Dirty Pair on LaserDisc — not one release but an entire home video history. BEAL-101 through the VAP Flash volumes, 1985 to 1995. Emotion/Bandai pressing the Affair of Nolandia OVA on two CAV discs; VAP splitting 24 television episodes across eight themed compilation volumes; a theatrical film on a separate Emotion disc with a printed character booklet; the 1990 OVA 謀略の005便, written and directed by the original novelist; then Dirty Pair Flash in five CAV volumes bearing catalog numbers 70046 through 70050.
Two troubleshooters named Kei and Yuri — the Lovely Angels, or the Dirty Pair if you're their supervisor — work for the World Welfare Works Association in 2140. They solve cases. In the process they destroy property at an impressive rate: cities, ships, space colonies. The destruction is not intentional. It is structural. They are excellent at their jobs and catastrophic as a presence. Haruka Takachiho's light novel series ran from 1979. The 1985 Sunrise television series ran 24 episodes and one special. Tsukasa Dokite designed the characters. The LaserDiscs ran until 1995.
What made it last: the relationship. In 1985, female-led action anime typically offered a protagonist and her support structure, or a pair where one was competent and the other comic relief. Kei and Yuri were co-equals who genuinely liked each other — different in temperament (Kei hot-headed, Yuri precise), matched in ability, and neither defined by the other. The accidental destruction wasn't slapstick. It was the cost of two people who were very good at extremely dangerous work and didn't particularly worry about collateral damage. The series ran as hard sci-fi action and sustained deadpan comedy simultaneously, and the tonal range worked because the characters could carry both registers without the show having to choose. The franchise generated a theatrical film, four OVAs, and a full revival series across sixteen years because the original dynamic held across every production context it was placed in.
What VAP built around the television series was not a sequential episode release. Eight themed volumes — 誕生編 (Birth), 特別編 (Special), 傑作編 (Masterworks), 大捜査編 (Big Investigation), バラエティ編 (Variety), ウィンク編 (Wink), コンプリート編 (Complete), plus FROM LOVELY ANGEL WITH LOVE — each with a newly commissioned key art painting. Eight paintings. The same two characters. Eight different ideas of who they are.
Affair of Nolandia
BEAL-101. Two discs, CAV, Color/Stereo, 55 minutes, ¥9,530. Directed by Masaharu Okuwaki. Screenplay by Kazunori Ito. Character and animation design by Tsukasa Dokite. Mechanic design by Studio Nue. Music by Kanako Maki. Cast: Yuri voiced by Saeko Shimazu, Kei by Kyoko Tongu, with Keiko Han, Yoshiko Fujita, Masaru Ikeda, and Banjo Ginga. Nolandia was the first Dirty Pair OVA and the first Dirty Pair LaserDisc. Ito wrote the screenplay ten years before Ghost in the Shell. Studio Nue — the Macross studio — did the mecha. CAV format: every frame steppable, thirty seconds per disc rotation.
BEAL-101 back jacket — full staff and cast listing, format specs (Color/Stereo/2 disc/55 min, CAV, NTSC). English episode synopsis printed above the staff credits. Manufactured and distributed by Bandai Co., Ltd., Tokyo.
Nolandia liner insert — full production credits in Japanese with episode title (ダーティペアの大勝負 / ノランディアの謎) running vertically. Includes complete song lyrics for 'Ai・Everlasting' and 'Pour de Beurre' — the latter a French-language chanson in the score. BEAL-101.
Dirty Pair FROM LOVELY ANGEL WITH LOVE — VAP 70030, 1987. The introductory TV series compilation volume: Kei and Yuri with weapons against an orange action background. Two episodes, CAV format. ¥5,591.
The VAP Compilation Program
VAP released the 24-episode television series not as a sequential run but as eight thematically organized volumes. Each holds two or three episodes. Each has a newly commissioned cover painting — not promotional stills, not key visuals recycled from broadcast. The FROM LOVELY ANGEL WITH LOVE disc (70030) is CAV and serves as the entry point, priced lower than the main series at ¥5,591. The seven that follow — 誕生編, 特別編, 傑作編, 大捜査編, バラエティ編, ウィンク編, コンプリート編 — are all CLV, two discs, ¥7,391 to ¥7,800. Episode titles in the chapter tracks are listed in full. 'コンピューターの殺し方教えます.' 'ここ疲れニャンニャン 果報は最後にやってくる.' The chapter index reads like its own document of the series.
VAP 70030 back jacket — chapter track listing for both sides with episode titles, staff credits (Character design: Tsukasa Dokite, Producer: Yoshii Takayuki, Production: Nippon Sunrise), full cast. CAV format, 2 discs, NTSC/COLOR.
誕生編 +1 (Birth Edition) — VAP 70022-75. The cover foregrounds two large characters in warm red tones while the recognizable Kei and Yuri appear smaller in the lower background, in their standard combat outfits. An explicit acknowledgment of the franchise's pre-TV lineage.
特別編 +1 (Special Edition) — VAP 70022-78. Kei in a yellow suit and shorts; Yuri in a white floral dress. No weapons. No uniforms. The only cover in the compilation series where their professional identity is absent. Character design: Tsukasa Dokite.
Eight Paintings, Two Registers
誕生編 is the series-origin volume. The cover foregrounds a different visual register — larger, differently-designed characters — while the familiar TV-design Kei and Yuri stand smaller behind them. The cover is explicitly acknowledging that Kei and Yuri existed before this TV series existed, in Takachiho's 1979 novels. 特別編 does the opposite. Kei and Yuri in civilian clothes: a yellow suit, a floral dress, barefoot. No weapons, no uniforms, no action poses. A domestic painting for an action franchise. These two covers are the outer edges of what VAP was willing to do with the series' visual identity. Every other compilation volume lands somewhere between.
特別編 inner sleeve illustration — the civilian clothes image isolated against a split yellow-green background. Catalog number 70022-78 printed in corner. The inner sleeve extends the cover's register: Kei and Yuri as two young women spending time together, not as WWWA operatives.
特別編 back jacket — episode chapter listing (Side 1: 不安だわ…!! うちらの摩薬なる検査 / かりマン!! マンションは危険なアドレス; Side 2: ホタホタ、ドレスと男はオニューに限る). CLV/MONO. ¥7,800. VAP Inc., Tokyo Japan.
誕生編 back jacket — episodes: コンピューターの殺し方教えます / ここ疲れニャンニャン 果報は最後にやってくる / 追跡はチーズケーキと死のにおい. CLV format. ¥7,800. Each back jacket functions as its own document of the episodes contained.
傑作編 +1 (Masterworks Edition) — VAP 70017. Two large stylized figures in pink flank the frame as the smaller TV-series Kei and Yuri run between them in a futuristic cityscape. The cover introduces a second set of character designs — different proportions, longer hair — that appears nowhere in the episodes.
The Masterworks Cover
傑作編 is the most formally unusual cover in the set. Two large characters — different body proportions, different hair styles from the standard Dokite TV designs — frame the image, looking inward, while the recognizable small Kei and Yuri run through the center. The large figures are not from any episode. They are a visual statement about the series' aspirations or origins, a framing device that the artist introduced without explanation. The three episodes inside are titled '勝手に惚れな/恋はロシアンルーレット,' 'クリアドスのどっくんどっくん,' and 'やらっちゃあない/恋は女の超燃料.' The cover art does not correspond to any of them.
傑作編 back jacket — VAP 70017. Episode listing, staff credits, CLV/MONO format. ¥7,391. 1986, VAP Inc. Tokyo Japan.
大捜査編 +1 (Big Investigation Edition) — VAP 70038. Action composition: Kei firing, both leaping against a high-speed vehicle. The action register — the cover reads as pure kinetic threat.
大捜査編 back jacket — VAP 70038. Episodes: こめんあそばせ 志を迷惑強行突撃 / 何よこれ！玉のお肌がドロドロン. Episode synopses printed in left column. Staff and cast on the right. CLV format.
バラエティ編 +1 (Variety Edition) — VAP 70029-78. Kei and Yuri in red combat suits, seated, with the franchise cat Mughi (or its equivalent) in Kei's arms. A gloved mechanical hand reaches in from the top left. Yellow background. The idol register.
バラエティ編 back jacket — VAP 70029-78. Episodes: 愛こそすべて、危険けます逃避行!! / 小さな独裁者/触らぬ秘密にたたりなし / 恋の悩みと逆悩み 悩みはおらず愛させて. Expanded supporting cast roster. CLV/MONO. ¥7,800.
ウィンク編 and コンプリート編
ウィンク編 (Wink Edition, 70039) puts Kei and Yuri against a SUBWAY transit sign while they fight off creatures — the urban register, the city as backdrop for action. コンプリート編 (Complete Edition, 70040-78) is the last volume in the TV series compilation arc and closes with a summer painting: Kei and Yuri in bikinis, calm ocean behind them, a sea creature resting beneath their feet. The 'complete' in the title announces the end of the compilation series. The label chose a vacation to mark it. After seven volumes of troubleshooting, property destruction, and combat — a beach day.
ウィンク編 +1 (Wink Edition) — VAP 70039. Kei and Yuri in action against a SUBWAY transit sign background, fighting dark creatures. The urban register. ¥7,391.
ウィンク編 back jacket — VAP 70039. Episodes: オーっつうちらが必殺請求担任 / まかせなさい/WWWAは素敵なお仕事 / 可愛い天使は何毛がお好き? Episode synopses and staff. CLV/MONO, 2 discs.
コンプリート編 +1 (Complete Edition) — VAP 70040-78. Kei and Yuri in swimsuits, standing on a sea creature against an ocean and futuristic skyline. A pastel summer painting as the final television compilation cover. ¥7,400.
The Complete Edition Closes the Arc
コンプリート編 ends the VAP TV series compilation program at eight volumes. Its back jacket lists episodes: うちらを買って/用心棒には美人がお得, 金庫か清潔か？満腹が任務殺人びより, 追撃のブルース/殺しのBGM. CLV, ¥7,400. The beach cover — warm light, open horizon — is the opposite register from where the compilation series opened. FROM LOVELY ANGEL WITH LOVE started with weapons and aircraft. コンプリート編 ends with sandals and an ocean. The arc of the cover art program is not dramatic escalation. It's range.
コンプリート編 back jacket — VAP 70040-78. Final TV series compilation volume. Episode listing, staff credits, CLV/MONO format. ¥7,400. 1987, VAP Inc. Tokyo Japan.
Dirty Pair: The Movie (1987 theatrical film) — Emotion (Bandai), BILL-33. Ensemble key visual: villain with white hair and red eyes in foreground; Kei and Yuri mid-frame with weapons; supporting cast and creatures surrounding them. A full-composition painting distinct from the VAP cover art program.
The Movie
The 1987 theatrical film released on Emotion/Bandai's BILL label, separate from the VAP television discs. CLV format. The back jacket notes bonus content in Side 2, Chapter 1. A printed booklet comes with the disc: black-and-white pages documenting the cast (Kei = 頓宮恭子, Yuri = 島津冴子, Wattsman = 大塚周夫, Carson = 勝 功至, Bruno = 西尾 徳) and the full production staff. The booklet is a production document rather than promotional packaging — cast photos beside their vocal credits, staff credits in full.
The Movie back jacket — Emotion (Bandai). CLV format. 'Special bonus included (SIDE-2 Chapter 1)' noted on back cover. Full staff and cast listing. Network Corp. Japan.
Movie disc booklet — cast and staff page. Character portraits (Yuri = 島津冴子, Kei = 頓宮恭子) with production photos, supporting character profiles (Wattsman, Carson, Bruno), and full crew listing. Black-and-white production documentation.
Dirty Pair: Conspiracy Flight 005 (謀略の005便, 1990) — Bandai. Front jacket: Kei and Yuri in a rounder 1990 visual style against a purple background, waving/posing. CD Video format mark on cover alongside LaserDisc mark. Written and directed by Haruka Takachiho.
Flight 005 back jacket — Bandai, BEAL prefix. CAV, 60 min, Digital Stereo. Director/Screenplay: Haruka Takachiho (the original novelist). Character design: Tsukasa Dokite. Mecha design: Takashi Kondo (Studio O2). Price ¥7,350. Digital Stereo audio — the premium audio track on this disc.
Dirty Pair Flash
1994. VAP returned to the franchise with five CAV volumes: 70046 through 70050, ¥7,800 each, 50 minutes per disc. Tsukasa Dokite is credited as character designer on every volume — the same Dokite who designed the 1985 TV series. The characters bear their names: Kei and Yuri. The faces are rounder. The uniforms are white. The proportions follow 1994 conventions rather than 1985 ones. CAV format throughout: each episode frame-steppable. The back jackets list the opening theme 'By Yourself!' and ending theme '秋からのSummer Time' across all five volumes. Five volumes, fifty cover paintings between the TV compilations and Flash — and one character designer who covered the whole decade.
Dirty Pair Flash Vol. 1 — VAP 70046-78, 1994. Kei and Yuri in the redesigned white uniforms against a mecha/space combat background. CAV, 50 min, ¥7,800. Character design: Tsukasa Dokite.
Flash Vol. 1 back jacket — VAP 70046-78. Episodes: 四人連の街った反乱 / まさこえごめん/天地無用のハロウィンパーティ. CAV/MONO/NTSC, 50 min. Opening: 'By Yourself!', Ending: '秋からのSummer Time'. ¥7,800.
Dirty Pair Flash Vol. 2 — VAP 70047-78. Kei and Yuri with Mughi and a small robot companion, looming mecha face behind them. The team register.
Flash Vol. 2 back jacket — VAP 70047-78. Episodes: 天罰なんかわからない できません? 神の挑戦状 / ダキだからってなによ！戦事こっちは超新型も. CAV, 50 min, ¥7,800.
Dirty Pair Flash Vol. 3 — VAP 70048-78. Kei in a dark green jacket running down church steps with Yuri in a full white wedding dress and veil, a crowd of suited attackers in pursuit behind them. The most compositionally playful cover in the Flash series.
Flash Vol. 3 back jacket — VAP 70048-78. Episodes: そして誰もしなくなった / 本気なの!? 海辺でどっきりウェディングパニック. Episode stills showing beach scenes and wedding chaos. CAV, 50 min, ¥7,800.
Dirty Pair Flash Vol. 4 — VAP 70049-78. Kei and Yuri in white with a small girl in red between them, pale sky background. A quieter register for a Flash cover.
Flash Vol. 4 back jacket — VAP 70049-78. Episodes: リベンジ・オブ・サ超美人レディ 女の意地っとリングの廓り / あの娘は年上 保存は良好！スリーピングビューティ. CAV, 50 min, ¥7,800.
Dirty Pair Flash Vol. 5 — VAP 70050-78. Kei and Yuri in white, Mughi in the lower right corner, a threatening red-black figure looming behind them. Deep blue background. The final Flash volume.
Flash Vol. 5 back jacket — VAP 70050-78. Episodes: 赤い焔玉は地獄のシグナル 殺数小隊を追え! / 初めいどこにでも飽薦光兵のうらら宇宙のトラック野郎. CAV/MONO/NTSC, 50 min. Final volume in the Flash series. ¥7,800.
The 2016 Nozomi Entertainment Blu-ray collection includes the original television series, both theatrical films, and the OVAs. The video transfers are clean. The audio is clear. It does not include the eight VAP cover paintings.
The paintings were packaging. They existed as compressed cardboard sleeves around spinning plastic and, once the market moved on, for whoever held onto the discs. Kei and Yuri in a yellow suit and floral dress. Kei and Yuri on a beach at the end of the world. Tsukasa Dokite's characters in eight different states of being, none of which were visible in any episode, none of which made it to any subsequent release.
The video is on Blu-ray now. Better transfer, better audio, better price. The eight paintings are not.
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