Daphne in the Brilliant Blue

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Daphne in the Brilliant Blue
光と水のダフネ -DAPHNE IN THE BRILLIANT BLUE- (Hikari to Mizu no Daphne -)
Genre
Manga
Authored by	Satoshi Shiki
Publisher	Shonen Gahosha Co.
Serialized in	Young King OURs
Original run	2004 – 2004
No. of volumes	1
TV anime
Directed by	Ryuuji Ikebata
Studio	J.C.STAFF—
Network	TV Kanagawa
Original run	15 January 2004 – 3 July 2004
No. of episodes	24 + 2

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue (光と水のダフネ Hikari to Mizu no Daphne) is a 2004 anime series animated by the studio J.C.STAFF and produced by GENCO. Its North American distribution rights are held by Geneon Entertainment, which has since translated and released the series on DVD. A manga version was drawn by mangaka Satoshi Shiki (士貴智志 Shiki Satoshi) titled "I - Daphne in the Brilliant Blue" (アイ～光と水のダフネ～, Ai ~Hikari to Mizu no Daphne~), featured in Young King OURs magazine.

1 Story
2 Characters
- 2.1 Voice roles
3 Pop culture references
4 External links

[edit] Story

In the future, water has covered much of the Earth due to the effects of global warming. The orphened Maia Mizuki (水樹マイア Mizuki Maia), 15, just graduated from middle school and has already applied for employment in the elite paramilitary Ocean Agency, part of the futuristic world government. Only the best, most intelligent, and physically fit students are eligible for admission. Maia, the series' protagonist, is set to become one of the few.

But her ideal life quickly falls apart. To her disappointment, Maia unexpectedly fails her entrance exams. Making matters worse, she promptly gets evicted from her house, pickpocketed, taken hostage, then shot. She is "saved" by two women (Rena and Shizuka) that are part of an unorthodox help-for-hire organization called Neres, a possible derivation of the Greek mythological Nereids. With nowhere to go, Maia joins up with Neres, taking jobs from capturing wanted criminals to delivering ice cream, often with unexpected results. Gloria and Yu later join up with Neres.

"Daphne" in the title refers to a subplot that starts midway into the series and eventually become important to Maia. "Brilliant Blue" refers to the fact that this is a world covered by water with almost no land. The world consists of vast oceans, a few islands, and floating cities.

[edit] Characters

Mizuki Maia (水樹マイア), 15: The protagonist of the series, Maia was orphaned and left without relatives. Having been rejected by the Ocean Agency, Maia has found work with Neres. She is optimistic, hard working, cheerful and an all around cute girl next door. She is in search of her past while working with Neres.

Honjo Rena (本城レナ), 25: Leader of the Neres Kamchatka (カムチャツカ) branch. Rena is capable, elegant, and cunning and makes the decisions, if cold at times. She is cool and calculating and knows the weaknesses of other people. She seduces others for manipulation or for a weapon use.

Hayama Shizuka (葉山静香), 17: Busty and bespectacled, Shizuka is a brilliant mechanic who grew up on an urban district and knows many people there. She is known for her poor aim and is friendly and trusting with a voracious appetite.

Gloria (グロリア), 25: Loud, spontaneous, tomboyish, and somewhat reckless, Gloria is a trigger-happy champion marksman and the weapons specialist. She tends to stick to her guns and loves to blow things up and she does not get along with Yu. Gloria loves money and bothers Rena about how much she owes her. She is the only character without a regular civilian outfit.

Park Yu (朴ゆう), 20: Silent, brooding, ridiculously strong, and a loner, Yu is a fighter and hand-to-hand combat specialist. She had her license revoked in the past for destroying private property and injuring several police officers and bystanders. She does not get along too well with Gloria. Yu's hobbies include animals and travel.

[edit] Voice roles

Character	Voice actor (Japanese)	Voice actor (English)
Maia Mizuki	Mai Nakahara	Carrie Savage
Rena Honjo	Sayaka Ohara	Wendee Lee
Shizuka Hayama	Kana Ueda	Michelle Ruff
Gloria	Masumi Asano	Megan Hollingshead
Yu Park	Yuko Kaida	Erika Weinstein
Tsukasa Takagi	Sakura Nogawa	Hunter MacKenzie Austin
Tsutomu Hanaoka	Mitsuo Iwata	Doug Stone
Kosuke Yagi	Hidetoshi Nakamura	Stephen Martello
Wong	Kenji Nomura	Patrick Seitz
Chang	Shinji Kawada	Sam Regal

[edit] Pop culture references

A "Picard Motor Co. DS-9 NC-1701D" motor is observed in episode 3 of the TV series.
- "Picard" referring to Star Trek's Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
- "DS-9" referring to Star Trek's Deep Space Nine space station.
- "NC-1701D" referring to Star Trek's USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D) starship.
All of the episode titles are puns or tributes to the names of films. For instance, episode 3, titled "ネレイスほど素敵な商売はない?" ("There's No Business Like Neres?") is a tribute to the 1954 film There's No Business Like Show Business.