Ranked #5441

Angel Links

The Outlaw Star spin-off known as Angel Links is a decent show on its own but still in no way compares to Outlaw Star's greatness. Unlike Outlaw Star, this series tends to be forgettable but none the less has a decent level of enjoy ability and sometimes goes into dramatic and heartwarming emotional moments that you don't get to in Outlaw Star.

The connection to Outlaw Star this series has is that it takes place in the same universe with brief cameo appearances of a few supporting characters and stars the pirate fighting organization known as "Angel Links" that was mentioned in episode 19 of Outlaw Star. The characters Duuz and Valeria who appeared in that episode serve as major members on this team working under Meifon Li, the series protagonist. The music for this series has an outstanding score similar to Outlaw Star's background music. One of my particular favorite's is the exciting song played when the Angel Links ship launches out into space.

The story was fairly ok and gets easier to understand as you progress through it and learn about the struggle of Angel Links and the past of Meifon Li. Meifon Li's past is somewhat disturbing and a character named Leon Lau who has a recurring prescene in the series has some sort of unexpected connection with Meifon and after the series is over has a strange yet acceptable ending. The main characters are pretty unique and can stand out. Meifon Li's development and history is one of the significant point in the series. Valeria and Duuz have their own backstories which we get to see in this series as well. Alongside them are several other minor members but we don't get to see much of them. Other than that most of the episodic characters such as the villains though are forgettable or are ridiculous in an annoying way. Oh and another ridiculous character but is in a leading role iis Meifon Li's pet which is some sort of cat looking fairy thing that hides in her exposed cleavage most of the time and turns into a sword which she uses during the fight scenes. read more

ART SECTION: 5/10 [Swords that pop out of boobies!]
Since the setting takes place in the space era, expect the usual treatment: Lots of machines, lots of spaceships, lots of space battles, lots of alien planets, lots of aliens and lots of naked women… The last part sounds irrelevent, doesn’t it? Well, yes, it is. Half-naked female flesh is thrown all over the screen almost every 5 minutes for no other reason other than sleasy entertainment. And in order to make a long story short, this is all there is to expect from the optical department:
-Original shaped spaceships… Not that this contributes to the story in any way. They just look original. They otherwise “bahave” as spaceships usually do.
-Pathetic attempts at fan service in the form of huge breasts and naked legs. Almost no real nude or even pantsu shots. The series is filled with sexual-implied scenes that are not really sexual. Major failure!
-Flashy but boring battles. Lots of energy beams fly around, ships dance like crazy in space, things explode, people scream… and then the leading girl pulls out her secret weapon and beats the bad-guys in a flash… What a drag! A lot of fuss about situations that never feel threatening. Just how many weapons does that girl hide between her boobies, anyway? Rabid cats, magic swords, bioorganic mutations and who knows what else. Really, I skipped most battles out of boredom and stupidity.
-Uninteresting character figures. They are so generic that you forget about them as soon as the episode is over.
-Lots of still images, some repeated footage and inconsistency of graphic quality. Some episodes are ok to look at; some look terribly simplistic.

SOUND SECTION: 4/10 [Where is the mute button?]
Music themes? Terrible! Not only they sound stupid; they also feel out of place. Voice acting? Lukewarm and with worse lip-sync than usual.

STORY SECTION: 3/10 [Oh, not you again!]
- Busty chick with dramatic past protects spaceships from space pirates… Nothing more…
- Almost all the episodes are stand-alone missions about a cocky pirate, trying to steal something and getting his ass kicked by the leading girl. Those will feel lukewarm at best, as they don’t differ in any way than filler missions in most anime series. They are otherwise colorizing the secondary characters but not in original or exactly interesting ways.
- Towards the end, the heroine’s backdrop story is revealed as she faces her past nightmares. This part was a bit more interesting, as we get to have an on-going story. But her mysterious past turns out to be the most overused and clichéd scenario in existence. And the final battle was so rushed and boring that I literally wished for all the characters to drop dead in the conclusion. It was their last chance of redeeming in my eyes… But they didn’t; so to hell with them!

CHARACTER SECTION: 3/10 [They are better off dead!]
The short amount of episodes, their generic appearance, their dry behaviors and the really, really boring plot, put the entire cast side to side with the story itself.

VALUE & ENJOYMENT SECTION: 2/10 [Snoring and yawning]
Completely boring and unoriginal; this title has simply nothing to offer.

VERDICT: 3/10
Just open a hatch and throw this thing at the vacuum of space! And throw lasers at it, as it drifts towards Andromeda. Let’s not make any aliens who may find it to think badly of us.

SUGGESTION LIST
Outlaw Star and Kiddy Grade (both are rather lame) A pair of almost identically stupid but nonetheless more interesting series. read more