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REVIEW: Outlaw Star BD+DVD


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Nadare Xizos



Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 115
Location: The Heero Hole
PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 7:49 pm Reply with quote
This was an automatic pre-order for me. "Outlaw Star" is right up there with "Cowboy Bebop" and "Trigun" in terms of classic anime, at least to me. I'm glad to hear it looks great on Blu-Ray, I've been disappointed by shows in the past when it comes to upgrading from DVD. It's nice that other people still hold "Outlaw Star" in high regard. Smile

Last edited by Nadare Xizos on Thu Jul 20, 2017 5:45 pm; edited 1 time in total
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Zalis116
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Joined: 31 Mar 2005
Posts: 6869
Location: Kazune City
PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 9:43 pm Reply with quote
Glad to see Outlaw Star finally out -- it does sound like this release would be a visual upgrade over the old Bandai "Perfect Collection" DVD set I have.

And hey, at this current release pace (1.5 title/year), maybe we'll see Funimation complete their Sunrise releases by 2024. At least Funi's luckier in the receiving-materials-lottery than Sentai is, as they're on a 0.5 titles/year pace. Here's hoping that the anime consumers of 2039 are still hankering for Betterman DVDs. It's even 16:9!

walw6pK4Alo wrote:
Quote:
Save for the ridiculous 90's style and 4:3 aspect ratio, the visuals hold up alongside today's animation quite well.

Why is the aspect ratio even an issue? Anyway, it's definitely one of the cleanest and sharpest remasters out there, better than Escaflowne or Bebop. Sunrise still has the rest of their late 90s analog catalog to finish up, but they're in no hurry.
I imagine the AR is an issue with all the "Why isn't this filling up my whole screen?" viewers out there.
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
Posts: 7163
Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:27 pm Reply with quote
I think I'm alone in finding the most memorable episode being the one where the villain turned out to be the (inanimate, ordinary-looking) potted plant on the windowsill.

Greed1914 wrote:
It's interesting that the review pointed out how much the show seemed like a product of its time. A couple of years ago, I was talking to someone at a convention about Outlaw Star, and he basically said he couldn't get into the show because it felt "so '90's."


To be honest, I never thought about that until I read this review. Then I realized that if you wanted to show a modern-day anime fan what a 90's anime was like, you show them Outlaw Star.

Zalis116 wrote:
Here's hoping that the anime consumers of 2039 are still hankering for Betterman DVDs. It's even 16:9!


Betterman was so very dark and depressing. I think, in a way, it was also somewhat representative of anime at its time, riding the wave of angstiness Evangelion created.

Zalis116 wrote:
walw6pK4Alo wrote:

Why is the aspect ratio even an issue? Anyway, it's definitely one of the cleanest and sharpest remasters out there, better than Escaflowne or Bebop. Sunrise still has the rest of their late 90s analog catalog to finish up, but they're in no hurry.
I imagine the AR is an issue with all the "Why isn't this filling up my whole screen?" viewers out there.


Remember when the stretch tag was introduced to YouTube? There were a lot of uploaders putting up their 4:3 game footage, then stretching it out because they would rather have a blurry and distorted picture than have pillarboxes on the sides.

I feel like 16:9 has become a standard for so long that there are people with the disposable income (or parental support) to buy this Blu-Ray set who never experienced a time when 4:3 was the standard.
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Top Gun



Joined: 28 Sep 2007
Posts: 4586
PostPosted: Tue Jul 18, 2017 10:41 pm Reply with quote
I only saw Outlaw Star for the first time many years after the Toonami fact, but I still enjoyed the hell out of it regardless. It was refreshing to see a series that's so emphatically, unapologetically fun. It was a wonderful homage to classic sci-fi comics and serials, with bold character archetypes and iconic spaceships duking it out across a galaxy full of excitement and mystery. Sometimes it's nice to watch a good old-fashioned adventure if it's executed properly. (And hell, we got Firefly because of it too. Razz) Definitely plan on upgrading to Blu-ray.

It is a bummer to hear that they didn't bother to (or couldn't) get any of those old Toonami promos like they did for their Bebop release. It wouldn't really fit because of the myriad of shows included, but the "Broken Promise [Dreams]" video was one of the best two minutes ever aired on CN.
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Zin5ki



Joined: 06 Jan 2008
Posts: 6680
Location: London, UK
PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 2:29 am Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:
I think I'm alone in finding the most memorable episode being the one where the villain turned out to be the (inanimate, ordinary-looking) potted plant on the windowsill.

Somehow, despite the breadth of Gene and Jim's escapades, that telekinetic cactus remains the most memorable of highlights from this meandering show.
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Ouran High School Dropout



Joined: 28 Jun 2015
Posts: 440
Location: Somewhere in Massachusetts, USA
PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 6:05 am Reply with quote
Glad to see this kind of love for Gene Starwind & Co. after nearly 20 years! Outlaw Star remains a favorite from my early days of fandom, and I can confirm that the Blu-ray looks superb. Smile

I only wish more classic anime would (if it was even possible) get this sort of treatment--catalog titles are such a hit-or-miss affair, for reasons Justin has made clear in several columns over the last year or so.
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 11:01 am Reply with quote
Outlaw Star is still a great show to watch in this day and age. I consider it a major highlight of my younger days of anime viewing. It also reminds me Bob Buchholz hasn't voice acted in anything since Grandia III, so anything with his voice in it is worth listening to. You can tell he had a lot of fun as Gene. The whole run was a treat.

And of course I can't talk about Outlaw Star without mentioning Angel Links and my favorite character of all, that hunky Duuz Delax Rex. When he first appeared in Law and Lawlessness, I was completely enamored with him. It's no surprise that I went for Angel Links the minute I heard about it (and spotted all the Outlaw Star references I could). To this day, I still want to know more about him and his people. I wish I could have gotten my hands on the Angel Links mini-manga that was released with the first Japanese print run of the anime. At least I have the All About Meifon art book.
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CCTakato



Joined: 24 Jul 2015
Posts: 514
PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 11:35 am Reply with quote
I'm a big fan of Outlaw Star and used to watch it every weekday afternoon on Toonami. I eventually bought the Bandai Perfect Collection DVD boxset which was one of the first anime series I ever bought on DVD. I still have my copy of it to this day and will occasionally rewatch it. I personally actually kind of enjoy Outlaw Star a lot more than I do Cowboy Bebop Cowboy Bebop is the more professionally produced show, but I think Outlaw Star has more rewatchabilty quality to it and the characters are a lot more likable to me As a kid, Suzuka was my favorite, but I think as an adult I actually think Aisha Clan Clan is my favorite, and she makes me wish modern anime would bring back anime catgirls. I remember anime review critics used to loathe catgirls but I much prefer catgirls over any of today's modern anime tropes. Outlaw Star is also one of those shows where I prefer to watch it dubbed over subbed and I think it holds up alongside Cowboy Bebop as one of the best 90s anime dubs. I wish Funimation could have include some interviews with the dub cast like they did Cowboy Bebop as I feel like the dub is part of the appeal of this show. Speaking of the dub cast, does anyone know how Brianne Siddall is doing? I remember reading she had some major health issues awhile back but never heard any updates about how she was doing. I always liked her voice acting a lot and she was a voice actor that really stood out to me from the 90s.

Quote:
And of course I can't talk about Outlaw Star without mentioning Angel Links and my favorite character of all, that hunky Duuz Delax Rex. When he first appeared in Law and Lawlessness, I was completely enamored with him. It's no surprise that I went for Angel Links the minute I heard about it (and spotted all the Outlaw Star references I could).
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who bought Angel Links for that main reason. It's too bad it didn't out better as I thought Angel Links actually had a sad ending that I liked in an otherwise mediocre show and I do still kind of like Duuz. It's too bad we never got a proper second season of Outlaw Star. Given how popular it was, I wish Toonami could have commissioned a second season of Outlaw Star like they did Big O, or at least that we could have gotten an OVA follow up or something. I feel like Outlaw Star would lend itself more easily to an anniversary revival sequel than Cowboy Bebop.

Quote:
I often wondered if the Manga version continued on where anime left off.
I always wanted to read the Outlaw Star manga and I was always disappointed we never got to. Given how popular it was on Toonami, you'd think somebody would have release it back in the height of the show's popularity. I still wish someone like Viz could license the manga one of these days and I would still gladly fork over the money to read it.
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leafy sea dragon



Joined: 27 Oct 2009
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Location: Another Kingdom
PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 12:26 pm Reply with quote
Zin5ki wrote:
Somehow, despite the breadth of Gene and Jim's escapades, that telekinetic cactus remains the most memorable of highlights from this meandering show.


Good, so I'm NOT the only one.

CCTakato wrote:
I always wanted to read the Outlaw Star manga and I was always disappointed we never got to. Given how popular it was on Toonami, you'd think somebody would have release it back in the height of the show's popularity. I still wish someone like Viz could license the manga one of these days and I would still gladly fork over the money to read it.


During that time, manga, frankly, was not that popular. I think that if Outlaw Star remained popular for just a few years later, someone would've brought it over.
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belvadeer





PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 1:08 pm Reply with quote
CCTakato wrote:
Speaking of the dub cast, does anyone know how Brianne Siddall is doing? I remember reading she had some major health issues awhile back but never heard any updates about how she was doing.


She's doing well as far as I know. She most recently voiced Pamela in Atelier Sophie's dub last year: http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/Brianne-Siddall/

Quote:
I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who bought Angel Links for that main reason. It's too bad it didn't out better as I thought Angel Links actually had a sad ending that I liked in an otherwise mediocre show and I do still kind of like Duuz.


Yeah, Angel Links certainly had a strong ending for a show that went mostly ignored and is only remembered for being a mediocre spinoff of Outlaw Star (that's not how I feel about it though).

And Duuz is love. :D
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BadNewsBlues



Joined: 21 Sep 2014
Posts: 5954
PostPosted: Wed Jul 19, 2017 7:33 pm Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:
I think I'm alone in finding the most memorable episode being the one where the villain turned out to be the (inanimate, ordinary-looking) potted plant on the windowsill.


I'm more fond of the episode where Aisha got to be a wrestler for a night.

CCTakato wrote:
I always wanted to read the Outlaw Star manga and I was always disappointed we never got to. Given how popular it was on Toonami, you'd think somebody would have release it back in the height of the show's popularity.


Don't know how the TV-Y7 crowd would've been able to read it given the violence and light sexual content and that's on top of the there being only like 3 books.


Quote:
as Gene stupidly cannot bring himself to engage Suzuka in full combat



Quote:
and ends up defeating her by stripping her instead, leaving the previously stone-cold killer a blushing mess of loosened robes.



If you really look at most of Gene's fight's in the series he hardly ever engages in full combat against major enemies and when he does he's often at a severe disadvantage. Gene isn't as strong as Aisha or as fast and deadly as Suzuka hence the pragmatism.
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noriah



Joined: 12 Apr 2015
Posts: 23
PostPosted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 4:00 am Reply with quote
An old favorite, I'm still enamored with the concept of guns that shoot magic, between Outlaw Star and Final Fantasy Unlimited. *v*

Awhile back after I finally watched all of it on DVD I went hunting online for more info about the illustrator responsible for the lovely ED illustrations, but the only info I could find back then was that Hikaru Tanaka is a Tokyo illustrator who won awards for science fiction art and has a career doing sci fi book covers and the like. No online presence at all. Anime cry

A repeated search just now only yielded this defunct website and this tumblr entry crediting him with one more recent illustration: http://siryl.tumblr.com/post/21524186941
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alorian



Joined: 14 Mar 2012
Posts: 22
PostPosted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 9:16 am Reply with quote
leafy sea dragon wrote:
Zin5ki wrote:
Somehow, despite the breadth of Gene and Jim's escapades, that telekinetic cactus remains the most memorable of highlights from this meandering show.


Good, so I'm NOT the only one.



"Saboten yarou!" is still a household quote around here, because there is something timelessly funny about 'cactus b@st@rd' as an insult.
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KH91



Joined: 17 May 2013
Posts: 6176
PostPosted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 4:57 pm Reply with quote
I just need to know one thing. Did they edit out any store signs in episode 13? You know... the reason why the ice cream tastes so good. Laughing

Anyway, I rewatched Outlaw Star in 2011 during my 90's rewatch binge and it reminded me of why I love it and hoped a sequel would happen.
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bones2039



Joined: 17 Jul 2008
Posts: 103
PostPosted: Thu Jul 20, 2017 6:15 pm Reply with quote
I love Outlaw Star. To me it's the popcorn summer blockbuster that's just plain fun compared to the artsy Oscar bait film that Cowboy Bebop is. Love both but for really different reasons. I will probably pick it up again at some point but for now I'm happy with my old perfect collection dvds.
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