|
R1 DVD Reviews
|
|
Written by maehara
|
|
Monday, 06 June 2005 02:40 |
 Another batch of stand-alone episodes from Daphne in the Brilliant Blue,
and still no real sign of an ongoing plot developing (who is this
Daphne anyway? I think we should be told...). Not that I'm
complaining too much, as this is a fun little batch of stories...
5 - Call Me Roughneck
Maia's finally got her investigation license. While they're
picking up her license, the Nereids folk had also hoped to pick up a
license for Yu Park, another Nereids employee who has just been
released from prison (after getting a little carried away during a
previous assignment). She's got quite the reputation for causing
unnecessary trouble, so when Maia's ordered to keep an eye on her,
she's not happy. Meanwhile, Rena resorts to using her feminine
charms in an attempt to get Yu's license back, but a hijack attempt
gets in the way of her plans...
6 - In the Heat of the Night
Maia's met up with Tsukasa, one of her friends who managed to get into
the Ocean Agency, and it's making her just a little bit jealous.
When Tsukasa's car is stolen, though, it's Maia's opportunity to show
that her job has its uses as well by getting Nereids on the trail of
the car thieves. Problem is, Rena has assigned Gloria and Yu to
work together on the case, but their personalities and ways of working
are so different that any job becomes a difficult one - doubly so for Maia, who has also been assigned to their 'team'...
7 - All That Papa
The branch manager's daughter, Yukari, is coming to Nereids for the day
to see her father at work. Problem is, she has a completely false
idea of what the branch manager does, thinking he's at the forefront of
their work and a tough, no-nonsense investigator, and his pleas to the
girls to put on a good show for Yukari go ignored - until he resorts to
bribery. When Yukari realises her father's all talk and no
action, she runs off - right into the hideout of a smuggling
operation...
8 - The Speeding!
A friend of Shizuka's, Millie, is a hovercar test driver, has recently
been injured while demonstrating her company's latest model.
There's suspicion that their main competitor may have been involved in
the 'accident' - the Pegasus and Albatross companies are competing for
the contract to provide the Ocean Agency's new hovercars, and with the
amount of money at stake, underhand tactics are no surprise. With
the Albatross company left without a test driver after Millie's
accident, they're left with the only person they could find on short
notice with the required Class-A license - Maia, who's hired just in
time to take the Albatross A-1 into a race. While Maia's working
on her racing skills, the rest of the Nereids girls are on the trail of
the saboteur...
For comedy value, episode seven is this volume's highlight, with
Hanaoka doing his best to try and impress young Yukari, and failing
miserably most of the time - although Yukari's such a little brat she
doesn't really deserve the treatment she gets. But such is
fatherly love, I guess.
Of the others, The Speeding! has a certain Speed
feel to it, with Maia unable to stop her hovercar until the on-board
bomb (not a standard feature) has been disabled, while throughout the
volume the antics of Yu and Gloria provide an almost Three Stooges element. Well, Two Stooges, but you get the idea - what useful purpose they serve I'm not entirely sure, but they do make good comic relief.
Overall, Daphne is still fairly shallow, but good to watch, especially
if you're in the mood for something lighter. Looking forward to
seeing more.
|
