NoaIzumiAnime Review: Dirty Pair Flash
March 18th 2009 16:28
Sentient beings beware, the Dirty Pair is here! Trouble Consultants Kei and Yuri are on the case in this re-imagining of the classic series. They’re catching the crooks, saving the galaxy, and leaving a trail of destruction in their wake, if they can stop arguing with each other for long enough.
Dirty Pair Flash was originally going to be another OVA featuring the Lovely Angels that we know and love. But as it turned out, the original voice actresses were unavailable, so the folks at Sunrise were forced to give the whole project a make-over. It’s still the same basic premise: Kei and Yuri are young Trouble Consultants for the Worlds Welfare and Work Agency who go all across the galaxy on various assignments. Kei is the more butch one, while Yuri is the more feminine one, and together they get into all kinds of trouble.
Dirty Pair Flash came out in three parts, neatly divided into three disks in the American release. The first part introduces the team as new Trouble Consultants and new partners. The six episodes form an entire story arc (which is a change from the original OVA series). It’s a fun ride as we see them dealing with their issues (Kei quits 3WA at one point) and learning to work together, and the story is fairly intricate even if it leaves a few threads dangling.
The second places the team on World’s World, sort of an amusement park designed to recreate 20th century Earth. It is fun to see the two in this particular environment, along with fellow TroCon Touma, who’s been brought in to fix the planet’s computer network. This is a full story arc, in that all the episodes in this part are set on this world, but there are several divergences from the main plot, including one that takes Kei and Yuri to a haunted girl’s school, and another that has them matching wits with a charming con man.
The last disk is all stand-alone episodes, including a couple that focus on Kei or Yuri alone.
Like its predecessor, this series is fun, heavy on the action and the humor. Gone are the hot pants-bikini top combos that the original Lovely Angels wore, but there’s still plenty of fan service. The character designs for Kei and Yuri are different from their earlier counterparts, Kei’s more so, and the characters are younger.
Kei and Yuri: Whaddya mean, "Maybe something a little smaller?"
The biggest change, and the characters’ youth plays a role in this, is that where the original Kei and Yuri had a real connection and trust in spite of all their bickering, this Kei and Yuri aren’t nearly as close. In the beginning, they plain don’t like each other (when Kei quits, Yuri celebrates), and they become closer over the course of the series, but they never become what you’d call friends. That’s a shame too, because some of the best elements of the original were the relationship and the snappy back-and-forth dialogue between the two. Part of it is that the differences between them have been made greater. The new Kei is more stand-offish, while the new Yuri is more flighty, and almost whiny at times. The result is that it’s harder for them to relate to each other, and for us to relate to them.
One final difference is in the Dirty Pair’s pet feline, Mughi. Fans will remember him from the original as a big cat who backed up the pair on missions (when he was awake), sometimes even piloting the Lovely Angel (most notably in Flight 005 Conspiracy). The new Mughi has a smaller role because he’s, well, smaller. He’s now kitten-sized, and doesn’t do much aside from eat and look impossibly adorable. You could just eat him up, where the old Mughi could probably eat you up.
Extras: Clean openings and closings, character biographies.
Geeking out: The uniforms of Molly and Iris are the same as the uniforms of the original Dirty Pair, albeit in blue instead of silver, and the scene in episode seven where Kei saves Touma from a hit man in his hotel room is similar to the one in Flight 005 Conspiracy where Kei saves Yuri from a similar situation.
Great moments: Everybody’s reaction when Yuri lectures her new partner Lilly on the job taking priority over dates, Iris’ posthumous reinstatement into the WWWA, Touma’s reaction when he discovers that Leena (the girl he’s fallen for) actually has eyes for someone else.
Summary: Sci-fi action and humor. Not quite as good as the original, but a pretty good successor. Grade: B plus.
Age rating: 14 and up. Fan service, nudity, violence
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