Are you interested in getting into Dirty Pair? You've come to the right place! This page contains my definitive list for the very best stories in the franchise, in my personal opinion, categorized and organised in order of chronological release. It's intended as a comprehensive reading guide to accompany the original novels and Classic Anime Series for anyone who's new to the series and might want something like this. The title of each story links to the corresponding Vaka Rangi entry on the story in question, which also includes (at least in the case of the Classic Anime stories) an embedded video of the episode for you to watch. At the bottom of the page you'll also find appropriate links to purchase hard copies of the books and DVDs of the Classic Anime Series.
A brief note: If for no other reason than my own positionality, this list is highly English language, Region 1 biased. So you won't find any of Haruka Takachiho's novels after The Dirty Pair Strike Again, even though there are some really interesting ones, or the radio plays that have come out in more recent years. Should by some miracle of cosmic happenstance the rest of the novels get an official translation (or should my Japanese improve), I'll likely update this list accordingly.
Also remember that one of Dirty Pair's greatest strengths is its negative continuity from iteration to iteration: The novels, TV show, OVA series and each individual movie all exist in their own separate universes, and while I do consider the chronology I've listed below to be the most complete way to experience the best of what the series has to offer, nothing should preclude you from picking up any one of these stories on a whim and just enjoying it as is.
Also remember that one of Dirty Pair's greatest strengths is its negative continuity from iteration to iteration: The novels, TV show, OVA series and each individual movie all exist in their own separate universes, and while I do consider the chronology I've listed below to be the most complete way to experience the best of what the series has to offer, nothing should preclude you from picking up any one of these stories on a whim and just enjoying it as is.
Original Light Novels (1980-2007)
- The Great Adventure of the Dirty Pair (1980)
- “The Great Adventure of the Dirty Pair”
- “The Case of the Backwoods Murder”
- The Dirty Pair Strike Again (1984)
Classic Television Series (1985, 1987)
- “How to Kill a Computer”
- “Go Ahead, Fall in Love! Love is Russian Roulette”
- “The Chase Smells Like Cheesecake and Death”
- “Criados' Heartbeat”
- “Lots of Danger, Lots of Decoys”
- “Love is Everything. Risk Your Life to Elope!!”
- “Gotta Do It! Love is What Makes a Woman Explode”
- “Hire Us! Beautiful Bodyguards are a Better Deal”
- “Hah Hah Hah, Dresses and Men Should Always Be Brand New”
- “What's This?! My Supple Skin is a Mess”
- “Dig Here, Meow Meow. Happiness Comes at the End”
- “An Unjustified Lover's Grudge. Let Me Love You Without Revenge”
- “No Way! 463 People Disappeared?!”
- “We Did It! 463 People Found!”
- “Something's Amiss...?! Our Elegant Revenge”
*The long-delayed two part OVA finale With Love from the Lovely Angels is a fitting closure to the TV series and has a few nice moments, but is too conceptually flawed in my view for me to completely recommend.
Dirty Pair: Affair of Nolandia (1985)
*1987's Dirty Pair: The Motion Picture, known outside of Japan as Dirty Pair: Project Eden, is a sprawling work of abstract surrealism and mad ambition with some career-making work by legendary anime artist Kōji Morimoto, but I have major creative differences with it and find its portrayal of Kei and Yuri to be offensively wrongheaded, in spite of it being arguably the most well-known Dirty Pair work. Though I can't fully recommend the movie as a whole, its first twenty minutes (and this 30-second clip) are an absolute trip and worth a look for any Dirty Pair fan worth their salt. Other than that, you're much better off looking up out-of-context animated gifs on Tumblr.
Classic OVA Series, a.k.a. Original Dirty Pair (1987-1988)
All of it, but for completion's sake...
- “Prison Uprising. We Hate People With Grudges!”
- “No Thanks! No Need For a Halloween Party”
- “We're Not Afraid of Divine Judgment! It's Like Magic?!”
- “Who Cares If They're Only Kids!”
- “And So, Nobody's Doing It Anymore”
- “Are You Serious?! Shocked at the Beach, Wedding Panic!”
- “Revenge of the Muscle Lady!”
- “That Little Girl Is Older Than Us. The Preservation Was a Success?!”
- “Red Eyes are the Sign of Hell”
- “No Need to Listen to the Bad Guys. We are Space Truckers!”
Dirty Pair: Flight 005 Conspiracy (1990)
Webstore Links
Original Light Novels
The Great Adventure of the Dirty Pair
The Dirty Pair Strike Again
Classic Television Series and With Love from the Lovely Angels
Volume 1
Volume 2
Complete Television Series Box Set
Dirty Pair: Affair of Nolandia
Classic OVA Series, a.k.a. Original Dirty Pair
Dirty Pair: Flight 005 Conspiracy
Dirty Pair Features Collection
*Collects Dirty Pair: Affair of Nolandia, Dirty Pair: The Motion Picture and Dirty Pair: Flight 005 Conspiracy in one three-disc volume
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