Ah, the "good old days." Your mileage may vary, but most of us remember most fondly the shows that we first saw when we became anime fans. For many people that means ROBOTECH. For others, it's BUBBLEGUM CRISIS (new or original—pick one). And for still others, it's GUNDAM WING or DRAGONBALL Z. But for me, one of my personal favorites, and one of my guilty pleasures, is the original DIRTY PAIR TV series.

This classic Sunrise show had it all: sci-fi action, humor, a good dose of in-jokes and, of course, two lovely main characters who ran around in skimpy outfits. While not cinema verité or heavy drama, it was light, it was entertaining, it was—dare I say it?—fun!

The basic plot is this: Kei and Yuri are trouble consultants for the WWWA (World Welfare Work Association), a sort of intergalactic troubleshooting agency. When a problem is registered, the WWWA computer dispatches a pair of agents to resolve the issue. Every time Kei and Yuri (codenamed the Lovely Angels) get assigned to a problem, it always ends up an unmitigated disaster. Planets blowing up. Mass murders. That sort of thing. This has earned them the nickname "Dirty Pair." And they hate it.

Accompanying them on their journey in the TV series is the lovable goofball Mughi, a superintelligent catlike creature who serves as their electronics man. He can't talk, but he can fly the ship. Also at their disposal is the robot Nanmo, which looks basically like an egg with a foot. Mughi and Nanmo provide a lot of the comic relief in the series.

In this first volume, Kei and Yuri face danger in their premier episode, in their very own apartment, as the computer in their apartment building goes nuts and tries to kill all the residents. And in the second episode, they find themselves working as bodyguards for a shipping company with a bunch of rough guys. But probably the most DIRTY PAIR-esque of the episodes is the third episode, "Don't Fall in Love! Love is Russian Roulette," where Kei and Yuri go undercover in a casino to retrieve a stolen gem. High class, high body counts and low comedy. That's what the Dirty Pair is known for.

The animation is somewhat dated, being produced nearly twenty years ago, but it still holds up well. The new transfer done for the DVD has restored the colors to a nice, clean quality, but it's still not a pristine print. Nevertheless, it looks much nicer than the LD versions of the same episodes. Sound is mono, as was the norm for shows in those days, and it sounds like mono. Menu designs are of the usual Japanese type, which means a still image with some tiny text for you to try and read.

Overall, this DVD is great for fans of the TV series. Those who know and love the Dirty Pair will no doubt embrace them in their latest media incarnation. However, in an age of glitzy shows and flashy animation, this is probably not going to attract a lot of newcomers. But, despite the lack of magical transformations of 3D CG, it's still a good example of how much fun anime can be.