Series: Tide-Line Blue is set in the near future where a catastrophe called The Hammer of Eden strikes the Earth, flooding about 90% of the land mass of the planet. This kills 6 billion people and the handful of survivors end up on various small islands all around the world trying to stay one step ahead of famine, disease, and all the other problems that were not a big matter prior to the event. The story actually takes place 14 years later with a ragtag number of colonies trying to cobble together a new version of the United Nations. As expected, not all of the groups agree to specific terms, some of them wanting more say in various matters and others prove resilient to the ensuing bullying the larger island-states attempt. Still, the groups draw closer to agreement thanks in part to a strong willed lady from the old regime, that is until a former Commander in charge of one of the largest nuclear submarines left from years ago strikes the peace submit.

Led by Captain Gould, the crew of the USS Ulysses has the technological might and know how to evade the world's fleets, proving to be much like the famed Nautilus and Captain Nemo. Exactly what his reasoning is and plans for the future may be, the present shows him to be a formidable opponent that is respected by many as a dangerous foe. This part of the story is woven into the true protagonist of the series, a young man named Keel; a boy birthed in space at the time of the Hammer of Eden with his brother, with intimate knowledge and history to the events that led the planet to this state. An impetuous child, he scavenges to maintain his lifestyle, always keeping one step ahead of those around him as he plies his crooked schemes and games of chance. He loves a gal named Isla but won't tell her about it, protecting the pregnant gal from the elements as her self appointed protector. The child isn't his but he doesn't care, the usual social welfare nets having long been discarded in favor of people fending for themselves in this hard world.

The night of the attack shows him confronting his brother, a boy that serves Captain Gould as an important part of the organization; serving to inform the people at the peace conference that the Captain has issued an ultimatum. This leads to a missile attack launched by the Ulysses and the capture of the lad, all while the devastation from the cruise missiles forces Keel and Isla to run for their lives. Taking his brother's advice, they meet one of the crew on the docks at the last minute, resulting in their being taken aboard the Ulysses for the time being. The crew treats them fairly well but the understated relationship between the brothers as well as Keel and Isla come into play. The crew finds Keel a chore to deal with but in their rush to avoid capture, they end up putting up with him as the world seeks to retaliate with their fleet. That leads them to an underground hot spot of seas currents known as the Dhola Vira, a supposedly impassible spot where they will launch their attack on Captain Gould's vessel.

The Captain has other plans of course and the rest of the series seems likely to showcase his reasoning for his actions as well as how Keel fits into the bigger picture, the majority of the first four episodes were mainly used to introduce the characters and the modern setting. The slow pacing of character development allows the creative team (including original creator Satoru Ozawa from Blue Submarine #6 and director Umanosuke Lida) to go somewhere with the basic structure now established, it did make a lot of the developments in the four episodes come across as a bit repetitive to the many similar stories on the market. Still, while I thought the show was only worth a rating of Rent It based on the last volume, it did show some promise. The episodes were 1) Spirit, 2) Traitor, 3) Dhola Vira, and 4) Share; each adding in some of the background story with the final one showing more of Keel's history.

Then, with the second volume of the series, Tide-Line Blue: V2: Dhola Vira, the parameters of the situation were now set and the characters in place. Captain Gould is a loose cannon trying to mold the world in his own image and the forces of the modern United Nations are trying to stop him as they poke and prod their way through extensive negotiations that get nowhere. As a man of action, Gould detests the politicians of the world that somehow seemed to survive in greater numbers but exactly what kind of man he is has yet to be determined considering the mixed signals he has sent (endangering the lives of many to make his point; coming across more as a terrorist than a hero. The episodes this time are 5) Attack, 6) K2, and 7) Praying and I was cheesed off that there were only three here. The value quotient aside for the moment, the captain sends Josie out on a mission with Keel in tow. Keel gets in the way as expected and the results are pretty much what anyone who has watched the first volume would expect. Gould butts heads with his pals at the new UN and this causes more friction than his attempts at gunboat diplomacy with two warring nations but it also forces him to make a tough call regarding his crew. At the same time, Keel's brother is shown being worked on by his captors as they reveal an integral piece of the puzzle in terms of their heritage, something even a loyalist like himself cannot ignore.

That brought us to the third volume under review. The episodes were 8) Reunite, 9) The Globe, and 10) Separation, subtitled: A New Map. Gould and his crew on the Ulysses are still being hunted down by the UN forces, said group using their most accurate map to determine where he has to be headed. This puts a timeline on how quickly Gould must repair his ship as well as give Keel, his brother, and Josie a static rendezvous point for a limited time. The desperation of the UN forces becomes increasingly apparent too, some of the secrets regarding why Gould is so adamantly opposed to their rule coming out on the fringes as well. Keel relies on his gambling skills to secure passage on a repair vessel once they are caught; placed in a most precarious position by the captain of the ship, a man he knows all too well from his encounter in the last volume. Without spoiling the fun too much, let's just say that Keel's predicament is both hilarious and over the top while showing his increasing need to join up to the Ulysses (and see Isla once more). Teen, his brother, shows a melancholy over his recent capture that begets larger issues to be resolved in the upcoming (and final) volume of the series but the series only had three episodes this time and moved at almost the same pace as the prior two (hint: really slowly). Okay, with one more volume to go, I had expected a lot more exposition and having some newfound background on the father of the two young men only made it worse. With gaping plot holes and missed opportunities, it gave me the impression that the series had originally been mapped out (pun intended) for a full season but cut short for external reasons well into production. This might have forced the series to wrap up in a less than satisfying manner, leaving many unanswered questions and weakening the entire show as a result. Aoi's motivations in revealing some of the past also struck me as a bit disingenuous given her role in the present; despite her claims of needing to act like a calculating leader in the past (you'll know exactly what I mean if you watch the show), and as a key secondary player in this drama, her motivations should have been crystal clear all along rather than this jumbled bit of fluff presented.

The last volume of the series was Volume 4, containing a whopping three episodes; 11) Battle of Metasequoia, 12) Blue, and 13) Brother. The long awaited showdown between the Ulysses and the New UN takes place in the sea of Metasequoia where Captain Gould hauls out the trump card that Aoi had feared the most; his nuclear option. While there were some elements that instilled the sense of drama from the better earlier episodes, there was also a lot of extrapolation and dialogue that ruined the pacing; reminding me that had the entire series been edited into a movie, it might have worked a lot better. The showdown took center stage but the bulk of the show dealt with Keel and Teen's dad orbiting above and his contribution to the infamous world map that so many wanted to keep secret; Aoi finally caving in to distribute it but leaving an unsatisfactory ending too. The show wrapped up for good, I found it worth a rating of Rent It but perhaps a boxed set, at a lowered cost, with new extras would elevate the series for the anime completists out there better than this volume could have.

Picture: Tide-Line Blue: V4 was presented in a 1.78:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen color as shot by director Umanosuke Lida for broadcast on Japanese television a few years back. It had a lot of darker spots on it, notable for the way the picture sometimes looked weaker than average due to the lack of truly black blacks and how some of the underwater scenes stood out as computer generated (not quite right at times, the ability of the computers to show the shades of blue indicating depth somewhat mixed). There were some compression artifacts too but the animation itself, particularly the CGI work that did not quite work all that well when woven into the more traditional style that the characters was shown in. Still, it was a cut above most Saturday morning cartoon animation, albeit with grander intentions so it balanced out in many ways.

Sound: The audio was presented with the standard choice of a 2.0 Dolby Digital track in either the original Japanese or the newly commissioned English language dub; both with optional English language subtitles. I listened to both and to me at least, the separation and dynamic range of the vocal tracks were substantially better on the dub over the original Japanese track. The voice acting on the dub had a few characters that seemed rushed or otherwise not fitting their character but as appealing as the original track's vocals were, the music and sound effects made up a major part of why I wasn't keen on the show as a whole. It was far from bad but it lacked in so many ways that fans of dubs will be jumping for joy that someone over here paid more attention than the creators in Japan seemed to do. The music was pretty good though and the track by Minami Kuribayashi was pleasing on the ears, albeit with a dynamic range that should have been bolder and brighter.

Extras: The trailers and three versions of the opening theme of the series, Blue Treasure, were all okay but nothing to praise as far as I was concerned. If you've come this far, the extras were never selling points and you're not going to pass on the final volume, right? Sadly, that was all she wrote this time.

Final Thoughts: Tide-Line Blue: V4 was a mixed bag to me and a bit derivative of the wealth of similar titles on the market over the years. The limitations in material were the biggest problem for me this time, especially with only three episodes to the set and a lack of substantive extras. This wasn't the worst series by Bandai to date but the pacing made me wonder if it had either been initially proposed as a one shot movie or a full season series; either direction sabotaged by this compromise leaving either dynamic unfulfilled. A movie could have been more suspenseful and taunt while a full season could have explored the motivations of the characters much better but the limits of a half season gave me much pause for thought as it just did not seem as appealing to me as it should have.

If you enjoy better anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, Best of Anime 2005, and Best of Anime 2006 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.