest to find even in bad anime....these characters don't make any sense!! Who are they? Where did they come from? Why are they in charge of this submarine? Why do they have a little kid working the communications? And why does one of their team mates resemble a more amsculine Wionna Ryder? Seriously, if you're going to spend this much time working on the overall look of the OAV, you might as well have put some thought into the characters. No matter, what happens to them or what troubles they face, you never seem to care about what happens to the crew, not enough detail was given even for that...

The music was very annoying...simply put. It sounded as if someone stole sheet music from yoko Kanno, then decided that they didn't like they way the score was arranged, so they took liberties upon changing the music into something less interesting and more...cold. The music just seems to "start up" without any purpose and it really throws your mind for a loop it doesn't have to go through. It's basically jazz, if you can call that, and it really doesn't have a place in the world of "Blue Sub 6."

The battle sequences are the only things that are well animated, and even then they seem to be borrowing ideas from anime that involve starships. So the battlescenes basically turn what seemed like an original submarine/post-apoclyptic anime into "Macross"-underwater. They do give some thrill, but what's the point? The story is so lame you hardly understand why there are underwater battles going on in the first place.

The series is only 4 episodes long. 4 episodes=4 DVDs. That's 1 episode per DVD, so each DVD is 30 minutes long...something ain't right here. Why pay [$$] for thirty minutes? It makes no sense!! And to top it off, these DVD's don't come with any extras,

Overall, "Blue Sub 6" could have been a better anime, but not in this lifetime...

Definitely worth owning.......2001-10-05

Despite the price factor, and only one episode per DVD, this series is so fantastic, and I'm glad I own it. If you are a DVD fanatic, love anime, have a great home theater setup, and want to watch some very pleasurable eye-candy, this is the set for you. The story is compelling enough to keep your attention, and the visuals are just plain awesome! Sad side note for the sub-title haters; 5.1 is only offered in Japanese! But, for you purists that hate bad english dubbing, you will be very pleased. Actually, the english voice overs could have been a lot worse, but I would much rather enjoy it in its original form. This is a must-have series, so get it!

Stop the horns, but bring on the battle!!!.......2001-04-03

In my opinion, the mix of CG & anime make for one of the best anime videos Ive ever seen. Im a fan of all anime, and have a wide nackground, and although the series is way too short and the battle music needs to drift away from that cheery horn, BS6 is recommended to anyone who likes a good plot and a lot of action. What is with the music, though? You dont have an epic battle scene filled with ragin waters, exploding subs, and deadly missles, while a squeaky horn is playing in the background. The characers are likeable, especially Tetsu Hayami (Im not totally confident on the spelling). I tend to like the quiet, mysterious guys who have a bad temper. Basically, i recommend this anime to anyone and everyone!!!

state of the art.......2000-10-25

This four volume series is exceptional--I like it as much as Macross Plus with the drama, the dialogue, and of course, the action and mechanical designs. Computer graphics and cell animation merge seamlessly. The characters are deep and diverse. The setting is similar to Voogies Angel and Agent Aika (or Waterworld) , while the theme of a scientist creating human-animal hybrids or mutants reminds me of The Island of Dr. Moreau. Even though each DVD is only about 30 minutes long (this last volume is longer), as long as I don't pay more than twenty dollars this collection is worth it. Cartoon Network is going to show this series Nov 6, but for best picture quality this is best enjoyed on DVD. The dubbing was done by Coastal Carolina--my favorite sound studio. This series gives not only beautiful graphics and glorious explosions, but asks the nature of humankind's tendency for conflict and violence.

DVD:

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