Welp, we’re finally here. Granted it’s been a few weeks since Adult Swim premiered it for the first time on television after over a decade since the original series… but we’re finally here. Despite being part of a franchise television block that had Tenchi Muyo and went out of its way to give all their nude girls bathing suits, Outlaw Star’s “Hot Springs Planet Tenrei” didn’t get such treatment. This is strange given how the only real full frontal we get is some Aisha (I guess Ctarl-Ctarl breasts are okay cuz they aren’t human), and some bits of ass from hot lizard lady and a guest human character. Such shit seems to be fairly easy to edit give or take.
anime
Otaku Evolution Episode 112 – Crusher Joe: The Ice Prison
For whatever reason, it took me a lot longer to make this twelve minute long review video than it really should have. Partly because I don’t really feel like my videos are even appreciated, but also I was sick and I went days barely working on it. But here you go, anyway, my review of the first Crusher Joe OVA feature, The Ice Prison, which is just the right amount of Crusher Joe and just the quality I was looking for: exciting and brief.
Maybe I’m just trying to delay my next video subject… ugh.
Outlaw Star Episode 22- Soap Drop Strut
That is a disappointed Aisha Face, because there wasn’t enough of her to go around this week.
Thankfully, this is not a disappointing episode.
So we have a prison break episode, I could’ve sworn I’ve seen something similar to this back in the old Toonami days, maybe involving a wayward youth with a ripped Polaroid picture. To save Melfina, Gene is transferred into a high-security prison on a gravity-heavy planet, and must find the one inmate who has the coordinates of the Galactic Leyline. It goes about as well as you’d expect when a protagonist goes into a prison to do something: conflict with the warden, fairly intense regimen of torture, the guest character is a bit of a pessimistic curmudgeon, but all turns out well in the end.
Outlaw Star Episode 21 – Space Ace in the Dragon’s Lair
The article title also fits for another reason; because Gene is a bit of a Dexter this episode, despite not ever being zapped by an in-series variation of the Infanto Ray.
You’d think with a pre-intro Jet Black narration like the one showcased here, this episode would be heavy on the space lore. However, lore does not figure into much of the drama this week. Instead, it is more a character study based on not only how the characters interact with one another at this point in the show, but how they reflect. It is not just Jim and Aisha having rapport, with the young genius being more an older sibling than the Ctarl-Ctarl, it is also (actually MOSTLY) Gene opining with Suzuka on his promise to Melfina many moons ago. I’m thankful the show got around to having a character or two notice Gene’s emotional distance with Melfina.
Outlaw Star Episode 20 – NEPPU! SHIPPU! CRYBUSTER!
Points to you if you understood the reference of my article title without researching and why I used it.
Holy shit, this episode is fucking adorable, and also perhaps now either the second or third best in the series. We had yet to get to Jim in terms of character development in this series, with most of his role being in support and foil to Gene’s scattershot ambitions. But now, with only six episodes left we get one, and boy does it not disappoint. Why is that really?
Is it because in one scene, there are four instances of Aisha Face? No, but it helps.
Otaku Evolution Episode 111 – Coyote Ragtime Show
In this episode, wherein I spent a lot of time on that bookend material probably nobody appreciates (and likely because a lot of it is a callback to a long since deceased comic strip I did), I take on the 2006 action-scifi title, Coyote Ragtime Show! It’s pretty much cut from the same cloth as similar shows (that were out of vogue by the time this came out), just not the best part of that cloth. Still, it’s good for at least one watch, has some poignant moments, and gothic lolita robots with guns. Who can ask for more? Everybody, but watch this anyway.
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Outlaw Star Episode 19 – The Pilot Through the Backdoor
Meddling backdoor pilots. One minute you’ve a fantastic hangar of great aircraft, next minute some pilot sneaks through the backdoor, hijacks one of them for a joyride. Sometimes, the pilot does a good job and makes great use of your work. Other times, he crashes and leaves a hot, thick, mess on your runway that takes quite a bit of time to clean up. The things that happen when somebody comes behind your back and does things without your consent…
…Semen.
Anyway, this is the first time in Outlaw Star where the show delves into the third power of its universe: The Space Forces. Granted, the episode is based around Starwind and crew’s interaction with an entity INFLUENCED by the existence of the Space Force (or at least… its lack thereof on the frontier), but it is a delving into all the same. They are just about what you expect from some high-falootin’ space frontier show: by the books, brutal (sometimes in unnecessary ways), but at times noble in the high pursuit of space protection. It is kindof a shame we did not see them earlier in the animu, but their presence is welcome if a bit tardy. Worldbuilding is nice.
Otaku Evolution Episode 110 – 801 T.T.S. Airbats
What happens when you take Patlabor, switch the robots to planes, reverse the male-to-female ratio, and file off the serial number? Well, you’d probably still get something a bit better than 801 TTS Airbats, which, while having excellent aerial scenes, and some character potential, falls somewhat short of the runway. But hey, more Penguinopolis Mk II stuff in this video, so you can enjoy that, at least.
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Outlaw Star Episode 18 – Ctarl-Alt-Delete (Or: Do The Muscle Hustle)
To sound like a broken record, how do you follow an episode that injected a shitton of adrenaline to the series and gives Gene an impetus to get his ass in gear?
Have him enter a big deal fighting tournament so Fred Luo can get out of marrying Space Ronda Rousey. Didn’t this happen already a few years back in… Wait, no. I… don’t think it’s really happened in any sortof space animu, at least anything like Outlaw Star.
However, like the space fishing trip before it, this wrestling episode is surprisingly endearing. Everybody is at their humourous best here, from Gene’s interactions with Fred, including him being quite aware of Fred’s preferences, to Fred himself aghast at the idea of heterosexual monogamy. It’s a nice way to kick off the episode and also as per usual builds upon Jet Black’s pre-intro narration.
Outlaw Star Episode 17 – The Ol’ McDougal Double Date
Well now. We are back to plot again, and more importantly, back to the McDougal brothers. It has been a five-episode absence for them in the series, and they come back in a big and satisfying way. It doesn’t look like they’re aligned with Hazanko and the Anten Seven at this juncture, but what we don’t know doesn’t hurt us in the slightest. More surprises are nice at this point.
The crux of this episode involves Melfina feeling rather glum about not going anywhere with her origin finding wish. You know things are getting a bit real if she wanders into some space church right after a grocery run and strikes up a conversation with the local clergy. This scene, coupled with Jet Black getting metaphysical in the prologue helps set the tone for one of two conflicts this week, and does a terrific job intriguing. However, despite Melfina uncertain of her faith in Gene’s problem, their interaction is absent from said crux. In fact, Gene and Melfina spend most of the episode separated from one another thanks to the McDougals.