Braving to take its action film into daring emotional terrain, the "Blue Sub" team not only engages its audience with innovative animation technology but also innovative storytelling.

Its hackneyed premise, the accelerated melting of the polar ice caps, takes back seat to Hayami's jaded struggle to reclaim his life, reconcile with his past and redeem humanity. Though only fleetingly developed in this Hayami-centric tale, the rest of the cast teems with personality.

Though complaints that the fusion of traditional and computer animation isn't entirely successful, the way the disparate styles interact, especially in this closing volume, rebut any attacks on the skill of the animators. The innovation shines through in the movement and cinematic stylings.

As the tension mounts and the themes become more complex, the dialogue suffers, translators and adapters more concerned with keeping up with the bottom-line than peppering the language. However, the stellar acting always comes through selling even the corniest of lines.

The trademark Bandai trailer option serves up a glance at new releases, but otherwise the DVD extras amount to very little. And for a thirty minute episode, the DVD does very little to justify the cost.

A savage but poignant display of bare-knuckle violence at the end gets gruesome and probably shouldn't reach the eyes of those graced with childlike naiveté.

Backed into a corner trying to convey the weighty introspection among this cast, the "Blue Sub" team resorts to an internal monologue instead of piercing dialogue.

He refutes claims that he's trying to play god, however he created a myriad species who all call him papa and he speaks in a low, rumbling drawl ... just like God.