Any fans of Dirty Pair?

[Chum]

Any fans of Dirty Pair?

What is your favourite Dirty Pair movie or OVA?

Do you think the TV series from 1985 will ever be released? http://www.animenation.net/news/askjohn.php?id=1453

Is Dirty Pair the best show from the 80's?

 

[AintNobodyHere]

I wouldn't call it the best show of the 80's, but Dirty Pair is pretty fun. I've got the OVA collection, as well as Project Eden and Affair on Nolandia. Project Eden is my favourite movie (obviously-- it's everyone's favourite, isn't it) and I'm not certain what my favourite OVA is, as I haven't watched any of them for a while. Possibly Episode 2, with the rampaging robot at Hallowe'en.

I think I prefer Kei over Yuri, but they're both funny, cute characters.

 

[Umino]

I love Dirty Pair. I recently got the TV series which has been fun so far. It's a shame this will prolly never get licensed. I like pretty much all of the Dirty Pair series (even Flash), though I didn't like Affair of Nolandia or Flight 005. Project Eden has become one of my favorite flims, the soundtrack and the animation are stunning.

While I do love Dirty Pair, I can't say it's the best 80's series. My vote would most likely go to Tokimeki Tonight or Iga no Kabamaru.

BTW - If you're a big fan you might wanna get the boxset that just came out in Japan. All TV series episodes, OVA episodes, and Flash episodes are about 200.

 

[Classic Speedy]

Of the Dirty Pair properties I've watched, Project Eden is by far my favorite. The full, cartoony animation was something I haven't really seen in anime before, and I think that helped accentuate the action scenes and the moods of the characters. It especially helped during the numerous "Kei and Yuri are clumsy" scenes. It had an interesting plot, too.

Dirty Pair OAV was probably my next fave, and was good mindless action fun. Nothing too deep, but that's OK. The missions were fun and things never got too dull. This probably also had the best Kei/Yuri banter.

After that... Flight 005 Conspiracy would probably be my next pick. It didn't suck me in as much as Project Eden did, but the murder mystery plot was cool and it was a bit more graphic in its violence than PE, so that kept me interested.

Then I'd probably pick Dirty Pair Flash, which had a smattering of good episodes in there (most any episode from the first batch; the volleyball training episode; the little kid assassination episode), but overall was very average, with a lot of missed opportunities. It didn't help that most of the second disc was focused on Kei and Yuri's exploits in retro Tokyo, which resulted in far less action. I also wasn't a big fan of the character design/costume changes, nor the characterization.

Affair on Nolandia was awful. Half the film was dull as heck as Kei and Yuri messed around on an alien planet, complete with a few instances of "it was just a dream!" screw-you's to the audience, and the plot bored me to tears. The dark color palette didn't help, either. About the only redeeming aspect of the film was the last ten minutes, because the movie finally got some action!

Haven't seen the TV series yet. ADV would be smart to pick it up, hint hint.

 

[Chum]

BTW - If you're a big fan you might wanna get the boxset that just came out in Japan. All TV series episodes, OVA episodes, and Flash episodes are about 200.

You mean this box set below? I've had my eye on it since it's release but I've been hesitating over getting it mainly because it's expensive (although cheap for R2) and includes the notorious Dirty Pair Flash which i despise.

Lastly, can you tell me why Yuri's outfit changed in the 10 episode OVA release? I've always wondered why they did this?

Also I've heard the TV series (only seen a few episodes) is far superior to the OVA series, is this true?

 

[Chris Wood]

Project Eden and the original TV series are my top picks. When the heck is someone going to release the series??? Wake up ADV.

 

[Chum]

Project Eden and the original TV series are my top picks. When the heck is someone going to release the series??? Wake up ADV.

Thanks, i love Project Eden and it's great to know that everyone has such high regards for the TV series.

I just wish ADV would at least give us a clue on the situation, everyone has been waiting patiently since 2001 and it's now 2007.

Another trivia question, is this a deleted scene from the Eden movie?

 

[Chris Wood]

Just a promotional poster I believe. If you like Dirty Pair you ought to check out Bubble Gum Crisis as well.

 

[Jon T]

Count me in as a fan of Dirty Pair too, although like others have said I wouldn't necessarily consider it the best 80s anime series; that one for me would be another of Studio Nue's efforts in the form of Macross.

As for the TV show? Well having finally seen the lot of it I have to say I was totally unsurprised at how much fun it was! It's a real pity the show was never licensed; it's almost become a running joke that when noted Dirty Pair fan David Williams of ADV is hinting at a new anime license for the company that it's going to be DP TV - it's well known he really wants it.

Sadly, the circumstances against the series being released are becoming ever more difficult with the passage of time. When the Dirty Pair OVAs were finally released in 1999 they were just barely a decade old. The original DPTV is now over two decades old; and as it is (very unfortunately) well known, old or even old-looking anime series are pretty much unmarketable if they don't already have that built-in nostalgia factor. There's also the very real possibility that the music & effects tracks don't exist anymore for the TV episodes, as with the OVAs. Re-creating them alone would be a considerable investment.

Considering ADV went to the trouble of licensing the three Dirty Pair specials for release in 2003, it's reasonable to assume that they would have tried to get the TV show as well. Since we're now nearly four years later without the TV series, it's clear that simply licensing the show at all (regardless of the above issues) is a big problem. It's been speculated that this might be due to a third party being involved with the TV series specifically (possibly NTV) and not any of the other DP productions.

Speaking of which...I remember when the designs for Dirty Pair Flash were released, and like just about everyone else I wasn't impressed. It was only until late last year that I actually decided to actually watch the series and decide its merits for myself. Naturally, it's not as good as the original, but it's fairly diverting enough. It's interesting to note that after the first series, the other two showed signs of being subtly altered to be slightly more like the originals in terms of look and story.

It's a pity there hasn't been any more DP anime made since 1996 in any form, since it's clearly a popular concept. It'd also be nice to see some more Crusher Joe anime (the novels of which are supposed to be more popular than DP in Japan).

 

[Chris Wood]

Count me in as a fan of Dirty Pair too, although like others have said I wouldn't necessarily consider it the best 80s anime series; that one for me would be another of Studio Nue's efforts in the form of Macross.

As for the TV show? Well having finally seen the lot of it I have to say I was totally unsurprised at how much fun it was! It's a real pity the show was never licensed; it's almost become a running joke that when noted Dirty Pair fan David Williams of ADV is hinting at a new anime license for the company that it's going to be DP TV - it's well known he really wants it.

Sadly, the circumstances against the series being released are becoming ever more difficult with the passage of time. When the Dirty Pair OVAs were finally released in 1999 they were just barely a decade old. The original DPTV is now over two decades old; and as it is (very unfortunately) well known, old or even old-looking anime series are pretty much unmarketable if they don't already have that built-in nostalgia factor. There's also the very real possibility that the music & effects tracks don't exist anymore for the TV episodes, as with the OVAs. Re-creating them alone would be a considerable investment.

But the TV series has been released on DVD in Japan, so clearly licensing it is the only obstacle.

 

[Chum]

Just a promotional poster I believe. If you like Dirty Pair you ought to check out Bubble Gum Crisis as well.

Can Dirty Pair be considered Cybperpunk? Project Eden reminded me a lot of BGC.

The original DPTV is now over two decades old; and as it is (very unfortunately) well known, old or even old-looking anime series are pretty much unmarketable if they don't already have that built-in nostalgia factor.

I wouldn't call any decent 80's show unmarketable. ADV have already shown it's possible the market even the smallest of niche titles like Prefectural Earth Defence Force which got given an exclusive online only release.

 

[Chris Wood]

Can Dirty Pair be considered Cybperpunk? Project Eden reminded me a lot of BGC..

I suppose, but I think of cyberpunk as having a harder edge than Dirty Pair. Plus the series usually doesn't contain much hard sci-fi.

 

[Jon T]

But the TV series has been released on DVD in Japan, so clearly licensing it is the only obstacle.

All that stuff about the passage of time and nostalgia was referring to it's hypothetical release in the U.S. Obviously in Japan that's not a problem for any anime series, naturally including the Dirty Pair. How did you think I finally got to watch the series at last?

My point was that very few older anime TV shows have been released in the U.S. that were not shown on U.S. TV in the 80s. As is the case with Dirty Pair. That's undoubtedly why City Hunter tanked on DVD and very likely put off ADV or anyone else making any similar choices. Until I see more stuff like Dirty Pair TV, Space Adventure Cobra, Orguss or Dancouga on DVD, I'll still believe that the U.S. anime industry cares little for 1980s productions, regardless of quality.

Also, considering ADV went to the trouble of recreating the M&E tracks for the DP OVAs suggests that if they were ever to release the series, they'd want a dub, and that would mean re-creating all the music tracks and sound effects for 26 two-decade old episodes as opposed to 10 episodes just over a decade old.

I wouldn't call any decent 80's show unmarketable. ADV have already shown it's possible the market even the smallest of niche titles like Prefectural Earth Defence Force which got given an exclusive online only release.

But that's part of the point; the only reason Prefectural Earth Defence Force was released is because ADV already had the license. With a 26 episode series like Dirty Pair TV, there's little chance of ADV being content to release it in similarly niche circumstances as with a one-off OVA.

Of course, it would be great if any R1 companies did think about this though, since then some 80s series would stand a chance at being released in their entirety in English at long last.

 

[Beat]

But that's part of the point; the only reason Prefectural Earth Defence Force was released is because ADV already had the license. With a 26 episode series like Dirty Pair TV, there's little chance of ADV being content to release it in similarly niche circumstances as with a one-off OVA.

Of course, it would be great if any R1 companies did think about this though, since then some 80s series would stand a chance at being released in their entirety in English at long last.

Explain ADV, for no apparent reason, remastering Gatchaman and spending a ton on DVD box art.

 

[Chum]

Explain ADV, for no apparent reason, remastering Gatchaman and spending a ton on DVD box art.

Gatchaman was adapted to make Battle of the Planets which supports Jon T's theory.

Like John T has already stated anime TV series which have no pre-installed fanbases such as Aura Dunbine, City Hunter, Urusei Yatsura and Saint Seiya have all done quite poorly failing to tap into the mainstream audience.

But this should not apply to Dirty Pair which has had a fanbase since 1994 when Streamline first released the movies. I refuse to believe that the tv series not marketable especially if it was released subbed only.

A better question would be 'why did Animeigo license Yawara?'

 

[Beat]

Saint Seiya was equal parts Toei's and DIC's fault. ADV wanted to dub more episodes but Toei said no.

These companies make very odd choices.

 

[Chris Wood]

All that stuff about the passage of time and nostalgia was referring to it's hypothetical release in the U.S. Obviously in Japan that's not a problem for any anime series, naturally including the Dirty Pair. How did you think I finally got to watch the series at last?

My point was that very few older anime TV shows have been released in the U.S. that were not shown on U.S. TV in the 80s. As is the case with Dirty Pair. That's undoubtedly why City Hunter tanked on DVD and very likely put off ADV or anyone else making any similar choices. Until I see more stuff like Dirty Pair TV, Space Adventure Cobra, Orguss or Dancouga on DVD, I'll still believe that the U.S. anime industry cares little for 1980s productions, regardless of quality.

Also, considering ADV went to the trouble of recreating the M&E tracks for the DP OVAs suggests that if they were ever to release the series, they'd want a dub, and that would mean re-creating all the music tracks and sound effects for 26 two-decade old episodes as opposed to 10 episodes just over a decade old.

Fair enough, but let's look at BCI Eclipse. They've been releasing a bunch of old, nobody gives a damn series. They must have found some way to make a few bucks.

 

[Jon T]

Fair enough, but let's look at BCI Eclipse. They've been releasing a bunch of old, nobody gives a damn series. They must have found some way to make a few bucks.

Series such as the ones BCI have released (I'm assuming that Dungeons & Dragons at least, is exempt from the series you mean, since it's non-Filmation) by simple virtue of being broadcast on U.S. TV automatically gives them a far larger audience than old anime that was never translated at the time.

I don't think BCI's sets will be shifting massive numbers, but they'd undoubtedly sell better than Dirty Pair, Cobra et. al., simply because those domestic series will have a higher recognition factor. And it's still a really lousy situation the more I think about it!

 

[Chris Wood]

Series such as the ones BCI have released (I'm assuming that Dungeons & Dragons at least, is exempt from the series you mean, since it's non-Filmation) by simple virtue of being broadcast on U.S. TV automatically gives them a far larger audience than old anime that was never translated at the time.

I don't think BCI's sets will be shifting massive numbers, but they'd undoubtedly sell better than Dirty Pair, Cobra et. al., simply because those domestic series will have a higher recognition factor. And it's still a really lousy situation the more I think about it!

It is a lousy situation. But surely a Dirty Pair set would sell as well as something like Blackstar.

 

[Treadwell]

There's also the very real possibility that the music & effects tracks don't exist anymore for the TV episodes, as with the OVAs. Re-creating them alone would be a considerable investment.

Once upon a time, having just a subtitled-only release was enough. More than enough...eagerly consumed. Has the market really become so skewed to dubs that subs just don't cut it anymore? I guess the answer is yes, and that's just sad.