literaturenerd

In my last review I covered a highly obscure anime that nobody has ever heard of. Today, I'll be looking at an underrated anime that most people have heard of, but relatively few have actually bothered watching. Dirty Pair is a 24-episode TV anime from 1985. It was animated by Sunrise, which is why it looks a lot like Zeta Gundam and other top tier Sunrise anime from the mid 80s. That's also why it uses stock Gundam sound effects in every single episode. Dirty Pair is considered a classic by Gen X and Millennial anime fans around the world. Sadly, the series never receivedan English dub and never aired on American TV. This is a shame since it would have done very well on Adult Swim. A dub project was successfully kickstarted a few years ago and has been in production Hell ever since. Hopefully it's released in the next couple years. Rather than being based on a manga, Dirty Pair was actually based on a series of pulp novels. It was created as a love letter to "girls with guns" exploitation films, Golden Age science fiction, and women's professional wrestling. The original novelist REALLY likes women's wrestling. That's why the Dirty Pair have the outfits that they do. It's where he got the name "Lovely Angels". The organization the girls work for is the WWWA, which in real life stood for the now defunct World Women's Wrestling Association. If you haven't guessed by now, Dirty Pair isn't the most highbrow anime in existence. This could explain its unfortunate MAL score and hilariously bad Anilist score. Despite what the haters say, this series is very fun. Dirty Pair is an episodic action/comedy about 2 female bounty in space. That's about as deep as the plot goes. In every episode, Yuri and Kei are hired to do some ridiculous job, kick serious ass, then accidentally cause an absurd amount of collateral damage. Their tendency to cause disaster is why they are feared throughout the galaxy as the infamous Dirty Pair. By the end of the series and OVAs, they have canonically destroyed at least 10 planets and are responsible for the deaths of tens of millions of people. All of this completely on accident due to horrendously bad luck. It's never really their fault, which is what makes it funny. The episodes have a great deal of variety with a couple horror episodes, a jail break episode, a cowboy episode, a serial killer episode, and of course an episode where they need to find a super powered cat that ate a super strength serum. All of these episodes manage to work because Yuri and Kei have great chemistry together and are just plain fun to watch! Kei is the fiery loud-mouth and tomboy of the duo while Yuri is the more effeminate one. They manage to play off each other very well and their friendship is rather endearing. Yuri and Kei are far from perfect heroines. They're greedy. They're constantly lusting over hot guys. They don't lose sleep over the immense amount of destruction they cause, which would put most Shonen villains not named Lord Freeza to shame. However, they're also highly competent badasses who are cool and confident in their abilities. They're likeable in the way that James Bond is likeable. Old anime often has a bad reputation for being sexist, but Yuri and Kei are never infantilized or put in compromising situations where they constantly need to be rescued. They're the polar opposites of Yuria from Fist of the North Star. While the series does have some fanservice, it's always done in a very light and playful manner that doesn't come across as lurid or creepy. Some of the most explicit fanservice in the whole series is in one of the first few episodes where Kei shows off a backless dress that's cut so low it shows the entirety of her ass crack. It's actually rather charming and funny that she struts around in that outfit with utter confidence and authority! Should you watch Dirty Pair? YES! Absolutely you should! This anime is packed with solid comedy, cool action scenes, and very good animation for its time. If you like that classic 1980s anime AESTHETIC, you definitely want to watch Dirty Pair! In fact, just drop whatever seasonal you're watching. Do you really need to watch Overlord S5 when you could watch 2 bounty hunter chicks accidentally blow up a planet? I didn't think so.

TheGameScouts

Genre: Science Fiction/Action Published by: Nozomi/LuckyPenny Running Time: Part One (325 min.) Part Two (325 min.) Format: Japanese Audio (Dolby Digital Mono), English Subtitles Release Dates: Part One (6/4/2013) Part Two (8/6/2013) Media: DVD It’s easy to be adamant about cherished childhood memories; particularly those revolving around beloved TV shows that shaped our imagination and oftentimes influenced our future career pursuits. I still remember feeling timelessly connected to the eighties He-Man cartoon which sparked my passion for illustration and animation. I also remember re-watching the first few episodes not too long ago, dumbfounded by just how poorly the show aged. It’s as if a piece of me was shredded to pieces…leavingme wondering where I saw the appeal in the first place. Then there are shows like Dirty Pair, which to this day feel as fresh as they did decades ago. From the neon-lit disco-style opening to the absurd action sequences and charming humor, Dirty Pair is a nostalgia trip worth taking regardless of how much time passes. Dirty Pair was one of the first in bringing the popular “girls with guns” sub-genre to Anime. Its immediate success was soon followed up by classics like Bubblegum Crisis, Gall Force, and the now legendary Ghost in The Shell and Appleseed. The two ladies have become genre idols, influencing most female anime action personas we see today. While their prominence in Japanese animation is unquestionably admirable, it’s how relevant the show feels almost thirty years later that truly impresses. The balance between hilarious eighties cheesiness and masterful animation is remarkably inviting, making the episodes feel like something that could have been released a few years ago. Yes, there’s the unpleasant 4:3 aspect ration and occasional loss in color, but Yoshikazu Yasuhiko’s art style is as electrifying as ever. This latest collection is being released in two parts, but it would be foolish not to grab both sets at once. Every part comes packed with thirteen episodes (3 discs per set), each in its original Japanese audio and Litebox-style keepcases. The audio quality is surprisingly well preserved (particularity during the louder action sequences) and the video is top notch. Colors are crisp and vibrant with very subtle discolorations in a few scenes and nearly unnoticeable artifacts and frame distortions. I ran the DVDs via my PS3 with the upscaling mode set to on, which gave the overall contrast ratio and color saturation a significant quality boost. Considering the show originally aired in 1985, it still looks and sounds surprisingly contemporary. The show revolves around Kei and Yuri, two enticing members of the Trouble Consultant Team 234. The code named “Lovely Angels” are disaster magnets, always leaving a trail of utter chaos and madness…hence their nickname Dirty Pair. Despite their destructive temperament, they somehow always end up catching the bad guy, even if it means destroying half a city. Dirty Pair can be best described as a Cyberpunk action-comedy inspired by classics like Blade Runner and Mad Max. While the tone is clearly more lighthearted, fans of such films will absolutely devour the show’s diverse sci-fi aesthetic. The action sequences in nearly every episode are nothing short of amazing. The spectacular battle set pieces give Dirty Pair an impressive cinematic quality and while most of the series feels somewhat episodic in nature, the charming duo keeps each narrative segment thoroughly entertaining and captivating. Whether you’re an Anime enthusiast or simply enjoy quality animation, Dirty Pair is a fantastic look back at one the finest eighties cartoon classics. Despite being nearly three decades old, Kei and Yuri are as lovable and hilarious as ever and the superbly preserved source material guarantees for a collection of the highest quality. Dirty Pair was a blast then…and it’s an absolute blast now!