Film

Dirty Pair: Affair on Nolandia

A 1985 anime film starring the Dirty Pair—two wisecracking, disaster-prone space agents on a rescue mission that spirals into absurdity. It's fast, colourful, and genuinely funny, with a kind of retro-futuristic charm that feels lived-in rather than polished. For anyone who likes their sci-fi playful and their action sequences loose-limbed.

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love breezy, gleefully overblown 1980s space capers where two wisecracking heroines barrel through absurd set pieces with more energy than plot logic, and a rampaging robot feels like a party rather than a threat.

Skip it if you want tight storytelling or a slow build, since this runs on bustle and gags, and its jokes and sci-fi goofiness may feel thin if you came for something with real weight.

What it asks of you: It is short, under an hour, and it moves at a clip, so you need little patience and only a willingness to let the chaos carry you from one scene to the next.

If you liked this

The Castle of Cagliostro1979

Lupin III's best film: a heist caper with impeccable action animation, warmth, and a moral core. Miyazaki's directorial flair makes every frame count. Pure joy.

But If you're new to Lupin, the character's womanizing can feel dated, and the film assumes familiarity with his world that newcomers won't have.

The Castle of Cagliostro poster

Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer1984

Oshii's surreal masterpiece about time looping and reality unraveling. Visually inventive, genuinely unsettling, and nothing like what you'd expect from a romantic comedy franchise.

But It abandons plot coherence deliberately. If you need narrative clarity, this will frustrate you. It's a mood piece, not a story.

Urusei Yatsura: Beautiful Dreamer poster

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket1989

A six-episode OVA that reframes giant robot warfare through a child's eyes during wartime. Intimate, tragic, and brilliant about how conflict destroys innocence. Genuinely moving.

But It's slow and introspective for a Gundam story. If you want big action, you'll find it sparse. It asks for patience and emotional availability.

Mobile Suit Gundam 0080: War in the Pocket poster

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Dirty Pair: Affair on Nolandia

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Black Magic M-661987

Both are brisk, propulsive sci-fi action stories that trust their audiences to keep pace without exposition. Both pit smart women against impossible odds with wit and competence.

A 48-minute manga adaptation by Hiroyuki Kitakubo about a rogue AI in an android soldier loose in Tokyo. High-velocity action, impeccable direction, and a formal precision that makes most anime feel sloppy by comparison. It's a masterclass in economy.

But It's relentlessly bleak and cynical. There's no humour, no warmth, and the violence is functional rather than cathartic. It will exhaust you.

Black Magic M-66 poster
More like this (6)

Kimagure Orange Road: I Want to Return to That Day1988

A romantic dramedy about a boy with secret psychic powers and the girl he loves. Warm, funny, occasionally absurd, with real heart beneath the melodrama. Wonderfully human.

But The romance is earnest and occasionally saccharine. If you're allergic to sincere feelings, the emotional core will grate.

Kimagure Orange Road: I Want to Return to That Day poster

Bubblegum Crisis1987

A cyberpunk OVA series about an all-female task force fighting rogue robots in a dystopian Tokyo. Stylish, synthy, with genuine wit and real character chemistry among the team.

But It's often as interested in looking cool as being coherent. Some episodes wobble. The female leads in tight suits will feel objectifying if you're sensitive to that.

Bubblegum Crisis poster

Project A-Ko1986

A hyperkinetic parody of magical girls and robot anime, packed with jokes, gorgeous animation, and genuine affection for the genres it's mocking. Bright, energetic, absolutely unhinged.

But The humour is broad and loud. The plot is threadbare. If you prefer wit to slapstick, it'll exhaust you.

Project A-Ko poster

Appleseed1988

A cyberpunk action film about a soldier in a utopian android city. Rotoscoped animation, great action design, and a genuinely thoughtful look at what peace costs. Visually striking.

But The rotoscoping can look uncanny. The story is thin, and the film spends more time on aesthetics than character or plot.

Appleseed poster

Patlabor: The Movie1989

A witty, intelligent police procedural about giant robot cops investigating a conspiracy. Brilliantly written, humanely directed, with real mystery and stakes. Sharp and assured.

But If you haven't seen the series, the cast is large and relationships opaque. The tone is grounded-detective rather than action-heavy, which some find slow.

Patlabor: The Movie poster

Porco Rosso1992

A film about capable, competent women who are utterly central to the story—not side characters, not love interests, but the actual moral and emotional core. Both trust that character and chemistry matter more than explosions.

Miyazaki's romance between an airborne pig-man bounty hunter and a female mechanic, set in 1920s Italy. Gorgeously animated, deeply romantic, and about duty and connection and building things that matter. Meditative and gorgeous.

But Nothing happens in the conventional sense. It's a slow film about small moments. If you need plot momentum, you'll find it frustratingly becalmed.

Porco Rosso poster

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