Dirty Pair (Episode 5) - Criados' Heartbeat!

Kei has a date so the Lovely Angels have rented a spaceship and are en route when they run into something strange. It disappears again, but that’s not the last they’ll see of it! But who would want to hurt the Lovely Angels?

Dirty Pair (Episode 5) – Criados’ Heartbeat!

What happened?

A strange spaceship appeared out of hyperspace and hit them with a strange light. Then, it jumped away again before they can see what it was. Anyhow, they need to get to their destination as Kei’s date is probably already waiting for her. After a bit of a mess at the spaceport, Kei finally gets to go get a shower and freshen up. However, she is attacked while getting dressed by a giant flying robot. Yuri is also attacked but makes it back to the rental ship. She picks up Kei and runs.

The area outside the planet is swarming with the same robots that attacked them earlier. Yuri suggests that they sit tight and see what the robots want. That same enormous ship jumps out of hyperspace once more. The robots take their ship inside. Then, they begin to crush it, but Kei, Yuri, and Nanmo escape for a while. They learn that the ship was created by someone called Criados, a genius scientist who also had an addiction to a drug that Kei and Yuri put an end to. He killed himself a couple of years back, but his plan is in full swing!

What did you think?

I love the retro feel of the show, but also how wonderful the scenes in space are. Seeing Kei and Yuri drifting around the inside of the giant waste disposal ship was awesome. This is exactly what I think of when I think about eighties science fiction. Of course, Kei and Yuri’s dynamic continues to be a great source of entertainment. The bickering is hilarious, however, they always pull together when it gets tough.

Then, once the job is done, they have no problem running off to meet a guy and leaving the other to clean up the mess they made. I’m really enjoying the series, especially when we have Kei running around in her underwear without a care in the world other than destroying her target. It’s also interesting to see just how much the designs of characters have changed since then. If this series was remade, you could guarantee, that Kei and Yuri would be enhanced…

Dirty Pair Episode 5 Kei fighting in her underwear

What have you learnt?

We’re only five episodes in but have seen well enough what the Lovely Angels are capable of. However, I love that the characters in this world are very much aware of the Lovely Angels and the name by which most people know them – the Dirty Pair. Straight away, that tells us more than they could show us in this amount of time. When creating a story, you should consider whether side characters will know who the main characters are and how that might impact their interactions.

Anything that reduces the amount of exposition is a great tool for writers. If possible, let your other characters show us what we should think about someone or something. Seeing others react tells us what we should think or that it’s something we should consider. The fact that the security guy ran away screaming when he found out who Kei and Yuri were tells us a lot. It’s not been the first time either, so there must be something to it.