Dirty Pair OVA Vol-1 - Girls With Guns (1987)
Animation Production: Sunrise
Released by: ADV Films
Official Website: ADV's Dirty Pair Ova Vol -1 Page
Episodes: 5
By Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

A series that needs little introduction, Dirty Pair, is one of the perennial classics of Japanese animation and a favorite among older anime fans like myself who grew up in the 80’s watching fansubs and raw copies of the TV series. Needless to say that we should be thankful that the original series has gotten the opportunity to see the light of day in the U.S., which will hopefully give a new generation of fans the opportunity to check out this fun anime series.

Story

"Can you handle a girl with guns? How about two of them? Meet the original girls with guns: Kei and Yuri, the Lovely Angels, top agents of the World Welfare & Works Association (3WA), better known to the rest of the galaxy as the Dirty Pair. And when the 3WA unleashes this infamous pair the bad guys aren’t the only ones in trouble. Still, as the 3WA’s super computer is quick to point out, the Lovely Angels always get their man, and the collateral damage that results is never really their fault. Don’t miss the mayhem, destruction and downright devastation surrounding the delectable Original Dirty Pair!"-- ADV's Dirty Pair Webpage

Review

As many of you know I’m part of the old vanguard of anime fandom, my bread and butter being classic programs like Mazinger-Z, Starzingers, Attack No.1, etc. so needless to say I loved this collection of Dirty Pair OVA episodes! To me, this is what action anime is all about, cute character designs, tons of explosions and lots of great comedic moments between the protagonists.

The series focuses on Kei and Yuri (also known as the Dirty Pair), two special agents of the World Welfare & Works Association (3WA), and follows their exploits throughout each episode as they engage in dangerous missions to protect the galaxy and the many hijinks that ensue as a result of their less than "by the book" approach to the crazy situations that they always seem to get themselves into.

In this particular collection of episodes the Dirty Pair takes on a variety of missions which include: rescuing a warden from a dangerous prisoner uprising, recovering an advanced prototype robot in the middle of Halloween celebrations and taking on a group of kids who have commandeered a military base.

All in all this was a really fun DVD to watch as each episode contained a nice balance of action, character interaction and comedy elements. I also liked the variety of the settings and missions that the girls had to carry out as the stories progressed, each being very different from the others; I never knew exactly what to expect next, which I think is a hard feat to accomplish with a series of this nature.

The animation in this release is for all intends and purposes vintage 80's and may be a turn off for many newer fans, but to an older generation of otaku like myself this is as good as it gets and reason enough to own this DVD! Everything has a nice crisp look to it and the frame rate is very good, which helps make the action scenes look that much better and fluid (no CGI here!).

Quality-wise I thought this was a great DVD, especially for an older series like Dirty Pair. The video is not as sharp as some newer releases, but this is mostly due to the age of the original production and is barely noticeable once you start watching it. The sound was good too and came through sharp and clearly.

The DVD package itself includes the following episodes:

Episode 1 – Prison Uprising
Episode 2 – A Totally Wasted Halloween Party
Episode 3 – The God’s Challenge
Episode 4 – But They’re Only Children
Episode 5 – Nobody’s Doing it Anymore

It also includes a small insert with some neat artwork of the girls on one side and episode titles with chapters info on the other, original Japanese soundtrack, English dubbed soundtrack, textless themes, original trailer and previews for other ADV anime releases and features.

Final Thoughts

My recommendation? Go and get the original Dirty Pair for your anime DVD collection, it is a great anime series worthy of being included in everyone's personal collection. Its great fusion of comedy, action and character driven moments is sure to please even those who may be hesitant to try out an older, more vintage anime series.

Jeffrey Couto