Blue Submarine No. 6

Infobox animanga/Header
name = Blue Submarine No. 6


caption =
ja_name = 青の6号
ja_name_trans = Ao no Roku-go
genre = Adventure, Science fiction, DramaInfobox animanga/Manga
title =
author = Satoru Ozawa
publisher =
publisher_other =
demographic = Shōnen
magazine = Shōnen Sunday
first =
last =
volumes = 3Infobox animanga/OVA
title =
director = Mahiro Maeda
Masahiro Ozawa
Toru Fukushi
studio = Gonzo
episodes = 4
released = 25 October 1998 [ann anime|id=121. Accessed 2006-12-14.]

nihongo|"Blue Submarine No. 6"|青の6号|Ao no Roku-go| Blue Number 6 is the name of a manga series by Satoru Ozawa, which was subsequently developed into a four episode OVA series by Gonzo.

Recently Shouji Murahama of GONZO stated with NewWords Magazine that a live-action Blue Submarine No. 6 movie will be produced for approximately 10 billion yen (US$84 Million). This is set to be G.D.H.'s first live-action project with 30 more live-action projects under consideration.

Masahiko Ohkura will direct the movie.

Anime

The anime adaptation was released in the United States on April 4, 2000. It uses a hybrid approach, combining 3D computer graphics with traditional animation, and is a pioneering example of this technique.

It aired in the United States on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on November 6, 2000 at 6:00 PM. The jazzy and atmospheric score was provided by rock n' roll big band THE THRILL.

Summary

The story begins in the near future, when the Earth's oceans have risen and flooded most of the sea-lying land on Earth. Due to the efforts of the rogue scientist Zorndyke the flooding killed billions; most of humanity's remaining cities have been destroyed or attacked by Zorndyke's army of Hybrids. The remaining humans begin to wage war against Zorndyke's sea-going creations for simple survival. Humanity's best hope for a resolution to the conflict lies with its submarine forces, among which is the focus of the story, Blue Submarine #6.

It is revealed that Zorndyke is attempting to decisively end the conflict in the favor of his hybrid children by artificially inducing a polar switch using geothermal energy at the South Pole.

Blues

The OVA starts out with patrol planes dropping sonar buoys into the ocean, searching for an enemy vessel, the "Ghost Ship", commanded by Verg, a shark-type hybrid. A nearby patrolling submarine named the Narushio (an SSGN type submarine) received messages citing that a potential threat has been spotted, and goes to battle stations.

In a near-by city, decimated by the rising tides, a young female officer named Mayumi Kino and a fellow sailor named Mouse have been sent on a mission to re-recruit Tetsu Hayami, an elite cadet at the Naval Academy who was involved in the development of the Grampus (a small, two person crew submarine capable of short and long range combat) during his years at the academy. He refuses to rejoin Blue Fleet, and Mayami radios in their non-success. Meanwhile, the creature that was spotted earlier in the episode (later identified as a Musuca) shielded in a large white tube-like shield, prowls the sunken city streets. The Musaca launches several Umigumo, large crab-like robots with large pincer-claws holstering cannons and many hundreds of anti-aircraft rounds. While they conduct their attack- starting with the destruction of two destroyers- they broadcast a message from Zorndyke which states that "resistance is futile" (similar to Star Trek's Borg). Kino attempts to get aboard a cutter to return to Blue 6's port, but unfortunately they were blown out of the water. She and her fellow sailor spot an elderly woman who is stranded. Mouse shoulders her, and they become surrounded by Umigumo. Hayami reappears with his own speed boat, and guns down the two Umigumo, rescuing Kino and the other two.

Blue 6 departs her berth, and sets out to sea. Kino, Hayami, Mouse, and the old woman all board the sub, and the fight begins. The Musuca's bubbling white shield is shattered, and the creature is revealed to be a large sentient deformed creature, apparently evolved from a sperm whale. It released more Umigumo, and Kino and Hayami depart in a Grampus, an underwater robot that converts into a submarine speeder, to fight the Umigumo.

A daring undersea battle commences, with the Blue 6 destroying the Musuca with the help of an older JMSDF submarine, the Narushio, whose CO is revealed to be a personal friend of Blue 6's captain.

Hayami destroys nearly all of the Umigumo, with the final one emerging from the water and landing on a beach. Hayami pursues it with a small detachable robot, and sprays it with bullets. He dismounts, and approaches the device, which opens up to reveal a female humanoid creature. After arguing with Kino over what to do with her, Hayami returns her to the water, but not before being bitten once she regains consciousness The episode concludes with Kino and Hayami discussing what they have witnessed in the past day. Out at sea, Verg, a shark-like young man in command of the "Ghost" or "Phantom Ship" (a submersible battleship mounted on a colossal Whale shark-like entity) shells the city from afar.

Pilots

The "Phantom Ship" has succeeded in destroying the port city, but the Shang and the Blue 6 have escaped. The Shang pursues and engages the "Phantom" with its cruise missiles, but is destroyed by the "Phantom"s retaliation. During the battle a part of Blue 6 comes in contact with a strange, bubbly, greenish substance that slowly comes off the sub, but no one notices. The "Six" escapes to the depths of the ocean, and sets sail for its headquarters.

Aboard the "Phantom", Verg delivers a message to Zorndyke about his military success. Zorndyke tells him to "be safe, come back soon." Feeling like his "papa" didn't like how he won, Verg throws a fit, tries to shove his large blue tongue down one of the sea-girls' throats, and then slams the sheath of his sword onto the ground.

Verg then confronts the girl from inside the Umigumo and punishes her for touching a human. We only see him putting his arms around her shoulders, but the camera angles upward and they are out of the picture before we can witness what he does. We hear the girl struggle and scream. In the Uncut version, we see him holding her shoulders and sucking her right ear.

The "Six" is headed towards the Blue Dome, an underwater shell-shaped superfortress that serves as Blue Fleet's main berthing facility. Character development ensues during the trip. Hayami, who had seen the plans for Blue Dome, smiles as he sees the entire Blue Fleet for the first time. The Blue Fleet consists of many state-of-the-art submarines, each built by its respective country (#1 is the United States, #2 is United Kingdom, #3 is France, #4 is Germany, #5 is Russia, #6 is Japan, #7 is Australia, #8 is China, #9 is Singapore, and #10 is India).

A conference is called, hosted by a scientist responsible for Blue Fleet's operations. All of the members of the Blue Fleet are in attendance. Atlantic Fleet's commander states the nature of the conflict in full: the mad scientist Zorndyke has exterminated much of the human population through an extreme yet elegant method - he has used an unknown technology to trigger a pole shift, altering the Earth's electromagnetic field and enabling the crust to move freely. Much of both polar ice caps has melted, flooding much of the world to the point that only the rooftops of many coastal cities remain above water. The expanded oceans has enabled his forces to attack what few settlements remain with his genetically modified sea creatures. Also, the shift is destroying the Van Allen radiation belt, which protects the planet from the solar winds. Without it, the planet will be cooked as if placed in a microwave oven. The Blue Fleet has been gathered for a desperate all-out assault against Zorndyke's base of operations at the South Pole, in the hopes of destroying the machines causing the pole shift.

This is when Zorndyke hijacks the teleconference and makes a speech of his own. He appears not as a murderous monster as described, but a calm, collected, even philosophical old man (this side of Zorndyke is shown as he spends some time teaching one of his animal-like followers poems of the "Man'yōshū"; she recites the ironically-appropriate poem during his funeral), which may be considered even more disturbing, especially with his proclamation that "Mankind has grown too large".

Hayami leaves, and is waylaid in a corridor by a military escort that is wheeling along a casket filled with water. Hayami learns that a former friend and comrade is inside, suffering a mutation into a hideous monster. Originally Hayami and he attempted to infiltrate Zorndyke's base in Antarctica, to try to conduct a peace meeting. Their Grampus was shot down, and Hayami's friend was captured. He is the only one ever to escape from Zorndyke's stronghold.

Meanwhile the Phantom Ship, following the trail of green bubbles that have fallen off of "Six" during her return to Fleet HQ, managed to locate Blue Dome, and proceeded to attack the facility. With the majority of Blue Fleet's submarine corps still inside a desperate effort is undertaken to get as many of these subs out as is possible. Hayami takes a training Grampus out to attack the Phantom ship in an effort to buy some time, but fails when a human hand hits his wind shield, distracting him long enough for a turret to target him. Hayami was shot down, but managed to eject to the surface. In the end, all Blues manage to escape the Dome except for the Shinha, which is knocked out of its berth, but two are heavily damaged and one is moderately damaged; since only five subs are seen in the last episode (#1, 3, 6, 7 and 8), it is assumed these subs are left behind.

Hearts

Hayami has a dream about his friend's misfortune, and awakens with Mutio, the aquatic hybrid girl he rescued in episode one, appearing to him with a fish for him to eat. A quick check of the surroundings shows that he is stranded on what had been part of the Blue Dome facility that rose to the surface at the end of Episode 2.

Hundreds of her sisters arrive, and surround the two on the flotsam from Blue Base. They leave as a large Musuca arrives, and Hayami and Mutio leave while being borne upon him. Along the travel, the Musuca communicates with both of them and ponders about his purpose in life, and the whole war in general; Verg later refers to this Musuca as a "defective"

Meanwhile, an impatient Verg brings his "Ghost Ship" into the Antarctic to reload its weapon cache. Verg has somehow acquired nuclear weapons, which he intends to use against the Blue Fleet to eliminate the entire fleet with one searing blast. Zorndyke's army is stationed in and around the Antarctic ice in preparation for the arrival of the Pacific Blue Fleet, while another group prepares for contact with the diversionary Atlantic Blue Fleet.

Blue Six and the Atlantic Fleet rendezvous, and a Cold War era Soviet "Typhoon" class submarine with a full load of nuclear missiles is readied with AI control. It is designated "Sub Zero". The fleet travels to Antarctica, arriving just in time. They encounter the Musuca bearing Hayami and Mutio, which alerts them to the Army's presence Blue Fleet goes to red alert. They rescue Hayami, but Mutio decides to stay with the mortally wounded Musuca, who was dying before Hayami ever encountered it and comments how he doesn't feel lonely anymore. Hayami and Kino ready a Grampus for the coming battle.

Minasoko

The uncut version begins with Mutio before Verg, evidently having been beaten for the 'crime' of associtating with a human. Verg informs her that soon they'll kill all the humans and continually jabs his sword at Mutio, ordering her to swear never to consort with humans again. Mutio knocks the sword away and Verg is enraged. He stamps about and curses Mutio before wildly lashing out with his sword until she jumps in the water and Verg angrily breaks his sword on the floor. He flings the handle at Mutio and yells that she's a filthy traitor, telling the other fish women to banish her.

A massive undersea battle ensues, with many twists and turns. "Six"’s captain (apparently the man responsible for the other subs) orders all ships to "...fight to the death" to protect "Sub Zero". Several volleys of torpedo and anti-torpedo weaponry are exchanged as each side seeks to gain the upper hand in the battle. Hayami and Kino take the "Six's" Grampus out to confront Zorndyke, with Hayami busting his friend, now an aquatic hybrid, out of the storage chamber that was stored on the "Six" . They use his knowledge to penetrate the Antarctic base's passages, and he keeps Zorndyke's creatures away from the Grampus. Hayami sees him off one last time as they speed away.

Meanwhile, the Atlantic Fleet engages Zorndyke’s forces on the other side of the Antarctic base in an effort to draw as many enemy forces away from the Pacific Fleet as is possible. This results in the probable annihilation of the Atlantic Fleet, as the overwhelming number of submarines, including the Altantic Fleet’s admiral's flagship are destroyed.

After several battles, Sub Zero is forced to surface. "Six" manages to destroy Verg's "Ghost Ship", losing the rest of the fleet except for "Three," which acted as a decoy. "Six's" captain and first officer prepare to remotely authorize the nuclear barrage into Zorndyke's territory.

Hayami and Kino land in Antarctica, which has been transformed by Geothermal energy into a tropical paradise. Outnumbered, they are forced to surrender their weapons and are taken to meet Zorndyke face to face. He explains that his actions have been an attempt to teach mankind a measure of humility: though they have colonized the ocean floor, taken great strides towards mastering genetic sciences, and filled most material needs, they have actually regressed ethically; war and strife are as common as ever, now only because of the most insignificant of reasons – prejudice. When his family was killed in a racial purge, he went mad with grief and attempted to teach the world the pointlessness of race by reducing the number of humans alive. At first, the sole purpose of the pole shift was to destroy the massive food resources of the world's grain producing areas. Without this massive surplus, many humans starved and the population was given a permanent limit - what it could harvest from the seas.

But though this united the population against him, it did not create the sense of human brotherhood he desired. And once he clearly considered his actions, he realized that there was no chance that it could have. That is when he decided to create his bio-engineered "children", in the hopes that seeing the myriad species working together would teach the relatively homogeneous humans that their differences were irrelevant. Unfortunately, his earlier actions had tainted humanity's view of him, and they saw his creations as a mutated army set on destroying them as they did each other. And the war began in earnest.

Kino confronts Zorndyke with Hayami's pistol, and the elderly scientist gets to the point - the machines that power the pole shift are controlled by his heartbeat, and he no longer has the strength to do this. They will stop when he dies, which will be quite soon. But if Blue Fleet launches their nuclear weapons, the machines will be super-charged and the pole shift will begin once more, and never stop. Combined with the destruction of his utopia, this will exterminate all life on Earth. This is his last effort to teach mankind humility. If they leave the Antarctic to his children, the threat will cease. But if they exterminate them, they will exterminate themselves as well.

Kino, though enraged almost to madness by the loss of her entire family in the war, realizes that she is now where Zorndyke was when he embarked upon his quest, and is unable to kill him. Instead, Hayami relays his message to the Blue fleet: Zorndyke is dead and the pole shift has stopped, but they must leave the Anarctic and learn to co-exist with his "children", or everyone will die. They seem to accept these demands.

Verg, who survived the sinking of his "Ghost Ship", manages to swim to shore and attacks Kino and Hayami. But Hayami refuses to fight back, speaking of Zorndyke's life and message: that they have to learn to live together or they will be unable to live at all. Ultimately, he breaks down emotionally at the site of Zorndyke's funeral procession for he, like all Zorndyke's creations loved him as a father. He and Mutio, as well as an animal-like band of mourners, carry Zorndyke to rest at the bottom of the ocean.

"Six" picks up Kino and Hayami, and the series ends as the war ends.

References

Related Links

[http://www.gonzo.co.jp GONZO Official Website]

[http://www.gonzo.co.jp/anime_ao6/ Official GONZO Blue Submarine No.6 Web Page]

[http://www.vintago.com Vintago; A Blue Submarine No.6 fan site]

[http://ticktank.wordpress.com The Blue Dome - A fanblog and information database on Blue Submarine No.6]

[http://www.freewebs.com/mutio Mutio: A fan site on a character featured in the Blue Submarine No.6 anime)]