When I started Project 1000, I never thought I'd draw one of my favourite anime but here we are as I finally get to talk about Dirty Pair Flash.

Dirty Pair Flash is a 90s re-imagining of the 80s Dirty Pair, not the first to do so as they have rebooted previously as the Original Dirty Pair and even had an American comic version.
Flash is the most interesting entry as they didn't just get one attempt at an OVA, they actually had three attempts and we plan to look at all three.
OVA 1 exists as one big plot as the Lovely Angels have to stop a big time crime boss from stealing a card that will give control over a weapon facility satelite.
Kei and Yuri have a bit of a poor reputation having been put on probation numerous times but get unwittingly dragged into a mission when a dying 3WA agent hands a card to Yuri; unable to avoid being chased down by evil henchmen they completely obliterate the crime district en-route to the 3WA HQ, however this is only the start as they become targets of a former 3WA agent turned assassin, all the while trying to question a D&D obsessed professor and Kei & Yuri splitting up.
The key words in OVA 1 is destructive fun which is what Dirty Pair has always done best, of the three OVAs, 1 has the strongest action scenes but the story is notoriously hard to follow with many scenes involving the villains that have no impact on the story at large, along with some baffling choices, episode 4's fantasy world in particular stands out as being the most jarring. But it's a good start so lets move onto OVA 2.
OVA 2 is also a big plot but has a lot of filler which in a five episode run takes about 60% of the show. This time the Lovely Angels along with a computer geek that looks suspiciously like my brother in law, venture to a planet sized theme park that celebrates the 20th century in order to stop a computer virus, while this doesn't seem like an action packed mission until Touma the computer expert becomes a target for assassination and we get back to normal business, however we give up three episodes for a school ghost mystery, Kei & Yuri catching a con artist to earn money for a fancy dinner and Touma falling for a flowershop girl. OVA 2 has the best comedy but it's story while having an interesting take on the 20th century is poor, it's just not strong enough to only play for two episodes.
The final OVA is closer to the original Dirty Pair of being a villain of the week show but there's still an air of OVA 2's weird episode plot choices.
Episode 1 is Kei saving a baby of an heiress from getting killed by assassins.
Episode 2 the Lovely Angels become targets of a teen assassin.
Episode 3 the Lovely Angels have to learn beach volleyball in order to capture a corrupt politician.
Episode 4 Yuri has to stay with a teen boy who has built a robot copy of her but Yuri hopes it leads to marrying into wealth. Just go with it.
Episode 5 ends on a high as a terrorist attacks 3WA HQ to take revenge on the 3WA chief who originally arrested him.
OVA 3 is the most random of the three, you'd think by following the original Dirty Pair formula this would be the strongest but it's sheer randomness particularly in episode 3 and 4 just feels like cheap fan service but the final episode is the best of the franchise.
So that's Dirty Pair Flash, the dub is decent for early ADVFilms.
It's a mixed bag for the most part, you get the sense that the creators spent too much time throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks with a mix of success and head shaking failure, but if you've read my top 100 anime you'll be asking why I rate this anime so high as it's in my top 5. First anime ever so there is slight bias but the real reason is that it's unapologetic action presented as it was intended, it doesn't need a complex narrative nor does it need to make you think of complex feelings, it's just entertaining and in the end that's really all you need to enjoy anime and Dirty Pair is one of the best examples.
Final Verdict: Dirty Pair Flash has it's moments but for the full experience I'd watch the older versions but the stuff it does get right is still at a very high standard comparable to most anime of it's era and the entertainment value is worth more than even the most popular anime ever.