Let us travel back in time to the year 1980 where Haruka Takachiho has just created the short story called, The Dirty Pair’s Great Adventures. He eventually made these short stories into numerous sequels such as Dirty Pair Flash and A Plague of Angels. 1985 rolls around and Dirty Pair is now a hit T.V. show, with popularity spawning numerous OVAs and a film. The nature of Dirty Pair’s game is perpetually episodic, with the only real reoccurring characters, the Dirty Pair themselves Kei and Yuri, as well as their pet black cat like creature Mugi. Over the next three months here at CotBF, three different writers will cover three different Dirty Pair titles, I will be covering Project Eden, Biskmater will be covering Flight 005 Conspiracy, and Uwak will be covering Affair of Nolandia.
Dirty Pair: Project Eden is directed by Koichi Mashimo, whose other works include Captain Kuppa and Dominion Tank Police. The creator was Haruka Takachiho, the man behind the popular Crusher Joe series. Tsukasa Dokite was in charge of character designs; he also worked on Gude Crest – The Emblem of Gude.
In the 22nd century, Kei and Yuri are two agents working for the 3WA (World Welfare Works Association) under the code name “Lovely Angels”. 3WA’s mission is to help out numerous people with issues across the galaxy. Their main focus is crime and mystery solving. Kei and Yuri both have gained a notorious reputation for being human wrecking crews after leaving a trail of carnage after most of their missions. This gives them the much hated nickname, “Dirty Pair”. Project Eden starts off with an illegal deal going down at a gigantic space station ring that circles a planet. The goods in question are bars of a pure precious metal named Vizorium, sealed in a secure carrying case and extremely valuable due to its necessity in space travel. Kei is disguised as the buyer and surprises the dealers by proclaiming them all under arrest, which begins a violent shoot-out. After shooting down one of the three bad guys, one successfully escapes; Kei radios Yuri to back her up. In a comedic fashion, Yuri breaks through one of the walls by attaching a small ship to the outside and blowing straight though the wall to help Yuri. The leader of the dealers realizes he is out gunned and pushes a self-destruct button on the case and throws it into the room in a last ditch effort to escape capture. Kei and Yuri quickly realize his plan, chase after him, and easily take him down with the good old one-two. Immediately afterwards, the case goes off and destroys the lift that they were previously in, causing a chain reaction that starts destroying the whole entire space station.
Later on, our “Lovely Angels” get a mission to settle a dispute between two factions and investigate recent attacks of Vizorium refineries on the planet, Agerna. The attacks are coming more and more frequent from creatures that seem to sustain themselves from the refined Vizorium; naturally the two bickering factions think the other had something to do with it. The monsters are being created and mutated by Dr. Wattsman, a scientist who lives secluded with his loyal butler Bruno near the two refineries. Kei and Yuri head off to one of the destroyed facilities to investigate and see what they can dig up. After Kei is scared by her own reflection in a shower room, the two decide that it is a good time to bathe and relax during the mission. Little do they know the one smuggler who got away, Carson D. Carson is there as well and crashes through the air vent into Kei’s tub.
The best thing about Dirty Pair is the Lovely Angels themselves. Kei and Yuri have an amazing character dynamic together. Both personalities complement each other well while also serving as a balance to one another. Kei, the fiery red-headed tomboy, is aggressive, impulsive, and prefers to shoot her way out of situations rather than negotiate. Yuri on the other hand is almost the opposite, more feminine, calm in most situations and uses a variety of weapons, such as her attachable armor suit. Sometimes though, when you do get on her bad side, Yuri can get fiercer than even Kei. The two play off each other well, making for a number of hilarious situations, such as when they ride into one of the destroyed refineries; Yuri starts to dance nearly causing the ship to nose dive but Kei quickly levels them out saving them; Yuri blows it off while Kei reprimands her. They team up to make a perfect duo heavy in laughs and action.
Pros: There are a lot of great things in Dirty Pair: Project Eden, other than the Lovely Angels themselves. The animation and characters designs are unique and interesting, such as Dr. Wattsman. Certain scenes are animated well, from being inside the Dr.’s lab to outside on the planet Agerna, and the native animals that live there as well.
Cons: The only problem I have with Dirty Pair is the pacing. In one scene, Kei and Yuri are investigating a facility on Agerna and just suddenly stop to take a bath in the crew showers. Even though it was funny, the scene interrupts the pace of the story and halts the natural flow.
The emphasis in Project Eden is the relationship between Kei and Yuri and how they interact with the world around them, which is the top reason I had a lot of fun with this title. It is a good gate way to introduce modern anime fans to the 80’s. Dirty Pair: Project Eden from start to finish it is enjoyable and I hope to get back to this series again. This review and the rest of them in the special are all part of a three disk collection bought from Right Stuf.
Children of The Blazing Fist 
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