Wow, what an awful day for Maia. You know things aren't going well for an anime character when the second episode of the series Daphne in the Brilliant Blue is called Maia's Longest Day (Part 2).

Positive she's a shoe-in for the Ocean Agency, after acing all the tests, this cute, unassuming girl gives one-day notice at her apartment, and awaits the good news. In a futuristic world where the ice caps have melted and most of the world is water, this adventure job is everything Maia's late grandfather wanted for her.

But the adventure detours quickly, as the agency unbelievably rejects her, the housing agency evicts her, and she's forced to look for work (gulp) in the old, crime-ridden metropolis across the river.

A day of job interview failures ends with Maia taken hostage by a criminal, and then zapped by his pursuers. The girls chasing the crook: big-breasted, dressed to strip, and ready to collect a bounty.

They're the Nereides, a private investigation/bounty hunter agency that takes on jobs both large and small. Gloria and Shizuka, the nubile females who have zapped our heroine, decide Maia would make for good bait in capturing another criminal. Looks like Maia's found her new job.

There's a lot of classic, fail-safe elements at play to set things up: fish out of water, right-side-of-the-tracks, well-bred girl thrown over to the other side, where education doesn't amount to a hill of beans on the street. Said girl is asked to go beyond her usual limits, to do things that would normally be unthinkable. Nab a purse-snatcher? This kid is used to studying sea-floor data.

Maia finds herself ill-suited to the Nereides tasks: she can't catch criminals, can't collect money owed to the agency, can't even catch a cat with a reward out for it. A long-lost member of the agency comes back in the second half of this volume, and shows Maia a little violence can go a long way toward collecting a reward.

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue has everything anime fans loved about Dirty Pair, except with fewer explosions. The girls are hardly dressed while they fight and scamper hither and yonder. There are no straps holding up the half-fabric, half-metal panties that the girls wear when they're on the clock, letting the imagination run wild as to how they're held up.

Maia is the cute girl next door, Shizuka is the friendly, big-breasted book worm with glasses, and Gloria is the confident "leader" of the pack. They make for a wonderful girls-with-guns team.

This first volume of Daphne in the Brilliant Blue was host to sharp, if average animation, but it's also home to a very entertaining plot and characters. A good show for those who've been wondering where their next cute girls with guns show has been.

The newer the anime, the fewer problems you're going to run into. This DVD is another near-flawless presentation from Geneon, with solid colors, deep blacks, and excellent character definition. The backgrounds were very subdued, with little action going on. It seems much of the attention was spent on foreground events. The old metropolis was grungy and dirty, but didn't have that bustling, overflowing feel that a New York or San Francisco will give you.

For 2.0 surround sound, this was a pretty good audio presentation, with great ambient noises, and outstanding voice acting. The English voice actors for our adventurous girls came across as more panicked and whiny than the Japanese actors, but it didn't make the English dub bad, just different from the Japanese presentation.

Very little going on in the special features department here, with three Geneon previews, opening animation and DVD credits. Geneon is usually pretty good about offering more, but this first DVD volume of Daphne in the Brilliant Blue has little beyond the episodes. A reversible cover, while cool, is too little. The art box, limited edition that Geneon is offering includes more, highlighted by two high-end action figures.

Sharp animation, excellent characters, strapless panties. What more can a boy ask for? While this first volume hasn't done anything special, Daphne in the Brilliant Blue Vol. 1 is an enjoyable opening to a surprising female action series. Highly Recommended if you loved Dirty Pair.

Recommended, if you loved Noir but thought it needed bigger breasts and some levity.

Rent It if you're a closet girls-with-guns anime fan.

Skip It if you thought Boys Over Flowers was a really, REALLY good anime.