[.ca] Blue Submarine No. 6: The Movie

From Amazon.com:
Although billed as "The Movie," this edition consists of the four episodes of the computer-animated OAV (original animation video) cut together and edited for airing on the Cartoon Network. Most of Earth's population drowned when the mad genius Zorndyke began meddling with the planet's polar alignment. The survivors cower in half-drowned cities and undersea bases, battling Zorndyke's robots and hideous mutants; Kino, a dedicated young pilot, draws Hiyami, an alienated ex-submariner, back into the war. Based on a manga by Satoru Ozawa, Blue Submarine offers lots of computer-generated effects, but little in the way of coherent plot and character development. Hayami's conversion from hard-bitten veteran to peace advocate seems improbable, as does the prospect of seeking peace with a villain responsible for 10 billion deaths. Blue Submarine will appeal primarily to hard-core computer animation fans and devotees of Water World. The Cartoon Network policy of not showing what it construes as violence further weakens the story. Hayami doesn't see his old friend Katsuma writhing in agony from Zorndyke's "beast mutation," removing much of his motivation to rejoin the submarine forces. The gigantic Musuca no longer dies in a sea stained by its own blood, eliminating the series' one genuinely poignant moment. Eliminating tobacco use produces some unintentionally comic moments: Hayami flicks his lighter and touches the flame to nothing. The four OAVs are available separately in their uncut format. Rated 13 and up: robot versus robot violence and grotesque imagery. --Charles Solomon

editing on this movie:
this film was first shown in the uk on the cartoon network channle about 4 years ago i was 11 i loved it my mum loved it and she dont even like anime. well around sumer of 2002 toonami stoped showing on cartoon network beacause turner bought out a new channle cnx all the anime was shown on their in cluding adultswim it wasnt called that it was just cnx well after outlaw star and cowboy be-bop and spawn they hade a movie at 10pm with those martshall arts horror film but in their time they did show blue sub 6 and gundamwing endless walts. but just beacaused they couldent be arsed to get the uncut version they shew it edited.well about a year after the channle closed down du to poor raitings and chained to the toonami tv channle and blue sub no 6 is still reapeted the edited version every half term along side these crappy hero films. soon im ordering it uncut somtime this week and i will ejoy it the way it was soposed to be shown. ps i still thought the edited version was okay in story line and the film in jenral. and the editing was okay until the end part when you know who dies but i would like to actually se it instead of assume it happend. i just thought that being on at 10pm could of got them to show it uncut for once. thanks for reading i hope i didnt bore you. daniel the anime master!!

Rating for Edited Toonami Edition:
Let me start by saying that this is an excellent film. That said, even its editted form is not suitable for children. I have found the rating system for Japanese animation to be very inconsistent with 13+ rated films that are okay for any age and 7+ rated films, like this one, only suited to teens and adults. Another problem is censorship. Censors are not artists and often hack out very important scenes that mar the film. Usually this means cutting out scenes of bloodshed and death while leaving the actual battle scenes intact. The result is pointless violence. Blue Submarine 6 Toonami Edition is one of these films, although the hack job is less severe than some other films I have seen, like Cardcaptors for example. Back to the film itself: The first episode is very confusing. It is like picking up a novel in the middle and trying to understand what is going on. If you can get past the first half hour however, the story gradually falls into place and the film improves by leaps and bounds. By the end, you will probably be glad you stuck it out. The only reason I purchased the Toonami version was that it was much less expensive than the unedited version. However, I always recommend getting the original if possible, and Blue Sub 6 is no exception.

Excellent series:
The story is classical, man vs. environment and the promise of future doom, but the concept work is incredibly original. Giant mutated whales serving as submersible carriers for hordes of crab-drones piloted by fish-women seems so unreal yet scarily plausible; the advantages of having such long term strike capability is awesome. The animation is excellent, the CG blends flawlessly with the anime. It's even on par with animation done recently. The fluid motion is extraordinary. Today's CG still possesses a degree of clumsiness and hurriedness that is present in BS6. The music is very catchy, it enchances the futuristic quality of the series with a modern jazz jam, very stylish. Also, it should be noted that TrezKu13's review/criticism is not valid on grounds of totaly stupidity and lack of explanation (too much opinion, no substance). Firstly, radar doesn't work underwater. They use SONAR. And if you bothered to pay attention, they can't find the whales very easily because their biomotor signatures are hard to detect; they run silent, especially in their coccoons. And satellites can't pierce the water's depths, even if their control stations, mostly located on LAND, which there is not alot of anymore, remained intact. The pilot is the viewpoint of the story. The flashbacks help us understand the pilot through his past. He didn't "blab his life story" to the fish-girl BECAUSE THE FISH-GIRL DOESN'T TALK. He just sequenced flashbacks because when you're trapped on a chunk of metal in the South China Sea, you'd like to look back on your life before you die a horribly slow death. A pod of whales don't die. Only one does. The rest of the whales die in combat and they inflict as many losses as they recieved. It's called a battle you know, the cool part of an action series. A Tomahawk cruise missile is a sea to land missile that cannot function underwater. Try the word torpedo. There were more than two of them. And it's not highly unlikely the shark-man survived. He is part shark, you know. And if his ship sinks, there's always WATER outside. Hitler survived a suitcase bomb two feet away from him, why can't Verg survive a volley of torpedoes into his ship? No important character dies within five minutes of introduction. Only the unknown submarine captain, the short old guy who's the leader of the entire operation, the commander of Atlantic Fleet, the rogue whale, and Zorndyk dies. All of them don't play too important of a role. Unless you talk of the pilot's old comrade, who actually didn't die; he got turned into a fish-man. I think I've sufficiently stomped on your "review"

Blue Submarine 6 - Special Edition:
Wow! What stunning animation, the fluid motion scenes are just the best (even by today's standards). Fabulous battle scenes that are genuinely exciting, and some very sad scene (bring a hanky). Some of the music has made it into my permanent mp3 collection as well ;-) It's an eco story in the best tradition of Anime. The characters are very recognisable, but Anime is made up of such standard characters e.g. the embittered veteran, the naive young women, the mad scientist etc, but it's none- the- worse for this. If you cannot appreciate how good a piece of work this is, then perhaps you need to stick to watching DragonBall Z.

Anime with a different flavor:
Fans of anime in general will definitely dig Satoru Ozawa's 4-part, 'Blue Submarine No. 6,' series. For starters, being that the story is centered around futuristic submarines and naval warfare, viewers are treated to some terrific battle scenes taking place on and below water - a setting typically not utilized in anime. Vol. 1 of the series sets the stage nicely showcasing some of the offensive/defensive capabilities of Blue Sub No. 6 and the colorful assortment of characters within it. While much has already been commented on regarding the use of CG and traditional animation utilized in this series, in summary it looks just fine and at times absolutely breathtaking. But perhaps one of the best aspects of this disc is the really awesome Dolby 5.1 audio track for the Japanese-language track. This mix will have your system pumping out for sure - definitely one of the better audio mixes i've heard on an anime DVD.