When I was a young boy, I dreamed about someday traveling among the stars, fighting bad guys, and discovering treasure, making awesome friends along the way. Unfortunately reality isn't so adventurous, but we thankfully have escapism to help fulfill that dream somewhat. A show like Outlaw Star fits the bill nicely, at least for me.
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| From left to right: Melfina, Jim Hawking, Suzuka, Gene Starwind, and Aisha ClanClan. |
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Outlaw Star is a space western, coming from the great year of 1998, sharing the same space cowboy theme as Trigun, and Cowboy Bebop. The shows all execute their ideals and worlds differently, and I feel Outlaw Star does the concept the best. Unlike Trigun, and Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw star has space battle, space pirates, and aliens. In addition to higher technology levels than the other series, it's a bit more mature series too.
Outlaw Star begins simply enough, a red haired bounty hunter by the name of Gene Starwind, a notorious pervert, and bad ass. A big fish in a small pong on his home planet of Sentinel Three. His partner is a young genius known as Jin Hawking ( Treasure Island reference), and the two of them make up Starwind and Hawking enterprises, whose motto is "
Hello! You've reached Hawking, from Starwind and Hawking Repairs! We
fix everything from tractors to relationships, so how can we help you
today?" It certainly screams we will do anything for money won't they ?
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| Don't want you thinking this series is uber serious or anything. |
They receive a call from a woman named Rachel, who needs some high tech parts, and a body guard. Naturally they take the job, and what follows are a trail of lies, and revenge. Rachel is really a notorious space pirate known as "Hot Ice Hilda" who stole a brand new ship known as the XGP, made in cooperation by the space pirates, and the space forces to find the Galactice Leyline, a place which supposedly can grant any desire. The space pirates are after her, and she leads Gene and Jim to a warehouse, where Hilda had hidden a naked girl in a suitcase. Yep.
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| The XGP or titular Outlaw Star. |
The girl is revealed to be a bio android, and a key component of the XGP's navigation system. The next logical step is to go get the XGP, which is hidden away from everyone, all while being hunted down by the space pirates.Since she wasn't in the opening, you knew she wouldn't stick around, Hilda dies shortly after the crew of Gene, Melfina, and Jim reach the Outlaw Star (XGP), and the cast lands at the nearest Space port, with no idea what to do, nor where to go.
The noteworthy characters of Outlaw Star are as follows:
Gene Starwind- The hero, his father died when he was young, and has a fear of space he must overcome to pilot the XGP. Strong, fast, a great fighter, he relies on his hand Caster gun, a special type of gun that essentially fires magic.
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| Pretty sweet no ? |
Jim Hawking- a boy genius, essentially the brains to Gene's brawn. While Gene is carefree, Jim is more calculating and worrisome.
Melfina- Bio Android with no memory prior to waking up in her suitcase in episode one. She becomes naked to help the ship navigation.
Twilight Suzuka- an assassin for hire, eventually joins Gene's crew for adventures and revenge.
Aisha Clanclan- a CtarlCtarl ( cat alien humanoid) officer disgraced by Hilda. She claims to only tagalong because Gene owes her. CtarlCtarl can transform into large cats, and are inhumanly strong in their base form.
Fred Lowe- A gay merchant with a crush on Gene, lends them money whenever they need it, though hopes he gets repaid someday.
Gilliam- The ships sarcastic A.I.
The XGP or Outlaw Star- A top of the line grappler ship (ship with arms for combat) created to navigate the ocean of stars and find the Galactic Leyline.
Villians:
Fred McDougal- assassin for hire, killed Gene's father, attempted to destroy the XGP, and all around douchebag. Fred has connections to get the latest military tech, and also wields a caster gun.
Harry McDougal- Holds a grudge against Gene for injuring him, and later becomes a cyborg. Harry has an obsession with Melfina.
The Kei Pirates- Creator of the XGP, and want it back. The leader is an unseen man known as the Tao King, the onscreen leader is Hazanko. During the second half of the series he sends his group of assasins after Gene, the Anten Seven to take back Melfina and the Outlaw Star.
There are many things to love about Outlaw Star. Like many series, the driving force in their lives are poverty, and a lack of knowledge. The Outlaw Star is an expensive ship, and they always have to borrow money to keep it ready. Til the last few episodes, they have no idea where the Galatic Leyline is, and basically the crew bumbles around getting into fights, hunting bounties, and fighting for their lives. It's an extremely manly show, with Gene being one of the few manly characters I can name offhand. The dude's covered in scars, buff, and sleeps with anything that lets him. The characters are all unique, and generally a pretty cool cast. Personally I love the idea of a space western, and Outlaw Star is the best attempt I've seen ( sorry Firefly freaks.) I mean they have spaceships that fight with arms and weapons, guns that shoot magic, the lead is a bounty hunter. What more could you want ?
I first came into contact with this series on Toonami back in 2001. It was edited to hell and back, but the crazy diamond shone through. I just rewatched this series for the 10th time last week, and I absolutely love it. The pacing is solid, though the lack of progress til the final few episodes may frustrate some. I would rank this in my top five anime, hands down, and I'm an anime expert( seen over 1000+ anime, last one Valvarave The Liberator). It's a senin series, and I enjoyed the bit more adult themes. Plus, I have a raging Boner for Sunrise. I read only the first volume of the manga, and the series was meh. Maybe someday I will translate the rest for the internet.
Outlaw Star anime- 10/10
Manga-6/10
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| See you again!
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