Aaron's Review: Outlaw Star

Well, there’s no easy way to explain myself for this one. So I’ll just be blunt. Outlaw Star is…boring. But not for the reasons I thought it’d be.

Guys, Gals & Non Binary Pals, this is Animated Aaron’s review of Outlaw Star.

!The Premise!

Set in space, Gene Starwind & Jim Hawking run a ‘jack-of-all-trades’ business and get a job as body guards for a thief named Hilda. After Hilda gets killed by magic using space pirates (you read that right), she leaves Gene a ship he then dubs the ‘Outlaw Star’ along with a woman named Melfina who can operate the ship. The ship’s purpose? To locate the ‘Galactic Leyline’, an ambiguous destination fabled to give immense treasure and power to anyone who claims it. So, the race is on to locate the ‘Galactic Leyline’, get Melfina’s memory back (yes, that old trope) and get rich in the process.

!The Show!

Okay, so this show isn’t as well-known as other space operas because it came out around the same time as another sci-fi western, Cowboy Bebop. Thus, it gets compared to the much more famous of the two (technically three if you count ‘Trigun’). This isn’t a rip off obviously since animation takes a long time, but it’s hard not to look at this anime and think ‘Cowboy Bebop’.

Outlaw Star has this very cyber punk look to it as well as a sleek animation style and unique character designs. Everything is crisp, but isn’t exactly polished. It’s not rough, but you can tell the direction for the action scenes, shading, coloring and line work were a huge priority. It sucks that it’s from the 90’s and thus the animation itself hasn’t aged well. I want to praise the art much more and it’s not distracting per say. However, it’s clearly a 90’s show. Which doesn’t work in the shows favor. But I’ll get to that later.

!The Characters!  

The main character Gene is this sort of rough but tries to be chill type of guy. Something will get on his nerves and he’ll be very vocal about it. But the show presents it as more, he understands when to dial his tone down depending on the situation even though it pisses him off. The gunslinger’s got an ego, but he knows how to keep it in check for the sake of his and Jim’s safety…most of the time. He does get in some trouble every now and again, but it’s more for humorous purposes than plot driven. Same with his sexual appetite, which I like. It’s not often an anime treats sexual attraction with tact and restraint.

Jim, Gene’s business partner, is an 11 year old genius who can build just about anything. Yes, I’m serious. No, I don’t know how this team up happened since they’re not related. Jim is often the person arguing with Gene about what action should be taken next or just teasing him when he messes up. It’s a common dynamic that I don’t hate, but there isn’t much improved on here. What sucks is that Jim’s character is almost entirely based on reacting to something. I guess the idea is that he’s a kid so he doesn’t really grasp initiative despite showing confidence. But really, he’s a smart kid with a smart mouth. That’s it.

The other three characters who join Gene and Jim on the Outlaw Star are: ‘Twilight’ Suzuka, a contract killer who respects the two; Melfina, as stated earlier; and an alien cat-girl named Aisha ClanClan (yes I’m serious). These three…are boring. Well, Suzuka & Melfina are boring. Aisha is annoying because she screams all of her lines. That’s for both the dub and sub so have fun. Suzuka’s character is a calm and precise assassin. That’s it. She’s always reserved and…that’s it. Melfina is…I don’t remember. I’m serious. I’ve seen this show three times and she left no impact on me what so ever. She has amnesia, the space pirates want her so they can get some treasure, and she asks Jim something so he can give exposition. That’s everything I remember about her. She’s just bland.

!The Story!

Okay. So this show does something that other action anime don’t know how to do. It’s episodic. It introduces a problem and it’s resolved by the end of that episode. The furthest a specific plot in an episode goes is 4 episodes, and that’s the finale. Each episode isn’t really in depth nor does it get so cartoonish that it insults your intelligence. The action scenes are well paced as are the conversations. It’s fun.

…However…it’s not really engaging. I had trouble getting invested in a lot of the things going on since there’s not really anything about the adventures that stands out. They need to win a race to get money for an item. I’ve seen this before in other shows. They get into cat and mouse fight with robbers and thwart their plan. I’ve seen that before in other shows. An assassin is sent to kill Gene, but it’s not the last episode. Gee! I wonder whose gonna win?

See what I mean? It’s the type of writing that was really popular in the 90′s and instead of being so cheesy that it pushes the show forward, it drags it down a bit.

!The Summary!

Outlaw Star is unfortunate enough to be caught under the shadow of other sci-fi-westerns like Cowboy Bebop & Trigun. While I did enjoy those two more than Outlaw, that doesn’t meant Star is bad. While it’s nowhere near my favorites list, I did enjoy the show. It’s not outstanding, and it’s not mediocre either.

!Grade!

Outlaw Star: C+

Final Word: It’s honestly just a nice anime. Nothing more. Even though I wish it was.