#some of the coloring on these gifs is kinda wonky but oh well

[witter-potter]

I’m in love with you, Lara Jean. Only you. 

Peter Kavinsky and Lara Jean Song Covey in To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before (2018) 

[medea10]

My Review of Dirty Pair

Now that I think about it…if you look at Dawn and Zoey from Diamond & Pearl…they could pull this off. I’m starting to have some questions for Pokemon’s animators in the mid-2000s. Next factor is that every time I attended Kraken Con in Oakland, they would usually play the first 4 episodes of this anime. And I would catch a few minutes or a random episode (most of the time it was episode 3). And finally, it’s an anime that came out in the 1980s. Let’s face it, what other anime have I watched came out before 1986 that’s not named Sailor Moon, Dragon Ball, or Ranma ½? Thought so! If you're in big trouble, call the World Welfare Work Association or 3WA. They will send out a team of highly trained capable agents (also known as Trouble Consultants) who can solve your problems. But if the team they send you is the infamously named Dirty Pair, there will be a lot of collateral damage aside from solving your problems. The Dirty Pair (or Lovely Angels as the girls would like to be refered to) consists of Kei and Yuri, two ladies who are well equipped to help whoever, wherever, and whenever…for the right price. Win these ladies over with handsome men, bonuses, and luxurious items and they’ll help you with whatever the problem is. BETWEEN THE SUB AND THE DUB: I do face the same kind of dilemma watching this as I did with Rose of Versailles because I’m going to experience hearing people I’ve never really listened to until now (with the exception of Yuri’s seiyuu because she was in a lot of the Rumiko Takahashi animes I’ve watched). Licensing wise, last checked, Nozomi Entertainment has all the Dirty Pair animes (including the TV series, specials, OVA series, the spin-off series, and the movie). And if memory serves, I believe ADV once had claims over some if not all of this series. However, not everything got a dub. Pretty much, everything except for the original TV series got a dub. I got a chance to listen to the English dub and thought it was okay for the most part. It’s not ear-gratingly horrifying if that’s what you want me to say. With the dub, I noticed Yuri’s voice was different in some specials and I do have a theory on that. Apparently Jessica Calvello voiced Yuri during the OVA series, while Allison Sumrall did the specials and movies. My guess for that was when they were dubbing this, it was around that time when Calvello blew out her vocal chords…Yeah, that happened. But no complaints from me here either! Here’s what you might recognize these folks from. JAPANESE CAST: *Kei is played by Kyouko Tonguu *Yuri is played by Saeko Shimazu (known for Kodachi on Ranma ½, Princess Abi on InuYasha, and Shinobu on Urusei Yatsura) ENGLISH CAST: *Kei is played by Pamela Lauer *Yuri [in the OVA series] is played by Jessica Calvello (known for Prima on Pokemon, Hange on Attack on Titan, Excel on Excel Saga, Aika on Aria, Kanako on Maria Holic, and Suigintou on Rozen Maiden: Zurückspulen) *Yuri [in the movie] is played by Allison Sumrall (known for Kagura on Azumanga Daioh, Miia on Monster Musume, Shinichi’s mother on Parasyte, and Sasasegawa on Little Busters)

SHIPPING: These ladies are quite promiscuous. So it’s pretty easy to say they flirt with a different sort of men each episode. But there was one episode during the television run where Yuri really had something for a boy that deserves a mention. In the 8th episode of the original TV series, Yuri gets word of a childhood love (named Billy) reaching out to her. She was ready to leave her life and job as a Lovely Angel to be with him. Unfortunately, Kei comes across the unfortunate truth about Yuri’s long-lost love, Billy. He died while trying to complete his project. But Kei decided to keep this fact away from Yuri and instead told her it’ll take Billy a lot longer to complete his work. And Yuri will wait for him.

There have been a few notable men as well that made a dent in Kei and Yuri’s love life. Hell, there was even an episode where Yuri almost tied the knot with a man in the OVA series that almost got me to second guess Yuri’s angle. When it comes to Kei…yeah, there were a few guys on her radar but none that really stood out. Except I couldn’t help but wonder if there would ever be something between Kei and Carson from the movie! Regardless, Kei and Yuri are just too promiscuous and wild to just settle down with one guy (unless he was a handsome sugar daddy). ENDING TO TV SERIES: I don’t want to call it much of an ending because all the episodes follow the same pattern and that’s the girls work on a case they’re given and they finish their mission (more or less). If you ask me, the television series should have ended on the two-parter episode where Kei and Yuri are helping a family find a plane that has 463 missing passangers.

The final episode consisted of the girls in an apartment with three salesmen and a policeman in game of who’s the killer. Because of recent murders in the area involving women, Kei and Yuri were placed in an apartment to be on lookout. And for some reason, those four men wound up in the apartment together. Thanks to some clever intuition on Yuri’s part, she was able to figure out who the killer was and the reason behind the killer’s message. A year after the television series ended, they released two special episodes that follow suit to the series. Meaning the girls have to solve their mission. And the final one involved trying to save their chief from some kidnappers. PROJECT EDEN: Oh my God, could this movie be any more 1980s?! Half the movie has no dialogue and all those parts feel like a long-ass music video. I’m not knocking it, I just find it amusing. I want to call it a side-story from the original series. Basically, Kei and Yuri are working together with a smuggler (named Carson D. Carson…this name is literally too funny to comment on) from a previous mission to stop a crazy doctor from unleashing aliens upon the world. Seriously, just watch this! It’s a trip! OVA SERIES: Two years after the original television series finished (1987), Dirty Pair was given 10 more episodes in an OVA series. I guess you can call it a sequel as the stories all seem to follow the same premise as Yuri and Kei are on a different mission in each episode. There were only a few key differences here. First of all, unlike the television series, this set got an English dub. Again, I still don’t know why they neglected to dub the original TV series and dub this, the movie, and spin-off. Whatever! Secondly, in this series we got to see a few more people who work in the 3WA (besides Chief Gooley). The 3WA is a big organization and we really knew nothing about anyone else aside from Kei and Yuri (and to a lesser extent Chief Gooley). But there were characters like Madam Beryl and Dr. Q who seem to show up in more than just one episode here to help the girls. It's a shame we never saw more of these OVA's. And then we have Dirty Pair Flash!

What the shit?! What is this hot mess? This is not Yuri and Kei! I know their names are Yuri and Kei, but they’re not the ones I’ve been watching for the past year. As you can see, this is a definite product of the 1990s. Take something from the 70s and 80s and bastardize it with wonky animation, flashy colors, and every kooky sound effect you heard during 1990’s animes! Give me one good reason why I should even look at this!

Holy crap, is that Rica freakin’ Matsumoto in that fucking main cast?! And this was BEFORE she played Satoshi?! Fine…Imma watch it!

This is Kei and Yuri. No, they’re not the Kei and Yuri from the original series. This Kei and Yuri are different. This series is sort of an alternate setting to the original Dirty Pair. It’s not the same universe where the 3WA gives the names “Kei” and “Yuri” to new recruits. There won’t be an episode where both Kei’s and Yuri’s meet. This is something completely different! Now aside from their “radical” new look, Kei and Yuri here kinda differ from the Kei and Yuri from the 1980’s anime? Just a smidge. Kei is way more tomboyish than the original one. I know the original Kei was a tomboy too, but she also seemed promiscuous when it came to men unlike the newer one. This Kei didn’t really feel too interested in men all that much. Both Yuri’s seem the same as they can both be promiscuous, flighty, and hopelessly romantic when it comes to men. But the one thing that stays the same is that these girls always find a way to botch-up the missions. The cast of course has changed and with many more recognizable voice actors in the sub (to me). Here’s what you might recognize these folks from. JAPANESE CAST: *Kei is played by Rica Matsumoto (known for Ash on Pokemon, Yami/Bakura on YGO, Rumi on Perfect Blue, Choromatsu on Osomatsu-kun, and Sis on Now and Then Here and There) *Yuri is played by Mariko Kouda (known for Sakura on Pokemon, Nayuki on Kanon, Kaya on One Piece, and Juri on Vampire Knight) ENGLISH CAST: *Kei is played by Sue Ulu (known for Ritsuko on Neon Genesis Evangelion and Ayako on Golden Boy) *Yuri is played by Kim Sevier (known for Yui on Neon Genesis Evangelion and Noriko on Golden Boy) Dirty Pair Flash had something I kinda wished to see with the original series. Continuity! At least it was the case of the first set of OVA’s as it does show how this Kei and Yuri got paired up and their hardships of having to work together as the “Lovely Angels” of the 3WA. While with the original, we already jump into Kei and Yuri’s line of work where they already have a reputation as the infamous “Dirty Pair”, here we actually see this Kei and Yuri first get paired up. Kei was a delinquent and on probation and Yuri was one of the lowest in her class, let’s pair them up! What could possibly go wrong?

The first set of OVA’s had Kei on a literal manhunt for someone only to later find out it was a former member of the 3WA who has been causing mischief. Hell, she was one of the original Lovely Angel duo. The second set of OVA’s Kei and Yuri had to spend 5 episodes with a computer geek named Touma. The episodes here weren’t as continuous as they were in the previous set (as they don’t follow a strict storyline). And the finale to the second set felt very rushed to take out one bad guy. Seriously, all that build-up for such a sorry payoff!

The final set of OVA’s, five more stories that don’t connect whatsoever. And that’s a shame since you got an episode where Kei is taking care of a (now) orphaned baby and an episode where Yuri is a literal object of a little boy’s desire. I will give it this, the final episode where there’s a terrorist on the loose trying to kill the chief of the 3WA was pretty intense. All in all, Dirty Pair Flash was okay. I think I was more of a fan of the original Dirty Pair, but that’s just me. There were some things I liked from Flash too, don’t get me wrong. This series however gets extra points having Rica Matsumoto sing several songs on here. As for old school Dirty Pair…I can honestly say I jumped into this series blind-folded. One of the types of animes I don’t normally touch are sci-fi and mecha. It was never really my thing but every few years or so I would pick up titles with those specific genres. But I enjoyed watching the episodes of Dirty Pair. I almost want to compare this to any cop show you see on TV. Mostly for the aspect of two cops working together! It’s easy to say that Kei and Yuri do get the job done, but sometimes they fuck up. And that’s a common trope in many cop shows/movies (the entertaining ones). Plus I always found myself chuckling at the witty/catty banter between Kei and Yuri. How often do you see two female cops in this situation? In most of the shows I’ve seen it’s always between two guys! Sure it gives off a stereotype of if you put two girls in a room, all they’ll do is bitch and scratch each other’s eyes out. Yes, this does happen from time to time. But Kei and Yuri have always gotten along for the most part.

…Oh yeah…I suppose I should talk about the sex appeal. Even for the time this aired, I’m surprised they got away with these girls wearing butt-hugging shorts in literally every episode. Then again, it’s Japan. I can’t imagine what they’d be wearing nowadays. But for what it’s worth, I say give it a watch. If you’re a fan of police shows, mecha, or both, this might be right up your alley. And if you want to give Dirty Pair Flash a try, go for it too. I just suggest watching the original first, but that’s just my opinion. Through Nozomi Entertainment, you can purchase just about anything of Dirty Pair for home video. Nozomi Entertainment also put up a few of the specials, the movie Project Eden, and the entire set of Dirty Pair Flash on their Youtube page. Okay, now that’s over with. What’s the next Discotek license/older anime am I watching next?

Bludgeoning Angel Dokuro-Chan? 2019 sure loves to torture me.

[kazeharuhime]

Mermay #14 - Blue Ribbon Eel Mer Sooo I really went all out with this one. I think I shopped it too much even... XD But uh. Yeah. And I decided too to upload a bunch of other junk with it. Like a process gif (seen those here on tumblr and thought it was a great idea XD), a line, color and final version of it kinda show the progression better. Was thinking about how portfolio people like to see your process and I thought maybe tumblr people might like to see my process too so... why not? XD So yeah I usually don’t edit this much in Photoshop when I’m working traditional but I got carried away and really rendered this one out XD; It’s still got heavy traces of the traditional like that tail bit I forgot to fill in... looked nice on paper but horrible in digital. XD But what was I going to say... Right blue ribbon eels are fun. Did the generator again and after a couple dozen tries it gave me ribbon eel and though I’d sworn off eels after it gave me three in a row, the blue ribbon eel mer was way too cool to pass up. I had to change up the tail from the very early WIP (yeah, the blurry photo that’ll take you almost a minute to see for 5 seconds in the process gif if you missed it) because the way it was configured had it backwards, but I managed to get it so I could keep the pose and not have the tail be as weird... Frankly it still looks kinda wonky if I compare it to the first WIP picture and I do like the silhouette just a little bit better from that one. Was clearer and more fluid and a little less squashed-looking at the bottom. But what was I gonna say... Oh yeah and I apologize if some of the process shots in the gif are kinda blinding... I really pumped up the colors way too much at first and kept trying to downplay it. Even now it looks tolerable but before yeah it was kinda blinding XD; Anyways uh yeah. Sooo that’s the deal. I think I was going to say something else but I don’t remember and it’s late. I think I’m just gonna submit this and call it good... I think I was going to try to explain my process more instead of just babbling on... Don’t know if I accomplished that, but I guess it’s pretty straightforward. Sketch, line with pencil, sometimes I render it a bit with pencil too, then I color it which can be more finished and polished from traditional or less so like in this one where it’s nearly a flat color. Then I use photoshop to adjust colors, fix mistakes, erase smudges or color bleeds from previous pages, maybe fix spacing issues with the eyes, etc etc and to heighten the contrast between my light and shadow areas. Usually it’s minor if I’ve already rendered it out well traditionally, but this time I was pretty heavy-handed with PS because I don’t trust my blue markers that much to give me the right color... My baby blue copic is sometimes the only one that works reliably, so I worked exclusively with my baby blue copic and a cheap crayola yellow marker to produce the traditional color draft. I started out small working in photoshop, just darkening my shadows and lightening my highlights, but then I got carried away because it didn’t look like the proper shade of blue... And that’s when chaos ensued. XD It took me practically the whole day to do this pic and hours in photoshop to get the final product. I would have worked longer on it probably too if it wasn’t super late. But anyways. Sooo that’s the deal. I could probably go into more detail about the use of color balance, adjustments, brush settings and yada yada yada but it’s really late and I keep rambling. So before I type anything else that probably won’t even be read by the casual tumblr scroller I’m just gonna submit this already, put in my tags and get it over with. Or well tags first, then the submitting... You get the point. XP

[witter-potter]

favorite riley matthews outfits (season one)