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Daphne in the Brilliant Blue
光と水のダフネ (Hikari to Mizu no Dafune)
Demographic	Seinen
Genre	Action, Comedy, Ecchi, Mystery, Science Fiction
Manga: Ai 1 - Hikari to Mizu no Daphne
Author	Satoshi Shiki
Publisher	Shonen Gahosha Co.
Serialized in	Young King OURs
Original run	2004 – 2004
Volumes	1
TV anime
Director	Ryuuji Ikebata
Studio	J.C.Staff
Network	TV Kanagawa
Original run	15 January 2004 – 3 July 2004
Episodes	24 + 2 (Bonus)

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue (光と水のダフネ, Hikari to Mizu no Dafune^?) 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 titled "I - Daphne in the Brilliant Blue" (アイ～光と水のダフネ～, Ai ~Hikari to Mizu no Dafune~^?), featured in Young King OURs magazine.

In the future, water has covered much of the Earth due to the effects of global warming. The orphaned Maia Mizuki, 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, 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" 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.

Maia Mizuki (水樹マイア, Mizuki Maia^?)

The protagonist of the series, Maia was orphaned and her adoptive grandfather passed away. An excellent student, yet having been rejected by the Ocean Agency, Maia has found work with Nereids. She is optimistic, hard working, cheerful, and honest, yet a naïve and shy cute girl-next-door. Maia is in search of her past while working with Nereids.

Rena Honjo (本城レナ, Honjō Rena^?)

Leader of the Nereids 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 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 off salaries for even the slightest error.

Shizuka Hayama (葉山静香, Hayama Shizuka^?)

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.

Gloria (グロリア, Guroria^?)

Loud, spontaneous, tomboyish, and somewhat reckless with dark skin and blond hair, 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.

Yu Park (朴ゆう, Paku Yu^?)

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 and bystanders. She has a loyalty to Rena, but does not get along too well with Gloria and constantly hits her. Yu's interests include animals and travel.

• 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 Nereid's Business") is a tribute to the 1954 film There's No Business Like Show Business.

• (Japanese) Series official site
• (Japanese) Official J.C.Staff site
• Daphne in the Brilliant Blue (anime) at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
• Daphne in the Brilliant Blue at AnimeNfo