Not since June of 2023 have I reviewed anything from one of the cornerstones of this blog’s history, and to be honest that annoys me. When I started my little corner of the internet, I was doing the best I could to balance both metal album reviews & anime reviews, but over the near decade that I’ve been doing this, I’ve seem to have been moving away from anime more & more (Though I still did anime-themed posts). I’m hoping that this is the start of going back to into those, and I’ve definitely picked a classic. The series in today’s review is nearly 40 years old, and is pretty iconic among old-school Otaku, and certainly has a little weight today among it’s fans. So, let’s not waste anymore, and take a look at quite the Dirty Pair. Let’s begin!
Story/Setup
Taken from the back of the DVD Case:
“Criminals of the universe beware - the Dirty Pair are back in action! It doesn't matter if you're the warden of an infamous prison, a robot that's literally armed to the teeth, or that snotty little kid who thought it'd be fun to hijack mankind's biggest space cannon. If Kei and Yuri get orders to bring you in, then these two Lovely Angels will use any combination of beauty, brains, and brute force to bring you to justice! The OVA series feature production by Sunrise (Gundam, Outlaw Star, The Vision of Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop) and Studio Nue (Crusher Joe, Macross). This value-priced DVD collection contains the complete 10-episode, direct-to-video series and features remastered image and sound. DVD Features: Scene access, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo for English and Japanese dialogue, English subtitles and English on-screen translations. PLUS: clean opening and closing, U.S. trailer, liner notes and Nozomi Entertainment trailers.”
Let’s get this out of the way: the Dirty Pair OVA doesn’t have a deep story. To be exact, it doesn’t have a deep overarching story. Each episode is practically it’s own thing, but the opening one does establish the basic theme of the show. That being said.....I kinda like that approach to storytelling in this series. Each episode is pretty easy to consume, and you could technically watch everything past the first episode in any order you want. It’s not even a heavy series in terms of it’s tone, but there are some moments in certain episodes that hit surprisingly hard. Definitely contrasts with the more lighthearted elements, and that’s great if you ask me!
Animation
For being nearly 40 years old, it’s amazing that this OVA still looks as great as it does. Sure, it’s shows it’s late 80s style of animation, but it still looks fantastic! The colors are vibrant, the backgrounds have quite a bit of detail put in, the various ships & vehicles all look & move nice, and the character models are all distinct from one anothers. Sure, you can tell it’s age in many aspects (Especially matching up the dub voices to the movement of the lips), but the old-school style of animation is missed by a lot of Otaku & Weebs. Myself somewhat included.
Voice Acting
The voice acting for Dirty Pair is surprisingly good. I didn’t know this until fairly recently, but the OVA was originally released under ADV Films, and every once in a while their dub work was.....curious, to say the least. In the case of this series, it ended up being pretty good! Yeah, there’s a couple voices in the more minor roles that perhaps aren’t as up to snuff as everything else, but overall the voice acting is really good in this OVA. Pamela Lauer & Jessica Calvello in particular are absolutely fantastic as Kei & Yuri respectively. Speaking of which.....
Characters
Kei & Yuri steal the whole show! Sure, there are plenty of other characters that work alongside them, and each episode is filled to the gills with secondary individuals, but the Lovely Angels dominate each & every scene there in. Kei is the quintessential 80s anime tomboy: she’s tough, she’s smart, and she knows how to fight. However, she also knows that she looks good, and in a few moments shows off her feminine side quite well. On the other side of the coin is Yuri, and she’s the Yang to Yuri’s Yin. Yuri is gorgeous, sweet, feminine, and rather gentle at certain times. However, when the pressure is on, she can fight just as well as her partner, and even taps into a certain kind of fury if need be. Both girls complement each other nicely in any situation, and nobody can every tear them apart!
Availability & Pricing
Good luck finding this OVA!
It’s been a while since I watched an anime where finding a physical copy takes a lot of work to find. The original ADV Films version is practically impossible to find (Outside of some rare exceptions), and the 2012 re-release from RightStuf only has one unopened collection on Amazon as we speak, and that is currently going for $129.99.....but there is free shipping. Ebay will definitely be the only reliable place to find it, regardless of the condition. I was fortunate to receive the OVA collection a few years back from a friend as a Christmas gift, so I never had to buy it myself.
Overall Impression & Rating
The Dirty Pair OVA is just a lot of dumb & simple fun. Sure, the availability is a giant issue, and it’s more simplistic way of telling it’s story might not be for viewers who like some depth to their series, but there’s just this special kind of Sci-Fi/Cyberpunk charm that oozes from every pore that you can’t help but be charmed by it. Coming in on 4 decades old in 2027, it still manages to pull some weight in this modern anime era, and I for one am thankful oldtaku & new find it a treat. Lovely Angels indeed!
The Dirty Pair OVA gets an 8.5 to 9 out of 10.
And that was my review for the Dirty Pair OVA. I’m so glad I was able to get this series when I was able to, as it’s a stone cold classic! In an era where modern anime reigns supreme (For better or for worse), it’s nice to watch a show that’s filled with so many old-school vibes. So, I got another anime review for next time, and it’ll be near the end of a classic series. See you next Friday!
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If you’d like to watch the series with subtitles, click on the link below:
Dirty Pair: OVA (Nozomi Entertainment)
If you’d also like to listen to the soundtrack for the series, check out below:
Dirty Pair OVA Soundtrack (Full Album)
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