Comics / Manga

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue: Volume 1

By Leroy Douresseaux
October 17, 2006 - 12:38

Shiki Satoshi, the creator of the Manga series, Kami-Kaze, blends science fiction, action, and undersea adventure in his Daphne in the Brilliant Blue.  As of this writing, the original Manga version is still being serialized in Shonen Gahosha's magazine, Young King OURs.  It was also a 2004 Anime series that ran for about 24 episodes (available in the U.S. on DVD).

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue takes place beneath the waves in the domed city of Noimon - one of nine such human underwater cities.  Noimon, like the other cities, began as a deep sea experiment.  At some point, a mysterious environmental catastrophe occurred, and the 2 million or so inhabitants of the deep sea cities were cut off from the world above water.

Enter Daphne in the Brilliant Blue's main character, Ai Mayuzumi, an expert i.e. hotshot water jet bike driver and the daughter of the head of high-profile research and development water jet bike concern.  Ai is a carefree teen, and jet bike riding allows her to burn off steam.  It is during one of her test drives that she encounters members of a terrorist organization known as Error.

Error wants to return humanity to the surface, and they spend their time stealing data, research, and information that the government uses to maintain the status quo.  With their stolen intelligence, Error hopes to bring down this government, known as The Deep Sea Nine Cities Association.  Error's opposite is an all-female counter-terrorist group known as Stelnas.  Ai becomes infatuated with Stelnas' de facto leader, Kei, but Error in turn is interested in Ai.  Although Ai sides with Stelnas, she wonders about the status quo of the underwater civilization in which she lives and also about a mysterious voice she keeps hearing in her head.

Daphne in the Brilliant Blue is purely an action comic.  The narrative certainly involves a mystery, for there are secrets galore.  Still, car (jet bike) chases, brawls, and undersea dogfights are what move this story.  The dialogue is sometimes stiff and wooden, and there are numerous instances throughout Vol. 1 in which it is obvious that the dialogue is just padding added over an action sequence.

The art, however, is simply beautiful and gloriously captures the energy of the kind of Manga art meant to evoke the motion of Anime and videogames.  Satoshi shapes his art with crisp thick ink lines (especially the characters facial features) and layers much of the art in duotone and shading.  That gives each panel the sense of being a single illustration, each with its own story while still being part of a larger narrative.  The tech, gear, and vehicles are as good as anything seen in such sci-fi Manga as Ghost in the Shell and Akira.  If you love the art of Manga and you love seeing a talented Manga-ka in his glory, this is the book.

8/10

 

Last Updated: August 31, 2023 - 08:12