Copyright © 1998 Satoru Ozawa / Bandai Visual, Toshiba EMI, Gonzo © Bandai Entertainment

The U.S. release of BLUE SUBMARINE NO. 6 VOL. 1 DVD (previously reviewed in 4.2 and 4.6) marks a fortuitous occasion that is doubly meaningful: Not only does it represent the beginning of a new era and style of anime, but it also represents the beginning of wonderful things for all anime fans on this side of the Pacific, as this is Bandai Entertainment's North American anime DVD debut! Yes, after what seems like years of waiting, Bandai Entertainment has taken the plunge into the digital domain and has begun releasing their hottest properties onto the DVD format. And how does BLUE SUBMARINE NO. 6 VOL. 1 DVD measure up? In a word: phenomenally.
U.S. anime fans have long known the growing pains of various U.S. anime companies' initial forays into the DVD market. Who could forget the initial releases from various companies like the TOSHINDEN DVD (artifacting), BUBBLEGUM CRISIS DVD (various minor glitches, like subtitles being off, audio hiss, etc.) or SAKURA WARS DVD (artifacting)? Luckily, the folks at Bandai Entertainment have done their homework, hiring CinRam/POP DVD Studios—the major kick-ass DVD authoring house behind many of Pioneer's excellent DVDs—to head up the authoring of BLUE SUBMARINE NO. 6 DVD, and what a difference that makes! Unlike other "rookie attempts" previously mentioned, Bandai's initial DVD release is flat out stunning with super crisp video transfer, excellent subtitles and timing, and a gorgeous Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound audio mix that rivals most major movie productions!
BLUE SUBMARINE NO. 6 is a four-part OVA series created by Studio Gonzo, a powerhouse upstart group in Japan made up of some of the industry's most talented people. They have long helped out in various anime series with CG-related/anime sequences, and BLUE SUBMARINE NO. 6 marks their first, big-budget debut. Based on an original story by Ozawa Satoru a few decades ago, this is about the crew of the famed Blue Submarine No. 6—a massive, "super submarine"—and its battles with Zorndyke, an enemy not yet fleshed out (as of episode #1). The story is set in the near future, in a post-apocalyptic setting, with much of the Earth flooded by oceans.
In the first episode, the audience is introduced to Kino Mayumi, an eighteen-year-old female pilot and crewmember of Blue Submarine No. 6. She arrives in a rundown building searching for Hayami Tetsu, a veteran submariner who knew the captain of Blue No. 6, to get the deserter to rejoin the crew. The military is staging a major assault against Zorndyke and they need his skills. Hayami is the typical strong, super-skilled, silent, stubborn type, and he refuses to join them. After giving up, Mayumi travels back to the main city area only to arrive just in time for a major attack on the city by Zorndyke's mechanical beasts. From there, just when things seem darkest Hayami steps out of the blue and saves them, and so marks the official start of the Blue Submarine crew and their adventures.
The biggest reason why this show is so revolutionary is in its visuals: the entire production was made digitally, with most of it utilizing computer generated animation and models (CG), and 2D "hand-drawn" cels (for all the characters) digitally composited into the scenes. Sure we've seen some uses of CG before in the past, but usually it's been downright horrible (ala LOST UNIVERSE). What sets BLUE SUBMARINE NO. 6's use of CG apart from the rest is that it is actually good CG. Imagine FINAL FANTASY style CG movie quality madness, and you get the idea. The CG sequences are super-smooth, with no choppiness or lack of anti-aliasing in sight. The highlight would be the Blue Submarine itself, designed by veteran mech designer and legendary MACROSS director Kawamori Shoji. And the 2D "traditionally drawn" anime characters look great as well, based upon character designs by Murata Range, a very popular manga artist/illustrator in Japan, who is behind the beautiful 2D art for the ill-fated POWER INSTINCT fighting game series.
Interestingly enough, the visuals, while revolutionary, are also the most controversial aspect of BLUE SUBMARINE NO. 6. There are many anime fans who feel that the CG aspects (while beautiful in their own right), do not blend at all with the 2D hand-drawn look of the characters (which by themselves are also well-drawn). In one sense, they are right in that there is a stark contrast between what is "3D CG" in the anime and what is "2D hand-drawn." Yet in this reviewer's opinion, they actually work really well together; it is the best of both worlds. With the use of computers, you gain the power to have stunning backgrounds that can be seen at any angle (without redrawing them if they were traditional 2D), great battle sequences with crazy-cool cinematography and insane-looking mechanical/organic creations (e.g., Blue No. 6 and the end boss in this episode). With the 2D hand-drawn characters, you retain the wonderful "anime" look and feel in the characters, their detailed facial expressions and stirring emotions can only be conveyed with 2D drawn art.
Visually, the DVD authoring is a masterpiece: Bandai Entertainment should be given a major pat on the back for going with CinRam/POP DVD Studios. The video transfer is the cleanest transfer I've seen in a U.S. anime DVD release to date. The bit transfer rate was consistently in the ~8.4-10 range! There was no pixellization or artifacting to be seen anywhere, and the darks held up well. There was a little bit of shimmering on the opening title logo, but that was minor, and potentially due more to the reworking of the opening credits into English than anything with the DVD authoring itself. The subtitles were wonderfully done, yellow with a nice black border. The translations and timing seemed very good as well.
Aurally, this DVD is a masterpiece as well. For an OVA series, a Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 channel mix is an extreme rarity, and on this DVD, the Japanese 5.1 track is stunning. Folks, if you ever wanted a good anime test disc, this would be it! The best part about this original Japanese audio track is that all the sound effects used were original. This may not seem like a very big deal, but for veteran anime fans, if you pay special attention to most anime shows you watch, you will notice that many, many sound effects get reused throughout various shows. I'm not talking about one or two shows that had a coincidence; it seems that most anime companies seem to use one common audio house to do their sound effects, or there's a whole lot of sharing going on. Either way, Gonzo has gone the extra mile and, just like their visual revolution, the sound has been given the same treatment. We're talking Hollywood-quality sound effects for the bullets ricocheting off of metal; or big beefy explosions that fill all 5.1 channels of the sound stage when battles occur; or the convincing, deep underwater undulations that happen as well. And it's not just big explosions either. In quiet scenes, the stunning reverb layer and directional effects are amazing! For example, in the first scene, when Mayumi walks into the old water-logged building to find Hayami, the echo of her voice and the distant fill of the muffled music (coming from an old radio in the far room) are very convincingly and naturally worked in. The music also deserves special mention, being done by a band called "The Thrill," who seem to specialize in a pseudo Big Band style of music, with plenty of horns. Overall, it works wonderfully. The original Japanese voice cast did a great job as well, and their voices were mixed perfectly with the rest of the effects and the music. Which brings me to the only sore point of this production: the lack of the original Japanese voice actors' names in the End Credits of this DVD (or anywhere on the DVD itself).
It is unfortunate and strange that Bandai Entertainment—who took so much care in mastering the DVD and translating everything so well—would ignore or forget to list the actual voice actors who did the voices in the stunning original Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 mix! Instead what we get are a list of the English dub voice actors in their stead, listed alongside the original Japanese creators rather than in the English production section (along with the rest of the excellent English localization staff). What a grave injustice. Unfortunately, their names aren't even to be found in the DVD menus either. A quick look at the paper insert in the DVD case reveals the original Japanese voice cast's names, but it shouldn't have been relegated to this section.
All in all, BLUE SUBMARINE NO. 6 VOL. 1 DVD ~BLUES~ is a stunning work, and a great DVD debut for Bandai Entertainment. From the crystal video transfer, to the superb Japanese Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 audio mix, to the wonderful subtitling job, and finally the nice solid DVD menus, this disk is a great start for Bandai in the U.S. market. If Bandai Entertainment will include the original Japanese voice actors' names in the end credits for their future releases, they will have reached perfection.

Released in North America by AnimeVillage.com
DVD (Region 1), 30 Minutes / 1 episode per volume
Languages: Original Japanese with English Subtitles - English Dub
Vol. 1 "BLUES" - ISBN 1-58354-403-8
$19.98
Available now in the U.S.A.
Where to buy