Here's what the back of the DVD cover said about the show: "They're sweet, petite, elite — and caught in the crosshairs of a manic escaped convict. Why would anyone want to kill the five richest girls in Japan? Especially when they're all so fantastic? The cops aren't finding answers fast enough, so the girls take matters into their own hands. Using their skills in electronics, disguises, martial arts, advanced weaponry and power-flirting, they prove that the bank isn't the only place they're endowed. Buyers beware, it's a non-stop whirlwind of C-4 and D-cups as the evil plot is exposed. They're the Debutante Detective Corps and no one outs a hit on these misses!"

Well, the five characters all had some potential even though they were archetypes found in most of the sillier anime I've watched in the last three decades. There existed a camaraderie as well as competition between them with each gal trying to prove they were the best at what they did (solve crimes and look beautiful). The story for this one shot was to lay the foundation for what appeared to be another series set in high school, where the kids were far smarter than their teachers, and solved crimes by night as they studied during the day (with all the usual teenager crisis's taking up their time too). After introducing the girls in grand style, much to the chagrin of the principal of the school, there really wasn't much time to set the story up and have them solve it. For the most part, the basic story has been done to death in various anime so there really wasn't anything significantly new to see here and no appreciable ideas were fleshed out during the remaining time.

The story here about the mad bomber was weak and I can see why nothing much came of the premise although, to be fair, I've seen weaker shows succeed too. Had this one developed into a full fledged series, it might have been improved by some good writing or interesting situations yet like reading the first chapter for a long novel, without presenting something new or better than what has come before, the generic nature of the show rambled in such a way that nipping it in the bud might've been the best route to take rather than let it die 26 deaths (the length of a season) so I'm going to be fair and suggest this one as a Skip It based on what it could've had (but never showed). Picture: Debutante Detective Corps was presented in the usual 1.33:1 ratio full frame color that it was shot in for release in Japan. While it didn't look bad for its age, it never managed to look better than average in terms of animation employed, colors, grain or video noise. Much of the time, there appeared to be an effort to distract the viewer from noticing the low budget nature of the movie by use of mindless action (with little rhyme or reason). I saw no compression artifacts though; probably because so little space was used on the DVD to begin with.

Sound: The audio was presented with a choice of a 2.0 Dolby Digital Japanese or English track. The original Japanese track had superior vocals but the English dub had a fuller set of effects and music, as though it were re-mixed for a contemporary audience in the USA. There wasn't much separation between the channels although during the fighting and explosion sequences, I noticed a lot more work put into the dubbed track. The dynamic range of the tracks varied a bit too with the nod going once again to the dubbed track.

Extras: The only extra included here was a paper insert that mentioned what was on the DVD and some trailers to shows like Saiyuki: Requiem and MAPS.

Final Thoughts: Debutante Detective Corps did have a decent price going for it (it could be found cheap online) but considering all you get on the DVD is what amounts to a single episode of a television or OVA series that never materialized, you're paying an awful lot for the privilege of owning something with minimal replay value. I like ADV Films (being from Houston, TX, they're the equivalent of the "home team") but not all their releases are of equal value. Like eating a meal at a Chinese restaurant, I felt hungry for more (and better) anime shortly after watching this one. Perhaps ADV Films will place more emphasis on their better acquisitions in the future, a dream many fans have long held given the company's appetite for locking in so many great shows. If so, perhaps they'll change their focus to releasing those shows, leaving the weaker material like Debutante Detective Corps to their sorted past.

If you enjoy anime, take a look at some of the recommendations by DVDTalk's twisted cast of reviewers in their Best Of Anime 2003 and Best Of Anime 2004 article or regular column Anime Talk