Anarchy in the Yuri-Kei
The Dirty Pair, on page and screen

Few girls with guns creations have been quite as cross-media as Kei and Yuri, Haruka Takachiho's Dirty Pair. Initially a collection of novels which began in 1979, they then became a TV show, a straight-to-video feature, a theatrical film, a straight-to-video series, hopped the Pacific to become an American-produced graphic novel, then returned to Japan to become another three video series, some "Stereo Drama" CDs, and two volumes of manga. Most recently, Lovely Angel: Kei and Yuri debuted on radio in Osaka in October 2006; with a translation of the first novel scheduled for release in America this June, the Dirty Pair bandwagon shows little sign of stopping, as the characters head towards their thirtieth birthday.

[Note: This is my second attempt at the piece; my first one was abruptly derailed by my departure from GoDaddy, and all my notes were on the computer there! This will be one of those ongoing sections; as I view or read more entries from the various incarnations, I'll include reviews of them below. It's the only way I am ever going to get this up here, since the backlog currently includes two more OAV features, all the original OAVs, two additional volumes of Dirty Pair Flash and a good chunk of the comics. Sigh. A fan's work is never done... :-)]

The Novels

At the end of the 1970's, Takachiho was already a well-known author, thanks to his Crusher Joe series, and had founded Studio Nue to develop story ideas for novels, comics and anime. A trip to the then-popular World Women's Wrestling Association, with American author A. Bertram Chandler, spawned the "Dirty Pair" name, from tag team Naoko "Jackie" Satou and Maki Ueda, who called themselves the Beauty Pair. Thus inspired, Takachiho went to work, and his duo made their debut in #244 of SF Magajin, in February 1979.

Though these novels are in many ways radically different from the other version, the core characters of Kei and Yuri are almost unchanged: a contrast in looks, personality and approach. Kei is the loud, brash redhead; Yuri, a more cautious soul. The novels give a gift of clairvoyance to the duo, but seem to make it contingent on them having really bad luck. The other adaptations largely skip the psychic abilities, but keep the unfortunate accidents which make them the queens of collateral damage, much to the chagrin of their bosses at the Worlds' Welfare Work Association, or WWWA - another wrestling nod - which is also referred to as the 3WA. These, ah, incidents, cause Kei and Yuri to be labelled the "Dirty Pair", in contrast to their official name, the "Lovely Angels". The stories take place around the year 2140, with the human race now occupying several thousand star systems, and travelling between them in spaceships.

Though, as noted above, the first novel in the original series is scheduled for release in America later this year, there was an English translation of it published in August 1987. The fifth book was also originally released in an English translation on the Microsoft Network during 1997-99. Good luck with finding either though these days. That said, I located the following, lurking on my bookshelves back from the days when I was a serious anime fan-boy. And, no, I don't want to talk about it. [Though I will admit that I actually own the dolls pictured atop this article...]

The Great Adventures of Dirty Pair
Author: Haruka Takachiho, translated by David Lewis
Publisher: Kodansha English Library

While in English, this came out in Japan, since it was part of a series of translations of popular works, intended as an aid for people learning the language. As a result, the book comes with translation notes at the back explaining, for example, what the phrase "We're encased in a transparent sheathing of ultrathin reinforced polymer" means. Though I note the word "lesbian" is, apparently, deemed unworthy of further translation. It's a swift read; discounting the notes, barely 125 pages long, and they're not large pages either - a lunch-hour might suffice, if your boss gave you a few minutes grace.

The plot is somewhat Project Eden-like; they head to a planet to investigate what initially seems to be an act of industrial espionage, only to uncover a far more lethal threat. It's a thin work, yet still manages to divert too much from the plot: I mean, do we really need to know their vital statistics? The result is eminently forgettable, despite a couple of cool moments, such as when the pair's clairvoyant activities, the main reason for their 3WA recruitment, are demonstrated. "Something blazed in the back of my eye. It was a flash of pure white light. Then a dizzying feeling of walking on air, followed by a tingling ecstacy. Everything went white. An image appeared. It appeared like a picture painted on a immaculate canvas. It went out. In a twinkling, color returned to my consciousness."

The 'Bloody Card' - perhaps more famous in the US comics than the anime - also makes an appearance, and it's also interesting to note that the name of the villainous group behind operations is Lucifer, the same as was used in Dirty Pair Flash: Mission 1. But it's just too disposable and light to be worthy of significant note. Though the civilian death toll as a result of their actions in this novel - though, as noted previously, as much due to some terribly bad luck, here, involving a crashing space-ship and a major city - comes in at a brisk 1,264,393. Well done!

The Anime, Phase I

I used to write for Anime UK.
How long ago that seems! :-)
Kei and Yuri's first appearance on screen was actually an animated cameo in the Crusher Joe movie, in 1983. Reaction to that, and the ongoing series of novels, was positive enough to allow Studio Nue, along with Sunrise Productions, to create a TV series starring the Dirty Pair. Originally slated for a 26-show run, it premiered on July 15th, 1985 and 24 episodes were shown between then and December the same year, with episode titles such as "Chasing the scent of cheesecake and death" and "Don't be fooled! Love is Russian Roulette". The remaining two episodes were released as an OAV [Original Animation Videos] entitled From Lovely Angels With Love in January 1987.

I believe that the Japanese TV series of Dirty Pair was the most popular of their incarnations there: in the 1986 Animage annual viewers' poll, the show was ranked #1. But as yet, it has not been officially translated into English - they have made it into several other languages, including French (where the pair are known as Dan and Dany) and Italian (Kate and Julie). Much of the darker tone of the novels was apparently jettisoned, in favour of lighter elements, and Takachiho was largely not involved in the show.

While the series was still in production, a spin-off OAV, Affair of Nolandia was created, which was released at the end of 1985, to tie in with the last TV episodes, but with a different approach and style. It was not a huge success, and subsequent entries generally went back, adopting a parallel look and feel to the television version, being tongue-in-cheek romps. The Dirty Pair feature film, known in the West as Project Eden, was released theatrically in March 1987, with ten OAVs (including the last two TV episodes) following later that year and on into 1988. The final entry in "Classic Dirty Pair", a standalone piece called The Flight 005 Conspiracy, came out in early 1990, and things then largely went quiet in the Kei/Yuriverse...in Japan at least...

Project Eden [a.k.a. Dirty Pair: The Movie]
Dir: Kôichi Mashimo
Star (voice): Kyôko Tongu, Saeko Shimazu, Katsuji Mori, Chikao Ôtsuka

If you're going to start with Kei and Yuri, this is as good a spot as any; it may not be the first entry in the series, but requires no prior knowledge at all. Even complete novices will be up to speed by the pre-credit sequence, which sees them - oops! - destroying an entire space-station after they decide to pursue the bad guy, rather than handling the explosive suitcase with which he has tried to distract them. They're then sent to investigate some strange happenings on a mining planet, which is being plagued by attacks from monsters. They discover that the creatures are the results of failed experiments by Dr. Wattsman, who has plans to force nature's hand, by making the next evolutionary step beyond mankind. Meanwhile, gentlemen thief Carson D. Carson is there, for his own reasons.

Pop-culture nods go to everything from James Bond through Star Wars to Aliens, though the female leads helps give familiar scenarios a fresh air. It's clearly not to be taken in total seriousness, for example, Kei and Yuri pausing mid-mission to take baths (though like everything else in the show, it's no more than PG-13 rated). The action is frequent, particularly towards the end, with some monumental battles between the girls and Wattsman's monsters, accompanied, as is the entire film, by a smooth jazz-funk soundtrack [not normally my cup of tea, I'm still whistling Over the Top, days later]. There's also some surprisingly touching stuff between Carson and Yuri, though he is always firmly in the back seat. Naturally, it's Kei who has an eye for him, a constant factor through almost every version.

Technically, it's as nice as you'd expect from a theatrical feature - it was originally part of a double-bill at cinemas with Bat and Terry, an animated film about baseball players which is all but forgotten now. Project Eden (a title used solely in the West: I'm looking at the Japanese LD, which just says Dirty Pair: The Movie) does look somewhat dated, and to be honest, the plot wouldn't really stand up to serious inspection [Wattsman apparently runs his massive industial-scientific complex with the help of one guy, his butler, Bruno]. But as a semi-spoof, say along the lines of Our Man Flint, it works very nicely and is solidly entertaining, with slick production values and a good sense of fun. It is also a fine demonstration of one of anime's strengths, the ability to give full rein to unfettered imagination, and create a world where anything can happen.

Flight 005 Conspiracy
Dir: Toshifumi Takizawa
Star (voice): Kyôko Tongu, Saeko Shimazu,

Why let Kei and Yuri blow up one case, when you can save time by giving them two at once? That's what happens at the start of this, as the WWWA computer assigns them two, apparently unrelated, assignments in the same galactic sector: one is to investigate a spaceship which blew up, and the other involves the disappearance of a scientist and his family. You will not be surprised to hear that these two cases are interconnected, though it does appear to come as a shock to the participants here. Once they reach their destination, it soon becomes clear that someone is out to stop Kei and Yuri - "someone serious," to steal a line from Leon. Can they uncover the conspiracy before it uncovers them?

The action in this episode is significantly more restrained than Project Eden, which had a number of spectacular battle set-pieces. Indeed, at times this plays more like a detective story than anything else, and with relatively minor adjustments, could be relocated to the present-day - I tend to feel that is something of a cop-out for science-fiction. That aside, and despite a fair degree of predictability, there are some interesting twists to the story, with unexpected deaths - both fake and real - and a surprisingly poignant ending, that's a tribute to the characters who didn't make it to the end.

On the other hand, there are some gaping flaws in the logic, not least some DNA evidence which appears to have materialized out of thin air (actually, complete vacuum). Yet, overall, it's a lot more restrained than Project Eden, and that is not really a good thing - it certainly isn't what we expect from the Lovely Angels. There are plenty of opportunities for mayhem here, sadly ungrasped, and the ironic, tongue-in-cheek humor is also largely lacking, not least in the sombre ending, noted above. As the final animated outing for Kei and Yuri in a decade, it's a downbeat way for the series to finish.

The US Comics

Founded in 1986 out of San Francisco, comic publisher and manga translator Studio Proteus bought the rights to create a new comic version of the Dirty Pair in 1988, the key breakthrough being a direct approach to Takachiho, after the failure of negotiations with Studio Sunrise. There was one requirement, however: the style had to be changed from those already in use. This was agreed to, though there is almost as much evolution from the initial designs through to the most recent version, as between the novels of the Dirty Pair and, say, Dirty Pair Flash. To quote Warren, "The DP comic tends more towards cruel humor and high-tech gadgetry than most DP renditions, and has a somewhat weirder, "wackier" take on the characters and their background."

And their costumes. It must be said, their clothes get skimpier almost by the page; by the end, it appears improvements in engineering technology and low gravity are equally required, in order to avoid wardrobe malfunctions. For the first 3 series, the stories were written by company founder Toren Smith and Adam Warren, with Warren drawing the artwork. From then on, Warren took over the entire project, with Smith returning to company management, at least until Studio Proteus was bought out by Dark Horse Comics in 2004. Warren also said his main inspiration was the viewing of untranslated anime Dirty Pair, and that's probably the closest to the US comics, but they have their own, distinctive personalities and histories.

One thing to note about the US incarnation is, the ferocious number of nods or references to other areas of pop culture, from badly-dubbed kung-fu flicks to songs: at one point, Kei and Yuri burst into a rendition of Faith No More's Epic. In addition, the later stories see the pair becoming implanted with all manner of technological accessories, becoming as much cyberaction heroines as human. This is ironic, given that Earth has, by this point, been destroyed by nanotechnology run amok. But since humanity has, as standard in the DP-verse, colonized much of the galaxy, what's one planet more or less? And that's an admirably Kei and Yuri-esque approach to the issue!

Biohazards
Story: Toren Smith and Adam Warren
Art: Adam Warren

If you thought the novel was a quick read, I got through Biohazards during lunch, and that's only with 30 minutes. Still, being a comic-book, we must cut it some slack, though I can't say I find action (and there's a lot of it here) is something that works very well in panel form, lacking the true sense of motion you get in cinema. That said, I still didn't hate this first entry in the trans-Pacific entry, in which Kei and Yuri are sent to investigate the kidnapping of an industrialist's mind by his rival [literally: it's on a chip]. Adding a little spice, both companies are knee-deep in dubious bioweapons, so who is the real villain here?

It's another different style, in some ways perhaps more Japanese than classic DP, though still with something alien to it, as if the artist had learned from one of those "Draw Manga" books. Which is less a knock on Warren than it probably sounds, being more an acknowledgement of how influential the Dirty Pair comics are [there was a time when manga was not to be found in Borders, y'know]. The in-jokes are actually more restrained than I remembered - and expected, after the very first page has a security guard singing the theme to Magnum of Love's Destiny, a movie from the City Hunter series. But that was about it, unless "Power up the synthesizer, Neil" is a Rush reference? Hard to be sure...

There are some interesting nods to the original novels, such as Mughi's ability to manipulate the electromagnetic spectrum, and Yuri's Bloody Card weapon is almost exactly as described in Great Adventures. That may be the weakness here, in that Warren and Smith seem less intent on bringing anything new to the characters, than being faithful to the original texts. As the series progresses, however, that would become less of an issue, but while the first, this is certainly not the best, or most representative, of the US comics.

The Anime, Phase II

In the mid-1990's, word began to circulate about a "re-imagining" of the Dirty Pair. This made sense, as the whole world of SF had changed since Takachiho had come up with the idea in the late 1970's. The future was now a different place, with the likes of Blade Runner and Mad Max having a greater influence than the clean, sleek world shown in films like 2001. The results are darker in tone, though the central characters are, obviously, the same, and the level of mayhem which results from their exploits is equally high. Though watching all the incarnations of the Dirty Pair, the thought strikes me that the depiction, even indirectly, of a huge number of civilian casualties, just isn't as amusing as it used to be before 9/11...

The series is, effectively, a series reset in much the same way that Casino Royale recently was for the Bond franchise, with no acknowledgement of what has gone before. We begin around the same time - a handful of years later - with Kei and Yuri having just been assigned each other as partners, by the 3WA computer. This decision seems at first incomprehensible, but by the end of the first series, it's clear there's method to its digital madness. The style of our heroines has radically changed; amongst a host of changes, Kei has now blonde spikes on the front of her traditional red-hair, while Yuri appears to have strayed in from an episode of Sailor Moon, which was immensely popular at the time.

Personality-wise, less is altered. Yuri is still the more cautious one, while Kei is inclined to act first, and ask questions...well, never. One aspect that kinda gets lost is the style of Japanese she uses, which is best described (albeit not by me, whose experience of the language is limited to one semester of evening classes!) as rough and masculine. They're a little younger than in the original anime: both are only seventeen years old at the start of the series, but have already been in the 3WA for several years; it appears that child-labour laws are a great deal more relaxed in the future! The style does alter once again after the first set of episodes; it's relatively minor, but Yuri in particular now looks less like a kid. I must confess, at first, I hated the changes, but the Phase I version now looks like the child of the 80's it was. Now, I'd grudgingly admit that the remodel doesn't entirely suck, though Kei's hair still looks like a disaster at the stylist.

Dirty Pair Flash, Mission 1: Angels in Trouble
Dir: Takahito Kimura
Star (voice): Rika Matsumoto, Mariko Koda, Hazime Koseki, Yumi Touma

The surprising thing about this, is that the six episodes, basically, form a single plot, a radically different approach to the first phase anime, where the individual OAVs stood on their own, with little or no ongoing story arc. Here, the parts mesh, starting with the pair, off-duty, coming into possession of an encrypted card, which they must get back to 3WA headquarters, in the face of significant opposition. From this develops the uncovering of a galaxy-wide conspiracy involving the malevolent Lucifer group, which must be foiled, since they have control of galactic communications. However, a significant subplot involves Lady Flair, a sniper who humiliates Kei in the second episode, provoking her into a fury which leads, later on, to our redheaded spitfire quitting the 3WA in order to pursue Flair on her own terms.

There's some interesting background provided, in that Kei and Yuri are not the first to bear the "Lovely Angels" name for their employers. It seems to be more like the "Double 0" prefix, though perhaps limited to one pairing at any given time. Anyway, it seems the reign of the previous incumbents, Molly and Iris, ended when the former was killed on the job, and Iris quit, to vanish from the scene. Savvy readers may be already making a connection to the previous paragraph, but you'll find no spoilers here. No. Not at all. I can neither confirm nor deny any such thoughts.

I can't help feeling this wasn't as good as it could have been, given the components, which have potential. Maybe's it's the relationship between the heroines which is the problem; efforts to show them changing, from initially dislike into devoted partners, never convince on any significant level. All the rest of the elements are certainly present, from the major urban renewal scheme initiated by the demolition company of Kei+Yuri, Inc. in the first episode, through lightly-cheesecakey costumes to wholesale mayhem at an airport where everyone is packing heat, and there are enough good moments and fun to keep me amused. But the pair (Kei especially) are less heroic, savvy women, than two peeved, heavily-armed, teenage, girls. As we already have someone in the house who fits 3/4 of that bill - thankfully, not "heavily-armed"! - the appeal of this series is naturally diminished.

[Invaluable help with the background and history in this piece, came from Tea Time in Elenore City, a sporadically-updated but invaluable resource for Dirty Pair info]

[January 2007]

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