The Leaning Tower of Damocles

DVD Deluge (GB7 & 8)

This is perhaps the main salvo of the Great Barrage: the entire run of all of the DP anime productions have been re-released (or released in this format for the first time) on DVDs. Perhaps most surprising of all is that the price per disc from Japan has never been this low!

The first portion and larger portion of this explosion is the boxed set from VAP, referred to as Daatipea no Daiseikyou [Great Prosperity* of the Dirty Pair], following the “template” for the titles of the print novels, as was also done with the 1994 laserdisc box, called Daatipea no Daikessan [The Dirty Pair’s Big Payoff]. (Incidentally, the VAP site is worth visiting in itself, since it includes a story digest for all the episodes and a “Special” page showing the history of the character designs.

*another (plausible and/or appropriate) translation for the word is “boom”

This particular “big box” holds ten discs with the 26 Classic TV, 10 Classic OVA and 16 Flash episodes. Each series resides in its own folding jacket with new wraparound artwork: the five “TV” discs and the two “OVA” discs each with its own new piece by Dokite Tsukasa and the three “Flash” discs with a new work from Kimura Takahiro. These, in turn, slip into a box with its own new art by Dokite. Along with the discs, you get a 28-page booklet, which includes a brief history of DP anime, a short interview with Takachiho-sensei, story digests and “cast and staff” lists; half of the booklet is a new short story by Takachiho, Daatipea no Daishukun [The DP’s Meritorious Deed], which fills in a bit of their history. Daiseikyou was released on 22 November 2006.

Two days later, on the 24th, in coordination with the DVD set, Bandai Emotion at long last released newly-remastered DVDs of Affair of Nolandia and Conspiracy of Flight 005, which have never before been on DVD and have not been in print in the original language since the early ’90s. (I’m qualifying this statement, since Streamline put out its English dubs of these OVAs and “Project E.D.E.N.” during 1992-94.) Here also, the Bandai site is worth a look for its presentation of information on these discs, and on the Angels themselves, and as a nexus of links to pages on many of the other items in the Great Barrage, such as the WAVE figure set, the Lovely Angels radio show, Takachiho’s blog, etc.

In the first “print run” of this set, you will get an “art box” with your purchase of “Nolandia”, with yet more new cover artwork by Dokite and space for a third disc, that being the Bandai Emotion DVD release of Dirty Pair: The Motion Picture (a/k/a “Project E.D.E.N.”) from 2000 (which was re-mastered at that time). There is also new art for the individual disc jackets, blending Dokite’s current style with his re-creation of the appropriate character designs for each story. Each disc comes with its own little pamphlet on the respective projects.

If you bought the VAP DVD releases of the Classic and Flash episodes that came out during 2000-01, you won’t be getting much of anything new here (outside of the booklet). But if you’ve never had these discs (which are, of course, in Region-2 encoding), this new collection is a very good buy. With the sort of discounts that are available at many on-line stores, the price per disc works out to around $20, plus shipping. The Bandai discs (also R2) are more like $45 each, though deals are possible if you buy the pair.

The Lovely Angels Meet Conan (GB6)

…not Future Boy or the little squirt in the blue jacket, but Robert E. Howard’s creation (whom Takachiho acknowledges in the dedication). Daatipea no Daiseifuku [The Dirty Pair’s Great Conquest], the sixth novel in the DP series (Dokusaisha no Isan, from 1997, is now counted as a ’side story’), was published on 27 April 2006.

The Angels are sent to investigate underworld activity which is taking place on a “theme park” world based on elements from the realm of “heroic fantasy”. In order to operate clandestinely, they must take on roles in keeping with the theme… The illustrations, as always by Yasuhiko Yoshikazu, include a wonderful color frontispiece of Kei battling a flying dragon.

First new Classic DP art book in 18 years! (GB5)

When the OVA series for Classic DP ended its Japanese release (on cassettes and laserdiscs) back in April 1988, the publication of print merchandise for the anime pretty much ended with it. (The release of Conspiracy of Flight 005 in January 1990 was accompanied by very little in the way of associated “goods” of any sort.)

So it was a source of some excitement here when, while conducting one of my search sweeps close to a year ago, I happened across an entry at the HobbyLink Japan site for something called Dirty Pair Complete Art Works. There was next to no description of the contents, but the book was to have something like 200 pages and would be published in April of 2006. By that time, the release date had been bumped to July, by which time news of many of the other items discussed in this blog started turning up. So I sort of kept one eye on this book listing while looking forward to all the other stuff that would be coming out in the fall.

After several more “bumps”, many more on-line book stores in Japan were listing this and the date had finally settled into December, which would mean the book was coming out around the time of the new DVD releases (see the upcoming entry) and the figure set. (OK, November was going to be an expensive month and I hadn’t even started Christmas shopping yet…)

So, finally, here it is: on 1 December, Shinkigensha released Dirty Pair Complete Art Works (ISBN4-7753-0486-0) [#3 in their Entertainment Archive Series]. As is often the case with such titles, and given what DP anime has become since 1988, the book is not “complete”. It does cover all of the Classic productions under the direction of Dokite Tsukasa. (For those of us who are also Flash fans, we will have to hope that a similar book will appear eventually to supplement the 1995 art book which covers only the first DPF series and some of the planning for the second.)

Now, as a devoted collector of related materials (the polite way to phrase it; the psychiatric diagnosis is subject to physician-patient confidentiality), I believe I have all of the art books and other print items that were made available for “Classic” during 1985-89, yet I still went and bought this. I will recommend it to all new fans of the ’80s anime and to long-time followers of this version. For the first time, all of the productions are treated together in one place. There are extensive sections on each of our two heroines, with their early alternative designs and their subsequent redesigns in each outing, along with all of their various clothing and equipment in the individual episodes and stories. There are also sections for Mughi; the different versions of their ship, Lovely Angel; all of the supporting and many of the incidental characters; and much of the other equipment and mecha appearing in the stories. (While there are many drawings in the old books — and the booklet for the 1994 laserdisc boxed set — that are not found here, only a completist [like me, who’d actually even notice this] would miss them…). You’ll also find complete “cast and staff” lists for all the productions and special short articles on aspects of the anime’s history, including a brief interview with Dokite.

…and you get a foldout mini-poster based on the book’s wraparound cover, featuring a new work by Dokite himself. This book weighs in with 224 pages (32 in color) in a 7-1/4 x 10 inch (B5) format and is a great value for the price (about $20 plus shipping).

New Classic DP Figures (GB4)

One of the things about DP that always surprises me is how one version or another has managed to sustain a devoted fandom, even when no further new projects have appeared for years. “Classic” Dirty Pair has been out of production since 1990, yet it continues to gain new fans with the passage of time, to judge from the continued posting of new fan fiction and fan art.

And then there are the three-dimensional works. A new set of Classic DP figures turns up at a conclave like Wonder Festival in Japan or commercially just about every other year. Here’s the entry for 2006: a 1/10-scale set from WAVE, in pre-painted PVC. They were released toward the end of December (a bit too late to get them for Christmas). I got my set just last week, but still haven’t had a chance to take them out of the box yet (such is my work schedule).

So, rather than give you a review just now, here are two page links, where you can look them over in galleries of photographs:

http://www.hobby-wave.com/pickup/DTP/index.html

http://www.hobby-wave.com/pickup/DTP/report/index.html — this latter page has a report on the design of the figures, including revisions made to the prototypes.

While we’re on about the novels… (GB3)

Takachiho-sensei mentioned this on his blog and I just found it at Hayakawa Shobo’s site…

There is a new printing of Daatipea no Daifukkatsu [Great Resurrection of the Dirty Pair], the novel with which the Author returned to the series in 2004 after a twelve-year hiatus and brought the Lovely Angels out of “cold storage” (literally). This reprinting will be out on 24 January (and I see Yas. redid the cover — and redesigned the Pair slightly again…).

[update (2/21) — a copy of this printing has now come to hand (rocketed to me by AmazonJapan, even without asking for Air Mail!). In an interesting reversal of usual practice, the earlier trade paperback had no interior illustrations, but this new printing does. Maybe Yasuhiko-sensei was too busy at the time of the original edition; he even did a new color frontispiece for this one.]

Now (again) in English! (GB2)

There had been word at cons (I’m told) and about the ‘Net that this was coming, and now we have a (probable) release date.

The first book in the Dirty Pair series, Daatipea no Daibouken [Great Adventures of the Dirty Pair], published in Japan by Hayakawa Shobo, will be available again in English translation from Dark Horse on 28 June. Long-time fans know about the Kodansha English Library edition of the first short story; the Library was a series of small books intended for Japanese students of English. This new book will (hopefully) contain both of the stories in the original Japanese book, since it is indicated that this edition will have 250 pages. (The very first novella was entitled Daatipea no Daibouken; since Japanese does not use plural forms, the original book, which included Takachiho’s second DP story, did not need to change its title.) It will also contain 20 illustrations by Yasuhiko Yoshikazu, who has illustrated all of the novels; judging from the number, these may include all of the drawings he did for the stories, in both editions of the book from Hayakawa and the edition in 1983 from Kadokawa and also perhaps from SF Magajin (there are some pix Yas. published there that have not been in the books).

[update (2/17): this book is now listed at Dark Horse’s site. The page count is now given as 280 pages and the publication date is currently given as 13 June.]

Radio Lovely Angels (GB1)

One of the things that is a source of personal fascination for me with the DP is that there have been so many variations on them (to say nothing of the influence they’ve had on any number of fictional creations since, in or outside of anime).

Well, here’s another! Starting on the night of October 1st (12:30 AM that morning, to be accurate), a radio drama version began airing on the program, Itokubo no Paatiiroodo, found on FM Osaka. The premise is that K & Y are on an investigative mission that involves a road trip from Chicago to Los Angeles (of course) along Route 66. The show is run in 10- to 15-minute installments during the music show. Kei is played by Minagawa Junko [official site] and Yuri by Horie Yui (who has been a DP fan since her youth) [official site]; both are veteran seiyuu. Takachiho had a hand in the voice casting for this series, but has no involvement in the writing.

If you’d like to follow the show, a streaming Internet broadcast began on 15 October and is available here, along with a series synopsis and a little progress map of the Angel’s mission (they reached Amarillo, Texas this week — yeehaw!). There is also a page at Sunrise’s site on the show, along with a brief blog. The young ladies in the 12 October entry are the hosts of Itokubo, while those in the entry for 30 October are Horie and Minagawa, also posing with Takachiho.

I can’t get the .asf files for the streaming broadcast to play on the machines I have access to, so I’d be interested in any comments for folks who have heard the episodes.

Great Barrage of the Dirty Pair

Well, April 2006 marked the opening of a large burst of activity of interest for fans of the Lovely Angels. I’ll comment on these in no particular order, since I will be including pictures and/or links as I can put together little articles on each of these items. So this will be a series within the blog; I’ll mark the entries with “GB”.

Leaping before Looking…

I’ve had a site on the Internet for nearly eight years now and still have a lot to learn about making some things work. This is the first time I’ve “blogged” and it will probably show. But since I tend to put things off if I feel like I don’t know enough about how to do them, I figure I’d better just start off on this or it will be ages before it happens at all. Please bear with me…

I thought it might be worthwhile to start a journal on my site, Tea Time in Elenore City, for the fans of the “Lovely Angels” who visit there and to report on news of developments of interest in a way that’s easier than having to edit my site.

For those who have wondered why I haven’t been active there in some time… well, I won’t get into tiresome details, but there have been some problems for me, including the fact that my home computer is so old that I haven’t been able to access the site manager at Yahoo!/Geocities from there for a couple years now. A new computer has been out of the question until recently, so maybe my ‘Net situation will improve in the next couple months. (I’m doing this from the machine at work and my time for extracurriculars is limited, so not much has been getting done for “Tea Time” for some while now.)

But I won’t go on about this. I have a lot of news of interest to post and perhaps there will be some comments from visitors. (Note: I’ve set this thing up so that you have to register in order to post. It’s gotten so I’m getting spam on my site Guestbook, for cryin’ out loud, so any simple screening looks good lately…)

So, anyway, welcome to my blog!