Attention, there may be spoilers. Blue Submarine Number 6
Animation [8]/10
The style and the realisation are audacious. Before this 1998 GONZO story there were very few studios who actually got into the 3D GCI at this level. They tried, at least I can give them that. Blue Submarine n.6 is what I call an experiment. In fact, many things inside it resemble what will be the GONZO masterpiece Last Exile, both the characters (especially the female one) and the animation. The 3D is not a good technical achievement, but surely is a good start. The CGI does not fuse homogeneously with the drawings, and the designer noticed it. But then the director said it was OK, as people would get used to it.
In fact, after a while you DO get used to it, if you are not too picky, but the very fact that there are only 6 OVA makes the attempt utterly futile, because the animation becomes familiar when the anime is about to finish...
I do have to thank them in any case, because it is thanks to this anime that we have been blessed with Last Exile.
Sound [7] /10
The jazz songs during the naval combats are quite a catch, I would say they resemble something of Cowboy Bebop, even though they're not as appropriate as the Sunrise Inc. production's. The overall sound is not remarkable, though, it lacks of a theme that can be remembered through the episodes.
A part from the fighting scenes there is no evident music that adapts to the story, hence in the end it becomes monotone. And also let us not forget that there is no melodic/sentimental song that matches the final scenes of the series, something like Arcadia by Yoko Kanno. Well, this is not Escaflowne (sound [10] /10).
Story [7] /10
Blue Submarine Number 6 This story is something already seen a million times, the Earth has been gradually destroyed by the human exploitation of the natural resources, therefore the planet is now "rebelling" against the human species. Though there are some differences, the plot is very similar to others (Escaflowne, Last Exile, Nausicaa of the valley of the wind, just to name a few), here the one who takes the responsibility to destroy humans for their sins is a scientist that was working along with those who exploited the planet in the first place. In this case it makes much more sense, and the whole reason for the war seems to be somehow justified.
There are also some bad points about the story. The most interesting parts are the inner psychology of Zorndyke and the relationship between Tetsu Hayami and the pseudo mermaid.. What did they do? They relegated these two topics into micro-moments, that apparently are a marginal part of the story. The director wanted to concentrate on the battle and the animation, because while looking at the special I discovered that he was almost obsessed with making something new. The mix is not bad as a result, but if he had made a 13 episodes series with more in-depth storyline it would have had a much bigger effect, that is the reason I personally think the series was not a success.
Character [8] /10
As I described above, the only characters that needed attention were Zorndyke, the red-eyes mermaid and Hayani, with the exception of the giant experimental wale who saves them. I was really moved by the first scenes when the two (Hayani and the mermaid) met, where he saves her by bringing her back to the water. The use of lights and music was excellent, and I thought that it could have been the beginning of an evolution in terms of profundity of the characters. Unfortunately a was wrong, as the moments of poetical description of the protagonist's psychology and sentiments are very sporadic.
The mermaid looks strangely familiar... someone said Chobits? I'm sorry I did not hear you.
Value [7] /10
I find some problems in valuing the re-view ability of this anime. At first I would say that it's a straight 3 and let me explain the reason. As I mentioned before, there ARE interesting aspects, but they are not portrayed exhaustively in the series. Therefore you get that bad feeling that you're missing something, and you need to compensate the emptiness derived from the missing story with something else meaningful. That, on the other hand, could be considered a good point, as it will give you the will to, for example, write a review, or a story. Balancing it becomes a 7.
Enjoyment [8] /10
I have to admit that I somehow enjoyed the series even though its bad points that I previously mentioned. To be completely honest, I have this feeling of emptiness that needs to be filled with something that the anime did not achieve in giving me. There were too many good points to analyse, but I would say that it was worth watching in the end.
Federico Pistono Sept 25, 2005. http://www.federicopistono.org
