Daphne in the Brilliant Blue
Encyclopedia
is a 2004 anime
series animated by the studio J.C.Staff
and produced by GENCO
.
It was licensed by Geneon USA in 2004. However, Geneon USA had ceased operations in September 2007 and lost all their titles. In 2009, Sentai Filmworks had picked up the license and re-released the series in two complete collection sets.
A manga
version was drawn by manga artist
and character designer Satoshi Shiki
titled , featured in Young King OURs
magazine.
, leaving the human race to live on neighboring floating cities. The orphaned Maia Mizuki, 15, just graduated from middle school
and has already applied for employment in the elite 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 despite her high grades. Making matters worse, she promptly gets evicted from her house, pick pocketed, taken hostage, then shot. She is "saved" by two women (Rena and Shizuka) that are part of an unorthodox help-for-hire organization called Nereids (inspired by the Greek mythological Nereids
). With nowhere to go, Maia joins up with Nereids, taking jobs from capturing wanted criminals to chasing stray cats, often with unexpected results. Gloria and Yu later join up with Nereids.
"Daphne
", Greek for "Laurel tree", in the title refers to Maia's grandfather last words. "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. This subplot that starts midway into the series concerns Maia's journey to retrieve a time capsule of her past buried under a laurel tree in Elpida, an undersea city lost over a century ago.
In almost every episode, there is a recitation of a verse that Maia's grandfather taught her. She and others say it whenever her life is difficult or in danger - "A tree that is planted by water will produce fruit in due season, its leaves will never whither...". It is never identified as Psalm 1:3, "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (NIV
)
The manga of the series is a prequel that takes place a century ago when humans were force to live undersea when the cities were Greek named. Elpida
means "hope." Now they're Russian inspired, like Kamchatka. Ai Mayuzumi, Millie's great grandmother is the protagonist of the story.
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
series animated by the studio J.C.Staff
J.C.STAFF
, is a Japanese animation studio founded in January 1986. Their first release was the three episode OVA Sengoku Kidan Yōtōden, in 1987. They have produced several well-known anime series, such as Revolutionary Girl Utena, Excel Saga, Shingetsutan Tsukihime, Shakugan no Shana, Toaru Majutsu no...
and produced by GENCO
Genco (anime studio)
is a Japanese anime production enterprise and studio, founded on March 3, 1997. Presided by Tarō Maki, it is headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo...
.
It was licensed by Geneon USA in 2004. However, Geneon USA had ceased operations in September 2007 and lost all their titles. In 2009, Sentai Filmworks had picked up the license and re-released the series in two complete collection sets.
A manga
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
version was drawn by manga artist
Mangaka
is the Japanese word for a comic artist or cartoonist. Outside of Japan, manga usually refers to a Japanese comic book and mangaka refers to the author of the manga, who is usually Japanese...
and character designer Satoshi Shiki
Satoshi Shiki
is a Japanese manga artist whose works include Kamikaze and Riot. He's also an artist of hentai manga, and this influence can be seen even in his non-hentai works like Kamikaze and ....
titled , featured in Young King OURs
Young King OURs
is a monthly seinen manga magazine published in Japan by Shōnen Gahosha, aimed primarily at male audiences, mostly older teens and young adults. It is the sister publication of Young King...
magazine.
Story
In the future, water has covered much of the Earth due to the effects of global warmingGlobal warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
, leaving the human race to live on neighboring floating cities. The orphaned Maia Mizuki, 15, just graduated from middle school
Middle school
Middle School and Junior High School are levels of schooling between elementary and high schools. Most school systems use one term or the other, not both. The terms are not interchangeable...
and has already applied for employment in the elite 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 despite her high grades. Making matters worse, she promptly gets evicted from her house, pick pocketed, taken hostage, then shot. She is "saved" by two women (Rena and Shizuka) that are part of an unorthodox help-for-hire organization called Nereids (inspired by the Greek mythological Nereids
Nereids
In Greek mythology, the Nereids are sea nymphs, the fifty daughters of Nereus and Doris, sisters to Nerites. They often accompany Poseidon and can be friendly and helpful to sailors fighting perilous storms. They are particularly associated with the Aegean Sea, where they dwelt with their father...
). With nowhere to go, Maia joins up with Nereids, taking jobs from capturing wanted criminals to chasing stray cats, often with unexpected results. Gloria and Yu later join up with Nereids.
"Daphne
Daphne (plant)
Daphne is a genus of between 50 and 95 species of deciduous and evergreen shrubs in the family Thymelaeaceae, native to Asia, Europe, and north Africa...
", Greek for "Laurel tree", in the title refers to Maia's grandfather last words. "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. This subplot that starts midway into the series concerns Maia's journey to retrieve a time capsule of her past buried under a laurel tree in Elpida, an undersea city lost over a century ago.
In almost every episode, there is a recitation of a verse that Maia's grandfather taught her. She and others say it whenever her life is difficult or in danger - "A tree that is planted by water will produce fruit in due season, its leaves will never whither...". It is never identified as Psalm 1:3, "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (NIV
New International Version
The New International Version is an English translation of the Christian Bible. Published by Zondervan in the United States and by Hodder & Stoughton in the UK, it has become one of the most popular modern translations in history.-History:...
)
The manga of the series is a prequel that takes place a century ago when humans were force to live undersea when the cities were Greek named. Elpida
Elpida
Elpida Karayiannopoulou , is a Greek singer who was one of the most successful singers in Greece and the Greek diaspora in the 1970s and 1980s....
means "hope." Now they're Russian inspired, like Kamchatka. Ai Mayuzumi, Millie's great grandmother is the protagonist of the story.
Characters
-
- Maia is the protagonist of the series. She has lost all of her childhood memories, because as a child, Maia was put into a one year coma because of a car wreck. The cause of it was because while in the car with her parents, the controls malfunctioned. Her parents died. Waking up, she was introduced to a man claiming to be her grandfather. In episode 11, Maia tells the girls of Nereids her story of waking up from her coma. During the flashback, Maia asks her grandpa why whenever he smiles at her, he seems sad. At the end of the episode, she is looking at a picture of her grandfather then she asks, "What is it that you were keeping hidden from me, Grandpa." Maia is an excellent student, yet having been rejected by the Ocean Agency,elite paramilitary Ocean Agency, part of the futuristic world government and only the best, most intelligent, and physically fit students are eligible for admission. Maia, was set to become one of the few. Maia has found work with Nereids, an unorthodox help-for-hire organization inspired by the Greek mythological Nereids. She is optimistic, hard working, and honest, yet a naïve and shy cute girl-next-door. Maia is in search of her past while working with Nereids.
-
- Leader of the Nereids Kamchatka branch. Rena is capable, elegant, and cunning, although she can be cold at times. Although not the branch manager in title, she is the de facto leader and makes the decisions. She is cool and calculating and her sharp instincts enable her to know the weaknesses of other people. Rena has no moral qualms about seducing others for manipulation or for a weapon use. She is also frugal with money and deducts pay from salaries under even the slightest pretext.
-
- Busty and bespectacled with purple hair, Shizuka is a brilliant mechanic who grew up in an inner city district of Shibuya and knows many people there. She is known for her poor shooting aim and is friendly, casual, and trusting with a voracious appetite for foodOvereatingOvereating generally refers to the long-term consumption of excess food in relation to the energy that an organism expends , leading to weight gainingand often obesity. It may be regarded as an eating disorder....
.
- Busty and bespectacled with purple hair, Shizuka is a brilliant mechanic who grew up in an inner city district of Shibuya and knows many people there. She is known for her poor shooting aim and is friendly, casual, and trusting with a voracious appetite for food
-
- Loud, spontaneous, tomboyish, and somewhat reckless with a ganguroGanguroGanguro is an alternative fashion trend of blonde or orange hair and tanned skin among young Japanese women that peaked in popularity around the year 2000. The Shibuya and Ikebukuro districts of Tokyo were the centers of ganguro fashion...
style complexion, Gloria is a trigger-happy champion marksman and the weapons specialist with a grudge against Rena for deserting her on a past mission. She tends to stick to her guns and loves to shoot 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.
- Loud, spontaneous, tomboyish, and somewhat reckless with a ganguro
-
- Silent, brooding, nihilistic, and a loner, Yu is a ridiculously strong fighter and hand-to-hand combat specialist. She had her license revoked in the past for destroying private property and injuring several police officers (including Detective Yagi) and bystanders. She has a loyalty to Rena, but does not get along too well with Gloria, where comically they are usually paired up on assignments, and constantly hits her. Yu's interests include animals and travel.
-
- Maia's best friend from her Ocean Agency days who got accepted, despite having average grades. She and Maia had made a promise to work with each other.
-
- The inept branch manager of the Nereids Kamchatka branch. He gets pushed around by his female co-workers. Hanaoka has a wife and a daughter Yukari.
-
- Tsutomu Hanaoka's daughter. She gets displeased with her father's ineptness at times, especially when he lied about being a dashing, bold, detective, but still loves him dearly.
-
- The chief inspector of the Kamchatka city police force, he gets stressed when it comes to Nereids. One of his biggest burdens is Yu who injured him in the past.
-
- Shizuka's friend (and later Maia's) who is a skilled race car driver. She is inspired by her great-grandmother Ai Mayuzumi (the protagonist of the manga version which is a prequel to this story). Ai was Maia's father's bodyguard.
-
- Son of their mother's fourth husband.
-
- Son of their mother's seventh husband.
-
- Son of their mother's second husband and the oldest of the Wong-Chang-Lee brothers.
-
- Sister of the Wong-Chang-Lee brothers (the daughter of their mother's 14th husband). She is more level-headed and comptetent than they are. She is a martial artist and also wants to find the treasure of Elpida, to which end she stole a submarine (which gets repeatedly confiscated by the Nereids and subsequently stolen again by the family). The submarine was named AgnesAgnes-People:*Agnes , a female given name *Agnes of Assisi*Agnes of Gandersheim, Abbess of Gandersheim and Quedlinburg*Agnes of Poitou, Regent of the Holy Roman Empire*Agnes of Tristain, fictional character...
for their mother. Shizuka renamed it Yomogi-1.
- Sister of the Wong-Chang-Lee brothers (the daughter of their mother's 14th husband). She is more level-headed and comptetent than they are. She is a martial artist and also wants to find the treasure of Elpida, to which end she stole a submarine (which gets repeatedly confiscated by the Nereids and subsequently stolen again by the family). The submarine was named Agnes
-
- A mysterious man in sunglasses who can be seen following Maia throughout the series. In episode 22, as he reveals himself to be a member of the Ocean Agencies Security division, charged with protecting her as seen in a few episodes.
- Shou Mizuki (old) .
- Shou Mizuki (young)
- Maia's Grandfather who raised her after she awoken from her coma five years ago. He tried to help her regain the memories she lost in the supposedly recent accident that claimed her parents. Shown only in flashbacks, he died right before the first episode. His last word to her, "daphne", refers to a laurel tree in their former home. When Maia uncovered the buried time capsule where the tree once stood in Elpida, Grandpa was revealed to be her big brother. The siblings were placed in hibernation pods over a century ago when their parents and undersea city were quarantined by the Ocean Agency. He woke up 60 years prior to she did and was force into the government coverup. Maia did not age during her slumber.
-
- Maia's father.
-
- Maia's mother.
Running gags
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue has running gags throughout the show:- Rena deducting pay off salary for any botches, usually Gloria or Maia.
- Yu hitting Gloria when in disagreements.
- Maia hitting or falling on her head.
- Maia being kidnapped by the Wong-Chang-Lee brothers as bait.
- Yagi being terrified by Yu's presence.
- Hanaoka's daughter getting angry at her father.
- May and the Wong-Chang-Lee brothers taking the submarine back from Nereids who do the same.
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 TrekStar TrekStar Trek is an American science fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The core of Star Trek is its six television series: The Original Series, The Animated Series, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise...
s Captain Jean-Luc PicardJean-Luc PicardCaptain Jean-Luc Picard is a Star Trek character portrayed by Patrick Stewart. He appears in the television series Star Trek: The Next Generation and the feature films Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, and Star Trek Nemesis...
. - "DS-9" referring to Star Treks Deep Space NineDeep Space Nine (space station)Deep Space Nine is a fictitious space station, and is the eponymous primary setting of the science fiction television series Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. It serves as a base for the exploration of the Gamma Quadrant via the Bajoran wormhole, and is a hub of trade and travel for the sector's denizens...
space stationSpace stationA space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...
. - "NC-1701D" referring to Star Trek's starshipStarshipA starship or interstellar spacecraft is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
.
- "Picard" referring to Star Trek
- Most 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 Nereid's Business") is a tribute to the 1954 film There's No Business Like Show BusinessThere's No Business Like Show Business (film)There's No Business Like Show Business is a 20th Century Fox musical film that was released on December 16, 1954. The title is borrowed from the famous song in the stage musical Annie Get Your Gun....
.
Episode list
| # | Title | Original airdate |
|---|