Submarine 707R is a fantastic looking, great sounding anime, with sharp characters, detailed backgrounds, and outstanding underwater action.

And I'm still having a tough time deciding why I didn't like it that much.

Everything about it - even the story - makes for good anime, but as I look at that nifty, see-through blue water packaging on my DVD shelf, I know it will be a very long time before I watch it again.

I think it's because myself and American audiences in general are spoiled on all the awesome live-action submarine movies. Das Boot, Crimson Tide, Run Silent, Run Deep, U-571. With the possible exception of Blue Submarine No. 6, anime hasn't really presented a submarine tale that came close to any of these movies.

This all comes down to personal preference, because some people will absolutely love Submarine 707R. If they thought Super Atragon was a good submarine anime, they'll be forced to call this movie excellent.

The 707Revolution is the Japanese flag vessel, a so-so ship made exceptional by its captain, Hayami. The leading nations of the world are banding together to form the Peace Keeping Navy, but their inaugural party is interrupted by Admiral Red and his giant nuclear sub. His terrorist group, USR, wipes out most of the PKN fleet (including those cocky Americans) and while the 707R is destroyed too, Hayami saves the day by keeping the main carrier safe.

A while later, the 707R is recommissioned, and Hayami and a cast of younger shipmates may be the only thing that can keep Admiral Red from completing his mission.

That was one of two minor problems with Submarine 707R, which is based on a 1960s manga and is split into two parts. The admiral's motive is never really explained that well. He wants to keep humanity from spoiling the ocean, but we're given no signs that that's what humanity is doing … there's no sign of pollution, garbage, or human destruction of the sea. A bad guy was needed, and while he has one hell of ship, he has a pretty silly excuse to use it. Maybe he's just insane.

The second issue I had was that a small band of sidekicks is introduced rather quickly, with the feel that we'll be getting to know these guys. Don't get your hopes up, because they're shuffled off to the occasional three-second reaction screen shot, and the focus of the movie is placed squarely on Hayami. Which isn't all that terrible.

Hayami (which, interestingly enough, is the name of one of the key characters in Blue Submarine No. 6) is a very excellent captain, your quintessential cool-headed cat. He doesn't panic, knows all the underwater tricks, and earns the respect of his crew. We get brief glimpses of his home life here and there, and there's several funny moments, most memorable among them being when his son reads a letter from him aloud to mom ("I'm looking forward to docking in you," he writes).

Submarine 707R has a rather unsatisfying ending, but everything before it was a great show. It rarely slows down and it puts the audience in a believable submarine world.

But I just know I'll watch my copy of Hunt for Red October two or three times before Submarine 707R makes its way back into my DVD player.

Presented in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen, this was another great looking DVD from Geneon. I noticed no digital flaws, and while this is a sea adventure, the detail and animation in all scenes is very good. CG is used often with some of the submarine scenes, but it blends very well with the standard animation, and the battles are fierce and eye-catching. The color usage is very good, with excellent shades and depth to the ocean water.

There's 5.1 Dolby Digital English and Japanese language options, with both sounding roughly, equally good to my ear. Lots of directionality during battle scenes, with that sound a water torpedo makes running clearly across the channels. I preferred the Japanese voice cast over the English dub, but I take nothing away from the hard work the English voice actors put out.

On the regular edition, the extras are very disappointing, with simple DVD credits and three Geneon previews. On the $30 limited edition, however, there's lengthy creator interviews, 3D CG modeling demos, trailers and heaps more. If you want to buy this DVD, you may want to shell out the extra $10 for the LE, which also includes a DTS English 5.1 track.

Once again, there's very little wrong with this movie, other than it doesn't live up to an assortment of live action submarine flicks. Rent it first, to see if it's something you'd like to add to your collection.