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To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the TV anime Dirty Pair since its TV broadcast in Japan on July 15, 1985, a memorial exhibition, titled "TV Anime 'Dirty Pair' 40th Anniversary Exhibition," is scheduled to be be held at Kitasenju Marui's event space (7F) in Tokyo from October 10 to November 3, 2025. A key visual for the exhibition, newly-drawn by the anime series' original character designer, Tsukasa Dokite, has been revealed. Based on Haruka Takachiho's long-running sci-fi action novel series, the Dirty Pair TV anime aired for 24 episodes from July to December 1985. The last two episodes that were not aired during the initial broadcast in Japan, episodes 25 and 26, were later released as an Ova. After the TV broadcast ended, OVAs, a theatrical film, and a new TV series Dirt Pair Flash by a different character designer (Takahiro Kimura) were released from 1985 to 1996. All of the anime adaptations were produced by Sunrise, which also...

When it comes to genre diversity, anime has plenty to offer to all kinds of fans, covering a broad range of classic genre categories from romance to action-adventure to horror and psychological thriller. Yet, on top of the genres prominent in all fiction, anime also has unique categories of stories intrinsic to the medium - one of the most popular of such distinctive sub-genres being isekai. Isekai, literally translating to “another world,” is both a genre and a plot mechanism encountered all over modern anime - to the point of being considered one of the medium’s most saturated sub-genres. From manga to anime to light novels and video games, tales of heroes traveling to parallel fantasy worlds from their mundane reality are almost inescapable in contemporary Japanese media.

The appeal of isekai anime is easy to relate to - most of such stories are power fantasies that follow ordinary...

A famous figure in the anime industry has found manuscripts by the late Akira Toriyama. These drafts originate from Toriyama's early days on Dr. Slump before the creation of his world-famous Dragon Ball series.

Haruka Takachiho, a co-founder of Studio Nue and the creator of Dirty Pair, recently shared Toriyama's rejected drafts on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). These pages were drawn for the Dr. Slump manga's serialization in Weekly Shonen Jump in the 1980s. Both pages feature Polly Buckets, the trigger-happy officer of the Penguin Village police force. The first page is a loosely sketched page layout, while the second page is a more refined drawing of Polly riding her motorcycle.

Related Dragon Ball Daima Releases First English Dub Trailer Ahead of World Premiere in U.S. Theaters

Toei Animation and Fathom Events will screen the first three Dragon Ball Daima English dub episodes in November in North American theaters.

Captain Picard shouting “Shut up, Wesley” in the season 1 Star Trek: The Next Generation episode “Datalore” has gone down in history as one of the most famous lines in the series. Now the hate for Wesley Crusher, played by Wil Wheaton, has always been overblown but even people who like Wesley have to admit, this line is hilarious.

But if things had gone a little differently in the history of Star Trek, Picard may have shouted “shut up, Wesley” for more than just speaking out of turn on the bridge. In fact, he might have gotten to actually say, “shut up about your dubs v. subs opinions, Wesley” because Wesley almost had a poster of anime girls in his quarters. Yes, an actual room on the Enterprise-d was almost adorned with an anime poster. Specifically of the characters Kei and Yuri from the ‘80s anime classic, Dirty Pair.

For those not in the know,...

Isekai, literally translating to “another world,” is a subgenre of fantasy prevalent in anime, light novels, and manga. This subgenre of anime focuses on a protagonist, typically an ordinary person, being transported to a different dimension, be it a supernatural setting, a video game, or a parallel universe. Isekai is considered a relatively modern trend in anime, popularized in the 2000s by such light novel series as The Familiar of Zero and Sword Art Online, and brought to mainstream levels of popularity in the 2010s by Mushoku Tensei, Re:Zero, and the 2012 Sao anime adaptation. Nowadays, isekai dominates the modern anime landscape, and the genre has long since moved on from simply meaning “another world” fiction.

The isekai of today has its own established tropes, rules, and characteristics, going as far as to develop distinctive subgenres within itself, like reincarnation isekai or overpowered protagonist isekai. However, as a plot device, isekai...

Light novels are a popular form of literature in Japan, written with simple language, fairly short page counts, and frequent illustrations. Due to their serialized nature, light novels are a popular source for anime adaptations, with excellent examples across various genres. Some of the most popular recent anime are based on light novels, such as KonoSuba, That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Slime, and Goblin Slayeri, but also classics like Slayers and Records of Lodoss Wari.

Although manga is a better-known source of anime adaptations, the best anime based on light novels show that these literary works can provide an excellent foundation for anime adaptations as well. Although anime based on light novels tend to skew towards Sci Fi and Fantasy, excellent adaptations of other genres also exist. Fans of these anime should also check out the original light novels.

Light novels are a popular form of literature in Japan,...