Dirty Pair

This article is about the original series. For the sequel series, see Dirty Pair Flash.

Dirty Pair
File:Dirtypair.jpg Promotional art featuring the two protagonists
ダーティペア (Dāti Pea)
Genre	Adventure, Buddy cop, Comedy, Cyberpunk, Science fiction
Light novel
Written by	Haruka Takachiho
Illustrated by	Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Published by	Hayakawa Publishing
English publisher	Dark Horse
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	May 1980 – October 2007
Volumes	8
Anime television series
Dirty Pair: The Original TV Series
Directed by	Norio Kashima Toshifumi Takizawa
Studio	Nippon Sunrise
Licensed by	Nozomi Entertainment
Original network	Nippon TV
Original run	July 15, 1985 – December 26, 1985
Episodes	24 (+ 2 released on video on January 1, 1987)
Original video animation
Affair of Nolandia
Directed by	Masaharu Okuwaki
Studio	Nippon Sunrise
Licensed by	Nozomi Entertainment
Released	December 1985
Runtime	57 minutes
Anime film
Project Eden
Directed by	Koichi Mashimo
Studio	Sunrise
Licensed by	Nozomi Entertainment
Released	14 March 1987
Runtime	81 minutes
Original video animation
Original Dirty Pair
Directed by	Masayoshi Tanidabe
Studio	Sunrise
Licensed by	Nozomi Entertainment
Released	December 21, 1987 – April 21, 1988
Episodes	10
Original video animation
Flight 005 Conspiracy
Directed by	Toshifumi Takizawa
Studio	Sunrise
Licensed by	Nozomi Entertainment
Released	January 25, 1990
Runtime	60 minutes
Remake
Dirty Pair Flash
Manga
The Dirty Pair's Great Adventures
Written by	Haruka Takachiho
Illustrated by	Hisao Tamaki
Published by	Tokuma Shoten
Magazine	Monthly Comic Ryū
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	May 2010 – July 2011
Volumes	2

Dirty Pair (ダーティペア, Dāti Pea) is a series of sci-fi comedy light novels written by Haruka Takachiho and illustrated by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko that was later adapted into anime and manga versions.

The stories take place in the years 2138-43, by which time humanity has spread across some few thousand star systems. A corporation called the World Welfare Works Association (also WWWA or 3WA) helps member systems of the United Galactica (UG) federation deal with various planetary-scale problems, for profit, by sending agents called "trouble consultants". Probably the most high-profile arm of the organization is the Criminal Investigations section, which works to solve crimes or mysteries. The series focuses on a team of trouble consultants in that section, named Kei and Yuri, who have a reputation for leaving a trail of destruction behind them, for which they are known publicly as the "Dirty Pair".

The franchise has bounced across multiple formats and production companies, resulting in (so far) eight novels and a few shorter stories, a television series, two OVA series, two OVA features, a feature film, a number of graphic novels, and two short Japanese radio series. The series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize in 1985.

Characters

Lovely Angels

Kei and Yuri are the two voluptuous members of Trouble Consultant team 234, code named "Lovely Angels". Almost every mission they are involved with ends up in disaster, but not failure (they'll catch the crook, but a city may be destroyed in the process), and thus they are more generally known as the "Dirty Pair", a nickname they hate. They are always cleared of any wrongdoing by the 3WA's Central Computer because the extreme collateral damage is never actually their fault (though their mere presence has been known to make things worse). In some but not all continuities, they have joint ESP powers, usually limited to precognition. This talent was the reason they were recruited in the first place. (This is alluded to in the Adam Warren Collection "A Plague Of Angels")

• Kei (ケイ): a hot-headed tomboy with red hair and tanned skin who wears a silver-white uniform. Favors large weaponry and prefers to "shoot first, ask questions later". The more aggressive of the two, she is also the bustier of the pair and is attracted to manly, muscular men. She has been voiced by Kyouko Tonguu (Japanese), Lara Cody (English features, Streamline Pictures dub), Pamela Lauer (English features and OVAs, ADV Films dub)
• Yuri (ユリ): Japanese in ethnicity, wears a golden-yellow uniform. Often uses non-gun weaponry such as energy whips or throwing cards. While the more feminine of the two, she is known to become very violent when crossed. She is the more bottom-heavy of the team and is also a coy flirt who prefers cultured, refined men. Her most recognized weapon is the Bloody Card, a technologically-enhanced throwing card that can be used to take down several people at once. While Yuri often uses it in the novels, it only appears in the anime a few times, once in Affair of Nolandia, in Flight 005 Conspiracy, and in episode 6 of the OVA series. In that episode, it is used by Madame Beryl instead of Yuri. In the comic series, it is used in the stories "Biohazards" and "Start The Violence". She has been voiced by Saeko Shimazu (Japanese), Wendee Lee (English features, Streamline Pictures dub), Jessica Calvello (English OVAs ADV Films dub), Allison Sumrall (English features, ADV Films dub)

Other characters

• Mughi (ムギ, Mugi): In the novels a Coeurl (This is the name of the creature in A. E. Van Vogt's SF story "Black Destroyer". He is a black, cat-like creature with tentacles growing from his shoulders, see the original illustration of Mughi in the novels section below). In the anime Mughi is a black (dark red in OVA) bear sized genetically engineered cat who sometimes accompanies the Dirty Pair on their missions. He has some proficiency with electronic devices, Kei and Yuri usually relying on his help as co-pilot or gunner while their spaceship the Lovely Angel orbits the planet they're on, but typically takes a passive role in the Dirty Pair's adventures. In the anime series, Mughi is depicted as more feline or furry pet than the somewhat threatening creature seen in the novels, though he still initially intimidates strangers due to his size and can be threatening as well as ridden as a battle mount. While playful, curious and usually protective he can be also be quite timid and despite being engineered from a cat he is afraid of mice. Mughi's name has been said to be an acronym for "Military Unit of Genetic Higher Intelligence", according to the character designer.
• Nammo: a small robot owned by the Dirty Pair in the TV series. Usually referred to as a "she", Nammo communicates through beeps and whistles and has one known arm, as well as the ability to fly in space, operate and repair vehicles and use hand weapons. She has been rebuilt at least once, when she hinted for the weaponless Pair to rig her body to self-destruct by handing over her memory disk. They sent her chassis into the bowels of the machine that trapped them, leaving only her memory disk and her tennis shoe-like feet behind.
• Chief Gooley Andrew Francess: Kei & Yuri's immediate supervisor. He has the unenviable task of briefing Lovely Angels assignments which are assigned automatically by computer to the most qualified agents, as well as writing the paperwork on the damage they cause. While they cause him much grief (and stomach pains), he still cares for them greatly and is confident in their abilities. They, in turn, are fiercely loyal to him, even disobeying orders in order to rescue him. When threatened hes shown to have reasonable combat skills.
• Calico: Gooley's right hand man in the TV series, he desires to succeed Gooley and is very unimpressed by the Dirty Pair as he always refers to them. Despite qualifying as a field agent he has zero mission experience, though confident in his own abilities he proves to be more trigger happy than Kei.
• Madame Beryl: Appearing in the OVA series, she is a retired TroCon of legendary status. Only one of her cases was never solved until the Lovely Angels stumble across the missing clue. In another appearance, she proves she is still able to hold her own with the Bloody Card. She appears in the series as a classic grandmotherly type wearing a cheongsam.
• Dr. Q: Appearing in the OVA series, Dr. Q is the scientist responsible for the creation of Muhgi, as well as some of the high-tech devices and weaponry the Lovely Angels use. However, his genius is questionable, since his brilliant devices have a tend either to malfunction, or blow up in the Angels' faces.

Origin of names

The instigation of "the DP Concept" was a visit to Japan by the British Australian SF author A. Bertram Chandler, probably in 1978. On his itinerary was a stop at the young Studio Nue, which Takachiho co-founded. As something to entertain their guest, two of the staffers there, Yuri Tanaka and Keiko Otoguro, hit upon the idea with Takachiho of taking Chandler to a tournament of the All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling organization, which was a member of the World Women's Wrestling Association (WWWA). The card included the highly-popular wrestling (and singing) team, the Beauty Pair. Something that passed among the foursome during that match led Chandler to remark to Takachiho something to the effect that "the two women in the ring may be the Beauty Pair, but those two with you ought to be called 'the Dirty Pair'."

This became the germ of an idea for a novella Takachiho decided to write, transplanting the rough-housing of pro-wrestling to the realm of space-opera mystery stories, with which he already had experience in his already successful Crusher Joe series. The team code-name "Lovely Angels" is also play on the names of certain women's teams of the time, such as the Queen Angels.

Anime

Television series

Main article: List of Dirty Pair episodes

An anime TV series based on the novels, simply titled Dirty Pair, ran for 24 episodes that aired on Nippon Television affiliates from July to December 1985. However, two remaining episodes called With Love from the Lovely Angels were produced during 1986 and released as OVAs. They were released on 1 January 1987. The TV series (including the remaining two OVA episodes) was licensed for a release by Nozomi Entertainment, who released it into two box sets on November 2, 2010 and February 8, 2011 respectively, each containing 13 episodes. These releases contain Japanese dialog with English subtitles, however David Williams from Sentai Filmworks did confirm that he offered to produce an English dub with Seraphim Digital for the re-release, but was declined for unknown reasons.

OVAs

• With Love from the Lovely Angels: "What?! The Boy In The Mansion Is A Terminator!"
• With Love from the Lovely Angels: "Seriously? The God Cannon Is A Beauty's Keyword To Escape"

• Affair of Nolandia 1985
• Flight 005 Conspiracy 1990

Both OVA features were released onto English dubbed VHS on November 23, 1994 and February 21, 1995 respectively by Streamline Pictures and Orion Pictures. They were later re-licensed and re-dubbed by ADV Films and released to bilingual DVD on November 4 and December 2, 2003 respectively. ADV later re-released them to DVD, along with Project Eden, on November 8, 2005 in a 3-DVD boxset. They were later re-licensed by Nozomi Entertainment, who released them in a bilingual DVD set (with both Streamline and ADV dubs) with Project Eden on May 8, 2012.

Additional OVA series

• Original Dirty Pair 10 episodes, December 21, 1987–April 21, 1988
  • The 10-episode OVA series is a continuation of the original Dirty Pair series chronicling the further adventures of Kei and Yuri. ADV released the OVA series on five English dubbed and subtitled VHS tapes from November 11, 1998 to January 25, 2000, each containing two episodes. The series was later released to bilingual DVD in two five-episode volumes on July 17 and October 23, 2001. A complete collection was released on December 27, 2005. Nozomi Entertainment later license-rescued the OVA series, and re-released it in a remastered bilingual DVD set on January 3, 2012.

• Dirty Pair Flash three series totaling 16 episodes, 1994–1996
  • The story premise and character designs are very different from any of the other versions.

Film

• Project Eden 1987 (known as simply "Dirty Pair" in Japan)

Comics

Main article: The Dirty Pair

File:YuriKeiDirtyPairFBNS.png

Yuri and Kei in Fatal But Not Serious

The American comic company and manga translator Studio Proteus acquired rights to create comic versions of The Dirty Pair in 1989; the first two graphic novels were published by the since-defunct Eclipse Comics. Later the rights were transferred to Dark Horse Comics. The first three series were written by Toren Smith and Adam Warren and drawn by Warren—after that Smith left the project and Warren took over writing completely. These stories have a much more cyberpunk style than the other versions; the later stories, starting with Fatal but not Serious, move into the transhuman subgenre.

• Biohazards: four issues, December 1988–April 1989 (trade paperback TPB, 1989; 1998, reissue)
• Dangerous Acquaintances: five issues, June 1989–March 1990 (TPB, 1991; 1997, reissue)
• A Plague of Angels: five issues, August 1990–November 1991 (TPB, 1994)
• Sim Hell: four issues, May–August 1993; colorized reissue, May–August 2001 (TPB, 1994; 1996, second edition; 2002, colorized reissue)
• "I Honestly Hate You": eight-page short story originally published in August 1994 in the (annual) San Diego ComicCon Comics, #3 (reprinted in 1998 Dark Horse Comics reprinted TPB of Biohazards)
• Fatal But Not Serious: five issues, July–November 1995 (TPB, 1996)
• Start the Violence: one-shot, May–July 1998 (TPB, 1999; also included in Run from the Future TPB)
• Run From The Future: four issues, January–April 2000 (TPB, 2002)
• "A Big 'Merci Beaucoup'".: six single pages originally published May–August 2001 in the back of each colorized reissue of Sim Hell, also in the back of the colorized Sim Hell TPB reissue (2002).

Manga

The Great Adventures of the Dirty Pair (ダーティペアの大冒険 Dāti Pea no Daibōken) is a 2010 - 2011 manga adaptation by Hisao Tamaki serialised by Tokuma Shoten in Monthly Comic Ryū, that is a retelling of the original Dirty Pair light novel of the same name, but with significant character redesigns.

Light novels

Kei & Yuri novel version

The light novels are written by Haruka Takachiho with illustrations by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. The first four books were originally serialized in the Japanese publication SF Magajin. The light novels have begun to be released in English translation from DH Press (Dark Horse): the complete first book appeared in September 2007, and the second book appeared in March 2008. English translations previously existed only for the first story (published as one of a series of short books for Japanese students of English) and the fifth book, which was originally released in Japanese and English translation on the Microsoft Network during 1997–99.

• ダーティペアの大冒険 (Daatipea no Daibouken <The Dirty Pair's Great Adventures>, 1979; book: 1980)
• ダーティペアの大逆転 (Daatipea no Daigyakuten <The Dirty Pair Strike Again>, 1985; book: 1985)
• ダーティペアの大乱戦 (Daatipea no Dairansen <DP's Rough and Tumble>, 1985–87; book: 1987)
• ダーティペアの大脱走 (Daatipea no Daidassou <DP's Great Escape>, 1991–92; book: 1993)
• ダーティペア外伝 独裁者の遺産 (Dokusaisha no Isan <Legacy of the Dictator>—Dirty Pair Side Story #1, 1997; book: 1998)
• ダーティペアの大復活 (Daatipea no Daifukkatsu <DP's Great Resurrection>, 2004)
• ダーティペアの大征服 (Daatipea no Daiseifuku <DP's Great Conquest>, 2006)
• ダーティペアの大帝国 (Daatipea no Daiteikoku <DP's Great Empire>, 2007) —conclusion of the preceding novel

Radio series

A fifth version of the "DP Concept" made its debut on 1 October 2006 in a 26-week radio series on FM Osaka, entitled "Lovely Angel: Kei & Yuri". A streaming Internet broadcast of successive episodes became available beginning 15 October. The story involves a case in which the Lovely Angels assist the FBI on a case which takes them along the route of the old Route 66. The series features Horie Yui as Yuri and Minagawa Junko as Kei. While Takachiho participated in the selection of the voice artists, he was not involved in the writing for this series. (Additional information on the series, in Japanese, can be found at Nihon Sunrise's site.

A second radio series, "Daatipea91: Kunoichi" began on FM Osaka on 15 October 2007. This time written by Takachiho himself, it places eighteen-year-old Kei and Yuri in Japan in the year 1791 as student ninjas who find themselves embroiled in political affairs of the period. Horie Yui and Minagawa Junko reprised their voice roles. Again, a streaming broadcast was available. This series was re-broadcast during March to April 2009.

External links

• Dirty Pair at Curlie
• Dirty Pair (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia