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| 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 99 | |
| Overall | Art | Animation | Character Design | Music | Series Story | Episode Story | Reviewer | |
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| Rent | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 8 |
 Ggultra2764
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[series:178#1552] |
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What it lacks in substance, Outlaw Star makes up for in style. Before I explain the style, let me get to the substance which has a number of issues. The backgrounds to many of the characters are lacking. I found myself wondering how a good number of characters such as Suzuka and Aisha got to where they were before meeting Gene. Not to mention that the major plot elements addressed by the series such as the aliens behind the Galactic Leyline and depth on the inner workings of the Kei Pirates also lacked a great deal of depth. With these issues, what makes Outlaw Star so appealing? It's the attitude and humor that the characters and filler episodes of the series give off that make it so fun to check out. Gene's group isn't so serious on their mission compared to others brought together in most such action anime. Gene is into the challenge for thrills. Jim is dumbfounded by Gene's battles relying on luck and impulse. Fred Luo was a surprising face in Outlaw Star for me seeing as I rarely see blatantly gay characters used for humor in anime. The Kei Pirates lack the humor of Gene's group, but they certainly have the attitude to make you watch them. The filler episodes of Outlaw Star make for some hilarious moments in the series. "The Strongest Woman in the Universe" get a good amount of humor from Gene and Aisha's sneaked in entries into a woman's fighting tournament which got me some chuckles. But the biggest icing on the cake came from the infamous "Hot Springs Planet Tenrei," an episode with enough fan service and risque content that got it pulled from Toonami's TV airing of Outlaw Star. The amount of slapstick violence in this episode stood out from everything else in the series as Gene tried to avoid his usual oogling of attractive women to get Caster shells. Since it was only in this one episode, I didn't mind that this style of humor was different from the other episodes. Artwork and character designs for this series were pretty standard for the time they were released in 1998. Nothing really stood out for me visually. In the music department however, the soundtrack got my attention with the highly energetic opening song that does a really good job of getting you into starting off episodes of the series. The closing songs, while out of place for this series, were beautifully sung with soft, mellow music to accompany the vocals. Outlaw Star gets by with its attitude and humor. It's good for me to get back into on occasion, but only when I find myself wanting to see something different than the normal watches in my collection. Last updated Wednesday, June 11 2008. Created Wednesday, June 11 2008. | ||||||||
| Watch | 6 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 6 |
 adiree
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[series:178#1804] | |
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well... it's cowboy bebop without all the cool nihilistic, alienated, malfunctions that made bebop cool... it's like it's trying to be a user-friendly bebop guess (heck, english dub even has the some of the same voice casting), but it fails,nearly miserably, but not quite... they try to set gene up as this bad character - womanizing, drunk, get-rich-quick gun toter - which is all fine and good, but, for some reason - perhaps the dialogue- it never comes off quite right... he yells and gets angry a little too much, which doesn't prove he's got a hot temper, or is even immature, he just yells alot when something's over his head... he's watchable to a point, but not really that enjoyable... there's just not the depth there to really carry a series (for instance, a character dies, and instead of saying anything of pertinance, he names the ship???)... jim is the more watchable of the two - a good mix of an adult brain in a kid's body... he's a genius, but he's still got enough of child in him to make a little unpredicable, and he has far more of a sense of humanity than gene.... malfina is... well a non-character really... like gene, there's little depth - she's the damsel in distress, the woman with mysterious means who needs to be protected... that's her role, and that's all that she's there for... suzuka is the cold woman with mysterious means who doesn't need rescued... aisha is by far the most entertaining character - prone to fits and temper, suffering duty and honor...and she makes the journey a little more bareable... the one thing i really didn't like about the series at all was the ship battles... the grapplers were ridiculous i thought - it would have been better if it was just plain ol' hand to hand combat... it looked odd and clumsy and though i realize that they were trying to make this 'new' it just didn't work for me... the plot... well, the show could have been a couple of episodes shorter without hurting my feelings... it's not that it's so slow that it hurts, it's just that they tried to stick so much in it - from bandits, to pirates (which, the pirates, were actually pretty cool - i liked the pirates), to space races, to all this stuff, the story just gets muddled down... what interest you do achieve for the characters gets drowned out by all the extra stuff... it's not a bad series - it's average - it's watchable, but i think it could have been better... Last updated Sunday, February 20 2005. Created Sunday, February 20 2005. | ||||||||
| Rent | 7 | 7 | 8 | 6 | 7 |
 FeloneousCat
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[series:178#1406] | |
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'Outlaw Star' has a lot going for it and a lot that is not. Let's think of it as a 'good news/bad news' situation. First, the good news. The characters are well defined, have a sense of humour and are not always out to make serious points about life, the universe, or anything. Probably the most entertaining to me and my significant other is Aisha - brilliant in their ineptitude. Yet, at times, shows incredible insight (despite herself). Jim is the kid with the brain of an accountant, computer hacker, and engineer all rolled into one. Realistic? Nah, if we wanted realism we would watch "Why Animals Attack Corporate CEO's"... actually, come to think of it, I WOULD watch that! Gene is the cocky son-of-a-bitch in all of us. And like all of us, he shows off at times when he should just keep his mouth shut. Suzuka is the assassin who has a contract to kill Gene every night at midnight (or so the story starts out - more on this in the Bad News). A mysterious woman who can more than hold her own in a fight. Melfina is the the mysterious woman who has some strange connection to everything. What is it? What is she? All we know is that for some reason she has to get naked to help fly the ship! Okay, the Bad News. Well, unfortunately there is bad news aplenty in this story. Perhaps the hardest is that it takes pretty close to four or five episodes before it gets anywhere watchable. Granted there is character development going on, but on the other hand it gets at points just plain unwatchable. Another point that gets lost is Suzuka's contract on Gene. It is all but forgotten throughout the story. We had hoped that there would have been better references to Gene having to either a) fight off attacks every night at midnight or b) some pseudo-logical explanation of why the attacks didn't occur. Instead we are just informed that "his life is her's" and everyone is happy. Gar! Melfina is poorly developed as a character. I really wish I could say that there was a sense of presence, but for the most part she may as well be shut down for the majority of the show. Heck, even the "Outlaw Star"'s computer has more of a presence! Aisha is about the only thing that makes this watchable - she is funny, strong, sexy, but again, like Melfina, never well developed. It's a shame. The overall story (which is the point of ANY film) is rather flimsy - and it feels at times that the writers are just phoning it in. Many of the episodes don't seem to go anywhere and just add questions, rather than tie up loose ends. Nothing about "Outlaw Star" could be considered "killer". Amusing yes, but like a many dreams, quickly forgotten. A good rental, but there is little to recommend in keeping this on your shelf for posterity. There are far better to be taking up valuable shelf space. Last updated Sunday, May 23 2004. Created Sunday, May 23 2004. | ||||||||
| Buy |
 dhrachth
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[series:178#962] | ||||||
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A space adventure with great characters and without the same old crappy alien plots. Some of the episodes are laugh out loud funny and others are merely entertaining--excellent series overall.
Last updated Thursday, September 11 2003. Created Thursday, September 11 2003. | ||||||||
| Rent |
 Stretch
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[series:178#628] | ||||||
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Outlaw Star holds a fond place in my heart, being one of the first half dozen anime series I watched on Adult Swim, and having a sort of fun "goofy action" tone to it. I must have enjoyed it, since I finally mail ordered the missing "Hot Springs Planet Tenrei" episode. $15 for what I thought would be just half an hour of Anime made me nervous, but this episode seems to be almost universally considered to be hilarious, and the tape turned out to include a second episode as well (It was also nice to see somebody's coming attractions besides ADV for once!). The box featured the description of the Outlaw Star saga taking place in "A strange other space solar system in another galaxy"--but didn't they visit the "West Virginia Spaceport" once? Anyway, the premise of the Hot Springs episode is that in order to acquire his precious Caster shells, Gene must take some dirty pictures for a couple of wizards! A good episode, though it almost seemed to have a different style of humor (slapstick, perhaps) than the series I am familiar with.* As for me, I think my favorite episode will remain "The Strongest Woman in the Universe". Watching both Gene and Aisha sneak into the wrestling tournament was great. On the other hand, I felt "Gravity Jail Break" (or something like that) was disappointing because it had a original premise which wasn't really exploited--in other words, I wish Gene had thought of a more clever way to escape than he did. So, some episodes are good and some are not-so-good, but I wouldn't say any are truly "Bad". If I couldn't see them for free I'd be willing to "Buy"--as I did to get ahold of the fabled "Hot Springs" episode. I thought the series ended fairly well. Near the end Melfina sings the song which had been played during the closing credits, along with fantasy artwork which had absolutely nothing to do with the series. I thought she did it in a hauntingly beautiful way, too. One last observation--when I first started watching Saturday night Adult Swim there were six series running, and I noticed that Hajime Yadate got a lot of credit for no less than three of them--Gundam 0083, Cowboy Bebop, and Outlaw Star. I thought "Damn, this guy's behind everything!" (it turns out Hajime Yadate isn't a person at all, rather a moniker for all projects completed by the Sunrise studio) My favorite line: "I feel like someone just walked over my grave"--Fred Luo *Now that I think about it (2008), I bet the dubbed Outlaw Star has been changed so radically that that's why it feels like another show altogether. I really ought to rewatch this series in subtitle mode. 5/23/04 Last updated Monday, March 17 2008. Created Tuesday, May 27 2003. | ||||||||
| Buy | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 8 |
 nodoubt
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[series:178#399] |
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Outlaw Star is a fun-filled ride through outer space. Gene, your main characer, and his 11-yrs old partner Jim, dreams of making it big someday. Right now, they are working odd jobs to make a living. That all changed when a woman hired them for a job. Next thing they know, they are being chased by space pirates and got involved with the Galatic Leyline. Furthermore, they teamed up with a beautiful assassin named Suzuka, and Aisha. Eventually, Gene gets a hold of a ship controlled by a half-naked Meflina, who is mysteriously connnected to the Leyline. To solve this mystery, the gang must go through the Anton Seven, the most feared group of pirates in the galaxy and their leader. While Outlaw Star does contain a few filler episodes (the cactus one was quite out there..) it is a worthy series to own. I enjoyed every moment of it and it stands as one of my favorite animes of all time. 10-13-02 Last updated Sunday, October 13 2002. Created Sunday, October 13 2002. | ||||||||
| Rent | 9 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 7 |
 Cenit
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[series:178#45] |
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Outlaw Star has to definitely rank among one of the better space-related anime that exist, I think only second to Martian Succesor Nadesico. The chracarters are well created, strong and the whole story keeps a good plot. The so different characteristics of all the characters, like the funny Aisha, the always-serious Suzuka and so on adds a lot of life to the series. This one you can't definitely miss.
Last updated Thursday, May 30 2002. Created Thursday, May 30 2002. | ||||||||
| Buy | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
 Atsumi_Yamaki
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[series:178#259] |
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This is really good. especially Aisha. I first saw it on cn toonami (it has one of the best dubs around)And I love the ending song followed by the Opening
Last updated Friday, January 11 2002. Created Friday, January 11 2002. | ||||||||
| Buy | 8 | 9 | 10 | 7 | 9 |
 Courtney
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[series:178#80] | |
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TOTAL GRADE: 86% B I've got to give OUTLAW STAR a lot of credit for refusing to be yet another aimless space opera about big ships and bigger guns. I think that there is truly a lot to adore about the series. The animation is splendid, the characters are very interesting and entertaining in their own rights, and it shifts gears really well between being a comedy and an action. The series is just plain fun! A lot of effort was put into a pretty good subplot and it makes for an interesting climax. While the saga of OUTLAW STAR was really good, I have to say I loved the series best when it would work harder to be entertaining than resolving their plot. Not to mention a lot of it is just laugh out loud funny between character interactions and any other wacky antics that happens the crew's way (That hot spring planet episode was just gold!). While the series was intended to be more funny than serious, OUTLAW STAR still showed that the main characters could hold their own when the chips were down and had a bond as solid as any other anime team (though sometimes its hard to tell!). I have to say buy this because its one of the few series that is capable of being completely entertaining and thoroughly satisfying overall. For other space odysseys try: COWBOY BEBOP CREST OF THE STARS TENCHI UNIVERSE Last updated Tuesday, December 04 2001. Created Thursday, October 11 2001. | ||||||||
| Buy | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 |
 Pai
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[series:178#196] | ||
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Another quanity anime title. This series is amusing, humorus, and yet contains that slight dent of seriousness. The characters all have faults, which makes it that much more realistic and down to earth. It's a great anime series you will not regret buying.
Last updated Wednesday, August 22 2001. Created Wednesday, August 22 2001. | ||||||||
| Buy | 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
 X
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[series:178#157] |
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I really, really liked this show. All the characters are great simply because they all have flaws and strengths. They aren't indestructible and whole hearted so-to-say. They are like regular people. The only downfall was the animation. At points it was nice, but at others (especially battle scenes) it seems like it was rushed. Did they finish the series in a day? However, the story was great, it was funny full of action and very witty. The ending was an ideal ending to a series that is just new. It resolves the problem, but leaves more room another season. A must see.
Last updated Monday, March 19 2001. Created Monday, March 19 2001. | ||||||||
| Buy | 7 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 |
 Midnighter
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[series:178#94] | |
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I was impressed with Outlaw Star. The animation was very nice, smooth and fluid, the characters were okay and the music was great. The best part, however, was the cool little concepts like a prison on a high gravity world (my favorite episode). Outlaw Star offers plenty for any anime fan, I would recommend it. Smart writing, nifty-keen animation, cool angular character designs, and a good voice cast make this a really enjoyable series. Nice end theme, too. Last updated Monday, December 03 2001. Created Tuesday, March 06 2001. | ||||||||
| Buy | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 |
 Lickylick
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[series:178#133] |
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This anime was truly an enjoyable one. I watched this for the first time one week after my all-nighter Evangelion spree (and, yes, this was all watched in one night, too). I was looking for something fun and not too overly depressing. This was perfect for my mood. Most of the characters are just great (Aisha, Suzuka, Hilda, Melfina, Gene) and the humor is pretty good (watch episode 23, it is the customary fan-boy's-dream episode at the hot springs with the entire female cast nude, VERY FUNNY). The space battles are quite good, as well as the gun fights, and the story in general is good. My quarrels with the series are few. One is the Casters. If they are so powerful, why aren't they considered that way. He kills off several "extremely deadly" people with them and everyone's 2nd favorite homosexual (behind Fushigi Yuugi's Nuriko) Fred Luo calls them antiques. The lack of characterization of the seven main pirates (I think it might be the Anten 7, can't remember). They are, I guess, the series' main villains and you only find out stuff about, like, two of them. I love the opening song (it is still kinda stuck in my head along with the Utena OP, Lost Universe OP, Fushigi Yuugi OVA2 OP, and CCS OP) and the ending songs are good too. All in all, a fun anime. Last updated Sunday, February 04 2001. Created Sunday, February 04 2001. | ||||||||
| Buy | 7 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 7 |
 Anonymous #130
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[series:178#130] | |
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Outlaw Star took a while to pick up for me. I bought the DVD Collection and the first 9 episodes were basically intro episodes and they still continue a bit onto the second DVD Collection. I must say, the story really started to pick up in the second collection and you should give it a try and don't give up on it just in the beginning.
Last updated Saturday, January 27 2001. Created Saturday, January 27 2001. | ||||||||
| Avoid | 6 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 |
 The Coyote
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[series:178#64] | |
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(this one stunk I got the first tape and if I could sue some one to get the time back that I wasted watching this thing I would Parents don't even think about it this one is bad.) Ok to all of you who have emailed me about this review I have forced my self and sat down and watched the whole thing ya know what it still sucks no two ways about it and to compare this to cowboy bebop is an insult and beyond stupid I enjoyed angel links far more and that one's the spin off sorry guys this is a total avoid. For those of you who want to know why Gene starwind would be the main reason I disliked him so much I found myself routing for anyone trying to kill him the animation is ok but nothing exeptional In my opionin they killed the best charater off early and tryed to pull a nadesco Gui thing and it failed miserably. The characters were shallow and predictable. And the storyline was weak which in my point of view is the most important part.
Last updated Monday, December 03 2001. Created Monday, August 07 2000. | ||||||||
| Buy | 7 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 8 |
 Dingle
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[series:178#35] | |
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I really like this show. The characters are strong and the story is kind of funny. As with many shows the real story starts after episode 13. Yes, the main character is not a moral leader, but how many characters are. He is a standard rogue. I have not seen the dub, but I don't want to. The sub cast is really good. The space battles are really cool. I know I am not the only one who thinks so because I saw Titan AE (or Titan OS as I like to call it). I also hate people who compare Outlaw Star to Cowboy Bebop. They are both about bounty hunter in space and they are both good, but in a different way. The best thing about Outlaw Star is the setting. There is so much room for interesting expansion. I would love the play an Outlaw Star RPG. Well that is my two cents.
Last updated Monday, August 07 2000. Created Monday, August 07 2000. | ||||||||
