AKA: ダーティペア 謀略の００５便 (Dirty Pair: Bouryaku no 005-bin)

Genre: Action, Sci-fi

Length: OAV, 60 minutes

Distributor: Currently licensed by Right Stuf International

Content Rating: PG-13 (violence)

Related Series: Dirty Pair, Dirty Pair: Affair on Nolandia, Dirty Pair: Project Eden

Also Recommended: Dirty Pair: Project Eden, Burn Up W, Kiddy Grade

Notes: Sequel to the original series.

Rating:

Dirty Pair: Flight 005 Conspiracy

Synopsis

A shuttle carrying a famous scientist and his family mysteriously explodes in the space between three planets. The Lovely Angels (aka Dirty Pair) of the WWWA are called in to investigate ... and they find a plot that is far more sinister than expected, causing plenty of collateral damage in the process. Can Kei and Yuri uncover the truth about the explosion of Flight 005 and unveil something that threatens to escalate into all-out war?

Review

The Dirty Pair franchise has been very popular for decades now, and this OAV is a prime example of why it is. Kei and Yuri are two of the funnest characters to endure on the anime small screen, at once cute and deadly. It's not so much that they're inept, as much as they prefer to do things their way, whether or not the amount of force applied is a little... excessive. (And again ... they're cute ^_^)

The plot itself is actually more complex than it first seems, and though it's not cerebral mystery on the level of, say, Sherlock Holmes, it actually has enough meat on it to be genuinely interesting on their own. Despite the American voice actresses on the Streamline dub sounding like '80s Valley Girls (tm), Kei and Yuri actually hold their own (with a little help from convenient minor characters) as far as detective work, unlike many other anime series where the characters are just blithering idiots. If anything, I came in thinking this would be absolute fluff, and I was pleasantly surprised as the level of intelligence was a little higher than the average OAV. There are enough twists and turns to be fairly unpredictable, and though you know Kei and Yuri are going to succeed, the fun is really in watching them get there. (Especially with the genuinely hilarious action sequences, usually involving plenty of property damage.)

The art style is good for the late 1980s when this was in production, with the cute, but mature character designs working well here, as usual. Music is decent, if maybe a little dated.

In today's anime fandom, where everyone (myself included) is so intent on seeing the Next Big Thing from TV Tokyo, it's a nice change of pace to watch something that, if a bit older, still retains all the charm and fun it did when it first came out. Often overlooked by late 90s otaku because it is only available dubbed, the Dirty Pair OAVs of the 80s really deserve a look. It's quite entertaining, and much more intelligent than the latest incarnation, Dirty Pair Flash. And the dub job isn't that bad at all, once you get used to it.

Add one star if you're a fan of Kei and Yuri. — Carlos/Giancarla Ross

Recommended Audience: There's some rather graphic violence here that isn't really good for those younger than mid-teens. (Not including the Dirty Pair Events (tm) that are a trademark of this series.) No sex or nudity that I remember, though the Dirty Pair's outfits are on the skimpy side. Teens and older, most likely.