Daphne In The Brilliant Blue

Daphne In The Brilliant Blue(光と水のダフネ, Hikari To Mizu No Dafune lit. Daphne Of Light and Water) is a anime by J.C Staff and aired in January 15, 2004 - July 3, 2004 and was originally licensed by Geneon USA and now Sentai Filmworks. It's about a young girl named Maia Mizuki who lives in a futuristic timeline where the Earth is covered in water due to a global warming effect which causes the Earth to have a few Island cities and has a subplot where she must get her memories back and spread the truth to the Government and her friends.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) The idea of the Earth being covered mostly in water in the future due to a global warming and having now only Island cities is very interesting and can possibly happen in the real world.
 * 2) While it's futuristic, similar to other futuristic anime like Cowboy Bebop it's still not afraid to show realism such as guns still using bullet ammunition and realistic mature themes of the crime world.
 * 3) Very well-done English and Japanese voice acting especially Carrie Savage who is the English voice of Maia does a very well-done job putting more emotion into her voice compared to her Japanese one.
 * 4) The opening and ending themes are very well done in which the opening theme gives off the watery like vibe due to Earth being covered in water and showing that Maia and the Nereids can work together as a team and the ending theme is very calm and focuses on the subplot of Maia's memories.
 * 5) Likable characters and each of them have many personalities and some have development
 * 6) * Maia Mizuki is a very kind, helpful and optimistic person who at times gets scared. Will do some brave things such as saving people in a jet by landing it safely and telling the truth to the Government and her friends.
 * 7) * Rena Honjo is a woman who's seductive, brash but deep down caring and helpful woman who hopes the best for her teammates.
 * 8) * Shizuka Hayama who is very optimistic, supportive and is a great mechanic who likes to eat a lot and has some secrets of her life later on.
 * 9) * Gloria is loud, tomboyish, moneyhungry and her arrogant, unintelligent and obnoxious nature shows how some bounty hunters tend to act at times in most of their lives
 * 10) * Yuu Park is a stoic, cold woman who doesn't get along with Gloria but has a soft-spot for animals and is very intelligent and loves traveling to other places as well.
 * 11) Great visuals, art and character designs and it's even prettier to see most of the water that's covering the Earth and how the cities and locations look.
 * 12) The plot twists at the end is very surprising and heartbreaking which Maia's "grandfather" is actually her brother that became older due to being stasis in a time capsule for many years and the Government's lie and covering info about Elpida being told.
 * 13) The ending is very happy as Maia tells the truth against the inaccurate history that the Ocean agency taught people and after that they let her free and allow her to reinstate her position as a Nereids agent after learning the truth.
 * 14) It does a very great mix of seriousness and humor even no matter the past events the Earth went through.
 * 15) The Nereids which are the series' bounty hunters, do more jobs than bounty hunting such as rescuing others, running errands, saving cats, protecting VIPs and espionage.
 * 16) The music by Kow Otani is very well-done and fits the tone and futuristic water filled world that Daphne takes place in.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) It can sometimes get too mean spirited towards Maia such as getting taken as a hostage, being rejected by the Ocean Agency and Gloria throwing a can at her.
 * 2) The animation can get sloppy at times such as the movement which though is usual for J.C Staff.
 * 3) Gloria can get unlikable at times with her unintelligent nature which has put Nereids into trouble.
 * 4) * Rena can also get unlikable at times as she doesn't care about the Nereids' personal issues and sometimes she treats Maia badly
 * 5) The character's faces can look too disproportioned and silly at times.
 * 6) Despite being targeted for a Seinen audience. The violence tends to be very tame as it mostly shies away from blood and on-screen deaths being shown. Also most countries gave the series very low age ratings and mostly gave it for some of the raunchy humor and fanservice.
 * 7) It can get a little slow paced with the actual story though can be forgiven since it tends to usually have an episodic nature.