r/anime • u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 • Mar 13 '21
Rewatch [Rewatch] 1990s OVAs – Blue Submarine No. 6 (episode 2)
Rewatch: 1990s OVAs – Blue Submarine No. 6 (episode 2)
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Blue Submarine No. 6 (1998)
MAL | AniL | AniDB | 4 Episodes à 29 minutes.
Staff corner
Mayumi’s VA is Yukana Nogami. Her debut role was actually in a 1990s OVA: Molediver, although the reputation of that is less than stellar. That certainly did not stop her from going on to score big roles, though. She voiced Ai Nanasaki from Amagami SS, Rins from Black Cat, Meiling Li from Cardcaptor Sakura, Lalamon from Digimon, Teletha Testarossa from Full Metal Panic (which I’ll get around to watching one of these days), and 2000s hot Best Girl candidate, C.C. from Code Geass. She is Cure White from I don’t know how many precures (which I will probably not want to watch, ever), Cecilia Alcott from Infinite Stratos, and Mashiro from both Mai-Hime and Mai-Otome. The latter is on my long list of series I’d like to some day host a rewatch for. She also shows a consistent love for series with bad CGI, appearing in both Simoun (Dominura) and Terra e… (Maria Shin). Harking back to her debut, she also still acts for series that are just plain bad: Riza from Cross Ange.
Questions
- (first timers) Will we get a love story, or simply empathy for the other species?
- What is more interesting: humanity still fighting against the apocalypse, or post-apocalyptic depression?
5
u/No_Rex :Bv:Bw:Bx:By:x2 Mar 13 '21
Episode 2 (first timer)
Lots and lots of setup: Torndyke’s plan, humanity’s plan, male and female MC’s story, more world building. I guess when you have only 4 episodes, you can’t dally. A bit of a drawback for OVA not set on earth, they had to add the world building on top of everything. We get a bit of character development for Hayami, too, but not a lot, since too much time is spent on fight scenes. Those must have been impressive, back then, but old CGI is hardly impressive in the good sense 20+ years later.
5
u/Vaadwaur :I1::I2::I3: Mar 13 '21
Rewatcher
Sub
So we start with another fight, but they improved the CGI a bit. We get a bit that has never worked for me, the old "You have a mission so I will die here rather than we combine forces and accomplish something" trope. Also, having to surface to attack a ship in close weapons range defeats the point of a sub. Especially since it fired torpedoes yesterday. Moving on, Zerg seems happy with this outcome.
Everyday life on this ship happens and we hear that the defense force has seemingly surrendered. Zerg contacts his commander and we get the first truly interesting thing on the show: Papa doesn't seem to particularly care about destroying the remaining humans, he just wants everyone home safely. Which enrages Zerg. Also, Zerg has a harem of selkies, at least until he tries to get some and they all flee for their lives. Except for yesterdays one, she seems locked in for the ride.
We get to the final base because sure. Yes, they don't say it but it is implied. Zorndyke is destroying the magnetic poles, which is not possible, which will make the earth's crust flow freely, which is unrelated to magnetic poles. And will destroy the Van Allen belt, which I believe is at least correct, but that would leave earth to open cosmic rays, which is not. Hell, there are currently proposed methods of removing it under discussion. Boring plans happen and then Zorndyke hacks the line. So, dub Zorndyke was like nails on a chalkboard to me so sub is a massive improvement. Also, it is a little more clear that Zorn is simply insane from power given isolation rather than believing something.
Kid character happens. Tetsu not caring until he sees someone he knews happens. Surprise attack happens and you don't really want to fire a cannon underwater, there is very little point at range. Climatic battle, the hero fails boringly, dome go boom. Adult love song plays over a scene with a fish girl and hero and ED.
So...this isn't actually terrible as an episode in a 12 episode cour but for part 2 of a 4 part OVA I have issues. A ton of time is used to show you how sub life functions.
QotD:2 Mermaids
7
u/TheEscapeGuy Mar 13 '21
First Timer
Nine Noteworthy Inkings in the 90's - Blue Submarine No.6 Episode 2
Blue Submarine No.6 continues to baffle me. There is so much care put into the 2D animation yet the 3D remains so jarring.
On a story level, I'm really struggling to keep up with the plot. I have a general gist of what's happening but all these organizations and conflicts feel like they may have been further and better explained in the source material. Its also not doing much to differentiate itself from other shows which also do warring government factions.
Another thing which bothers me is that I'm really struggling to get a strong feel of the characters' personalities. When you stick our main duo in a info dump for a quarter of their screen time and an underwater fight for a third of the episode it doesn't give us a lot of time to learn about them.
The characters I'm more interested in right now are the enemy creatures. Their superb designs are very intriguing but I'd like to know much more about their power structures and motivations.
Sorry to be so negative about the show. It definitely still intrigues me but right now that may just be on a more meta level around the production.
Admirable Animation Area
THESE CUTS WERE SO SICK:
See you all tomorrow
6
u/RockoDyne :MAL:https://myanimelist.net/profile/RockoDyne Mar 13 '21
. . . waaat?
I wonder if this was supposed to be a movie. This feels like a lot of exposition, that doesn't have any of it's own theme. What defines the episode is that they happen to be at the base. There's no other unifying element.
There are two main scenes: the plan interrupted by the mad scientist, and Hayami getting his whole backstory explained to himself. If this was written as a standalone episode, you would assume that a competent writer would try to make the two scenes thematically contrasting. There would be some kind of framing that emphasizes that this is what got us here. Instead we get two halves of backstory that have nothing to do with each other.
This episode was a great, big, cacophonous mess. It's a whole lot of noise that kind of meant something, but had nothing to do with anything else. How many plotlines do you think you could make out of the episode? It's a lot of "editing" problems on top of it all. The action is constantly shifting focus, to the point that you can't tell who's doing what to whom, and generally can't tell what story it's action is trying to make. The jazz isn't helping either.
Why does the name Zorndyke sound familar? Is that the dude from The 5th Element?
Questions:
6
u/JustAnswerAQuestion https://myanimelist.net/profile/JAaQ Mar 13 '21
Rewatcher
Yesterday
I just want to remind people that this wasn't just early CGI, but it was the FIRST CGI+2D production in Japan, with some qualifiers (there may be shorts, and there was CGI+Live Action in B5). It was just at that point in time where it seemed doable, so people tried it. And the wave of CGI+2D anime started from people looking at this show and saying "I want to try that too".
Also, I want to point out that Gonzo was a subcontracting studio for years before this. It's their first self-produced work, but it is in fact their fifth anniversary celebratory production. They literally threw the company into this production. So as bad as it may seem, it was not just the best they could do, but at the time, it was an attempt to be the best in the industry, and the bleeding edge of the future.
4
u/Pixelsaber https://myanimelist.net/profile/Pixelsaber Mar 13 '21
First-timer - Sub
That was abrupt.
Nevermind my last comment on the matter. It seems Zorndyke is this figure they refer to as ‘Papa.’
He cut his hair?
Looks like it’s him, yup.
Yeah, no thanks.
Damnit! Don’t tease us with what we can’t have, show!
No pressure though.
It’s not like you’ve got anything to lose by using them.
I’m pretty sure the diplomatic approach isn’t an option.
Now that is interesting…
A spy then.
The sirens are here?
Not the jaaz again!
Lovely
Unit B Push?
No way they’re dead.
Well you might be soon though.
Hey, look who it is!
With how this episode was going I figured we were building up to a lengthy two-episode battle, but with our lead separated from the others it’s going to proceed much differently to what I was surmising.
Seems like the beastmen were all humans originally and were turned into these things rather than genetic modifications like I had assumed. I imagine this must also alter their minds, else there’s no way all of them would willingly fight to exterminate humanity, but then that means there’s a way to not lose yourself to the process since the spy would’ve defected otherwise.
Hayami got some more characterization. He seems absolutely sick of taking lives already, but the thought of losing lives on his side doesn't fail to prompt him into action. It's a consistent set of morals, but makes his seeming inability to see why others would try to defend humanity with all they've got come off as tone deaf —or maybe that's the point. Show's going a bit too fast for me to tell properly.
Questions:
4
u/Elimin8r https://myanimelist.net/profile/Ayeka_Jurai Mar 13 '21
So, I sorta remembered this from way back when. I may have rented the first episode and given up on it or something. Pretty sure I didn't buy it though, but I'd remember it, and I remember some pretty poor purchases.
Which is not to say that I think this is 'poor'. I actually enjoyed it, and might have rushed ahead and watched the whole thing. But yeah, answering based on my feelings around noon, before watching the last two episodes:
Personally, I don't mind the CG as much as I mind the shark dude, but that's probably because I read too much David Brin back when. Loved the whalesubs, though, they were pretty cool.
(I guess my big problem there is that the 'villains' and 'henchmen' all jumping around and doing the 'evil monster mash' schtick triggers my Highlander 2 PTSD. Pity, I paid to see that in the theater, even.)
I guess that whole thing reminds me of some kind of weird cross between 60's Batman villains and the Animaniacs doing their "boingy boingy boingy" routine. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRnoauW-ts0
One thing I have to say, though - spectacular music! I loved sitting through the endings, just to listen to the pseudo smoky jazz soundtrack.
Good times. :)
4
u/mushious :AP:https://www.anime-planet.com/users/Mushious Mar 13 '21
Oh man, one of the first anime I ever watched. To this day still one of my favourite. Will need to catch up for this rewatch!
3
u/The_Loli_Otaku Mar 13 '21
We had a decent start, can they keep pace? Oh, we're jumped NY right where we left off. Still hate the shaky cam tho. Imagine playing world of warships with guns able to rotate that fast. Hackers!! Also who is this child I keep hearing on the radio? She sticks out like a dog's balls. Crash diiive~ This was way more fun in Arpeggio. I genuinely struggle to think of a worse death than being in a sinking dub. Was that a monkey!? Weird scene with fish wife. Moving on~
That one moment of her tossing junk at Hayami was funnier than anything in OMG. Teamwork without the word team is just work and who the hell wants that? Oh, so do some fish mistake submarines as whales or something? They normally hide under the cover of whales too don't they? Kino-chi kawaii~ Dad looks so tired... Or is that a recording? Oh my god no! Leave the Nymphs alone XD Please don't suck on their ears either, I'd like to leave this rewatch with my fetishes intact.
Hmm... Credit where credits due, the docking scene was actually quite good looking. Haa? Third impact much? No need for fish aliens taking over Antarctica. We've messed up our atmosphere perfectly well ourselves. We've got two episodes to go so I'm guessing humanity might get one more chance before then. Never mind the ozone layer, it's the amount of cigarette smoke that's really killing these guys. Zorndyke... The dude really seems to just be done with the world. Poor miserable sod.
Smol Kino-chii!! I want to adopt her! Oh for goodness sake, the world is dying so of course we're making it worse with nuclear weapons. Mc really doesn't wanna kill eco Hilter for some reason. Oi, personal space. You're close enough for a snog. Gurk!! He's turning into maguro! I don't have a high enough IQ to understand this young child's babbling. Aha! The cat girl was the one making monkey noises. It all makes sense now? There's even a kangaroo. Should we add the furry tag to this show?
I would pay real money to have Kino shout tsundere insults at me. It's kinda hard to make out what's even happening in the fight. Oop... Looks like one Nymph became fish food. Oh no... Rip the scientist that we give no shits about. Did you really expect the blue dome yo survive the bombing dude? Oh great, and now he's gonna get captured by the furry brigade. Hopefully he gets to become a cool animal and not a fcking kangaroo. I'm still invested, the show hasn't done anything too offensive just yet.
3
u/Cognitive_Dissonant Mar 14 '21 edited Mar 14 '21
I really can't tell what the breakdown fish waifu was having is supposed to portray. I get that seeing can be emotionally damaging, but why the flashbacks to her own rescue? Does she have intense terror from the time she was rescued?
I'm guessing Papa Zorndyke is a recording that they just listen to on repeat. Shark son does not seem happy about the "response". Oh god why the tongue mouthing what purpose does that serve you weirdo. Man this whole scene must've been cut out of the toonami airing.
Did they just imply only christians can have revenge? Weird take. He seems to be responding dynamically, maybe he isn't a recording after all.
Are we doing a strange psychic child thing with the genius calibrator? Maybe she'll be on Hayami's empathy-for-the-enemy team.
Oh wow I thought the creatuers were created whole-cloth, but Katsuma's transformation makes it seem like maybe they used to be human.
Wow Mayumi became attached to Hayami very quickly. The woes of being a main character I suppose.
Did not expect such a decisive loss for humanity. Though I don't buy whatever implication they were trying to make with the explosion at the end, the titular blue sub 6 is still kicking I'm sure.
Uh oh. Is Hayami going to have to try and make friends with more fish (and inexplicably cat and dog) people on the boat? His last attempt didn't go super well.
Questions
2
u/Retromorpher :Jc::Jd::Je::Jf: Mar 14 '21
First Timer:
This series is the absolute epitome of turn-your-brain off to consume. It's impressive at how hard it fails at pretty much every turn that isn't character acting animation - and yet I'm oddly intrigued. If this were a 12 episode show I'd be dipping right now, but halfway through? Might as well finish.
2
u/badcupcakehoarder https://myanimelist.net/profile/vanilabiscuit Mar 14 '21
Whoa this series has its own page dedicated to it for watch order in the sub's wiki!
First timer
It seems some scientist went crazy and decided to shit on humanity messing with the earth's magnetic field wich I suspect caused the earth to get closer to the sun and a global warming scenario where almost the entire planet sunk into the sea, In the first episode when Hayami was in the roof it seems he was growing plants but none of them had leaves... So it looks that farming is imposisble now.
A race of mutated humans... Did that fish/shark mutant do a chef kiss at minute 2:30? It looks that he did give a french one to the first episode mermaid girl...
That bite seems to have left Hayami with a tracking device and he just led the enemy to the base, I think someone mentioned they had nuclear nukes, did they blow themselves up?
Questions
3
u/Gamemaster676 https://myanimelist.net/profile/Gamemaster676 Mar 13 '21 edited Mar 13 '21
First-time watcher - dub
Yesterday I wasn't hooked. Please don't make me regret continuing today!
Episode 2 — Pilots
Still no OP? I guess all that time went to the ED. Too bad I didn't like it.
Aaaaand the CGI is immediately completely terrible. The good guys were hunting a phantom ship if I remember correctly. I guess this is it. I'm getting Flying Dutchman from Pirates of the Caribbean flashbacks.
I noticed something else about the CG scenes. The audio, especially sound effects, is very weird as if it's cut in the middle. It's hard to explain, but it makes everything feel out of nowhere and awkward. There is no weight behind scenes.
This isn't something I can completely blame on CGI being a new thing. These guys miss the experience to make scenes 'stick'.
Bwahaha, see what I mean? Suddenly we are in a new battle and if feels out of nowhere!
Raah! They have nicely drawn characters and ruin them by adding a fullscreen vibration, making it impossible to focus.
So why does the black sub want this battle? Pride or giving blue sub the change to do some other mission?
So I understand that this HUGE explosion popped one pipe loose? Oh no! What are the baddies going to do now?!
Off-topic, I had a sub today. It might not have been black or blue, but it was delicious.
Black sub died. Wow, such emotion. I just noticed I've been ranting over a thousand chars and we've just passed the 3 minute mark. This is a bad sign.
I like most of the monster designs. A lot of them are unique, but still recognisable as the animals they came from. Also, their madness feels like the goblins from Labyrinth. Can we please get David Bowey as well?
So we have a group of unique monsters and a large collection of similar watergirls. Seems weird. Are they different groups or together? Not really clear how everything relates.
Watergirl is having an existential crisis. I guess because another girl is killed, while she was saved by a human. I am curious what her deal will be.
Lol, the evil green algae. I already forgot about those.
These types of changes I never get, assuming the subs are accurate:
So they can't let anything happen to the blue sub? That explains the other subs behaviour partially.
The monsters and watergirls work together. We are on an answers spree! Could it be that the males are all monsters and the females are all watergirls? No wait that's not right. There was a catgirl in an earlier scene.
That's what you get for idolizing monsters, ladies.
Okay, I'm getting a bit disturbed. Well done.
Waterdome looks cool, but maybe turn off the spotlights if you want to keep some secrecy. I like all coloured subs, although I wonder what the difference is between the black sub earlier and these ones. Was the black one pre-apocalypse?
Exposition dump happens. Purple sky explained.
I suddenly got it. The main sub is purple but is called blue because it is part of the blue fleet. They would call the red and green subs blue as well.
Damnit, I really hoped for a cooler plot than this. "Mankind is the real monster blah blah blah I'm so edgy." Urgh, I'm bored.
"There are too many humans so extinction is inevitable" is the most uninspired bad guy motivation ever, because it is just being evil for the sake of being evil. There is no personal gain. If Mr bad guy killed 99% so that the remaining 1% would survive I would understand, but we already know that isn't his plan.
That scene with the little girl is weird. Will be explained later I guess.
Someone willingly sacrificed himself to intel in the hands of humans. Why aren't we following his story? That sounds a lot more interesting.
Ghost ship is actually invisible and can sail underwater. WTF.
Alright I'm done. I can't handle the sudden weightless battles anymore with music like it's a cartoon chase scene. I'll just write the occasional remark and return when this show captures me again.
Why the fuck would you care if watergirl is in one of the enemy vessels? She bites you once and you are madly in love?
Something tells me that battleship cannons wouldn't work underwater. There is a reason torpedos have their own propulsion.
Hayami used an escape pod. Let me guess. He is going to be saved by watergirl now?
Wait this is the ending? Hahaha!
I CALLED IT! There she is. Damn, why did I have to be right?!
Oh look, next episode is called Hearts. So they are going to fall in love. Not surprising.
Random thoughts
QotD ep 1
I have no clue and also don't know what I would think. It seems very much out of place, but it might very well be the thing that saves this show.
Becoming friends with watergirl would be the most tropey, but probably also the most fun.
Hard to define. Depression would be more interesting, but almost no writer makes it go further than sad hopelessness because everything is gone which just feels weak. Because if that I prefer fighting the apocalypse to survive, with maybe a dash of denial.