Sunday, November 20, 2011
Anime USA 2011: The Last Hurrah!
I just spent the greatest weekend ever at Anime USA (probably the last anime convention I'll attend until Katsucon in February 2012.) I, along with my Hubby (Christopher Wanamaker), cosplayed all 3 days! We cosplayed as Wonder Woman & Wolverine from the comic book world, Jem & Rio from the popular 1980s animated series, and Mario and Toad from the "Super Mario Bros." video game franchise. I also managed to get some great DVDs (Thanks, Hubby! I love you!), including the last 2 box sets of "Nana," "Demon City Shinjuku," and "High School Of The Dead," but the highlight of my weekend was meeting AND getting to take a picture with Monica Rial, one of my fave voice actresses in the anime world!!! She also autographed my "Angelic Layer" manga!!!!!!!!!! I wasn't impressed with the Cosplay Masquerade this year. Only one of the skits impressed me, the one involving "The Cat Returns" featuring con attendees Jay & Lee (I don't know who they are, I just liked their skit)! LOL! That being said, maybe I'll try to do better and put my money where my mouth is and perform a skit at Katsucon 18 (February 17-19, 2012)!!!!
Saturday, November 5, 2011
"Brilliant Blue" Is A Brilliant Anime!
I just finished watching the entire series of "Daphne In The Brilliant Blue." What a great anime!!!!! In spite of the massive amount of fan service, I find that the series deserves to be rated high up on the scale. In fact, it may become one of my Top 10 Favorite Series!
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue (光と水のダフネ Hikari to Mizu no Dafune) is a 2004 anime series animated by the studio J.C.Staff and produced by GENCO. It was licensed by Geneon USA in 2004. However, Geneon USA had ceased operations in September 2007 and lost all their titles. In 2009, Sentai Filmworks had picked up the license and re-released the series in two complete collection sets.
In the future, water has covered much of the Earth due to the effects of global warming, leaving the human race to live on neighboring floating cities. The orphaned Maia Mizuki, 15, just graduated from middle school and has already applied for employment in the elite 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 despite her high grades. 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", Greek for "Laurel tree", in the title refers to Maia's grandfather last words. "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. This subplot that starts midway into the series concerns Maia's journey to retrieve a time capsule of her past buried under a laurel tree in Elpida, an undersea city lost over a century ago.
In almost every episode, there is a recitation of a verse that Maia's grandfather taught her. She and others say it whenever her life is difficult or in danger - "A tree that is planted by water will produce fruit in due season, its leaves will never whither...". It is never identified as Psalm 1:3, "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (NIV)
I did find one annoying character, Yukari Hanaoka, the daughter of the Branch Manager, who is Maia's Branch Manager at the Nereids Kamchatka branch. In spite of the annoying character and the large quantity of "panty shots," the storyline kept me interested, and the ending (which was a complete surprise!) renders this "Brilliant" anime to be worth a second look sometime in the future!!!!!!
Daphne in the Brilliant Blue (光と水のダフネ Hikari to Mizu no Dafune) is a 2004 anime series animated by the studio J.C.Staff and produced by GENCO. It was licensed by Geneon USA in 2004. However, Geneon USA had ceased operations in September 2007 and lost all their titles. In 2009, Sentai Filmworks had picked up the license and re-released the series in two complete collection sets.
In the future, water has covered much of the Earth due to the effects of global warming, leaving the human race to live on neighboring floating cities. The orphaned Maia Mizuki, 15, just graduated from middle school and has already applied for employment in the elite 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 despite her high grades. 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", Greek for "Laurel tree", in the title refers to Maia's grandfather last words. "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. This subplot that starts midway into the series concerns Maia's journey to retrieve a time capsule of her past buried under a laurel tree in Elpida, an undersea city lost over a century ago.
In almost every episode, there is a recitation of a verse that Maia's grandfather taught her. She and others say it whenever her life is difficult or in danger - "A tree that is planted by water will produce fruit in due season, its leaves will never whither...". It is never identified as Psalm 1:3, "He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (NIV)
I did find one annoying character, Yukari Hanaoka, the daughter of the Branch Manager, who is Maia's Branch Manager at the Nereids Kamchatka branch. In spite of the annoying character and the large quantity of "panty shots," the storyline kept me interested, and the ending (which was a complete surprise!) renders this "Brilliant" anime to be worth a second look sometime in the future!!!!!!
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