Past Masters: Dirty Pair

Introducing Kei and Yuri, also known as the Dirty Pai... er, Lovely Angels!

Space is the final frontier… and these two girls are about to destroy it!

If you’ve ever hung around with oldschool anime fans, you’ve probably heard them mention Dirty Pair. This science fiction buddy-cop comedy has a huge American following, enough to make it one of anime’s best-known cult classics. In fact, this show’s popularity led Nozomi Entertainment to go through all the legal hassle of licensing it nearly twenty-five years after it originally aired. But why exactly is this series so beloved? Well, to answer that question, I just need to make one simple comparison.

Dirty Pair is the Japanese version of Star Trek.

Like Gene Roddenberry’s classic 1960s TV show, Dirty Pair is anachronistic. The look and feel of this anime is incredibly dated, mired in that campy mid-eighties culture that we all enjoy mocking. However, this campiness is part of the charm; the space bikinis, short miniskirts, moon boots and outlandish hairstyles just add to the sense of unrestrained fun that permeates this show. Just like Star Trek, this series’ strengths lie in snappy writing, loveable characters and great stories, allowing it to rise above its sillier qualities and become a true science fiction classic. Despite being a relic of another era, Dirty Pair is still a timeless anime that everyone can enjoy.

Find out more after the break.

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Gundam Unicorn Details Revealed

New details about the highly anticipated Gundam Unicorn (aka Gundam UC) adaptation, which returns to the Universal Century timeline of the original Mobile Suit Gundam, were revealed at Tokyo’s Big Gundam Expo on Friday. Unicorn has been confirmed to be an OVA series, with six 50-minute episodes, and been given a spring 2010 release date. Furthermore, Bandai will be releasing the series simultaneously worldwide (most likely online), meaning those of us in the English-speaking world will get to watch the OVA at the same time as our Japanese friends. This is the first Bandai series ever released in this fashion, so this marks a momentous event for both Gundam fans and anime fans in general.

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