Dirty Pair (TV series)

Dirty Pair
Cover of the novel showing the two protagonists
ダーティペア (Dāti Pea)
Genre	Adventure, Science fiction
Light novel
Written by	Haruka Takachiho
Illustrated by	Yoshikazu Yasuhiko
Published by	Hayakawa Publishing
English publisher	NA Dark Horse
Demographic	Seinen
Original run	May 1980 – October 2007
Volumes	8
Anime television series
Directed by	Norio Kashima Toshifumi Takizawa
Produced by	Norio Hatsukawa Takayuki Yoshii
Music by	Toshiyuki Kimori
Studio	Nippon Sunrise
Licensed by	NA Nozomi Entertainment
Original network	Nippon TV
Original run	July 15, 1985 – December 26, 1985
Episodes	26 (List of episodes)
Original video animation
Affair of Nolandia
Directed by	Masaharu Okuwaki
Written by	Kazunori Itō
Music by	Yoshihiro Kunimoto
Studio	Nippon Sunrise
Licensed by	NA Nozomi Entertainment
Released	December 20, 1985
Runtime	55 minutes
Original video animation
Original Dirty Pair
Directed by	Katsuyoshi Yatabe
Written by	Hiroyuki Hoshiyama
Music by	Kohei Tanaka
Studio	Sunrise
Licensed by	NA Nozomi Entertainment
Released	December 21, 1987 – April 21, 1988
Episodes	10 (List of episodes)
Original video animation
Flight 005 Conspiracy
Directed by	Toshifumi Takizawa
Written by	Yoshitake Suzuki
Music by	Tohru Okada (Moonriders)
Studio	Sunrise
Licensed by	NA Nozomi Entertainment
Released	January 25, 1990
Runtime	60 minutes
Anime series
Project Eden (Animated film, 1986) Dirty Pair Flash (OVA series, 16 episodes, 1994–1996)

Dirty Pair (Japanese: ダーティペア, Hepburn: 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 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 1985 television series won the Animage Anime Grand Prix prize for that year.

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 (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". 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".

Kei and Yuri are the two 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.

Kei is a hot-headed tomboy with red hair and tanned skin who wears a silver-white uniform. She 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. Yuri is of Japanese ethnicity, and wears a golden-yellow uniform. She 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.