
The complete series - for a completely cheap price!
Review created: 09/24/08(updated 09/24/08)
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.
For those who remember Toonami, you'll probably remember Outlaw Star. This show aired, in an edited format, in the afternoon block from 2001 through 2004 at varying times and dates.
The series focused on Gene Starwind, a bounty hunter and jack-of-all-trades who works with his partner, Jim Hawking. However, a twist of fate (and a girl in a suitcase) winds up taking Gene and Jim on a journey into the stars - and lands them one of the most advanced starships in existence: a ship built with the power of the Space Forces and the grappling combat arms of the Kei Space Pirates. Unfortunately, this marks Gene and his companions for death from the pirates and for capture (at least) from the Space Forces - leaving him and his crew outlaws.
Spanning over 26 episodes, the format for this series is somewhat similar to another popular show of the time: Cowboy Bebop, though it should be noted that it appears like the idea for Outlaw Star came first (but both shows were made by Sunrise, so there's no problems there). A few episodes have an overarching storyline to them (a few two-parters, and the first four episodes have a plot line strung through them - as do the final four episodes). Most episodes deal with Gene and company trying to 'make it big,' or at least trying to make ends meet. Comedy is mixed with strong science-fiction well, and the writing is quite solid - as are the unique character and mechanical designs.
When it comes to the acting, the dub is quite excellent - though several have criticized the dub for adding swear words where there were few or none in the original script. Personally, I think the dub in general adds more to the characters themselves, but the sub is also quite good on it's own.
As for extras, the discs are taken right from the original releases a few years back (despite the box proclaiming 3 discs, this is a 6 disc set), meaning we still have the old advertising and few other extras beyond that.
Originally available in a series of three two-disc sets (or in a boxset collecting them all) for thirty bucks apiece (or 90 for the boxset), the entire series is now at around 30 bucks MSRP, which is a steal for the whole series. It's not a perfect show, but the series is a decidedly enjoyable one if you're a fan of action or science fiction as a whole.
A must for almost any sci-fi anime fan, and heavily recommended for anyone who likes anime or science fiction in general.
Review ID: 10000000008806012

Thank you for voting. If your vote meets our
guidelines, it will be posted within 24 hours.
You cannot vote on the helpfulness of a review you wrote.
Your request cannot be processed at this time. Please try again later.