| Daphne in the Brilliant Blue #2: Reunion |
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| Monday, 06 June 2005 | |
 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. |
