Dirty Pair

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.

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), Rossana Cicconi (Spanish, Lipsync Int. dub)
 * Yuri (ユリ?) : Japanese in ethnicity, wears a golden-yellow uniform. Often uses non-gun weaponry such as energy whips. 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 1-5, ADV Films dub), Allison Sumrall (English OVAs 6-10, features, ADV Films dub)

Other characters

 * Mughi (ムギ, Mugi?) : 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.), a large cat-like creature (in the OVA series, he is shown to be genetically engineered, though not to what the designers intended) 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 gun-runner 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 like a cat or small furry pet than the somewhat threatening creature seen in the novels. 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 with assigning the Lovely Angels assignments, 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.
 * Calico: Gooley's right hand man in the TV series. A former TroCon himself (capacity unknown, Trouble Consultants can also be accountants and lawyers), he has at least one episode to show he still has what it takes, though 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.

Television series
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
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.
 * 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

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
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. The Dirty Pair is an original English-language manga written and illustrated by Adam Warren, based on the original Dirty Pair characters created by Haruka Takachiho.
 * 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).

The American comic company and manga translator Studio Proteus acquired rights to create comic versions of the Dirty Pair in 1988. The first three limited series, reprinted in the collected editions Biohazards, Dangerous Acquaintances, and Plague of Angels, 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 and posthuman subgenres.

The Lovely Angels
Kei and Yuri are two Trouble Consultants (Criminal Division, Class A) for the World Welfare Work Association (3WA), code-named "Lovely Angels", but known throughout the United Galactica (UG) as the "Dirty Pair", a nickname given to them by the press due to their bad luck with their missions, which always seem to end in complete disaster. But they are always cleared of any wrongdoing by the UG's Central Computer because the extreme damage is never actually their fault (though their mere presence has been known to make things worse).

They originally met at Meizuru university for Lucien genetic upgrades around A.D. 2134, although it is not necessarily canon, they were both misfits within their year, and so became friends. Around A.D. 2137, just before graduation from Meizuru university, they played a prank on their friends, convincing them that they were both psychic. Shortly afterwards, news reached the 3WA and they were scouted for recruitment and tested by a parapsychology institute. The pair cheated every which way possible (the really short skirts were Kei's idea), and they tested positive for clairvoyance, the 3WA considered this to be useful and hired them.

Although outwardly they almost constantly fight and bicker with each other, they are both loyal best friends, always pairing up together to deck anyone that calls them by their "Dirty Pair" nickname.

Kei
Kei, 19, was born November 27, 2122. She is a Lucien-type genetic upgrade, has long red hair with large bangs, brown eyes (more often than not green), is 171 cm tall and weighs 59 kg. Kei shares the same Lucien genetic code somatotype as Yuri, meaning that their bodies are basically identical, including height. Kei is the tomboy of the pair, outgoing, loud, and boisterous. She has remarked that she is "the exciting half of our team" and that "drinking or sex would be my responsibilities." Although she often fights and argues with Yuri, she has displayed a much softer side to her personality, revealing in the Sim Hell mini-series that her biggest fear is that of losing Yuri, and having very watery eye's over the death of the original Yuri during Fatal But Not Serious. Kei has a passion for cheesecake, large firearms, and bleeding edge mecha and war-tech.

Yuri
The original Yuri was born March 18, 2122; and the current clone on September 12, 2141. She is a Lucien-type genetic upgrade, has long black hair, blue eyes, is 171 cm tall and weighs 58 kg. Yuri shares the same Lucien genetic code somatotype as Kei, meaning that their bodies are basically identical, including height. Yuri is the more stereotypical retro-feminine of the two, being the more demure, modest, polite, and friendly of the two. This appears to stem from her traditional Japanese upbringing, and possibly from her fears of what other people think of her in regard to all the disasters they have been indirectly involved in. During the plot line of Fatal But Not Serious, another version of her was cloned from her stolen personality construct and tissue samples kept on record at the 3WA. The cloned version of Yuri had a "seratonin-based progressive imbalance" set into her neurochemistry to make her psychotically suicidal, and was tasked with the mission of killing the original Kei and Yuri (which she believed to be a simulation). She was partially successful, terminating only the original Yuri. Shortly after, the cloned Yuri received medical attention, and is now identical to the original Yuri. Although she often fights with her partner Kei, she has a deep devotion to her best friend. In Sim Hell, while dining with "an old friend," Dan, she spoke of nothing but Kei, and when it was revealed Kei was in danger, ran immediately to her aid. In Fatal But Not Serious, Yuri could not bring herself to kill Kei in cold blood, despite her neurochemistry imbalance. It is also revealed that Yuri has a deep admiration for Kei's rebel side, stealing her stuff in Fatal But Not Serious and acting the "bad girl", as well as attempting to act more like Kei after they engaged synchronous puppet mode, taking control of each other's bodies and trading perps in Run From the Future.

Biohazards
Biohazards is an original English-language manga written by Toren Smith and Adam Warren and illustrated by Warren, based on the Dirty Pair characters created by Haruka Takachiho. The series was originally published by Eclipse Comics between December 1988 and April 1989, and was first published in paperback and hardcover graphic novel format in 1990. With the transfer of the property rights to Dark Horse Comics, Biohazards was republished as a trade paperback entitled Dirty Pair: Biohazards - 10th Anniversary Special Edition in September 1998. This edition includes the 8-page short story I Honestly Hate You from the 1994 San Diego Comic Con Comics #3 as a bonus. The Lovely Angels are assigned to Pacifica. Tissue samples and the single surviving brainchip of leading biotechnical engineer Kelvin A. O'Donnell have been stolen by agents of Abraham Streib, a rival industrialist maimed in an accident apparently staged by O'Donnell. Enter the Dirty Pair, who rescue O'Donnell's brainchip, implanted by Streib in a cuddly Pseudo-Fuzzy. Mission accomplished, but O'Donnell convinces the Angels of Streib's traffic in illegal bioweapons, and persuades them to help him retrieve his tissue samples so he can regain his humanity. His consciousness transferred to a synthetic warbeast, O'Donnell leads the Pair to Streib's lab, obliterating most of his cronies — and a sizable section of Pacifica's capital city. O'Donnell assures the destruction of Streib's operation, and of Streib himself, but, en route home, is arrested by Pacifica Security for unlawful bioweapons production of his own.
 * Plot

Dangerous Acquaintances
Dangerous Acquaintances is an original English-language manga written Toren Smith and Adam Warren and illustrated by Warren, based on the Dirty Pair characters created by Haruka Takachiho. The series was originally published by Eclipse Comics between June 1989 and March 1990, and was first published in paperback and hardcover graphic novel format in 1991. With the transfer of the property rights to Dark Horse Comics, Dangerous Acquaintances was republished as a trade paperback in June 1997. The 1997 reissue of the story features edited artwork for the chapters that comprise issues 3 through 5 of the original publication. The edits made were to Kei and Yuri's waitress costumes. In the original publication the costumes were Playboy Bunny costumes, though never referenced to as such specifically. In the 1997 reprint the ears and tails were digitally removed from all of the panels in which they appear, though in some panels the shadows on the walls behind the characters still have the ears and tails. While this edit went largely unnoticed, and was not mentioned in any press materials, the exact reason for the edits remains unclear but is probably due to Playboy owing the trademark to the Bunny Girl image and Dark Horse either not being able to obtain permission to use the images or afford the royalties for their use. The Lovely Angels are on vacation on the planet of Rocinante when they spot an old "acquaintance", Shasti. Kei and Yuri immediately attack Shasti in a drunken rage, but are quickly subdued by the heavily armed and violent local police as Shasti blends into the crowd. Through a series of flashbacks interwoven though the story, the tale of the betrayal, attempted murder, and humiliation of the (then-rookie) pair by the increasingly psychotic superagent Shasti is told. The Lovely Angels start investigating Shasti's presence on the planet, and uncover a nest of apparently unconnected plots that all seem to have Shasti as the leader. Revolutionaries, a band of thieves after a collection of priceless antiques, and an experimental one-of-a-kind FTL drive installed in an interstellar liner filled with rich and influential potential hostages: which is Shasti's real goal and what is simply smokescreen? One thing is clear, though: the Dirty Pair want revenge against Shasti, and not even their reputation will bar the way!

A Plague of Angels
A Plague of Angels is the third original English-language manga version of Haruka Takachiho's Dirty Pair characters, written by Toren Smith and Adam Warren and illustrated by Warren. It was the last Dirty Pair comic that Smith and Warren co-wrote, Warren going on to handle all future writing for the series on his own. The series was originally published by Studio Proteus between August 1990 and November 1991, and has since been collected into a trade paperback, which was reissued by Dark Horse Comics in December 1995. As public outrage peaks, the Angels are restricted to the Kalevala O'Neill Colony to help with local investigations of a technology-smuggling outfit. Meanwhile, the 3WA launches a full-scale public relations assault, commissioning a glowingly positive profile for High Sense magazine. As the Pair turn a routine stake-out into a free-for-all, ambitious reporter Cory Emerson takes the assignment. Cory arrives to find the Pair in trouble with security for the stake-out fiasco, which nonetheless has revealed the nature of their adversaries: artificial personalities encoded on micro-software plugs enabling the smugglers to move between host bodies. The Angels, with Cory in tow, go solo to crack the ring, but the smugglers unleash their secret weapon: a robot using a maniacal artificial personality that threatens to blow everyone up using a low-yield gravity bomb. The Pair successfully defeat the robot, but the bomb does not seem to be with it anymore.
 * Plot

Sim Hell
Sim Hell is the fourth original English-language manga version of Haruka Takachiho's Dirty Pair characters, written and illustrated by Adam Warren. It was the first Dirty Pair comic that saw Warren handle all the writing, having previously co-wrote with Toren Smith. The series was originally published by Dark Horse Comics between May and August 1993, and has since been collected into a trade paperback. Later, a colorized, reissued version (Sim Hell Remastered) was published between May and August 2001. The Lovely Angels report to the 3WA headquarters for Kei's annual evaluative assessment by the top-secret Central Computer, the 3WA's "chief operating entity." Before any direct examination can take place, Kei must first participate via neural interface in several computer-generated interactive simulations, or "sims." Something goes awry and Kei is seemingly trapped in a potentially lethal feedback loop with the computers running the simulation. Yuri jacks in to the sim's virtual reality to save Kei, but soon finds that both of them are now stuck in an endless series of simulations. Initially, the Angels struggle through historical sims, set decades earlier during the genocidal "Nanoclysm," a plague of artificially intelligent Nanoviruses that nearly annihilated humanity. They discover that they are trapped in simulations belonging to the shadowy Bureau of Technological Regulation (BTR), a secretive group whose business is the control of certain dangerous technologies. Eventually, Kei and Yuri stumble upon a private sim owned by Kevin Sleet, their obnoxious tormentor from the BTR. There, they find that a rogue faction of the BTR, using supposedly forbidden technologies, intends to seize control of the 3WA's Central Computer and use its formidable powers to help mount a paramilitary coup of human civilization. But worst of all, the Angels discover that Sleet plans on a future where clones of Kei and Yuri serve as his personal harem. Nauseated, our heroines head for a final confrontation with the nefarious lout. They find the Central Computer is not without its own defenses.
 * Plot

I Honestly Hate You
"I Honestly Hate You" is an 8-page short story originally published in August 1994 in the (annual) San Diego Comic Con Comics #3 (reprinted in 1998 by Dark Horse Comics in the Dirty Pair: Biohazards trade paperback). Kei decides that she has had enough of dealing with Yuri's personality and derisive comments. She equips herself with fighting equipment and storms her room to teach her a lesson. The black-and-white drawing style is reminiscent of Japanese manga, with heavy usage of gray-scale sheets, panels arriving to the edge of the pages on all four edges, kinetic lines showing movement, and some panels having no borders or being inclined to a side to show the direction of action.
 * Plot
 * Drawing style

Fatal But Not Serious
Fatal But Not Serious is the sixth original English-language manga version of Haruka Takachiho's Dirty Pair characters, written and illustrated by Adam Warren. The series was originally published by Dark Horse Comics between July and November 1995, and has since been collected into a trade paperback. While the majority of humanity still lives in fear of the Dirty Pair and their well-publicized "disastrous proclivities," a surprising number of people have, for a wide variety of reasons, chosen to embrace the Lovely Angels as beloved, if destructive, "idol figures." Recently, the Pair's galaxy-wide cult following has grown large enough to support an actual convention celebrating their dubious celebrity. In a doomed bid to generate some positive media coverage, the Lovely Angels themselves are attending this "Kei'n'YuriCon '41" as guests of honor... but their enemies are conspiring to derail this ill-fated "charm offensive." Just before the convention, the Lovely Angels defeated a terrorist group in a bloody battle that left Kei with a broken leg. The surviving terrorist sought his revenge by unleashing a tailored "neurovirus," designed to trigger an anti-Dirty Pair hysteria and mob violence at the convention. More ominously, a renegade branch of the 3WA has stolen the Lovely Angel's "back-up copy" personality constructs and tissue samples, generated a memory-intact clone of Yuri, and duped the freshly grown Angel into thinking she is undergoing an interactive simulation, a bizarre virtual reality scenario that requires her to assassinate the original Kei and Yuri. In typical Dirty Pair fashion, she is going to accomplish her mission beyond the shadow of a doubt... by causing the local sun to go supernova. Fortunately, the planetary authorities drew up plans to evacuate the system when they heard the Dirty Pair would be attending. This series uses finished artwork that is inked and colored. The character designs use plain colors without gradients and shadows are done with zones of darker plain colors or with black zones, similar to anime. Cinetic lines are heavily used to represent movement, like Japanese manga. The environments are all futuristic.
 * Plot
 * Drawing style

Start the Violence
Start the Violence is a one-shot comic featuring the original English-language manga version of Haruka Takachiho's Dirty Pair characters, written and illustrated by Adam Warren. It was included in the Dirty Pair: Run From the Future trade paperback by Dark Horse Comics in January 2002.

Run From the Future
Run From the Future is the eighth original English-language manga version of Haruka Takachiho's Dirty Pair characters, written and illustrated by Adam Warren. The series was originally published by Dark Horse Comics between January and April 2000, and has since been collected into a trade paperback. Kei and Yuri, disguised as a pregnant Shasti and an overweight male model, with EPD (Explosive Personality Disorder) Eddie, travel to the covert trade and technology nexus of the Nimkasi, a Dyson tree habitat, where the 3WA have scored a deal with the Black Market habitat to poach 50 of the worst "crims, terrs, and pirates" from its megatree branches, in less than 100 minutes. Subduing, arresting, and battling with an entient Smart Cloth "Living Leather" suit, a French post-human terrorist leader and his mechas, terrorist artists, biotattooed orcas, the blood thirsty Teddy Roosevelt gladiator, Kei's schoolgirl crush, and Binky. The Lovely Angels may just pull off their first ever "collateral damage"-free mission, but a trip down memory lane for Yuri and Kei's own faith issues conspire against them. In the end, the Angels are successful (if only for a short while), but narrowly miss seeing the real Shasti.
 * Plot

A Big 'Merci Beaucoup'
"A Big 'Merci Beaucoup'" is a 6-page story originally published from May to August 2001 in the back of each colorized reissue of Sim Hell, and later in the back of the colorized Sim Hell reissued trade paperback (2002). This short story consists of a series of flashbacks about how the relationship between Yuri and Kei has evolved over time. The flashbacks include events ranging from the time when both attended school to the current time, including, for example, their training at the 3WA. The pages are greyscale reproductions of tight pencil "layouts", like the Empowered pages, and they are neither inked nor toned (tones are greyscale sheets, like Japanese manga).
 * Plot
 * Drawing style

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 versionThe 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 , 1979; book: 1980)
 * ダーティペアの大逆転 (Daatipea no Daigyakuten , 1985; book: 1985)
 * ダーティペアの大乱戦 (Daatipea no Dairansen , 1985–87; book: 1987)
 * ダーティペアの大脱走 (Daatipea no Daidassou , 1991–92; book: 1993)
 * ダーティペア外伝 独裁者の遺産 (Dokusaisha no Isan —Dirty Pair Side Story #1, 1997; book: 1998)
 * ダーティペアの大復活 (Daatipea no Daifukkatsu , 2004)
 * ダーティペアの大征服 (Daatipea no Daiseifuku , 2006)
 * ダーティペアの大帝国 (Daatipea no Daiteikoku , 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.

Project Eden
Project Eden known in Japan as Dirty Pair: The Movie (ダーティペア Daati Pea Gekijou-ban), is a feature length anime film based on the Dirty Pair anime series originally released in Japan on November 28, 1986. The movie was originally licensed in North America in 1994 by Streamline Pictures but was later redubbed and released on DVD on November 9, 2003 by ADV Films. The Streamline version was directed by Carl Macek.

Plot
After stopping a group of Vizorium smugglers, the Lovely Angels (more commonly known as the Dirty Pair) are sent on a mission to Agerna, a planet rich with Vizorium, a mineral necessary to space travel. They are sent to stop the mysterious attacks on mining operations that have the governments of the world pointing fingers and blaming each other. While investigating they end up taking a break from their investigation and take bubble baths when Carson D. Carson, a former member of the group of smugglers they stopped on their last mission interrupts their bath time by falling through a vent. While the ladies get out of the bathtubs and question Carson they are attacked by strange alien monsters that force the Pair to flee leaving their equipment behind wearing nothing but towels. The Dirty Pair are forced to ally with Carson to stop Dr. Wattsman, a mad scientist bent on taking a long dormant alien race to its final evolutionary form? After being captured by Dr. Wattsman it is revealed that Carson was really after obtaining a rare World War II-vintage wine. Carson D. Carson is forced to take on Bruno, Dr. Wattmans servant. While badly wounded, Carson D. Carson does not die in the end (although Kei was afraid he had), and the movie ends on a happy note, with the Dirty Pair and Carson flying off with the doctor and servant in custody. Of course, this wouldn't be Dirty Pair without a major disaster. The doctor's equipment was activated and Sadingas all over the planet were awakened, wreaking havoc.

Flash
Dirty Pair Flash (ダーティペア Flash, Dāti Pea Flash<span class="t_nihongo_icon" style="font: bold 80%/normal sans-serif; padding: 0px 0.1em; color: rgb(0, 0, 238); text-decoration: none; font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal;">?) is a humorous science fiction anime and manga franchise based on the light novel series by Haruka Takachiho.

Although it is often said that these are younger versions of the original Lovely Angels Kei and Yuri, in truth this series is an alternate universe telling of Dirty Pair, set in the years 2248-49. When Sunrise originally began the project, their idea was to make sequel to the original Dirty Pair series, but Kyōko Tongū, the original voice actress for Kei, had long retired and moved to North America, and Saeko Shimazu, the voice of Yuri, refused to work with anyone but her original partner, forcing the project to be a remake of the original series instead.[source?]

Plot summary
Kei and Yuri were originally junior auxiliary agents in the Worlds Works and Welfare Agency (W.W.W.A. or 3WA for short) when the two were paired together under the codename "Lovely Angels." Kei was coming off her fourth probation for something she had done, and Yuri's dating exploits were common knowledge, not to mention the two had an instant dislike for each other when they met.

Kei and Yuri were not the first to receive the codename Lovely Angels. Years before, during the Gamorian Riots, two other women, Iris and Molly, had been given the designation Lovely Angels. Molly was killed in action, and her partner Iris, who had lost her right arm trying to save Molly, became bitter about the lack of response from the 3WA and vanished, later becoming the notorious assassin known as "Lady Flair."

At first, Kei and Yuri refused to work with each other, and Kei even resigned from the 3WA. However, when the "Siren" crisis erupted, Kei returned. This was decidedly a good thing, as Yuri's ditsy new partner, Lily, had abruptly quit just as the response to the crisis started, and Kei's return came just in time, as Yuri was about to be killed by Waldess.

Afterwards, the two continued to work together, although they earned their nickname, "the Dirty Pair" because of all the collateral damage the two (unintentionally) cause in the completion of their cases. And even though the two now get along with one another, they continue to bicker and complain to each other.

In addition to the sixteen anime episodes, there have been three novels (1994, 1997, 1999) and four "Stereo Dramas" (one in 1994, the others in 1996) written by Takachiho, as well as two sanctioned manga series (1995–96) published by Dengeki Comics.

Major characters

 * Kei
 * Born 1 January 2231 Age 17 on the colony planet Workoh, Kei could be described as a tomboy. Born a redhead (with bleached blond bangs), Kei is hot-headed, impulsive, and rude, and because of this is often mistaken for being a man. Those who mention this are, as expected, reminded (painfully) that she is, in fact, a woman. Her usual response to a crisis is "shoot first and ask questions later." But, can show insight into situations when properly motivated. She usually gets into a lot of arguments with Yuri over her "girly" attitude, but is usually the first in line to back her up when trouble happens. Kei is also very Proficient with a Blaster and uses one as her Primary weapon.
 * Unlike Yuri, Kei has a love for cheap thrills: jet coasters, fast-food restaurants, drinking beer, sushi, and big-game fishing. She dislikes wearing dresses, as evident when she, Yuri, and Touma were stranded on World's World and the Lovely Angels were temporarily placed in an all-girl high school, where uniforms with skirts were mandatory.
 * Kei is afraid of nothing...except for ghosts, zombies, and vampires, which she is completely terrified of. She also dislikes showing her softer side, which she does have, as apparent when she had to protect a young baby being chased by assassins. During a crisis, she had allowed the baby to suckle her (even though she wasn't lactating) in order to keep him quiet when the assassins were close by.
 * Voiced by: Rica Matsumoto (Japanese), Sue Ulu (English)


 * Yuri
 * Born March 3, 2231, Age 17 on the colony world Shack-G, Yuri acts more stereotypically feminine than Kei. The problem is that she is more concerned with getting dates and marrying a rich, handsome man than doing her job, and she gets more than her share of complaints from Kei because of this. However, if anyone ever harms her partner, it's unlikely that the offender will live to tell about it. Yuri is adept at using a plasma sword and carries one as her primary weapon.
 * Yuri is the more romantic of the two. She likes romantic dinners, moonlit walks, and very wealthy men. But for the most part, she usually finds men who care more about what their fathers think about what happens to their prized possessions than to her. One time, she thought that she was going to get married. It turned out her prospective groom had found a new love, and she took her frustration out on her and Kei's next mission.
 * Voiced by: Mariko Kouda (Japanese), Kim Sevier (English)

Minor characters

 * Chief Garner
 * Garner was a section chief in the 3WA at the beginning of the series. A veteran of the Gamorian Riots, he was instrumental in helping to rebuild the 3WA in the aftermath. Now approaching retirement, he has the unenviable task of molding two bickering junior auxiliary agents - Kei and Yuri - into first-class trouble consultants.
 * Garner was also a good friend of the original Lovely Angels, Iris and Molly, and it troubles him that Kei and Yuri were given the 'Lovely Angels' codename by the 3WA's central mainframe. He knows of the trouble the two got into previously, and fears that they will bring shame to that honored name.
 * Voiced by: Hajime Koseki (Japanese), Rick Peeples (English)


 * Chief Poporo
 * Chief Poporo became section chief supervising the Lovely Angels after Garner's retirement. He was once a trouble consultant himself, requiring a cybernetic arm after participating in the arrest of renegade weapons designer Berringer.
 * While he realizes Kei and Yuri's usefulness, he is irritated by all the damage they cause. He seems to be quite the henpecked husband; he often gets calls from his wife back home, asking him to go grocery shopping after work.
 * Voiced by: Shigezou Sasaoka (Japanese), Don'l Johnson (English)


 * Lady Flair
 * Originally, she was known as Iris, one of the original Lovely Angels. She, along with her partner Molly, were the finest trouble consultant team in the history of the 3WA. However, during the Gamorian Riots, the two were faced with a huge crisis in which Molly's life was on the line. Iris tried to call for help, but was denied backup. In a rage, Iris broke her communicator, which prevented her from hearing that their friend Garner had heard and was on the way. Quickly, Iris tried to reach over the ledge Molly was hanging on, but Molly had lost her grip and fell to her death. At the same time, Iris lost her left arm.
 * Now known as Lady Flair, Iris led the life of an assassin-for-hire. She had briefly aided Waldess as he tried to take control of the galaxy, but was double-crossed by him. She also looks down at the newest team who were given the codename "Lovely Angels," Kei and Yuri.
 * During the 'Siren' crisis, Flair was reunited with her old friend Garner, who revealed what had happened when Molly was killed. Guilt-stricken, Flair, who renounced her past and once again became the trouble consultant Iris, confronted the cause of the crisis, Waldess, and tried to arrest him. Waldess, already insane with power, killed Iris, and was in turn killed by Kei.
 * After the crisis was over, Iris' record as Lady Flair was expunged and Iris was posthumously awarded the 3WA's highest honors.
 * Voiced by: Yumi Touma (Japanese), Laura Chapman (English)


 * Touma
 * Touma was a character in the second series (a.k.a. Mission Two). He is a trouble consultant just like Kei and Yuri, but his speciality is computers and computer programs. He looks like your average computer geek; he wears eyeglasses, and has a tall but wiry body. In the course of thinking, Touma also gets distracted by the smallest of details - which often gets him beat up by Kei and Yuri. He is also inexperienced with dating, which led to one of the most hilarious moments in the series.
 * Touma's knowledge in computers is almost unmatched. As a college student, he was the one who had written the code to Silica 2000, Worlds World's chief mainframe... and got an "A" for his efforts. When Silica 2000 was compromised by a computer virus, Touma was call upon to eradicate it. However, since Touma is also a target by the creator of the virus, Kei and Yuri went with him as well, and stayed on the planet when Touma began to isolate the computer from the creator... a Joint Artificial Intelligence Criminal, or J.A.I.C.
 * Voiced by: Kenichi Ono (Japanese), Jason Douglas (English)


 * Calbee
 * Calbee is a con-artist who ended up stranded on World's World when the J.A.I.C. infected Silica 2000, and later when the Lovely Angels wrecked Narita Spaceport when landing on the planet. An expert in persuasion, he swindles many a lovely girl by providing a believable (bogus) story, and takes off with their money.
 * On the day an unexpected typhoon blows into Tokyo, he was "charming" another woman at an all-you-can-eat restaurant by relating a story that he was a Tro-Con, when he encountered Kei and Yuri, who had cancelled their reservations at a very pricey French restaurant. Kei had recognized Calbee because she was a victim of his (from an online panty-ordering scam) and saw a chance to get the money she and Yuri needed for the restaurant.
 * What followed next was a pursuit, which resulted in the three ending up stranded miles away from Tokyo and having to walk back on foot. Calbee tried many times to escape, either by guile or by action, but for one reason or another, it all went wrong. In the end, Calbee was brought in, but somehow escaped to do his cons again. Kei and Yuri saw this, but decided not to pursue him again.
 * Voiced by: Akio Ootsuka (Japanese), Spike Spencer (English)


 * Leena
 * A florist on Worlds World, Leena had caught the eye of Touma when he and Yuri were caught on one of the planet's planned rainy days. From the time he set eyes on her, Touma was smitten with her. However, for all the planning he made to woo her, there was one fact he didn't calculate on... Leena was a lesbian who had her eyes on Yuri.
 * Voiced by: Yuri Shiratori (Japanese), Kimberly Yates (English)


 * Gazelle
 * An arrogant, almost sadistic individual, Gazelle was enlisted by the 3WA to teach Kei and Yuri beach volleyball so that they could accomplish their latest mission; capture a corrupt president of a galactic company. In order to do this, Gazelle harshly drove Kei and Yuri to the point of total breakdown, and beyond that. He would do anything to whip the girls into shape, including outright lying; when Kei and Yuri chose to quit after his training reduced Yuri to tears, Gazelle told them on how fifty men had suffered at the hands of the president, including his best friend. This gave the girls a renewed sense of duty, to which they resumed their training. On their last day, however, Kei and Yuri sent Gazelle to the hospital by knocking volleyballs primed to explode if touched by anything but their hands back at him.
 * After the tournament and subsequent arrest of the president, Kei and Yuri learned from Poporo that the fifty men Gazelle had mentioned hadn't died, but in fact suffered office-related injuries such as Carpel Tunnel Syndrome. They then went to Gazelle's hospital room in a fit of psychosis and proceeded to beat him up.
 * Voiced by: Kiyoshi Kobayashi (Japanese), Rob Mungle (English)


 * Monica De Noir
 * Coming from a long and honored line of assassins, Monica De Noir, a.k.a. the Sweet Fairy, is given the job of killing Kei and Yuri to celebrate her 15th birthday. She is not a run-of-the-mill assassin (if indeed assassins ever ARE run-of-the-mill). Her weapons usually include explosive candy, killer teddy bears, and other cute but deadly items. When in a real jam, she also has at her disposal a battle mecha in the form of a teddy bear.
 * Voiced by: Mika Kanai (Japanese), Junie Hoang (English)


 * Julian
 * The grandson of the 3WA's biggest contributors, Julian is a brilliant but lonely boy who happens to be obsessed with Yuri... so much so that he uses his genius to gather as much information about her, including her likes and dislikes, and constructs an android double of the trouble consultant so that he can be with her, without being placed in the sort of dangerous situations Yuri usually gets into.
 * However, when Kei accidentally breaks the Yuri android, thinking she was the real Yuri, the real Yuri then steps in place until Julian can repair the android. She then lived in what was a life-sized dollhouse, which included an extensive wardrobe (one of the outfits in that wardrobe, incidentally, was the gold and red uniform that Yuri of the original Dirty Pair wore). Yuri had to somehow let the boy know that what he was in love with was a doll and not a real person... which ultimately proved to be her undoing at the end of the story, for Julian fell in love with a girl who had been trying to get through to him but he was too obsessed with the android Yuri at the time.
 * Voiced by: Hekiru Shiina (Japanese), David Bell (English)


 * Lily
 * Lily was Yuri's temporary partner, who was assigned to her when Kei had quit the 3WA for a brief time. She has a personality that seems to mirror Yuri... but was even more to the extreme, to the point of appearing as the stereotypical dumb blonde, which made even Yuri look good. During her first mission, Lily attempted to use one of Yuri's known tactics to get out of the mission, only to be scolded by Yuri herself (much to the shock of the rest of the 3WA.) and ruined a stakeout (for which Yuri was blamed).
 * Later, when the 'Siren' crisis erupted, Lily abruptly quit the 3WA, mostly due to the stress of being a trouble consultant... and at the worst possible time, by undocking part of the Lovely Angel and sending Yuri to fend for herself. Fortunately, Kei had rejoined the 3WA, and along with Garner managed to save Yuri from being killed by Waldess.
 * Lily was last seen at the end of Mission One, when she was sighted by Kei and Yuri riding in a car... with a handsome man (from episode 1) driving.
 * Voiced by: Katsuyo Endou (Japanese), Allison Keith (English)


 * Mughi
 * Mughi is Kei and Yuri's (mostly Yuri's) pet cat, found on their first adventure, and is usually left in the care of Chief Poporo, as Yuri is too busy as a trouble consultant or dating.


 * Rosa
 * Rosa is Chief Poporo's daughter from a previous marriage. While her father would be annoyed about having to care for Mughi, Rosa found the cat entertaining and would often play with him when she visited 3WA Headquarters. It was during one of these visits that Berringer attacked, and had used the girl to try to get to Poporo.
 * Voiced by: Kimberly Yates

Reception
As of August 2011, the film has a 71% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The film is commonly acknowledged to be better than the anime TV series, Mike Crandol of Anime News Network even states that "Dirty Pair: Project Eden is one of the few glorious exceptions...it's not just bigger and louder, it actually IS better. Rarely do all the elements come together so nicely, and even all these years later it's hard to think of any other anime that's simply as much fun as this movie". Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network mentions on her review of the Dirty Pair Features Collection that among the three films this one was the "campiest with the least urgent storyline". She also states that the "Animation has moments of beautiful fluidity, such as Yuri flopping in a tub of water, the dissolution of a floor beneath the characters' feet, or Yuri's impromptu dance number on a transport".

Music

 * Opening Theme:
 * "Safari Eyes" by Miki Matsubara
 * Ending Theme:
 * "pas de deux" by Miki Matsubara

Episodes
This is a list of episodes of the Dirty Pair anime series by Sunrise based on the light novels by Haruka Takachih. The original series ran from July 15 to December 26, 1985.

With Love from the Lovely Angels
These were originally produced in 1986 and intended to be the final two episodes but did not air and were released as a two episode OVA series titled Dirty Pair: With Love From the Lovely Angels.