"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 Nereides 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."

As the series progressed, the gals, from deadly Yu and Rena to materialistic Gloria to naïve Maia and Shizuku, all seemed to fit well together as their talents for getting into trouble were exceeded only by their ability to cause great mayhem in getting out of it. The episodes often seemed to be slight parodies of various movies and other pop culture events and movie fans will be able to see homage's to a great many sources if they look even passingly at the episodes. The episodes this time were 17) Five Women With Guns and a Baby, where the gals were in charge of an abandoned baby showed their particular talents and spin on the popular movie in a hilarious fashion; 18) Shizuku's Choice, where Shizuku falls prey to a confidence man (or is he?) and her coworkers assist her in figuring it all out, 19) The Hunt For Green Yomogi-1, where the return of the Wang Chang Lee gang causes Maia to have to resort to some pretty desperate measures in order to save the day (and the submarine they lifted off the gang previously-the Yomogi-1) including the gang of idiots; and 20) Once Upon a Time In Siberia, where Maia once again follows her dream of restoring her lost memories, remembering a brother that seemingly never existed.

Okay, the various elements of the series seemed to gel more intelligently this time but also kept the bigger picture in mind too. This made the volume worth a rating of Recommended, and even approached the next higher rating for me. As a whole, the series has been enjoyable and I look forward to seeing what else is in store for the ladies of the Nereides Corporation, even if there aren't many episodes left to release. This will be a great choice for a value priced boxed set in the future and I hope someone at Geneon adds some extras this time.

Picture: Daphne in the Brilliant Blue: Treasure 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 only extras this time were the usual trailers, a double sided DVD cover, and a creditless ending. My copy didn't have a paper insert this time but this is the first one that I can say that about so perhaps it was an oversight on the part of Geneon when they sent the screener.

Final Thoughts: Daphne in the Brilliant Blue: Treasure was a return to the funnier aspects of the series but also seemed to work better as some of the plot threads were beginning to find fruition. Maia's memory seems to be coming back and that little mystery will likely be as interesting as many of the other facets of the show. Yeah, the extras were lame and there were only four episodes per DVD but the writing and technical aspects of the show were good with a solid English language dub (both audio tracks were enjoyable to me though). The manner in which the episodes frequently paid tribute to mainstream movies and other shows also made it fun to watch with friends as we'd try to point out the little things (often thrown in by the folks at ADV Films rather than the original crew in Japan. Give the series a look but start off at the beginning so you understand what's taking place and who's who better than if you jumped in here.

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