Something I noticed on a reread of this series is how the narration in the very beginning of the Lolita Knights Arc says “perhaps a hero will come to Mango’s rescue, defeat the dragon, and the two of them will forge friendship that will become the basis of an ongoing action-comedy fantasy epic”. While this is obviously a joke, it can apply to both Cherry and Bleu. In Cherry’s case she’s the one to find Mango and her friendship with Mango is a pivotal element of the comic going forward. In Bleu’s case, she was the one to heal Mango and her and Mango’s friendship (as much as the two are tsundere’s about it) is a major part of the comic. Also I just started watching Dirty Pair and Mango and Bleu give me major Kei and Yuri vibes respectively (though Bleu also gives me yuri vibes of a romantic persuasion, but that’s probably beside the point). The two may bicker and fight constantly but they ultimately have each other’s backs and care about each other.
Haha, nice observation!
I will be honest here and confess – the foreshadowing in that line is almost a complete coincidence. 🙂
In fact, Bleu healing her wasn’t part of the original plan at all – originally she was supposed to just leave her in the forest, to be rescued by Cherry and the centaurs. It was during the time away from the main story telling the Lolita Knight arc that it made Bleu a better character if she’d at least made SOME effort to not let Mango die. Their relationship has definitely become a lot less antagonistic over the course of the story, but to quote Bleu, “don’t think this means I don’t still hate you!”
(Yes, Bleu may be just a tiny bit of a tsundere…)
As for the Dirty Pair… yes, on that one, you’re absolutely correct! Dirty Pair was one of my biggest influences in writing Dragon Mango, and Mango and Bleu owe quite a lot to Kei and Yuri… although thankfully they don’t usually cause quite as much collateral damage in their adventures.
(Except that one time in Gibb…)