A Thousand Miles

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue

****

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue (“Ai Hikari to Mizu no Dafune”) is a 2006 Action Sci-Fi Manga – you know what, let’s start from the beginning because there’s a few annoying details. Daphnie in the Brilliant Blue (“Hikari to Mizu no Dafune”) is an Action Sci-Fi franchise that ran between 2004 and 2008. The anime was made by Studio J.C. Staff and had a 24 episode run on TV Kanagawa in the first half of 2004. It also received a 2 episode OVA.

But that’s not what I’m talking about today. You see, there was (in the same year, mind you) a manga adaptation being serialized in Young King OURs Seinen Magazine. That IS what I’m talking about- Kinda, I think. The manga, illustrated by Satoshi Shiki, is actually a prequel to the TV show. It has a different protagonist and was serialized between 2004 and 2008 – once again, kinda, I think. That’s because it seems to have been published 3 times, 3 different ways.

This is where the confusion is on my part. Are we dealing with 4 different versions of the manga story? Shonen gahosha, the publishers for Young King OURs, published one volume in 2004 and Kodansha published two volumes together while Tokyopop released a 208 page graphic novel named….you guessed it, “Daphne in the Brilliant Blue”. But then the serialization may have been 12 volumes….and I am so confused.

Cover Appeal

Satoshi Shiki – As an illustrator has done hentai and non-hentai works. His more traditional works include Riot, Xblade, Persona x Detective Naoto and Attack on Titan: Before the Fall

Roll Call – The cover is what I like to call an ensemble piece – an image that gives a portion of the cast a chance for some characterization by posing them in different, disjointed ways. The five main ladies of the story, Kourei, Kate Rozenmen, Emily, Kiriko and Ai are featured looking mysterious, smug or some combination of the two.

The Gist

At some point in the future, humanity begins experimenting with underwater cities. Disaster strikes, as it often does, and a portion of humanity loses contact with the surface, stranding them. In the deep sea city of Noimon, lives one Ai Mazyuzumi. A natural on water jet bikes, she can be seen cruising around the city on one, usually ditching school. Her headstrong nature soon finds her in the middle of the latest dust up between the Errors, a terrorist group, and the Stelnas, the all female counter terrorist unit hunting them.

Of course Ai is mesmerized by this badass group of female protectors, but should she be a bit more worried about a particular similarity she shares with the terrorists?

The cast

Ai Mazyuzumi – Main protagonist. She’s the daughter of the head of one of Noimon’s top research labs. She tests water jet bikes and is a damn good driver. Athletic and headstrong, she gets wrapped up in the Stelnas fight with Error.

Error – Terrorist group headed buy one referred to as “Shogun”. Error’s members apparently possess some ability to hear communications of some kind from the surface. While one would be hesitant to call them freedom fighters, their main aim seems to be to amass the resources and means to escape the underwater cities and visit the surface.

Stelnas – Counter terrorist unit consisting of Kourei, Kate Rozenmen (Kei),Emily and Kiriko. Kourei and Kate are the ones who have multiple run ins with Ai and Kate tries her best to dissuade Ai from getting wrapped up in their spat with Error. It doesn’t stick and Ai proves herself useful, regardless.

The Rub

I found that one of the first things I liked about Daphne in the Brilliant Blue was its art style. Satoshi’s art style is a somewhat angular one with stylized, but detailed, eyes and features that don’t compromise much in expressiveness. The most common expression tends to be surprise or dismay, all things considered, but it’s all there. There’s a fair amount of darkness in some of the outfits and locales, but gradients and highlights are used well so everything looks good regardless. Being a water world, the we exclusively see water vehicles like boats, submarines and jet skis. They’re all vehicle designs that remind of Eureka 7 – sleek, streamlined designs that look as aerodynamic as they’d need to be for speedy water or air travel. Hell, one of the Stelnas’ big subs looks akin to some kind of aquatic bird.

Daphne has that early 2000’s feel I’ve come to take a liking to. The youthful rebelliousness of Ai feels tonally appropriate for this type of story. Furthermore, as is the case for many a teenager, this tends to get her into and out of trouble frequently. It really ties the plot together here as her declaration of self-actualization puts her on Error’s radar whereas her persistence in chasing the Stelnas puts her on theirs.

The theme of finding one’s self and societal acceptance begins to show itself as you realize that Error members (and those that can hear the “voice from the surface”) are all likely people who literally can’t interact with the ID system in Noimon. I found it weird that statements as innocuous as the “Who Are You?” that the voice asks and the “I am Ai!” that Ai declares are supposed to be of note, but when viewed through this lens, it makes more sense. The idea that Error may be less card carrying villians and more misunderstood anti-heros, as well as the mystery of who Shogun is and what may actually be on the surface (if it’s reachable), all make for some interesting plot threads to be explored in the future exploits of Ai.

So that’s why I’m a tad bit confused with the ending or the anime and OP with it’s different characters and ridiculous outfits, not to mention the declaration that this incomplete, though interesting, story is the inspiration for said anime that seems to be so far removed from it.

In Conclusion

Daphne In the Brilliant Blue never got my goat (not until I tried to place it within the grander franchise, anyway), but it did, on initial completion, strike me as a little too clever by half. With it’s coy little “The End…or is it the beginning?” message on the last page or it’s lack of a marker for what CLEARLY should’ve been the first volume in a series, I was wondering what about this “inspired” the J.C. Staff anime?

I guess what I’m trying to say is that I liked what I got here and would’ve like to have gotten more, but I’m confused as to whether there WAS more – and if there wasn’t, WHY NOT?

Continue?: Can I even?