From Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Star Trek is usually the last franchise that audiences associate with anime. Not only is Gene Roddenberry’s franchise primarily associated with live action, but his forays into animation (as in Lower decks And Wonder) were clearly more inspired by the West than the East. Nevertheless, two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation (“A Matter of Honor” and “Peak Performance”) managed to sneak in references to this Dirty coupleone of the most influential anime series of the 80s.
Star Trek and Dirty Pair
When you’re already at the door Star Trek: The Next Generation To help you pinpoint these moments with the pause button, be warned: your fingers will have to be faster than Data’s to freeze the image in the right place. The first reference to Dirty couple appears in “A Matter of Honor,” the memorable season two episode in which Riker serves aboard a Klingon ship as part of an officer exchange program. When visiting Benzite officer Mendon notices a dangerous bacteria on the Klingon ship, the terms OP KEI and OP YURI are hidden among all the scientific information on his science monitor.
What do these tongue-in-cheek names mean? Star Trek But does the background monitor have anything to do with anime? In both Dirty couple manga and Anime In the series we follow the misadventures of Kei and Yuri, two problem consultants who always catch the bad guys but cause enormous damage. How Sylvester Stallone In demolition manThese girls’ reputations precede them, and “Dirty Pair” is the derogatory nickname they receive because of their tendency to cause massive property damage whenever they save the day.
It’s not clear which Star Trek set designer was a big anime fan, but they did Dirty couple References to The Next Level in the Season 2 episode “Peak Performance”. This is the episode where the Enterprise crew did some war gaming, with Picard pitting the Federation flagship against an 8-year-old Starfleet ship captained by Riker. Data also has trouble beating a guest Foreigner in Strategema, but as soon as an angry Ferengi shows up, it seems like it’s game over for everyone.
In this Star Trek episode, the first anime reference is hidden on a monitor showing Data’s systems. Thanks to the series’ amazing Blu-Ray transfer, we can see that one of the Android systems is labeled “Kei/Yuri Submodule.” Obviously this is just another Easter egg for fans, but we can’t help but fall in love with the idea that Noonien Soong was a major vintage anime nerd and programmed centuries of animation knowledge into his greatest creation.
Interestingly, this Star Trek episode hides its nerdiest anime reference in plain sight. Look closely and you’ll see an Okudagram display that refers to the war games Picard and Riker are participating in as “Operation Lovely Angel.” In Dirty couple“Lovely Angels” is the code name for Kei and Yuri’s team, although their harshest critics prefer to simply refer to them as the “Dirty Pair.”
Considering that Of utmost importance With Star Trek’s development somewhat at a crossroads, those in charge should seriously consider developing an anime series. Not only is it something fans would love, but it’s something fans would love Dirty couple History shows that the franchise has been developed by avid fans of Japanese animation for decades. Add to that the fact that animated films are cheaper than live-action films, and we could have a Star Trek anime in no time.
