Anime·Catalogue
Cover art for Daphne in the Brilliant Blue
6.58Community score
from 891 ratings

DMediocre · #4,250

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光と水のダフネ

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue

In the future, water has covered much of the Earth due to the effects of global warming. The orphaned Maia Mizuki, 15, just graduated from middle school and has already applied for employment in the elite paramilitary Ocean Agency, part of the futuristic world government. Only the best, most intelligent, and physically fit students are eligible for admission. Maia, the series' protagonist, is set to become one of the few. But her ideal life quickly falls apart. To her disappointment, Maia unexpectedly fails her entrance exams. Making matters worse, she promptly gets evicted from her house, pick pocketed, taken hostage, then shot. She is "saved" by two women (Rena and Shizuka) that are part of an unorthodox help-for-hire organization called Nereids (inspired by the Greek mythological Nereids ). With nowhere to go, Maia joins up with Nereids, taking jobs from capturing wanted criminals to chasing stray cats, often with unexpected results. Gloria and Yu later join up with Nereids. "Daphne" in the title refers to a subplot that starts midway into the series and eventually become important to Maia. "Brilliant Blue" refers to the fact that this is a world covered by water with almost no land. The world consists of vast oceans, a few islands, and floating cities. (Source: Wikipedia)

Names

Original光と水のダフネ (japanese)
RomajiHikari to Mizu no Daphne
EnglishDaphne in the Brilliant Blue
Chinese光与水的女神 (simplified · via wikidata)

Facts

FormatTV series · 24 ep · 24 min · 10h total
Aired2004-01-16 → 2004-07-03 (Winter 2004)
StatusFINISHED
StudioJ.C.STAFF
SourceOriginal work
OriginJapan (Anime)
GenresComedyDramaMysteryPsychologicalSci-Fi
ThemesFemale ProtagonistPoliceTerrorismDetective

Reception

Community score6.58 / 10
Bayesian score7.22 / 10
Composite47.8
On lists3,941
Favourited36 (0.9%)
Completion68.3%
Drop rate10.6%
In backlog56.4%
Score spread σ1.92

Score distribution

116211334441514661587194814591011045

Where it places

CohortValueTierRank
Broadcast seasonWinter 2004D19 of 36
Year2004C89 of 178
StudioJ.C.STAFFD174 of 277
GenrePsychologicalD308 of 416
EraEarly 2000sD387 of 687
GenreMysteryD458 of 652
LengthTwo-courD502 of 699
GenreSci-FiD801 of 1,409
Season (all years)WinterD852 of 1,557
Source materialOriginal workD932 of 1,732
GenreDramaD1,357 of 1,917
GenreComedyD1,980 of 3,488
FormatTV seriesD1,988 of 3,322
OriginJapanD4,042 of 7,157

Key staff

DirectorTakashi Ikehata, Yoshio Ookouchi, Jin Aketagawa
Series compositionSeishi Minakami
Character designKazunori Iwakura
MusicKou Ootani

Franchise — 光と水のダフネ

光と水のダフネ OVA
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue OVA
2004OVA (home video)

Related

RelationYearTitle
side story2004Daphne in the Brilliant Blue OVA

AniList id 1082 · MAL id 1082 · record updated 2026-08-26