4/5 Nice Start
  by L. B. Bryant (Astoria, OR)
After watching this first volume I see absolutely no reason why I wouldn't tell other people to see it. The only reason why I think someone might not really like this anime is because of all the information that is crammed into these first four episodes and if you're someone who just likes to sit back and turn your brain off while viewing anime you're going to be lost before the series even gets started. Like many other series, this is one that is going to engage you right away and really make you pay attention to it. There is tons of potential here for a great ending and so I'm going to give this one a big thumb up and say that the potential is worth sticking with it. Recommended.


3/5 Where are we going?
  by Michael Valdivielso (Alexandria, VA)
Keel, 14 year old gambler, and his secret love, Isla, barely survive the attack on their city. They find themselves on the rogue submarine, the U.S.S. Ulysses, run by Captain Gould. Captain Gould has declared war against the newly formed United Nations. The United Nations has been trying to slowly bring civilization back to the planet Earth after most of the land mass was flooded 14 years ago, killing over 6 billion people.
In fact Gould is the one that attacked and partly destroyed the city Keel and Isla were living in! Is he insane? Is he some kind of pirate? And just who is Keel? Why was his twin working for Gould? Why would anybody attack the United Nations?
The DVD has four episodes full of military actions, high adventure, confusing flashbacks, knowing stares, breast feeding, and one ugly sub. One gets the feeling that the creators are trying to do everything at once. Humor, drama, adventure and action all stuffed into one series. Will they pull it off? I dunno.

3/5 THE EARTH SUBMERGED
  by Sesho (Pasadena, TX USA)
It's been 14 years since the cataclysmic "Hammer of Eden" incident that coverered 90% of the Earth's surface in water and 6 billion lives were lost. Now, on the scattered islands of land that still remain, mankind is trying to arise again, organizing itself into a new United Nations under Secretary General Aoi. But an old comrade of hers named Gould has different plans for the world, using a powerful attack submarine, the Ulysses, to disrupt the United Nations meeting. After sending an emissary to the council, a young boy named Teen, of all things, the announcement is made that Gould has given Aoi 10 years to carry out her plans of uniting the world and now the time is up. He's ready to play hardball as he dispatches missles to destroy Aoi's HQ, a giant aircraft carrier, and the town that lies beneath it. Two of the people fleeing the destruction are Keel and Isla. Keel is the resident young bum never-do-well who hasn't held an honest job in his life and is always ready to take advantage of other people. There's not much to say good about him, but he does have a soft spot for Isla, a pretty girl who also happens to be extremely pregnant (no, it's not Keel's kid). During all the carnage, Isla goes into labor and probably would have died and lost the baby if Gould's representative, Teen, hadn't stepped in with his rudimentary medical training. He also happens to be Keel's long lost brother. It's not very clear as to how they ended up on opposite sides in this conflict, but Teen does help Keel get on to the Ulysses with Isla while Teen himself is captured by Aoi's troops.

While the story is pretty interesting, the character designs in Tide Line Blue take some getting used to. They have a cheezy Disney-like cheap Miyazaki wanna-be look. Due to Keel's look and clothes he looks like he might have started out as a female character and was later changed to a male. I'll let you read whatever you want into that statement. He seems a bit effeminate in attire and his personality seems to have fallen out of a Elemental Gelade episode. And my lord, do we really need an anthropomorphic ostrich in the show? I mean, COME ON! Having an ostrich as one of the supporting characters tends to undercut the deeper themes and plot. Perhaps it was intended to. The writers didn't do a very good job of introducing you to the characters and the world. There's a United Nations meeting and suddenly here comes Gould on his submarine, "I've given you 10 years!", and then starts shooting missles, without giving the viewer any clue as to why this conflict is happening. Perhaps this was done to make Tide Line Blue edgier or more clever by throwing you into the action, but it only succeeds in confusing the watcher. I'm kinda tired of shows like this that try to grind out revelations the whole series, and then leave gaping plotholes at the end. While this first volume was a bit fun to watch, I'm not expecting much from the next volume.