"Dirty Pair Flash" (Anime)

[pkristen]

6 Episode OVA. Originally reviewed March 27, 2001

Summary
Prequel/alternative universe telling of the famous Trouble Consultants Kei and Yuri. They’re teamed up in their first big case, providing they don’t kill each other first.

This first story arc essentially glorifies the concept of a team called The Lovely Angels in this specialized police force. Molly and Iris were legends, well-respect, and even beloved before Molly died a tragic death on duty and Iris disappeared shortly thereafter. The mismatched rookies Kei and Yuri are the new “Lovely Angels”, much to the annoyance of those officers who had fond memories of their predecessors.

Review
Even though I’ve heard of the Dirty Pair for years in my life as a comic book collector, I never felt a real interest to check them out. Partly because I had a strong feeling that if there were any lesbian-related activities, it was for fanboy entertainment purposes. Plus, I didn’t like the artwork, and that took precedence.

Then I saw the cover of the “Dirty Pair Flash” videos and read some brief summaries. I liked the character designs and animation style over the samples I had seen of the Original series. Plus, the fact that “Flash” is supposed to be a prequel/alternative universe telling of the Dirty Pair characters, I felt willing to give it a chance since I could come into the story without feeling like I jumped into the middle of some saga, not that I expected Shakespearean level works to begin with. So I got the series and found a pleasant surprise in this initial storyline. (Remember, I did warn you about spoilers on this page so here comes some big ones!)

Not a spectacular series, but decent. Don’t be too logical or the enjoyment factor goes way down, plus the animation appears somewhat dated at times. I think I gave it a smiley face more for Lady Flair and the Iris and Molly storyline.

Lesbian Analysis
Iris: One of the Original Lovely Angels. Becomes Gun-for-Hire Assassin Lady Flair. Her partner Molly dies a tragic death before her eyes. She realizes how much Molly meant to her and then disappears because of it. She even claims that when Molly dies, so did she. Just good friends? Um, I’m thinking not. There is just too much romantic sentiment about this situation that makes me think there is extremely deep devotion here. I probably could be persuaded to take a more neutral stance, but the lack of mention of male significant others in this tale would, at the very least, apply the Suspiciously Inconclusive label.

# In her guise as Lady Flair, some could argue that maybe she had a thing with the corporate honcho Waldess. I personally saw him coming on her, and her responding more with the interest level of amused convenience. But again, even if there was something substantial between them, I don’t think that negates the intensity of her devotion to Molly, (after all, she abandoned her identity over the loss of the other woman!)

Molly: The other Original Lovely Angels.
# We see her briefly falling to her death screaming Iris’s name.

# Even a crusty old mechanic noted how much Molly meant to Iris. Was it mutual? Again, Suspiciously Inconclusive.

Kei: One of the new Lovely Angels: brash, loudmouth and hotheaded.
# Well, she dresses and acts extremely butch. But is she attracted to women? She had a weird obsession with Flair, but one could say it was just a macho competition thing….However, I didn’t see anything noteworthy other than that. Still, no boyfriend. Suspiciously Inconclusive.

Yuri: The other new Lovely Angels: the more feminine one with an extremely ironic name.

# Starts off the series on her way to a date with a guy. And tried to date throughout the series before getting dumped, which she blames on Kei. And in the brief “mistaken for lesbians” moment, she was the quicker to correct the impression while Kei didn’t seem to notice a thing. So, no, I don’t really see anything with her.

# Though I did think it was ironically funny that the crusty old mechanic would ask her to be “Kei’s Molly” given the comments I’ve written above about the original Lovely Angels.

Special Note: Okay, even though I don’t see evidence of Yuri being bisexual: she doesn’t end up with a guy at the end, and is pictured driving off into the sunset with Kei and their pet cat. That’s just screams “Lesbians!”