FN'F: Dirty Pair

Welcome back to Feats N’ Faults, where our Tiered Point System ranks and records our favorite characters based on their achievements and deeds. Please check the About Page for a more in-depth look at how points are awarded. Our Tier System is below for quick reference. Spoiler Warning!

The Dirty Pair .... Ahem.... I mean, Lovely Angels is a gun-for-hire group known as Trouble Consultants that travels the universe, completing jobs for the WWWA. Their crew of four members includes: Kei, the rough-around-the-edges beauty who is not afraid to throw the first punch; Yuri, the elegant and cunning tactician; Mughi, the team’s mascot and backup; and Nanmo, the droid technician. How will this intergalactic A-Team score, and will they be on Vader’s shortlist of multiversal hired guns?

Let’s Get Started!

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Nanmo is the cutest little droid. I love watching those giant red shoes plomb their way across the hull of a spaceship. While the little guy is prevalent in the early days of the series, he inexplicably disappears as the series goes on. It is never clear what happens to the lil fella, but he does reappear for the movies.

His score is pretty disappointing. He does the generic things you would expect a robot to do, but it is his one fault that drags him down to the negatives. Sure, he saves the crew on multiple occasions and even saves Mughi from being sacrificed by super smart mice, but the lil guy blew up an entire populated planet by accident! The core was made of an extremely explosive material, and laser weapons were prohibited. Then, as they completed the mission and were flying away, Kei gave him a pat on the back, and Poor Nanmo got so surprised that he shot a laser blast at the planet. This started a chain reaction that blew up the planet and killed millions: Oof, not a great resume builder.

Mughi is an adorable giant feline alien that acts like the Chewbacca of the group. Mughi may not be able to speak, but he can understand the spoken language and is smart enough to fly the Lovely Angel or repair Nanmo when needed. While Mughi is adorable, he is terrifying to anyone he is trying to capture. I mean, if I saw a cat twice my size, I would be terrified, too. Who am I kidding? I would die while trying to cuddle the giant furball.

Mughi did ok for himself when it comes to his FN’F Score. He did some light maintenance on the ship and Nanmo, but his greatest feat was destroying a group of tanks and saving Kei and Yuri when they were pinned down. He saved their lives that day!

Yuri is the other half of the duo known as the Dirty Pair, but if you ever call them that, you’ll be sorry. Kei and Yuri go by the moniker Lovely Angels. Yuri is the elegant and girly member of the team. She is more obsessed with her figure, make-up, and general appearance than the other members. Yuri is always on a date, but don’t let that fragile demeanor fool you. As soon as the action begins or you get on her bad side, the martial arts master comes out. She can beat anyone up without a weapon, but put a gun or her whip in her hands, and she can take down entire starships on her own. While agility is an important tool in her kit, it is her strategic mind that really makes her a threat.

Speaking of threats, Yuri broke the coveted 100 barrier. This is a threshold that has defeated many other prominent characters, like Daenerys Targaryen from GOT and James Braddock from MIA. These two badasses stumbled at the finish line, but Yuri was able to somersault past.

If we look at her top Feats, we see no planetary or universal achievements. This means that, much like John Wick, Yuri fought her way past 100 through individual and group feats. Her greatest feat was saving an entire city by crashing a space cruiser before it could hit the populated area. Did she cause some collateral damage? Of course, she did; she is a member of the Lovely Angels, but those faults, while considerable, were still unable to take her out of the hundreds. She caused an entire planet to be covered in deadly storms, destroyed skyscrapers, and even caused the odd political crisis here and there. But hey, when you are trying to get the job done, you can’t let these trivial matters stand in your way.

Kei is my favorite of the two. She is brash and quick to act, letting the thinking fall to her partner. She’s the muscle backing up the notoriety the duo has earned over the years. While she is not as concerned with her looks as Yuri, she is not afraid to use her feminine wiles to get one over on the clueless men of the series.

The animators had to have a fun time animating Kei because they gave her all the cool feats. I mean, she killed a man by punching his open mouth with electrified brass knuckles. Can you imagine getting volts directly to the back of your throat? What a way to go. She also solved 800 murders, killed over a thousand people, and stopped an entire dangerous species from being reborn.

When we look at the scores of the top two, we see that Kei and Yuri are only separated by one point. It is stats like these that make me fall in love with my system all over again. I have zero bias when it comes to calculating and recording the strengths and weaknesses of characters. Yet, situations like these keep popping up. The writers did not have my system in mind when writing these characters, yet they still scored practically the same! Even in Feats N’ Faults, this duo is inseparable.

I was not familiar with this series until I had the opportunity to buy the entire collection on DVD. I am obsessed with collecting physical media and could not let this go. I am so happy that I did because I fell in love with the series from the beginning.

One thing that sticks out to me is how progressive this series was, especially for the 80’s. I am by no means an expert on Japanese culture, but it seemed so forward-thinking for the time. While it is obvious that the animation was designed and intended for the male gaze, the plots and dialogue are anything but. It pushes feminist ideals, unions, and even tackles issues like trans representation and persecution.

While it is by no means a referendum on societal issues, it does seem to go beyond what was considered acceptable at the time. This touch is something I appreciate, as I hope we can get past these petty discussions and move toward a more united and kind society.

The original series, Project Eden, and Flight 005 Conspiracy are peak viewing experiences. If you want to sense these characters, I would recommend Flight 005, as it is a truly engaging mystery, while Project Eden is a fantastic, campy journey with real alien-horror elements. The OVA series is still good, but it is not as consistent as the original series. The worst of the bunch is the movie Affair of Nolandia. That movie turned out to be boring fan service with a bit of psychological horror. The pair never does much and mostly plays in a jungle. I’d recommend skipping that one, but everything else is fantastic and a must-watch for anime fans.

• Project Eden / Flight 005 Conspiracy (Really must watch movies, the villain has a theme song, guys! I repeat a theme song!)

• Love is Everything. Risk Your Life to Elope!! S1:ep7

• Hire Us! Beautiful Bodyguards are a Better Deal S1:ep9

  Thanks for tuning into another fantastic episode of Feats N’ Faults. I hope I introduced you to your new favorite IP and that you have a lovely week. I will see you all next Thursday!

  Until Next Time!

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