Submarine 707R

[areaseven]

Submarine 707 Revolution ( サブマリン707R )

View Works/Group TAC/Aniplex, 2003-2004

Geneon Entertainment, 2004

Directed by Shoichi Masuo

Rated 13-Up for violence and mild language.

Based on the manga by Satoru Ozawa (Blue Submarine No. 6). To combat the terrorist organization known as "USR", eleven countries combine their naval forces to form the Peace-Keeping Navy (PKN). However, all hell breaks loose when Admiral Red and his USR submarine UX crash the PKN's inaugural ceremony and destroy majority of the fleet. At the last minute, when the UX lands the final blow on the aircraft carrier Apollo-Norm, the obsolete Japanese submarine 707 (a.k.a. "Snapping Turtle") appears from out of nowhere and sacrifices itself to save the PKN flagship. Six months later, Captain Youhei Hayami is called back to duty to lead a new group of recruits and captain an all-new 707 in the war against terrorism on the high seas.

Story: A-

In the past, anime titles involving submarines had the tendency to do what most submarines do: sink rock bottom. Super Atragon was a snoozefest, Silent Service reeked of plot loopholes, and Blue Submarine No. 6 was all eye-candy and no substance.

Not the case of Submarine 707R. While the plot is minimal, the characters grow on you, especially the protagonist Hayami and the antagonist Red, along with their respective families. In terms of underwater action, it's not Das Boot or The Hunt For Red October, but Submarine 707R is still one hell of a ride.

Animation: A-

Submarine 707R's opening sequence is a nostalgic monochrome montage directed by Hideaki Anno (Gunbuster, Neon Genesis Evangelion). The overall animation in the OAV series is outstanding, despite some imperfections. For example, there are some instances where the 3D graphics look out of place with the digital 2D animation. The cel-shaded submarines look good, but need more detail, as they still look brand new during battles. Character designs by Minoru Murao (Last Exile); mechanical designs by Kazutaka Miyatake (Macross, Gunbuster).

Soundtrack: A

As with anything you watch, a soundtrack is needed to increase the intensity of any scene. Wave Master does a good job supplying an excellent orchestral score for this title.

Sub vs. Dub

Submarine 707R features Ben Hiura as Hayami, Hiroshi Yanaka (Celestine in Ah! My Goddess: The Movie, Tetsuya in Mazinkaiser) as Nango, Kensho Ono as Kenji, Akira Ishida (Athrun in Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, Kaworu in Neon Genesis Evangelion) as Goro, Daisuke Sakaguchi (Shonen Bat in Paranoia Agent, Uso in Mobile Suit Victory Gundam) as Senta, Unshou Ishizuka (Guld in Macross Plus, Jet Black in Cowboy Bebop) as Admiral Red, Hideo Ishikawa (Ryoma in Shin Getter Robo, Hayami in Re: Cutie Honey) as Suzuki, Yasuhiro Takato (Artemis in Sailor Moon) as Yamada, Yurika Hino as Catherine, Emi Shinohara (B-Ko in Project A-Ko, Makoto/Sailor Jupiter in Sailor Moon) as Miyuki, Yumi Sudo as Ayumi, Shinichiro Miki (Allen in Escaflowne, Kurz in Full Metal Panic!) as Arthur, Aya Hisakawa (Skuld in Ah! My Goddess, Haruka in RahXephon) as Yuu, Makoto Tsumura (the new Tetsuwan Atom, Captain Blue, Jr. in Viewtiful Joe) as Ai, Sawa Ishige (Tanpopo in Dokkoida!?, Paiway in Vandread) as Kei, Ai Nonaka (Shima in Stellvia, Beauty in Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo) as Rei, Misa Watanabe as Barbara, Mami Kingetsu (Miharu in Gasaraki, Nagisa in If I See You in My Dreams) as Alicia, Keiichi Sonobe as Ulron, Kazuya Ichijo (Ken in Street Fighter Alpha) as Doryanski, Ayano Takami as Gödel-B, and Hideyuki Tanaka (Agito/Guyver III in the Guyver, Woody in Mobile Suit Gundam) as Guilford.

The English dub by Bang Zoom! Entertainment is actually worth listening to.

DVD Extras: A- (Limited Edition)

The Limited Edition DVD comes with an exclusive English DTS 5.1 Surround track plus production staff interviews, 3D demo reels, art gallery and promotional trailers.

The Bottom Line

Better story, superior animation and an excellent soundtrack are enough for Submarine 707R to literally blow Blue Submarine No. 6 out of the water.

Links

Sony Music Entertainment's Official Submarine 707R Homepage (Japanese)

Geneon Entertainment's Official Submarine 707R Homepage

Reference

Anime News Network

Edited December 6, 2004 by areaseven

[JELEINEN]

Another good Submarine series, or at least the first episode was good anyway, is the recent Matsumoto one. I wish I could get more episodes of it.

[areaseven]

Another good Submarine series, or at least the first episode was good anyway, is the recent Matsumoto one. I wish I could get more episodes of it.

What's it called?

[Knight26]

I found it interesting, though the inconcistencies in the character design bugged me to no end, and I thought the whole subplot with the captain's little brat and wife could have been dropped. Plus I found those mega-carriers to just be too rediculously huge especially since they were suppossed to be submersible. I love a good sub movie and for the most part this one was, filled with interesting sub designs, I just wish we got to see more of those designs.

[JELEINEN]

Another good Submarine series, or at least the first episode was good anyway, is the recent Matsumoto one.  I wish I could get more episodes of it.

What's it called?

Submarine Super 99

[wolfx]

I found it interesting, though the inconcistencies in the character design bugged me to no end, and I thought the whole subplot with the captain's little brat and wife could have been dropped. Plus I found those mega-carriers to just be too rediculously huge especially since they were suppossed to be submersible. I love a good sub movie and for the most part this one was, filled with interesting sub designs, I just wish we got to see more of those designs.

*phew*

What a ride! This show totally rocks! Seen eps 1-2. Very cool! Superb character design, mechanical design, and the music was great as well! Only bad thing is probably each OVA takes about 6 months to release.

Arnold B looked like HAL, and I thought he was gonna pull a HAL-killing-spree on "cocky americans"....but pleasantly surprised. Heh Heh.

I don't mind the wife and his cute kid. Guess by the end of the show, we'll have one of those "and he was a great father as well as a captain" kinda shows, for both him and the Red Admiral. One of them is gonna die. MAybe both. Hmmmm.....

And submersible carriers....are abit silly. How long does it take to store each plane from the runway back down below when it submerges and then how long does it take to re-deploy when it surfaces? Hmmm....maybe its something we haven't seen yet.

And that super fast plane piloted by that supposedly dead mysterious man....looks like a small attack sub carried by 2 jets or something. Interesting.

PS: Spot the EVA references?