Fan service, fan service, and more fan service, is the easiest way to describe Daphne in the Brilliant Blue. Some might say "don't judge a DVD by its cover art," but in this case it's all too true: the cover art reflects the simple stereotypes of the characters in the anime. That, coupled with the typical cookie-cutter "protagonist with lost memory" plot, gives this reviewer ample reason to send Daphne in the Brilliant Blue to Davey Jones's locker.

Daphne opens with the protagonist, Maia, taking the entrance exams to the Ocean Agency: a government agency aimed and policing and controlling the world's oceans. See, in the world of Daphne, the earth was ruined and the polar ice caps have melted, resulting in the flooding of many, many places. Naturally, this causes sea power to become the dominant military force in this pseudo-post apocalyptic earth. In a rather surprising (at least for the characters) twist, Maia fails her entrance exam, loses the home that was granted to her by the Ocean Agency, and is forced to live in the ghetto or "over there" as one employer so kindly put it.

After the fact, Maia finds herself caught up in a shoot out between some criminals and the Nereids (pronounced Neres in Japanese) security agency. Now, the Nereids are made up of the typical anime combat team elements: Shizuka is the geek and tech specialist of the group with an odd obsession with food, Gloria (or Glora) is the trigger happy, gun-toting psychopath, and Rena is the sexpot of the office, the brains and unofficial leader. Maia herself is slightly inept when it comes to actual combat and aptly fills in the role of the "cute but inept new girl": slightly skilled but relatively untried in actual combat.

Cookie-cutter characters aside, Daphne has decent, if not too bright, animation: the characters and character designs go well in a world that appears to be entirely sub-tropical. In keeping with the overabundance of fan service, the combat uniforms of the Neres (Nereids) amount to little more than a pair of panties ands a skimpy top: definitely not designed with practicality in mind. Mechanical designs are limited to hovering cars and the like, mostly of a streamlined, rounded design reflective of the futuristic nature of the show. What is at odds with the rest of the show is the weapon designs: despite the fact that the series takes place in the future, Gloria can still be seen using a H&K USP and a PSG-1, even though Maia and some of the other Nereids are equipped with energy weapons.

On the audio side, Geneon Entertainment deserves praise for the quality of the voice actors they hired to do the voicing of the Nereids: the voices don't seem too forced, nor do they seem outside of their age group (as is the problem with most American voice acting). The music isn't something to shout home about: it provides an upbeat, excellent counterpoint to the onscreen action without distracting from the action at present.

The DVD isn't much on extras, just a credit less opening for those who want to experience it in the full Japanese glory. Apparently, Geneon expects the true draw of the DVD to be the episodes themselves. While I cannot completely discount Daphne, the series does have some strikes against it, especially given the fan-service nature of the character designs. Also, there isn't much in the way of explanation of the plot. Viewers are simply thrust right into it. If you're looking for a casual anime viewing experience, I would recommend this anime: hard core viewers need not apply.