*THIS REVIEW CONTAINS NOT MANY SPOILERS, BUT A FEW*
Unlike most of you, I was not unfortunate enough to be subjected to the butchered version of the show, I picked it up from an Anime fanzine called Animerica. Their review, while good, made it a little confusing. It sounded like a series for those who would try any Anime once. Well, I fall into that category, so I stopped by our local video rental place and picked up the first DVD volume. One thing I wish to make clear: DO NOT GET TURNED OFF BY THE FIRST 3 EPISODES. My hopes were not high for the series after episode 3, but I'm such a die-hard otaku that I know to keep watching, and it went SO far uphill SO fast I was almost not sure I was watching the same series! Gene Starwind (cute name, huh?), the so-called hero, is more vile than any of the villains, but that turned out to be entertaining too! And Melfina is pretty much the helpless crybaby type female lead that I don't like, but the supporting cast more than makes up for it. I found Hilda's unerring cynicism rather tedious after a while, but her death scene was a real tear-jerker. Aisha makes fantastic comic relief, Jim is always the voice of reason, and Suzuka... I don't know what feminist snuck into the studio and edited the script, but she is a truly terrific character. I was a little nervous the first episode we meet her, but it turns out she gets out of it without being just another of Gene's "conquests." Speaking of episode 6, Fred Luo is by far one of the greatest characters and THE funniest comic relief I've ever seen in such a "serious" series. The villainous MacDougall brothers (what do the Japanese have against the Scots, anyway?) are good, to. Ron is kind of just a 2-and-a-half-dimensional villain figure (though he really gets good in the last few episodes), but Harry (they're called Ron and Harry? Sound familiar?) is a truly inspired villain. A cross between Vision of Escaflowne's Dilandau and... what else? Anyway, he's great. The series meanders along for a while, dealing in individual episodes that don't really further the plot much, but just when you're getting tired, along comes an episode tied in with the central mystery (the "Galactic Leyline"). OK, HERE are some spoilers and/or reviews. Episode 15: We first meet the Anten Seven, the most feared group of assassins in the pirate guild. I was unimpressed (except for the little girl who uses cats (I love cats) to kill people). But Shimi's cool. Episode 17: This is by far one of the most successfully (non-overdone) dramatic episodes in the history of drama/horror. Episode 18: I couldn't stop laughing for hours. I felt like Aisha (laughing so hard her sides hurt) when she first saw Gene in drag (yes, it has something to do with Fred, but not what you think). Episode 23: This one was banned from the FUBAR version (see below) because of fan service. Which is too bad, because it is absolutely hilarious. Urt is up with the ranks of Suzuka in terms of competence and quiet amusement at the stupidity of macho guys But my favorite episode... Episode 20: I cried for an hour after it was done. Then I got to work writing a fanfiction in which we learn that Hanmyo survived her ship getting blown up (hey, if that rose survived, she could too). Anyway, the final 3 episodes are cool at first, but they drag on for a while. The ending is all in all fulfilling, but they drag it out too long. But it's still a terrific series. (has the second season been abandoned or something? I never heard anything) A brief word on the horrifying cARTOON nETWORK. Their version of the series was FUBAR. You may argue that it needed to be toned down for mainstream release in the U. S.. I say that it's one thing to eliminate some of the sex and blood, it's another thing to eliminate all innuendo and not show any blood at all, not to mention replacing the word 'kill' with 'destroy' (so killing people isn't socially acceptable but destroying them is?) Fred Luo is straight on the FUBAR version, which completely eliminates the point of the character. Episode 23 is removed because they couldn't butcher it enough to make it still 100% politically correct (more like 300%, actually). Why couldn't they have just shown a few cut-up episodes and then stopped, just to get us interested in the real thing, like Fox Kids did with Vision of Escaflowne? (If Fox Kids hadn't done that, II might never have become an otaku. There are only 2 series I like more than Outlaw Star, and Escaflowne is one. ) And if you think THAT's bad, you don't even want to know what they did to Cardcaptor Sakura. I think cARTOON nETWORK is more destructive to the mental health of the youth of America than a little fan service (or at least some homosexual characters) ever could be. Thank you for listening. Get this series and watch ALL of it before criticizing it.
Unlike most of you, I was not unfortunate enough to be subjected to the butchered version of the show, I picked it up from an Anime fanzine called Animerica. Their review, while good, made it a little confusing. It sounded like a series for those who would try any Anime once. Well, I fall into that category, so I stopped by our local video rental place and picked up the first DVD volume. One thing I wish to make clear: DO NOT GET TURNED OFF BY THE FIRST 3 EPISODES. My hopes were not high for the series after episode 3, but I'm such a die-hard otaku that I know to keep watching, and it went SO far uphill SO fast I was almost not sure I was watching the same series! Gene Starwind (cute name, huh?), the so-called hero, is more vile than any of the villains, but that turned out to be entertaining too! And Melfina is pretty much the helpless crybaby type female lead that I don't like, but the supporting cast more than makes up for it. I found Hilda's unerring cynicism rather tedious after a while, but her death scene was a real tear-jerker. Aisha makes fantastic comic relief, Jim is always the voice of reason, and Suzuka... I don't know what feminist snuck into the studio and edited the script, but she is a truly terrific character. I was a little nervous the first episode we meet her, but it turns out she gets out of it without being just another of Gene's "conquests." Speaking of episode 6, Fred Luo is by far one of the greatest characters and THE funniest comic relief I've ever seen in such a "serious" series. The villainous MacDougall brothers (what do the Japanese have against the Scots, anyway?) are good, to. Ron is kind of just a 2-and-a-half-dimensional villain figure (though he really gets good in the last few episodes), but Harry (they're called Ron and Harry? Sound familiar?) is a truly inspired villain. A cross between Vision of Escaflowne's Dilandau and... what else? Anyway, he's great. The series meanders along for a while, dealing in individual episodes that don't really further the plot much, but just when you're getting tired, along comes an episode tied in with the central mystery (the "Galactic Leyline"). OK, HERE are some spoilers and/or reviews. Episode 15: We first meet the Anten Seven, the most feared group of assassins in the pirate guild. I was unimpressed (except for the little girl who uses cats (I love cats) to kill people). But Shimi's cool. Episode 17: This is by far one of the most successfully (non-overdone) dramatic episodes in the history of drama/horror. Episode 18: I couldn't stop laughing for hours. I felt like Aisha (laughing so hard her sides hurt) when she first saw Gene in drag (yes, it has something to do with Fred, but not what you think). Episode 23: This one was banned from the FUBAR version (see below) because of fan service. Which is too bad, because it is absolutely hilarious. Urt is up with the ranks of Suzuka in terms of competence and quiet amusement at the stupidity of macho guys But my favorite episode... Episode 20: I cried for an hour after it was done. Then I got to work writing a fanfiction in which we learn that Hanmyo survived her ship getting blown up (hey, if that rose survived, she could too). Anyway, the final 3 episodes are cool at first, but they drag on for a while. The ending is all in all fulfilling, but they drag it out too long. But it's still a terrific series. (has the second season been abandoned or something? I never heard anything) A brief word on the horrifying cARTOON nETWORK. Their version of the series was FUBAR. You may argue that it needed to be toned down for mainstream release in the U. S.. I say that it's one thing to eliminate some of the sex and blood, it's another thing to eliminate all innuendo and not show any blood at all, not to mention replacing the word 'kill' with 'destroy' (so killing people isn't socially acceptable but destroying them is?) Fred Luo is straight on the FUBAR version, which completely eliminates the point of the character. Episode 23 is removed because they couldn't butcher it enough to make it still 100% politically correct (more like 300%, actually). Why couldn't they have just shown a few cut-up episodes and then stopped, just to get us interested in the real thing, like Fox Kids did with Vision of Escaflowne? (If Fox Kids hadn't done that, II might never have become an otaku. There are only 2 series I like more than Outlaw Star, and Escaflowne is one. ) And if you think THAT's bad, you don't even want to know what they did to Cardcaptor Sakura. I think cARTOON nETWORK is more destructive to the mental health of the youth of America than a little fan service (or at least some homosexual characters) ever could be. Thank you for listening. Get this series and watch ALL of it before criticizing it.