Submarine Super 99

A show with only 366 members rating it and no reviews... So... Let's see.. This show effectively released at the turn of the millenium, right after a superstar title of similar combination of genres(Gundam Seed) just ended. To make it worse, Gundam Seed was not the only title outshining it at its airing, there was also Ghost in Shell: SAC, Texhnolyze, Uchuu no Stellvia, all of which has a heck of a lot more attention than this title at the prime of its time to shine. Graphically, this show's technical aspects are very good for a year 2003 title. The backgrounds and tech are decently welldrawn/gradiented. The show very unfortunately has an very outdated art character artstyle (more or less the same style as from the 1970s) that heavily contrasts it with other titles of its time, all of which have moved onto more modern character design styles. Even soundwise, it has the problem of sounding very outdated for most of the show. From sound effects to OST, it would not be hard to mistake the show as something that is much older. It's only saving grace is an OK ending song that doesn't sound half as outdated as the rest of the show. Story and cast-wise, the show actually had the potential to be okay, but flops mainly due to the way it chooses to tell its story. Derogatorily, this show can be described as a show written by a fan of the actual Gundam franchise who came up with the visuals of the characters first, made a plot to surround them with second and then forgot to develop either the characters or make the plot more fleshed out. The set up is extremely simple with a decently pronounced shout-out to your typical Gundam set up: A kid as the MC, a Sayla expy and the main crew in colorful (pastel) military garments commandeering a prototype ship. Even the enemy, who are effectively Sea Zeon instead of a Space version has their ship crews wear plain colors like the majority of the Zeons/ZAFT and they're also chasing said prototype ship. The only thing missing is an actual Gundam prototype and a Char clone. First, while I don't typically deduct points for lack of originality, this one pushes it heavily enough it's worth deducting a point from for the insanely obvious attempt to cash off of Gundam's popularity. A Gundam entry has the excuse of paying respects to its roots, a non-Gundam title has no such legacy to pay respects to. Second, the show never really establishes why the MC is involved with the plot. Whereas the main contemporary show that dwarfed this one's popularity bothered to explain this point and go so far as to make it part of their MC's development, this show just throws him in as a relative of some actually important figures and that's it. Problem is, a military employee's son doesn't necessarily enlist and even if he does, he would be offered very little entitlement to classified information based on a blood relation. Third, there is a certain out of place childishness to this show. For example, the villains are retarded. Why give back a gun to your prisoner even if you assume someone else will hold onto the ammo? I was laughing as I watched and laughed harder when the obvious consequences occurred. Lastly, a prominent issue is the cast. While, yes you can visually remember the main crew and a few of the villains, there is nothing to define them as characters and the show has so many characters for its episode count that even the main guy falls flat. In conclusion, this show is probably not worth your time if you are looking for a good watch unless you really want a Gundam-esque show and you've already seen all the other ones that are good. Art:5 - Sound: 3 - Story: 6 - Characterization: 1