青の6号 Official Media & Soundtrack

A considerable amount of official BS6-related goods were sold in Japan, mostly during its heyday period (1998 – 2002). Will be doing up this list as time goes by.

1. 4 Episode OVA in various formats
2. 青の6号: Antarctica (Playstation 1)
3. 青の6号: 歳月不待人; Time & Tide (Dreamcast)
4. Official Books
5. Official Soundtracks
6. 青の6号: Digital Plus
7. 青の6号: Desktop Accessories

**Note: Please do not ask me to scan/upload/sell you items. Short of me developing a sudden intense hatred for all things BS6 (quite unlikely), I’m very much keeping them 🙂

1. 青の6号: OVA (4 Episodes)

Since 1998, the 4-episode BS6 OVA has been released in just about every format – VHS, DVD & LD, with several revisions and digitized versions also added along the way. I’ll just be covering the latest ones.

青の6号: Blue Fleet Box (Status: Own; non limited-edition only) 

 

The Blue Fleet Box was released in 2004 by GONZO & Toshiba EMI in Japan only, and is without a doubt the best edition for any serious BS6 fan to collect. This box set contains the following:

• 2 OVA DVDs, with 2 of the episodes on each DVD
• 1 Bonus DVD (Visual Archives), containing interviews, character biographies and all the material from the Digital Plus featurette.
• 3 soundtrack CDs, one of them for the music in 青の6号: Antarctica.
• A 30-page booklet (“Undersea Archives”) containing some rare official BS6 illustrations, an interview with Satoro Ozawa, character biographies and notes on the show’s production process. 
• A promotional poster of THE THRILL.
• DVD menu guide/list 
• A 1/1000 scaled model of Blue Submarine No. 6. (Limited editions of the Blue Fleet Boxset only)

This boxset is still readily available from most Japanese online stores, mainly Amazon.co.jp., as well as Yahoo Japan Auctions. Most of the ones on offer are pre-owned and/or are not the limited edition versions i.e. they don’t contain the sub figurine. The real gems however are the 3 soundtrack CDs, Digital Plus DVD and the 30-page booklet. English language and subtitles are available for the OVA episodes only. Expect to pay up to US$150 for the set, and perhaps more if it is the limited edition version. Well worth the money if you’re a serious fan though. (Note: Region 2 DVD code)

Blue Submarine No. 6 – Anime Legends Complete Collection (Status: Own) 

Non-Japanese audiences should be most familiar with this version. This 3-DVD set was released by Bandai Entertainment in 2007 outside Japan, and is still widely available online. Look for cheaper copies on Ebay if you want to save money. The 3rd DVD – Digital Plus, is basically an ‘English’ version of the original Japanese release, containing information on the BS6: Antarctica game as well as interviews with the OVA staff. Overall, its not as complete as the Blue Fleet Box, but is a hell lot cheaper. They also snuck in some annoying trailers and advertisements for other Bandai releases. One huge plus however is the presence of English subtitles in the Digital Plus DVD, most notably in the BS6 Antarctica FMVs, so yes, we finally get to understand what some of the new cutscenes are about. English subtitles weren’t available in the Blue Fleet Box Edition.

2. 青の6号: Antarctica, Playstation 1

(Status: Own)

 

Release Date: October 2000; Published by GONZO, Bandai Emotion & Toshiba EMI

A BS6 playstation 1 game that was released shortly after the conclusion of the OVA. Sold only in Japan, this game was not very well rated by non-BS6 fans, and to this day sadly remains a relatively unknown item to foreign audiences. Copies of this can still be found on Amazon.jp or at retro-game shops in Akihabara. Strongly recommended for serious BS6 fans, as it contains over 30 minutes of new animation.

3. 青の6号: 歳月不待人 (Time & Tide), Dreamcast

(Status: Own)

 

Release Date: December 2000; Published by GONZO & SEGA

A particularly rare and costly game, sold only in Japan. Copies of this can still be found on Amazon.jp or at retro-game shops in Akihabara. Strongly recommended for serious BS6 fans. Review of the game can be found in a separate article on this site.

4. Official Books

青の6号: Graphical World (Newtype Graphical Illustration) (Status: Own)

Info: Printed on 2000/7/30 角川書店; 94 Pages; 2000YEN

This is the only official ‘data’ book on the OVA, but it contains more than enough information to get you familiarized with the series, assuming you can read Japanese. Much of the information and artwork has since been taken out and placed online and/or on the DVD, but there are several sections (story summary, background, terminologies) that are exclusive. Definitely worth getting if you’re a serious fan, and its still being sold on Amazon.co.jp if I remember correctly. Cheaper copies available on ebay. Note: Contents are in Japanese.

青の6号〈上〉& 青の6号〈下〉(ニュータイプノベルズ) (Official Novel; 2 volumes) (Status: Own)

Info: Printed on 1999/07/15 & 2000/03/15 角川書店; 250 Pages each

The official novel comes in two volumes, with each book containing some unique B/W illustrations not found elsewhere. The books were written by the original author of the BS6 universe and the director of the OVA. I can’t read Japanese, but I still bought them…they were going for 20YEN each on Amazon. Obsession indeed. They are still widely available on Amazon, Yahoo Japan auctions and ebay.

5. Official Soundtrack List

The soundtracks for BS6 have been sold numerous times, at first as single CDs. This was eventually bundled in the collector’s edition and the latest (2006) Blue Fleet Boxset (3 discs total). All music, including the unreleased soundtrack for BS6: Time & Tide were composed by THE THRILL.

READ: Password for music files below is BLUEDOME (all in Caps/uppercase)

Blue Submarine No. 6 Official Soundtrack [Disc 1] (Status: Own)

Track & Title	EP	When played?	D/L
1. 青の覚醒	2	Opening credits of EP2; Ghost Ship Emerges
2. 006～潜航	1	Umigumo attack on Tokyo Harbour
3. 暗闇に気をつけろ	2	Ghost Ship attack on Blue Dome (Heavy Jazz)
4. 波紋	1	Song played from Hayami’s Radio. Also Marcello’s theme song in BS6: Antarctica
5. 哀愁のサブマリナー	None	Unused track in OVA; post-battle music in BS6: Antarctica
6. グランパス	1	Kino & Hayami VS Umigumos	Click
7. 深海魚	None	Unused (as far as I know)
8. 006～進撃	1	Blue 6 battles the Musuca (Heavy Jazz). Awesome track! 🙂
9. みなそこに眠れ	None	Ending credits (Minasoko), Full version

Blue Submarine No.6 Official Soundtrack [Disc 2] (Status: Own)

Track & Title	EP	When played?	D/L
1. 青の作戦	4	Main battle theme; Blue 6 and Kino & Hayami vs the enemy (Heavy Jazz). Another awesome track 🙂	Click
2. 汚れた手	4	Start of EP4: Verg’s abuse of Mutio, destruction of Blue 1
3. 006～侵攻	None	Unused track
4. ちぎれた浮標	None	Unused track
5. 海獣	2 & 3	During Zorndyke’s Blue Dome speech; when Mutio is sitting next to Hayami (Mix of Mutio’s song).
6. のろわれたロンド	None	Unused track
7. Pole Shift	4	When Zorndyke introduces the Poleshift device
8. 南へ	4	When Zorndyke is bringing Hayami & Kino through the forest, to the Poleshift device
9. 006～彷徨	4	Kino’s argument with Zorndyke
10. Blue Bloom	4	During Hayami & Mutio’s ride on the Musuca
11. レクイエム	3	When Blue 6 attacks the Musuca
12. みなわに還れ	4	Verg’s confrontation with Hayami & Kino
13. みなそこに眠れ (short)	All	Ending credits (Minasoko), Short version

青の6号: Antarctica Original Soundtrack (Status: Own)

Track & Title	EP	When played?	D/L
1．006～開戦	New	BS6: Antarctica main theme song	Click
2. ザガロ・エステラのテーマ	New	Player interactions
3. Tree of Life～生命の樹	New	Player interactions; First introduction FMV
4. 青の覚醒	2	Title Screen
5. Blue Bloom	4	Player interactions
6. 006～潜航	1	Combat briefing; remix of Umigumo attack on Tokyo
7. 海獣	2 & 3	Meeting with Zorndyke
8. 青の作戦	4	Remix of main battle theme (awesome)

 

6. 青の6号: Digital Plus

(Status: Own)

The Digital Plus DVD was sold in 2000, about half a year before the release of the BS6: Antarctica game. It can be regarded as a ‘supplementary’ or extra material to the OVA. Narrated/hosted by a young Japanese actress whom I am unfamiliar with (resembles Ryoko Hirosue), this short 50-minute ‘documentary’ contains:

1. A preview of the BS6 Antarctica game that was in development, including character introductions
2. An interview session with the OVA and game’s staff, including Range Murata, Satoro Ozawa and Mahiro Maeda (the OVA’s director). Lots of interesting details and revelations here.
3. Some new FMV footage in the BS6 Antarctica game
4. Interview with THE THRILL.

As a standalone DVD that was priced rather high (2500YEN), it wasn’t really a worthy purchase. Thankfully however, the entire contents of this bonus DVD has been bundled together with the most recent boxsets (see above), so there’s no reason to purchase this as a standalone, unless you dig the cool picture of the new characters on the back cover (WARNING: Large image file):

7. 青の6号: Desktop Accessories

(Status: Own)

A particularly rare but nonetheless still official piece of BS6 merchandise, this ‘hybrid’ CD-ROM package contains screen savers, sound clips, movie clips and other computer related goodies to help give your desktop a BS6 theme. The box also comes with a keychain and mousepad. The Disc runs on Windows 95/98 and even on a Mac, but it works just fine on Vista as well. Details on this unusual item is explained in a separate post [here].