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ADV Films presents

Dirty Pair Flash: Mission 1: Angels In Trouble (1994)

"She's your partner. You can't change them everyday like your boyfriends."- Garner (Hazime Koseki)

Stars: Rika Matsumoto, Mariko Kouda, Hazime Koseki, Sue Ulu, Kim Sevier, Phil Ross
Other Stars: Yumi Touma, Katsuyo Endo, Jyoji Nakata, Kiyoshi Yanada, Tadashi Sugahara, Mitsuteru Hoshino, Allison Kieth, Laura Chapman, Tristan MacAvery, Bryan Bounds, Rob Mungle, Lew Temple
Director: Tsukasa Sunaga

Manufacturer: DVDL
MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (Animated violence, fanservice)
Run Time: 02h:38m:40s
Release Date: 2000-12-12
Genre: anime

Style
Grade
Substance
Grade
Image Transfer
Grade
Audio Transfer
Grade
Extras
Grade
B+ B+BB+ C

 

DVD Review

Can't we all just get along? Not if you are the Dirty Pair! Carrot-topped Kei and her purple-frocked partner Yuri are the sexy duo known throughout the galaxy for their predisposition towards destruction. Updated for the 1990s from characters established in Original Dirty Pair, the 3WA Trouble Consultants are up to more mayhem in Dirty Pair Flash, a three mission set of OVAs. Mission one is a six-part story, and is self-contained on this disc. The attitude here is downright mean in places, with a lot of animosity between our partners. The look this time is by Kimagure Orange Road character designer Takahiro Kimura, with a bit more flash, and a lot more skin. Despite being enormous underachievers, the 3WA computer has paired up seventeen-year-old Yuri with her equally unqualified partner Kei. Both hail form backwater planets, and their new boss can't comprehend why they were assigned the codename Lovely Angels, which formerly belonged to an astute pair of agents, Molly and Iris, who were killed in the line of duty. The town is in chaos, ruled by gangs and ne'er-do-wells, with even the police afraid to drive the streets. What better place for our trouble team than a world surrounded by the destruction caused by the catastrophe of the Gamruhn Riots in 2163—and if you're going to blow things up, why not start from the beginning? Kei is on suspension, and Yuri just wants to go out on a date, but has a valuable computer disc thrust into her hands by another 3WA member after he is gunned down. With thugs, the cops, and the army out to get them, the two have to make their way back to 3WA Headquarters, but that means navigating the worst section of town, which is going to get a whole lot worse once these two get done with it. The city's in shambles as our Dirty Pair cleave a wake of destruction and live up to their reputation in Runaway Angel. When the team are given the cushy job of guarding a VIP—who is assassinated before they even get him on the plane—the destructive duo set off to find the killer, but meet more than they bargained for. This sets up the scenario for the remainder of the disc, with a constant villain whose motives are fleshed out as things move along. There is plenty of tension between the two strong-willed leading ladies, and those around them are best to just stay out of their way if they know what's good for them.Dirty Pair Flash manages to tell a decent story through its six episodes, while also exposing a good deal of background and some real character development. The personality clashes between the two leads makes for great comedic content, and the misadventures they embark on are action packed. This is definitely different than the originals, both in tone and especially the continuity between episodes, allowing for a more defined overall storyline. I can't say that this mission was my favorite of the bunch, but any self respecting Dirty Pair fan should at least give this one a try, even if it isn't the same Kei and Yuri.

Rating for Style: B+
Rating for Substance: B+

 

Image Transfer

 One
Aspect Ratio1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratioyes
Anamorphicno


Image Transfer Review: Image quality is very good. Colors are vibrant, blacks solid. Grain is a bit of an issue throughout, but only becomes really noticible in darker areas, especially blues. Typical amounts of aliasing are present, and only minor compression issues. For its age, this looks pretty decent.

Image Transfer Grade: B
 

Audio Transfer

 LanguageRemote Access
DS 2.0Japanese, Englishyes


Audio Transfer Review: Both original Japanese and English dub tracks are available. The Japanese track features good use of the stereo field, and a fairly full range soundtrack with no technical deficiencies noted. The dub track is marginally lower in level, with a notably less defined high end and collapsed stereo field. The Japanese track definitely gets the edge here.

Audio Transfer Grade: B+ 

Disc Extras

Static menu with music
Scene Access with 36 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English with remote access
3 Original Trailer(s)
7 Other Trailer(s) featuring Dirty Pair Flash: Mission Two, Gunsmith Cats, Blue Seed, Original Dirty Pair, Sorcerer Hunters, Gasaraki, Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040
Packaging: Amaray
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: dual

Extra Extras:
  1. Production portfolio
  2. Character biographies
  3. Clean opening credits
Extras Review: Mission One contains a fair collection of extras. A production portfolio section presents 23 screens of character and setting design artwork. Characters bios give brief descriptions of the major figures in the cast. Preview trailers for the three acts of Mission One, plus one for Dirty Pair Flash: Mission Two (located after the credits in episode six) are included, along with the original Japanese clean opening animation.The standard ADV trailer gallery contains Gunsmith Cats, Blue Seed, Original Dirty Pair, Sorcerer Hunters, Gasaraki, and Bubblegum Crisis: Tokyo 2040.

Extras Grade: C
 

Final Comments

The first mission in the Dirty Pair Flash OVA series makes for a good introduction to the reincarnated Lovely Angels. The tone is definitely different than the originals, with more fanservice and interpersonal animosity. This six-part adventure gets the pair into heaps of trouble, which translates into destruction 'o plenty. Lots of fun!

Jeff Ulmer 2002-08-02