Outlaw Star

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Outlaw Star [星方武侠] is a 26-episode anime series created by Sunrise and Bandai Entertainment, loosely based on the manga by Takehito Ito. Bandai and ZRO Limit Productions translated the series into an English release. It was edited for content and time, airing on Cartoon Network. An unedited, uncensored English version also exists on VHS (comes in either English Dubbed or English Subtitled format, but is now out of print) and DVD (English/Japanese with English subtitles). It is distributed in the US by Bandai Entertainment.

The Angel Links OAV series is set in the same universe, and two characters cross over.

Synopsis

Hello peopleThe show follows the exploits of Gene Starwind, an outlaw in space, a century and half after humans developed faster-than-light spacecraft. (Note that an "outlaw" in the show's context is simply an independent person with no major governmental loyalties, as opposed to a criminal.) Outlaw Star takes the characters from the original manga with a totally different story.

Gene, along with his 12-year old business associate and hacker Jim Hawking runs a small jack-of-all-trades business on the backwater planet Sentinel III. After taking a job as a bodyguard for a mysterious outlaw, the two find themselves the owners and crew of a highly advanced prototype spacecraft, the XGP15A-II, later named the Outlaw Star, and the caretakers of a highly humanlike android named Melfina. Through the course of the show, the crew grows to include the bounty hunter "Twilight" Suzuka and Aisha Clan Clan, a cat-like humanoid.

The show is mainly episodic in nature, combining action, suspense, and comedy, although towards the end of series, the storyline concerns the quest for the Galactic Leyline, a mythical wish-granting construction hidden somewhere in the galaxy.

Template:Spoilers

Characters

  • Born on Earth, Gene Starwind developed a fear of space flight and a hatred of pirates during an incident when he was a pre-teen that resulted in his father's death at the hands of the Kei Pirates. Gene himself escaped safely to the planet Sentinel III and spent the next several years there. On Sentinel III, he met Jim Hawking, a 12-year old genius hacker. The pair became business partners in Starwind and Hawking Enterprises, primarily as repairmen, but also accepting various odd jobs, as long as they don't break the law. He is a reckless ladies man and a bit of a pervert. He would rather try to achieve his goals in one fell swoop, with a minimum of effort, a characteristic that frustrates Jim; but he can think on his feet when he needs to. Gene is well armed with a variety of weapons such as a handgun, shotgun, knife, light shield, etc. His special weapon, a Caster gun, fires special Caster shells effective against Tao priests and other things that are protected against normal weaponry. Caster shells are considered antiques, however, and are difficult to acquire.
  • The 12-year-old James "Jim" Hawking is the business partner and sidekick of Gene Starwind. Details about Jim's past and how he met Gene are unknown. Jim serves as the team's computer expert, hacker, strategist, and back-up. He is responsible and concerned; he worries about the team's finances and plans, prefers to earn money the hard way rather than to take risks, and is often annoyed by Gene's lazy and cavalier attitude. Jim becomes good friends with fellow Outlaw Star crew member Aisha Clan Clan, who is in some ways his opposite: Jim gets treated like a kid even though he acts like an adult, while Aisha, though an adult, acts like a kid. Jim also looks up to the android Melfina as a mother figure, and gets along well with the Outlaw Star's on-board computer, Gilliam II. Jim has trouble, however, trusting strangers such as Hilda, who first approaches him and Gene under false pretences, and Suzuka, who tries to kill Gene and whose motives are unclear. Episode 20 of the anime tells the story of Jim's first love, a young girl named Hamiyo who, unknown to the crew, is a combat pilot charged with destroying the Outlaw Star and its crew.
  • Melfina is a human and machine hybrid created from an ancient and unknown genome. The genome, in fact, was that of an emissary, simply referred to as "the maiden", from the Leyline itself. The maiden is the only one capable of finding, and navigating the way to the Galactic Leyline. The maiden is also the only one capable of accessing its great powers.
  • Aisha Clan Clan is a female Ctarl-Ctarl spacer. She is a dark-skinned catgirl with a drinking problem, a very large appetite, and the strength of ten men, depending on the tides of the planet she is on. Aisha was originally in charge of locating the Galactic Layline for the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire, but after she unknowingly allowed for Hot Ice Hilda to escape her government ordered her to stay behind on Blue Heaven to look for clues as punishment. Aisha finds out that Gene Starwind is connected to Hilda and tries to pump him for information; however, Gene knows nothing of the Galactic Layline. Later during the Space Race, after Aisha was able to trick Gene into letting her on board the Outlaw Star, she finds out that the Macdougall Brothers have more information on Hilda than they do. Aisha then decides to join the crew since they are the ones who were indirectly responsible for her demotion in the first place.
  • "Twilight" Suzuka is a female assassin who only kills when the sun is down. She first appears when she tries to kill Gene Starwind's friend Fred Luo as part of her contract with a rival weapons seller. Gene is able to outsmart her and force her to consent to come after him first before she kills Fred as part of her pride. However, in her next appearance, Suzuka saves Melfina from a Kei Pirate and decides to help the group against the Kei Pirates for unknown reasons. Surprisingly, Suzuka seems to know more about the Kei Pirates than the rest of the crew.
  • Fred Luo: A gay weapons merchant and an old friend of Gene Starwind. Gene goes to him to supply weapons for the Outlaw Star, although it costs a lot of money for weapons that are for a Grappler Ship. Although Gene works hard to pay back Fred for all the money he owes him, Fred does however offer discounts for doing favors for him and is willing to help Gene, so Gene is able to pay him back one day.
  • The Kei Pirates are a collection of users of Tao magic. The group most often mentioned in the series is the 108 Stars, led by the mysterious Tendo King. Those in Outlaw Star are mostly lead by Hazanko and his elite Anten Seven.
  • The 108 Stars are a group of Tao magic users from the Hoppo system, and members of the Kei Pirates. The name may come from the legend of the 108 Stars of Destiny. Centered around the Tendo King, their leader, the 108 Stars operate in smaller groups of 10 or 20, with the leaders of these groups acting as independents, pursuing their own interests. In the series, the group that pursues Gene Starwind and the rest of the crew of the Outlaw Star is led by a man called Hazanko. The members of this group supposedly possess a great power known as Sunjutsu (pronounced soon-joot-su). They hunt Gene and his companions relentlessly, eventually setting the Anten Seven after them. The Seven and Hazanko are eventually defeated, yet the 108 Stars live on.
  • The XGP15A-II, or the Outlaw Star itself is, as its onboard AI Gilliam II insists, "the fastest, most advanced ship in the galaxy." It was constructed by the Kei space pirate guild using connections with the Space Forces military. Powered by four plasma fusion Unsen engines (most fast ships have one) and a powerful Munchausen reactor for use with its "sub-ether" faster-than-light drive. In addition, it is a "grappler ship", that is, a spaceship with manipulator arms modified for combat purposes. It is designed where the Bio-Android Mefina who was created by the scientist Gwen Khan, who could link up with the navigational systems and have control over all the navigational systems, this was intended for the sole purpose of navigating the Galactic Layline. It was originally stolen by Hilda and hidden in an asteroid by a sun, she later came back with Gene, Jim, and Melfina. However the Kei Pirates placed a Tao spell on her ship Horus and tracked them there. During the battle the outlaws the Macdougall Brothers arrived who were secretly hired by the Space Forces to destroy all traces of their partnership with the Kei Pirates. In the end Hilda sacrificed herself so Gene, Jim, and Melfina could escape with the ship. In honor of her, Gene decided to name the ship the Outlaw Star.

Theme songs

Banned episode

Episode 23, Hot Springs Planet Tenrei, was banned from the Cartoon Network airings due to issues of nudity and sex-related humor. However, it has been shown on UK channel CNX, and later on the British version of Toonami, completely uncensored. It is also currently available on DVD and VHS (Although the VHS version is now out of print and can only be bought through a seller).

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