News

Retired Voice Actress Pamela Lauer Returns for New English Dub of Dirty Pair TV Anime

Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment's Kickstarter page for an English-dubbed Blu-ray Disc release for the Dirty Pair 1985 television anime revealed on Wednesday that Pamela Lauer will return as the voice of Kei in the new dub. Lauer voiced Kei in the English dub of the original Dirty Pair original video anime (OVA). She is currently retired.

The Kickstarter page posted a video message from Lauer.

Jessica Calvello will also return as Yuri for the new dub.

Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment launched the Kickstarter campaign earlier this month. The Kickstarter reached its goal to raise US$275,000, and has raised US$372,416 by press time. The campaign will run until October 31.

The Kickstarter will fund an English-dubbed HD release for the main television anime, but also offers the Blu-ray Disc release of the entire franchise as a reward for specific pledge tiers.

Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment describe the anime:

In the 22nd century mankind may be technologically advanced, but there are still some problems that can only be fixed by a couple of women who won't back down from a fight! These are the adventures of Kei and Yuri, two official Trouble Consultants for the World Welfare Works Association (WWWA) who use their brains, brawn, and looks to solve any problem. They call themselves the "Lovely Angels," but because their solutions often result in chaos and mass destruction, the rest of the universe has dubbed them the "Dirty Pair"!

For Kei and Yuri, no two missions are ever the same. As the WWWA's top Trouble Consultants, they take on all sorts of odd jobs, like chasing down treasure in high-tech ruins, fighting off political assassins, and even avenging the death of... a plaster statue? In the end, only one thing's for sure: anything that stands between these two and victory is sure to be destroyed!

The project's Kickstarter page states that Right Stuf and Nozomi Entertainment will utilize 75% of the funds collected for dubbing, production expenses, and acquiring rights clearances. The project will utilize 15% of the funds for the production of the materials, media, and packaging; and utilize 10% of funds for overhead, working capital, fees to run the project on the platform, royalties, and staff costs.

RetroCrush and Crunchyroll began streaming the anime in the U.S. and Canada earlier this month.

The anime adapts Haruka Takachiho's science fiction comedy novel series of the same name, with illustrations by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko. The series began in 1979, and the eighth novel in the series, Dirty Pair no Daichōyaku, shipped in 2018 as the first novel in 11 years.

Aside from the television anime, the novels have also inspired an anime film, as well as several video projects, manga, and American comics. The title duo made their first anime appearance in 1983's Crusher Joe: The Movie.

Sources: Kickstarter