Daphne in the Brilliant Blue

Maia is having a very bad day. Her life-long dreams to join the elite Ocean Agency wither and die, when, despite everyone's high expectations, she fails the entrance exams. Then, with the loss of her Student status, she gets evicted! Penniless, homeless, and unemployed, Maia finds herself in the middle of a shoot-out between fugitive convicts and the Nereides- sexy agents who only take the most high-paying and dangerous jobs. Desperate, Maia takes the first job offered to her: to take a starring role in the next Nereides operation- as bait!

---

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.

---

Maia Mizuki has just had all of her hopes and dreams shattered. Not only did she fail her entrance exam to the Ocean Agency, a prestigious marine law enforcement agency, but she’s also been left penniless, homeless, and alone. She soon finds herself caught in a gun fight between two scantily clad women and a pair of bank robbers. The women are from Nereids, a private detective agency that will do anything if the price is right. One thing leads to another and Maia takes a job working for Nereids, where she"ll receive room and board. Her jobs range from collecting rent to saving pets to capturing criminals. Now she just has to balance her life of "fighting crime" with her dream of one day being a part of the Ocean agency!