POBB September 5, 2021

Pick of the Brown Bag

September 5, 2021

by

Ray Tate

The Pick of the Brown Bag dares to be different.  This week, I look at anime.  Specifically, Hikari to Mizu to Daphne. Known in English as Daphne in the Brilliant Blue.

Cowboy Bebop speaks for itself.  Lupin the III will never stop talking.  Daphne in the Brilliant Blue demands a voice.   

Daphne's opening introduces you to a bunch of women who wriggle out of their garments to reveal bathing bottoms smaller than thongs.  I suspect the imagery served as a ruse to get the program to air.  Hey, look, sexy anime girls jutting out their bare cheeks.  It's a winner.

Yu Park is the one who tears out of her outfit the most, and you'll be too gob-smacked at the displays of her phenomenal strength and penchant for breaking bones to notice any skin.  

When I first saw Yu crush a mercenary's wrist in the opening, I had the same reaction King Arthur had upon seeing the killer rabbit.  Yu Park is highly dangerous and not to be toyed with.  Her ability to make grown men tremble while dressed as the graphic depicts is perfectly understandable.

Daphne begins as a science fiction story set on earth in the future.  Climate change melted the polar ice caps and flooded the world.  However, humanity survives in floating cities.  

The science fiction world building comes to the fore as a crucial plot point in some episodes while in others rests in the background.  This switch-up provides the perfect balance for each episodic narrative and the overall story.

The main characters at this point are Maia Mizuki on right in pink and her best friend Tsukasa Takagi on left.  They're typical girls of this world, seeking to gain entrance into the Ocean Agency.  Think the Coast Guard only global.  

Maia's life takes a nose-dive.  Her plans crash on the rocks.  Daphne's theme lyrics hint at her fate, but these descents put some Italian neorealist films to shame.  She finds herself at the direst of straits when an organization known as Nereids enters the picture.  

The head of Nereids, Rena recruits Maia into the organization, which does a little detective work, a little bounty hunting, a little repo.  Whatever legally pays the bills.  Things start to look up for Maia but only just.

Maia becomes quick friends with Shizuka Hayama, she of the purple hair, the tech genius who cannot hit anything she aims at. 

Shizuka's inability to hit a target indicates that Daphne is actually a comedy in disguise.  In fact, Daphne is frequently funny and sports two gut-busting comedy episodes.  I'll not say which ones.  

At the same time, when Daphne becomes serious, it's as dramatic as anything can be, and this brings me to why I made the rare move of binging the last episodes.  I just could not stop watching.

 

While you're not looking Daphne elegantly transforms into a mystery, and a fair play one at that.  The apparent throwaway moments, the science fiction elements, Maia's history, the supporting characters all blend together into an impressive seamless tapestry.

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue is a 2004 anime, available on DVD from two film companies: first Geneon and later Sentai.  As of this writing you can also stream it directly from Sentai.  Though I do not know if it is dubbed or in its original subtitled language; this version I recommend.