Well, I did it...I finally managed to complete my collection of Dirty
Pair episodes on laserdisc from VAP video. So, I thought I would comment
on some of the highlights and quality of this series of laserdisc
releases for those of you considering collecting them all.
At the current Dollar to Yen ratio, each Laserdisc sells for about $77
dollars. My favorite laserdisc store, Sight & Sound, currently has most of
the DP LDs in stock at $76.83. So let's see...at 9 discs for the TV
series, that's $691.47. Not bad really, when you consider that if you
wanted to collect the show on video cassette (non-pirated...let's pay the
artists whose work we enjoy...[wink]) It would probably run closer to
$900 or more. Cassettes being more expensive than LDs.
And what does the rabid Dirty Pair fan get for his/her $691.47? Well, of
course you get the complete TV series. 24 episodes, plus 2 that were not
broadcast before the show was cancelled. If you noticed from the list
above, all but one of the discs has a "+1" behind them. Well, when Vap
Video issued the series on tape, they only put 2 episodes on each
videocassette. For the laserdisc release, they put 3 episodes on each
disc. So that's where the "+1" next to the title comes from. The
videocassettes carried the same "edition" titles as the laserdiscs, but
only the discs had the extra episode per title.
Those "edition" titles also point to a problem in the way this collection
is organized. Each disc in the collection is supposed to have episodes
organized around a theme...the MYSTERY EDITION is supposed to have
mystery episodes on it, GREAT SEARCH EDITION has wild adventures, and so
on. Because of this, the episodes are presented out of order on each disc.
For example, one disc might have episodes 7, 19, and 3. The next disc
will have 12, 1, 5...and so on. A real headache if you are looking for a
particular episode to watch, or you would like to watch them in numbered
order! And by the way, this titling of each disc breaks down after a
while. After all, what DP episode wasn't a mystery and/or adventure? By
the time the series of laserdiscs end, they just call the last disc
COMPLETE EDITION to let you know this was the last disc issued! Heh!
The quality and video transfer of each disc is excellent. The sound from
the series is in mono. And the discs are presented in CLV mode...aww! No
super clean still frames...not even on side two were the extra episode is.
Vap could have at least given us CAV mode for the last episode on side two
of each disc! At least all the discs feature chapter stops that will
quickly take you to the beginning, middle, and end of each episode. It's
also interesting to note that the 3rd episode on each disc is presented
without credit titles over the opening and closing title animation. This
was done so you can enjoy the graphics without any text getting in
the way.
Although the transfer of the episodes to disc are superb, the source
film for each episode tends to show some dirt and wear. A lot on some
episodes. It's a shame that they did not use the original film negatives
or a clean prints for the transfer of the episodes to disc and tape.
This is not a problem for the two final unbroadcast episodes released on
the special FROM LOVELY ANGEL WITH LOVE disc. Episodes 25 and 26 look
great! They were probably transferred from the original negatives or virgin
prints. And we get CAV mode for these two episodes! Great still frames of
the wonderful art and action. It is also interesting that these episodes
have a bit better art and animation than the rest of the TV series. I
suppose that once the show was cancelled at episode 24, they had plenty
of time to work on the last two for a special home video release.
Although all the "+1" edition discs feature 3 episodes per disc, the disc
titled SPECIAL EDITION has a very important feature for the collector.
This disc contains all the coming attraction teasers for all 24 of the
broadcast episodes! This is a great way to access quick plot summaries
and scenes to an episode you might be looking for.
Well, those are my thoughts on the technical aspects of Vap Video's
laserdisc collection of this wild and funny TV series. Next, I will be
collecting the 5 LDs for the Dirty Pair's Original Anime Video series.
I'll comment on those at a future date. I would also like to collect
Vap's excellent 12 LD collection of the KIMAGURE ORANGE ROAD TV series.
Stuff Staff member Masaki Takai is well on his way already. Perhaps I'll
get him to comment on the KOR discs...(Hey, Masaki...!)
- Tom Mitchell
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