DIRTY PAIR FLASH

Although the Dirty Pair have been a favorite for years, their original design, by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko, was in serious need of a overhaul. This has been done with Dirty Pair Flash, the latest OVA series featuring the two most dangerous trouble consultants in the universe. Since the story tells the adventures Yuri and Kei as teenagers, this OVA is definitely cuter than the previous ones. The two girls were totally redesigned, from their physical looks to their uniforms. Kei is still a fiery redhead, but she now has a lock of blond hair, which gives her a "kiddy" look, and her eyes have gone from brown to green.. Yuri is a lot cuter than she was and her hair is now purple, giving her the same "kiddy" look as Kei. She also has huge eyes (big surprise!). Their uniforms are more in keeping with today's anime fashion. They are less revealing than the old ones, but much wilder in their design, especially Kei's. The relationship between the two characters is also quite different; they are at the beginning of their careers and much less patient with each other. As in the old times, Kei uses a handgun, but Yuri has a kind of "beam sword", which she uses with great efficiency. Some people will probably love the baby Mughi, which is probably cuter than the girls themselves. All in all, the new Yuri and Kei are a mix between Dragon Half and Super Cat Girl Nuku Nuku, but they are still easily recognizable as themselves.

The story of the first OVA episode is rather straightforward and is, in fact, only a character development episode. It begins with Yuri strolling in a crowded street, wearing a rather cute sailor uniform. A man, pursued by a bunch of thugs, is shot and drops a card in her hand, telling her to keep it away from the thugs. Yuri starts to run and bumps into Kei, who seems a little peeved by the fact that her night out is ruined. The chase scene (which will not take the rest of the episode) starts in earnest and the girls use all the means of transportation they can find, including a bicycle and half a car! In the end, the thugs, tired of playing, pull out the heavy weaponry and transform their car into a big purple and pink mecha. Seeing this, the girls do their own transformation (their clothes are made of a "memory plastic", which transforms into their uniform at will) and start to hit back, making the thugs' lives rather miserable. Finally, a diminutive Mughi comes to their rescue, the girls both put the thugs under arrest and deliver the card to the WWWA office.

This OVA is fun and entertaining, as well as keeping the "chaos and mayhem" tradition of the Dirty Pair. We thought the new character designs would bother us, but they proved very efficient. There is a lot of action, the music is dynamic and the animation is decent, although it sometimes shows some lack of detail. We are sure that the "transformation" scene of the two girls will get the undivided attention of more than one male viewer (Kei's is rather eye popping -- keep that remote handy!). All in all, Dirty Pair Flash is a good buy and proves to be as good as the original ones.