Series: I came to appreciate the series called Daphne In The Brilliant Blue because of the humor and circumstances it presented in such a silly yet interesting manner. The past volumes include Daphne in the Brilliant Blue 1, Daphne in the Brilliant Blue 2, Daphne in the Brilliant Blue 3, Daphne in the Brilliant Blue 4, and Daphne in the Brilliant Blue 5; each of which added something to the larger picture. Today's review is on volume six of the series, Daphne in the Brilliant Blue: Memories, where most of the pieces came together before the ultimate ending (sorry it took so long to review this one but it actually just came in). For newcomers, here's a quick look at the premise from the first volume, noting that spoilers are kept to a minimum:

"The show initially focused on a young student, Maia, who is studying for her entrance exams for the last bastion of government, the elite Ocean Agency. Unlike here in the USA, the best and brightest in Japan have long been involved in public service as it honors their family and elevates their social status accordingly. The Ocean Agency is the last true governmental body left in a world gone wild so it makes sense that the intelligent, thoughtful, and highly capable Maia serve in the agency as she is shown to be head and shoulders above her peers in every way. Needless to say, sometimes life throws us a curve or two and young Maia soon finds herself unemployed, homeless, and without a friend in the world (perhaps a mystery that the series will delve into later on; at least I hope so) after failing the exam. Through a quirk in fate, Maia stumbles into a shoot out between some hot looking futuristic detective/bounty hunters/mercenaries (later known as employees of the Nereids Corporation, a nebbish gal named Shizuka and a cold hearted capitalist named Gloria) and a thug on the run. Before long, she ends up working with the two, even though her lack of real world experience hampers her initial efforts at assisting them, often as either bait for their sting operations or to serve as a buffer between the members of the group that don't get along."

The back cover said this of the show: "Although Maia's trip to Siberia City to find clues about her past was fruitless, she's still hung up on the faint memories she has about her brother...could the mysterious man who always seems to save her in the nick of time be him? Then, her inability to concentrate during a routine mission gets Shizuka severely injured, which in turn gets Maia fired from Nereids!"

The sucky part of this volume was that it included two actual episodes and what appears to be a send up to infomercials everywhere in the form of a third "sort of" episode. Starting with 21) Whatever Happened To Baby Maia?, the show provided a glimpse into Maia's increasingly restored memory and the consequences of her remembering where she came from. The tough and tumble world of Nereids is no place to start reminiscing and when Maia starts to show herself as a danger to the team on missions, she is faced with a choice to make about her future. Intertwining with 22) Terms of Endangerment, the outside forces that have a stake in Maia's life are just now coming out into the open as she once again fails to make it into the Ocean Agency but a twist of fate shows her to be far more than anyone ever admitted in the past. I'm not going to spoil the secret (even this late in the game, some of you might be new to the show) but the way she is unveiled as something special was kind of interesting all by itself. There are forces out to get Maia due to this and it seemed a little uneven that they didn't make such an attempt previously, the cliffhanger ending as it did with her in peril. For its part, the bonus episode called Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Nereids (But Were Afraid To Ask) was something of a clip show with Maia providing narration for an infomercial about the agency she worked for. It highlighted some of the exploits from past shows and was a lot of fun though it didn't really add a lot to the story at large since it served more as an introductory piece that might have served better earlier in the show's season.

Okay, I liked the show when I was getting to watch it last year and even a break in the volumes for me didn't hurt my understanding of the archetypal characters used in the series. Maia had evolved into a capable young woman and those around her fit well with her personality so the specifics weren't lost as with some generic shows you'll find on the market (the kind that look, sound, and are even written to resemble one another). On the downside, providing just two actual episodes and going into a seventh volume was a pain and I can see why Geneon were shy about sending the disc out when it was released. As it stands, I'd suggest getting the boxed set as a much better value but this particular volume of the series was merely a Rent It for those of us that want more for our hard earned dollars. It had better extras but the series could have easily been released on 6 volumes and still offered enough room for good extras, even if it was a fun show for me to appreciate otherwise.

Picture: Daphne in the Brilliant Blue: Memories was presented in the same 1.33:1 ratio full frame color it was shot in for Japanese television a year ago. The colors, with some of the most subtle shading I've seen in a recent anime, were very nice to look at and the anime style itself managed to showcase some of the best Japan has to offer these days. The animation approach itself appeared almost as though it were done in the traditional fashion with painted cels but upon closer look I came to think it was greatly assisted by computer assistance (which is not all bad, contrary to what you may have heard).

Sound: The audio was presented with a choice of the original Japanese or an English dub, both in 2.0 Dolby Digital. The music and special effects had the most separation and dynamic range (for each track) and my belief was the original vocals scored somewhat more points for the naturalness of the voice acting. The English dub track won out in terms of the mix as the bass was deeper and the treble somewhat sharper so take some time to acquaint yourself with each track if you want to hear the relative merits of each.

Extras: The best extra was the bonus episode called Everything You Ever Wanted To Know About Nereids (But Were Afraid To Ask) was something of a clip show with Maia providing narration for an infomercial about the agency she worked for. It highlighted some of the exploits from past shows and was a lot of fun though it didn't really add a lot to the story at large if you'd been following it to this point. It might have been better suited to putting on the Daphne in the Brilliant Blue 3 volume as a refresher to those who missed out earlier and still had time to pick up the earlier volumes but I enjoyed it as a nice piece of fluff. There were also 12 previews from the original Japanese release that were short but nice (though I wondered why they weren't added in previously too). The usual trailers rounded out the content of the disc and a paper insert was included with artwork and a breakdown of the chapters to the two episodes included here.

Final Thoughts: Daphne in the Brilliant Blue: Memories was short and sweet as it reminded me of how much I enjoyed the show in the first place. The fact that the team wasn't all powerful and didn't always come out ahead was simply another stereotype placed on it's head and the nature of the show (the best characters were all women) shouldn't be forgotten. In short, while I wanted more out of Daphne in the Brilliant Blue: Memories, I couldn't deny that it has me considering renting the remaining volume of the series to provide closure to the exploits I grew so fond of in the first place. It might not be classic anime but it was fun and for all the fussing about the skimpy clothing the characters wore, the action was decidedly in favor of violence over sexual material (though I know that opens up another can of worms with some of you). Give it a look and see for yourself though I remain firm in my opinion that you'll get the most out of the show if you watch it in order from the first volume onward.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVD Talk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003, Best Of Anime 2004, and Best of Anime 2005 articles or their regular column Anime Talk.