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Outlaw Star

Outlaw Star	4.5/5 Stars
Director: Wendee Lee & Hongoo Mitsuru Writer: Katsuhiko Chiba Distributor: Bandai 26 episodes in 3 volumes

At first glance, Outlaw Star might seem your run of the mill space adventure. However, it's much more than that. Sure, it's got great space battles, gunfights, bounty hunters, and pirates. But it's also got some great comedy an extremely likable crew of characters.

Outlaw Star is the story of a young outlaw, Gene Starwind, on a journey to find his place in the universe. Accompanying him is Jim Hawkings, a young boy who's something of an electronics wizard and Gene's business partner. Along the way they add to their group an android named Melfina, a catlike alien warrior named Aisha, and an assassin named Suzuka. Together, they are trying to find the "Galactic Leyline" while avoiding pirates and making a little money on the side.

It's hard to find any one thing that stands out in Outlaw Star. The action sequences are superb, and many of them feature starships equipped with grappler arms, allowing some very unique hand to hand combat in space. The background setting for the series is also very interesting. It has a distinct Asian feel to it, from the architecture to the planet names. Besides the high technology of any science fiction setting, there is also magic present in the form of "Tao Masters" many of whom work for the pirates. Magic is treated as fairly ordinary, even though few people possess it. A special technology has sprung up specifically to counter Tao magic, embodied in Gene's "caster pistol".

The animation and art are excellent, and the English voice cast does superb work, though some of the extras are a bit forced. The series will seem to meander a bit in the first half, but it works well with Gene's character who is struggling to find his place. The only downside is that this isn't the deepest series, so don't go looking for any great themes. Outlaw Star is definitely the story of Gene Starwind, while the other characters are well done and enjoyable, don't expect to see any great changes to them during the series. It would have been nice to have seen a bit more of Melfina's character, as she plays a central role in the development of Gene.

The series has been aired on the Cartoon Network, but was edit for content and time. The DVD version is definitely worth getting, it includes the original opening cut by CN, as well as edit scenes. The nice thing about Outlaw star is that it was released in three two disc volumes, of 9 episodes each. The cost is very reasonable as well, $35-$40, especially considering 9 episodes of another series could easily run you $80. Hopefully this trend will catch on.

Outlaw Star (Collection 1) (DVD)

posted by Madog at 10:44 AM