Ao no roku go

Usually known as BLUE SUBMARINE 6, this Japanese animation has both action and brains! It's set in the near future when the world is being held to ransom by a rogue scientist, Zorndyke. He is melting the icecaps and has genetically created an underwater race to conquer Earth. Humanity's last hope is the Blue Submarine fleet and their brave crews taking on Zorndyke's living whale/submarines. The story progresses obliquely with many flashbacks filling the viewer in on the motives of both the crew and their quarry, Zorndyke. All the characters are rendered in the traditional 2-dimensional anime style but all the hardware (the submarines, the surface crab/tanks) are all 3-D animation, bringing a gritty realism to the action scenes. The subs, the explosions, the sea are all beautifully realised. The craft and creature designs are imaginative but still based on reality. I'd recommend this to someone who wants to see something unique and unusual, exciting and demanding.

The story of 'Blue Submarine 6' is in fact the idea from H.G.Wells novel 'The Island of Dr. Moreau' taken to a much larger scale, global that is. Both style and quality are very good and the computer animated scenes fit perfectly into the film, even though the series is quit short the characters are logical and not 'flat', one will find problems looking for 'black and white' thinking in this film. But most astonishing is the effect this film leaves compared to 'The Island of Dr. Moreau' and the earlier 'real actor' movies from 1933, 1977, 1996 - whereas one could easily drop of the ideas H.G.Wells might had with this novel if viewed on just a 'small ocean island' that no one knows it is hard to deny those same ideas when transfered on a global scale. So I would recommend this series as it offers both - good entertainment and some deep thoughts.

murx

There was a fair amount of buzz around this when it first was released. It is a visually entertaining movie. Just couldn't get into this one. Some parts were interesting and I didn't have any issues with losing interest. But, as a whole it's just a mishmash of stories I've either read or seen before so there want anything particularly noteworthy. I found the conversations between the humans and mutants to be more interesting than the action. Unfortunately, these interactions were few. 5 out of 10 for me as I didn't really like it of dislike it.

The world as we know it, is no more. Tides have risen and drown the cities of mankind. The amphibious creations of a mad scientist, Professor Zorndyke (also the cause of the earth's condition) now inhabit the earth and lay siege on what's left of the human species. The only remaining military force must launch a daring strike to cripple the evil doctors forces.

Blue Sub 6 is one of my favorite animes of all time. The story is told expertly. All the characters feel real, and are developed exceptionally well. Even the "villains" get the same attention to detail. The seemingly mad, crazy and otherwise evil doctor who is the cause of everything is much more than just a "bad guy." You get to see what really led him to do what he did, and the ending dialogue between him and the protagonist is moving.

The animation is a mixed bag. The CG hasn't stood the test of time very well, and that's the only place i can doc it any points. All other animation is superb. The music is also a bit sketchy at times but for the most part it immerses the viewer into the world of Blue Sub 6.

I highly recommend this if you enjoy classics like Cowboy Bebop, Gundam Wing, and Dragon Ball Z.

9/10

My father got this for me from the library when I was beginning to gain an interest in anime. At first, my attitude was "cool, it sounds interesting." Then I started watching it, and most of the excitement wore thin. There's not a lot of bad here, but there isn't a lot of good, either. The whole the Earth-is-Flooded business has been done before, and what we got was "Fishtar". Still, this was anime, so it ought to be good, right? Not necessarily. The characterization was almost non-existent. Hayami is a stoic greeny drug addict, but we barely have any clue why. Huang is a cute sonar expert and I think she would make a great little sister, but we barely know anything about her. The captain's characterization is limited to him looking longingly at a picture of his family. If you want to find out anything about the characters, get it on DVD and read the character bios, but skip the behind the scenes thing on the Playstation game thing (I hope I'm not the only one who's wanted to strangle that squeaky bobble-head girl.) The story is a bit of a mess. Basically the villain thinks, "Humans are destroying the world, so if I destroy the world, maybe they'll learn." yeeahh... Hayami's hopeless buddy-buddy ideas are irritating (I could almost hear the chorus to Kansas's "The Preacher" during his confrontation with Verg, who's reverb/octave dub is hellishly annoying. I couldn't tell if he was male or female.) Then, of course, there are the Muteo. You know it isn't an anime until there are half-naked cat-women, right? But these half-naked cat-women are special. They can swim and hum the theme from Dream Theater's "Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper"! I felt like going "Ditdit doo doodoo ditdit doo doodoo ditdit doo doodoo doo ditdoo ditdoo!" In conclusion, if all you want is half-naked anthropomorphic women and homages to the greatest rock song since Supper's Ready from your anime, you're in the right place. If you want something more though, turn to Miyazaki and Cowboy Bebop.