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Outlaw Star (Collection 3)Rating:
Release Date: 06 March, 2001 Retail Price: $44.98 Sorry, this product is not currently available. Cast: |
Outlaw Star (Collection 3) Reviews
An Above-Average Ending to a Below-Average Series
There are a certain number of quirks and foibles one has to endure if anime is going to hold your interest. 'Outlaw Star' has pretty much all of them.
First, there is the team of heros, so exceptionally diverse you'd think they were each written by different people. This problem is reflected in the villains who, (true to anime style) are each more bizarre and dangerous than the last. The problem is that its almost impossible to tell a coherent story with this setup, as Suzuka demonstrates in one of the final episodes.
Second, there is the problem with the TV-series setup itself. Apparently there is a law somewhere that requires a certain number of 'filler' episodes that have nothing to do with the central plotline. Sometimes the writers really struggle to connect these episodes to the central plot. In several episodes the audience has no idea why the characters are where they are. One episode in particular seems to serve no purpose other than provide a link to 'Outlaw Star's' spinoff series.
And finally there's the fact that every Anime series lags heavily in the beginning before becoming good at the end. The series that best serves as an example of this is 'Evangelion,' which becomes downright pathetic in the middle of the series before becoming beautifully brilliant at the end.
That's pretty much the bottom line for 'Outlaw Star.' Despite a rough beginning and a miserable middle, the ending is genuinely satisfying, enough to make up for all its quirks. If you have the patience to make it all the way to the last disc, you will be richly rewarded.
There is some genuinely cool stuff to be found here. Jim is the star of an excellent episode. Melfina and Harry MacDougal continue to steal the show, leaving the entire rest of the cast behind as their bizarre drama takes off. The prison planet episode was also very good. I suspect more scientific research went into this one episode than the entire rest of the series. One of the 'filler' episodes, involving a tourist resort, seems pointless but (unlike the rest of the show) it is genuinely funny, with a vein of humor so strange, wacky, and downright hilarious it's worthy of Douglas Adams.
The Anten Seven get some good scenes, but mostly they are the mismatched and mostly asinine villain team we've come to expect from the anime genre. As I mentioned before, towards the end Suzuka becomes the subject of a pointless subplot that seems to be inserted only to drag the ending out a bit longer. But these stumbles are made up for by the sheer beauty of the Galactic Leyline and the drama between Gene, Melfina, Harry. Like most anime, this series becomes very strange at the end, but it is strange in a good way. Unlike 'Evangelion,' the ending is odd enough to make you think, but not so bizarre that it's rendered incomprehensible.
Taken together, the series is only average. It has as many awful moments as it has brilliant ones. It's one of the foibles of anime that the brilliant ones have to be stuck at the end. If you were less-than-satisfied with the rest of the series, you can be assured that the final episodes are well worth your time and money.
Outlaw Star (a must for Anime fans)
This Review Can be seen for the Outlaw Star Dvd collection 1-3. I am writing a review for the WHOLE series. Outlaw Star tells the tale of Gene Starwind and Jim Hawking. Who inevitably end up leaving there home planet and getting caught up in a race for the Galactic Layline. On there way they will meet lots of friends and enemies such as Melfina, the McDougal Bros., Aisha Clan Clan of the Ctarl Ctarl, Sazukie Twilight and a whole bunch more in this action series from bandai that keeps you laughing while it delivers great action. What is the Galactic Layline? Well people say that at the Galatic Layline can be found a great treasure. But if you wanna know more you'll have to get the dvd's (or the tapes). Outlaw Star can also be seen on the Cartoon Networks Toonami (although they cut a bit). Anyway I hope this review was helpful. Be sure to check out my review of the Outlaw Star spinoff, Angel Links.
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