This anime is not as amazing as I once thought it to be. While I am a little disappointed, there are a few interesting ideas and characters in this series that I think could create a more solid reboot (if they were to choose this anime, we are in the age of bringing back the oldies as it were). Don't let its age deter you, the colors, environments, ships, and action all look great, even today. It's the story I have my qualms with...
The most fearsome villains in Outlaw Star are the MacDougal brothers. However, they make fewer appearances than I recalled. If the series were to focus more on them instead of the K-Pirates (side note: we aren't looking at the manga either, this anime can barely be called an adaptation of the comic as it is so I'm going to treat the anime as a separate entity), as well as the lost ancient space magic, and why Melfina and the Outlaw Star are so important, I think it could be a really solid space series.
Having a main character who has a severe space phobia, but desperately dreams to explore space, I find very interesting. I like Gene's character (for the most part) and the way he has to overcome this fear. His connection to the MacDougals is there, which solidifies their villain role beyond Harry's random and creepy out-of-the-blue obsession with Melfina. That being said, I think Harry and Melfina's relationship could be explored more with better writing and setups. He's not a synthetic. He was a test tube baby. He's an augmented person (after being crushed). Melfina IS a synthetic. But it's never explained why he goes apeshit over her. Harry is SCARY and CRAZY. He makes a good villain, I just wish the writing centered more on it.
Space ships that fight with grappler arms and like... 50 tiny cameras you have to look into through one viewfinder is an insane skill that I think Gene should have been seen developing at least a little bit. It's a very cool idea and I wanted to know more about it. Also, bullets that have spells writ upon them that are then "cast" by a gun, that's such a neat idea, and I wanted to know more about that, but it's hardly talked about. I also assume that the number on the more powerful bullets (i.e. #4, #9, #13) are the years of your life they strip from you when casting.
One thing that always makes me really angry is when Gene is randomly mean af to Melfina for NO REASON. His character really needs some work tbh...
If you like space anime with a weird twist, you might enjoy this one. It definitely has a lot of cool stuff in it, and a lot of nothingness. The dub is okay too, I like Gene's voice actor a lot.
For some reason I was so enamored by Gilliam that I chose it for my namesake on every internet site. Except, if you haven't noticed, I couldn't fucking spell when I was 12 apparently.
Also Aisha turned me into a furry you're welcome.
