Seihou Bukyou Outlaw Star

Gene Starwind has always dreamed of piloting his own ship out into the vast sea of stars. Unfortunately, not all dreams come true, as he spends his days working odd jobs alongside his partner, James Hawking, on the small planet Sentinel III instead. However, this all takes a turn when the duo takes on a job from Rachel Sweet who, unbeknownst to them, is actually a treasure-hunting outlaw. Tasked with protecting a mysterious girl known as Melfina, the meeting irrevocably changes the pair's lives as they are sent out into the great unknown aboard the highly advanced ship, Outlaw Star.

Seihou Bukyou Outlaw Star follows Gene and his ragtag crew as they brave the final frontier, navigating the stars in search of answers to the mysteries surrounding Melfina. Encountering dangerous bounty hunters, space pirates, Taoist mages, and even catgirls, there is sure to be an exhilarating adventure around every corner.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Starwind, Gene Main

Shibuya, Shigeru Japanese

Clanclan, Aisha Main

Miyamura, Yuko Japanese

Melfina Main

Kawasumi, Ayako Japanese

Suzuka Main

Sayuri Japanese

Hawking, James Main

Matsumoto, Rica Japanese

Hilda Supporting

Fujita, Toshiko Japanese

MacDougall, Harry Supporting

Kashiwakura, Tsutomu Japanese

Gilliam II Supporting

Hashi, Takaya Japanese

Luo, Fred Supporting

Seki, Toshihiko Japanese

Vertone, Valeria Supporting

Tanaka, Atsuko Japanese

Maseba, Yutaka Producer

Furusato, Naotake Producer

Yokoyama, Shinjirou Producer

Hongou, Mitsuru Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard

Reviews

Oct 1, 2024

REC3

Recommended

Outlaw Star is an anime series I watched on Toonami way back in the late 90's. It was one of the series that originally got me interested in Japanese anime. I didn't understand the anime because I saw it in bits and pieces. I liked the series back then, but now I understand it much better.

Outlaw Star has a very diverse crew and cast of characters. By the way the Outlaw Star is the name of the spaceship they travel in. It's interesting as their success depends on each crew member helping each other. I'll avoid spoilers such as, ... why is it called Future Hero Next Generation? The villains and other characters are as necessary to the story as the crew and well imagined.

Outlaw Star is a fun anime series with interesting concepts. The space race is lots of fun in the middle of the anime. It shows as they try to make ends meet with their benefactor helping them time and again. It drags a little after the space race, but the ending or the last 6 Episodes or so are amazing. I was going to give the anime an 8/10 but the ending is a master class on good science fiction writing. It makes the journey worth it and then some.

All aboard, the Outlaw Star. Don't miss it!

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Oct 10, 2025

ChrisDC

Mixed Feelings

Outlaw Star is like an exciting-looking roller coaster with a lacklustre drop.
The first four episodes represent the incline and buildup of that rollercoaster, which is very exciting, as the anime opens quite promisingly with Hilda and the mystery that unfolds around her, which is the highest point this anime will reach.
While the rest of the series represents the boring, annoyingly repetitive drop —and I'm not kidding when I say 'repetitive'.
The episodes after the 4th enter a predictable loop of, "we have no money, we need money, we'll take on jobs for that money, stuff happens, everyone is okay; repeat.
That alone wouldn't make ... the anime bad, but what makes it bad is that the situations the gang finds themselves in are often overplayed cliches, mixed with binary villains who are just evil because they need someone to antagonize the main cast. The main characters themselves don't make these situations any better, as they often mindlessly walk into the obvious traps the villains set for them throughout the series.
Gene Starwind, the main character, embodies this anime's problems as many of the situations and dramas of this series are directly caused by his stupidity/selfishness, as he constantly endangers the lives of his crew, spends all their money on women and bars, is always complaining, and mistreats his squad with really dumb emotional outbursts. Yet, somehow, his crew always manages to stay loyal to him because he is the main character of this show. To be fair, there are also moments when Gene is a nice guy and does care about his crew, but they are often rare or forced by the plot, which makes those situations seem superficial, as he reverts to being an idiot moments after.

As for the other side characters, they're mostly blandly archetypal in behaviour. Without naming characters, their archetypes go like this.
We have the princess who always needs saving; the rational but naggy friend; the loud idiot; and the character who joins the party because they're bored and want to do something better with their time, despite being one of the most competent characters in the show.
In contrast, the villains themselves are just selfish and evil because they can be. I'm not kidding —there's a villain whose only motivation is power; no character arc, no depth, just power because power is good and they want to dominate over everything because they feel entitled to?
I'd argue that a 10-year-old can write a villain with more depth than that. That is a pattern a lot of the villains of this series follow: trade out power for money, or some other selfish desire, and you have a barebones villain.

On a positive note, both the anime intro and credits are really well done. The music and animations for both are fantastic and do a good job of hyping you up, even though they're disconnected from the actual show. Additionally, the English dub is also excellent for its time, and the Japanese dub is also well done; this is a show that can be watched in both dub and sub and still lead to a similar experience.

Lastly, it's interesting to see that the narrator is always trying to push a philosophical narrative onto the show, despite the show being superficial and almost forced at times when it's trying hard to be existential. Many of the "philosophical themes" are dipped into but never explored. There are a few episodes where characters ask by yelling why they exist or what their purpose is, but never act on it or investigate it themselves.
If there were a word to classify this, it would be pseudo-philosophy, as the questions are present, but the investigation is entirely absent. The depth the anime pushes is an illusion; it's a cutout of a rollercoaster that promises to drop deep and go low, yet it doesn't move. Another analogy would be calling it an ocean with the depth of a puddle. The ideas are present, but nothing interesting is done with them.
Sadly, this reflects the series as a whole.

This series is a good time if you want to turn off your brain and watch Gene and his squad survive most situations with the power of plot armour, which often makes them overpowered, similar to how a lot of Battle Shounens like to do it, by using the power of feelings and friendship to transcend enemies who could one-shot the whole squad. Keep in mind that this anime is classified as Seinen, but only because it features nudity and some mature themes.

However, suppose you require an anime with more depth. In that case, this one will not be for you, especially if you are looking for philosophical or intellectual anime that will stimulate you and challenge your beliefs/values. Outlaw Star is not that type of anime, as much as it pretends to be.

Final scores:
If you want a show to watch and vibe out to with some fun fan service, then this would probably be a 6 to 8 for you. There are some fun moments in Starwind's adventure, and the show can be funny at times, even with its dated comedy. The action and animation are also decent, but nothing special.

If you're looking around and want an anime to fill your time for whatever reason, this would be a 4 to 6, due to the insufferable nature of Gene Starwind and the weak plot, boring/forgetable villains and lack of consequences/urgency for most of the series, with the exception of the last three episodes which do feel somwhat urgent despite it's predictable outcome.

Lastly, if you're looking for an intellectually engaging story, then look the other way. Outlaw Star isn't that deep and is mainly about the drama surrounding Gene's ability to make terrible choices to drive the plot forward. This would most likely be a 2 to 4 for you.

My final verdict is a 3.5/10
Since MAL doesn't allow .5s as a score, I'll round this anime to 4/10 for the effort of trying to accomplish something interesting, and for the concepts it tries to apply, but fails at.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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Aug 25, 2012

rydia91

Not Recommended

I watched this on Toonami when I was a kid and I used to think this was the best show ever. As I re-watched the first 3 episodes, I was faced with action, adventure, and the introduction of dynamic characters. I should have stopped watching right there. My favorite character was Hilda. After those episodes, I watched believing that the plot was going to come together into something deep and exciting. It didn't. After some lolly-gagging around in space and meeting some cool characters, the protagonists take up boring jobs for far too many episodes. The climax of the show was lackluster. Also, I HATED ... how they had their theme song integrated into the show! Once? Maybe. More than two is too much unless it really fits, but, in this case, it just felt super awkward. When one of the characters starts softly singing it (the scene wasn't touching in the least), I couldn't help but to shake my head. If it stuck with being a comedy, I would have loved it, but, it seemed to try too hard at the end to, all of a sudden, become serious and dramatic. I'm not trying to take away anyone else's happiness about this show;just giving the potential watchers a different POV.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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