While his buddies are mooning over their cute classmates Mica Minazaki and Mew Fumizuki, typical high school schlep Akai can't quite summon the enthusiasm. Only he knows their secret-that they are the famous alien android girls known as the Hyper Dolls, a duo sworn to protect Tokyo from big monster attacks. They've also sworn to murder Akai if he reveals their identities, hence his lack of enthusiasm.

While the gang is enjoying the super slides at a local water park, they notice jellyfish popping to the surface of the pools, preceding the arrival of Kurageman, a huge octopus creature whose purpose in life is to suck as much H2O into his distended body as possible. He goes berserk when he realizes swimmers have peed in his water supply, and quite unexpectedly, it is Akai who saves the day by literally pulling Rage's plug. In the darkened super villain's HQ, Dr. Zaiclit, a red-spectacled mad scientist type, is monitoring this event, as well as the work a swarm of grasshoppers did in bringing down an airline.

The next day, all hell breaks loose in Shinjuku. Kurageman is back badder than ever, and he's joined by the swarm of grasshoppers, who coalesce to form Inagoman, a giant monster grasshopper guy. Together they proceed to stomp Tokyo flat. Meanwhile, Mew and Mica argue over a gluttonous meal at a coffee shop, and only when a desperate Akai finds them and summons the ghostly visage of their chief out of a pizza box (don't ask) do they agree to defend the city.

The girls transform and smash the monsters into submission-along with half the skyline. Dr. Zaiclit is impressed, but promises more action to come.

The eruption of Mount Fuji interrupts a dull lecture at school. But as everyone cowers in awe at this signature event, only Akai seems to regard it as a sign of worse things to come.

Dr. Zaiclit learns that the disruption was caused by Ver Wurm (a.k.a. Mimizuman), a huge earthworm with Mick Jagger lips. The mighty "wurm" had been dispatched to trash the House of Parliament, but lost its way in transit.

Back at school, the gang decides to attend a temple festival. Akai spends most of his time with Mew and Mica, angering his bashful childhood friend Shoko, who has the hots for him. While she imbibes to intoxication, Mica and Mew's intergalactic, extra-terrestrial commander appears as a hologram in a frying pan, ordering the Hyper Dolls into action.

After the Hyper Doll's inevitable victory, Dr. Zaiclit promises more action to come.

Partners in buddy cop flicks usually fall into distinct patterns. In American film the wild maverick and the staid by-the-book cop partnership-as seen in such movies as "Lethal Weapon" and "Alien Nation"-is practically graven in stone.

The same concept applies to anime-especially anime featuring cute young female operatives. Takachiho's "Dirty Pair" probably provides the best example of the typical hot-headed buttkicker and the cool disciplined beauty dynamic, but similar contrasting characters also appear in "You're Under Arrest," "Gunsmith Cats," and to an extent, "Oh, My Goddess" and "Tenchi Muyo."

"Hyper Doll," originally a manga created by Shinpei Ito, doesn't fall too far from the tree in this respect. Emotional Mica and the level-headed Mew are as prone to pointless bickering about boys, gaining weight and food as Kei and Yuri, and the exchanges are just as amusing. Of course, when the metal hits the road, Kei and Yuri emerge as well-motivated professionals serious about getting the job done-however disastrous the results might be. A far cry from the Hyper Dolls, who are so lazy and vain they lounge around in coffee shops while monsters trash Tokyo, and express reluctance to confront Mimizuman because "fighting giant earthworms isn't cool." Their commander's sole hold over them appears to be his constant threat to assign them costumes and signature lines which are even more stupid than the ones they currently use. Mica and Mew are amusing characters to watch, but curiously unlikable-unless you find shallow and unmotivated heroines particularly compelling.

On the plus side, the show's fast pace and prolific gags befit a Gonzo adventure comedy. At one point, for example, alien Mica, unaccustomed to Earth customs, thinks that the yukata worn by girls, with its tight obi, is bondage apparel. Mew and Mica's rambunctious street battles with the monsters are reminiscent of the carnage wrought by A-ko and B-ko in their first movie grudge match. And we learn precisely why it isn't wise to let loose with a plasma ball attack inside a subway tunnel.

Obviously fans of various cheesy '70s Japanese sci-fi, the animators model giant monsters menacing Tokyo from foes faced by Godzilla and Ultraman, and, inspired by "Gatchaman," (better known in the States as "Battle of the Planets" or "G-Force") indulge a bird-motif for the girls' costumes. Or lack thereof as the Hyper Dolls' transformation follows a classic mode - strip the girls naked before outfitting them in their uniforms-what is with this new voyeuristic trend in senshi shows?

"Hyper Doll's" most glaring problem is clarity. The first episode opens in the middle of an established conceit, the characters, plots and action already in full swing. Heavy exposition in early episodes isn't a desirable quality of anime, but an utter lack of any information is equally awkward. Who are the Hyper Dolls? Are they cyborgs, aliens, or what? Why are they on Earth? Why are giant monsters constantly attacking Tokyo? Why does the girls' alien commander appear to them out of the steaming innards of ethnic dishes? The manga may well have to serve as a guide for this series.

The show isn't helped by a particularly lackluster theme song-it's painfully pedestrian, little more than assembly line hack work. A disappointment effort for Pioneer which usually does a great job skillfully outfitting J-pop tunes with new English lyrics (their work on "Tenchi Muyo" was great). Alas, here, they have very little with which to work.