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At the height of "Blue Submarine No. 6" exposure - a quiet run on the Cartoon Network and a modestly successful DVD and video release from Bandai Entertainment - questions about its story weakly sounded next to the heated debate over the merits of Gonzo's C.G. and cel animation blend. Critics have noted that an anticlimactic ending, which stretches over about 25 minutes, right into the ending credits, defeat the story. However, accolades befall the depth of character, theme and contemporary introspection that director Mahiro Maeda weaves through his series of battles, the centerpiece of attention for a work about far more than submarines and sea monsters. Earlier this year, Akadot staff interviewed three members of the US voice cast - Juliet Cesario ("Oh, My Goddess'" Belldandy), who played Mutio, the timid amphibian, and Gusuku, the crass Blue Sub helmswoman; Scott Simpson ("Goddess'" Keiichi), the voice behind the maniacal Ghost Ship captain, Belg; and Michael Granberry, who captured the ambivalent tones of the troubled hero Hayami. These three open up about how they approached their characters and shed some light on the story of "Blue Submarine." (Note: This is a composite piece culled from several interviews with the US voice cast. In our discussions we reveal details about the story's end.) What happens at the end of "Blue Sub?"
MG: Hayami kills Zorndyke, putting the poor soul out of his misery and shutting down the machinery
that is causing the pole shift, which stabilizes the environment.
SS: From a physical point of view that's a tough question for me to be objective about. There's
no doubt in Belg's mind what has happened, a human has killed Papa. In a broader sense, I don't think you can
say that a door is opened, or that some kind of mutually beneficial agreement will definitely be reached. The game
goes on. But it will be a new game. A door may not have been left open, but then again at least the house wasn't
blasted into ash. It really is brutally simple. It's a victory to just survive, but the greater the price the more
burdened that survival becomes. Hayami saves the world and in that final moment becomes not the trumpeted hero, but
a silent silhouette disappearing into fog, becoming part of the shadow of the submarine, that lone and lonesome air
horn, and a quiet fade to black. We often say of stories that the end "is whatever you make of it." That may be
more genuinely so with this story than any I've ever worked on. In all the wonderful, sublime theatricality of the
end it really does come done to one simple question; what's going to happen next?
What do you feel are the work's central themes? MG: Pacifism. Evolution as a conscious process. Zorndyke knows that the only way for mankind to
"win" is to abort the concept of winning by conquering one's opponent. The human race must grow up and out of
the notion that war is the answer.
JC: It's about defying the pack, isn't it? And knowing when to join it, too. There's a nice balance
between the characters. Those who have to find the courage to stand alone and those who have to learn to work
together. "Blue Sub" has so many layers that it's just a question of where you start. There are some pretty
powerful ecological themes. Zorndyke is the ultimate eco-terrorist.
SS: He's like Dr. Moreau meets Mr. Kurtz. Or maybe Lex Luther meets the Uni-Bomber.
JC: Totally! He's got the whole mad scientist with meaningful agenda thing covered. And you know, we
are a wasteful and arrogant species. "Blue Sub" is pure cautionary tale in that sense. Not so much about mad
scientists as about our everyday disrespect for the world we live in, a world we're dependent upon.
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