Copyright © Morning Star · Sunrise / Shueisha · Sotsu Agency

Ever since I acquired a DVD player, I've been a much more patient anime consumer. I used to rush out to my local dealers to buy the latest VHS tapes for the shows people recommended to me. I used to care about release dates and was in a state of panic when my VCR died one weekend.
But now, with my beloved DVD machine, I really prefer to wait for anime to come out in disk form. I like the improved picture and sound quality coupled the ability to switch between language tracks. Even with the most hyped anime that were released in the past year, I waited for their DVD incarnations before I watched them. ESCAFLOWNE looked interesting, but I've waited many extra months for it on DVD. COWBOY BEBOP made every critic's top 10 list, but I've bided my time until I could watch it on DVD.
OUTLAW STAR, on the other hand, is so good it made me break my wait-for-DVD rule. Once I got the first VHS tape to review for EX 4.6, I knew I wouldn't make it until STAR was released on DVD. I had to know as soon what was happening with these amazing characters in their exciting sci-fi world. I needed immediate fixes on where the at times comic, at times tragic plot was taking the characters, so I went out of my way to get each tape just as soon as it was released. I gladly dealt with the limitations of VHS just to watch one of my favorite series of recent years.
It's been over a year since that first VHS tape came out, but now OUTLAW STAR has made it to DVD format. And a great transition has been made, as Bandai has done the wonderful thing of releasing this first DVD collection as a two volume set of nine episodes. Rather than suffer like I did, waiting months just for another miserly two episodes, you can get a heaping helping of STAR, indeed the first third of the entire series, in one big gulp.
The show itself centers around the adventures of Gene Starwind, a self-styled "Outlaw" who has come into the possession of an incredibly advanced spacehip and its comely but somewhat confused android navigator named Melfina. With his level-headed young sidekick Jim Hawking, the burly catlike girl Aisha and the reserved but deadly female assassin Suzuka joining the crew, Gene must lead this rag-tag bunch as they search for the fabled treasure of the Galactic Leyline and the secrets of Melfina's past. Mixing some terrific fast paced action scenes (involving both star fighters and martial arts/gunplay) with moments of hilarious comedy (Aisha's antics are particulary amusing), OUTLAW STAR is a standout series that takes itself just seriously enough to keep viewers riveted to the screen.
In a very inventive manner, STAR toys with some commonplaces of anime: there are the cute girls, but refreshingly they all don't fall in love with Gene and while he carries a "big gun" that can defeat most foes, he frequently can't find or afford the ammo it needs! Couple this playfulness with the show's excellent animation and I'm sure you can understand why I wore out my VCR on this series, and why I'm rejoicing that it's now on DVD.
With the nine episodes on this disk, you get to meet all the main characters (which previously took six VHS tapes) and most of the antagonists who will be harassing Gene and company right up until the end of the series. I found the sound and video quality to be superb with no obvious glitches. The interstitial animations between the menus were especially creative on this disk, and I particularly enjoyed the chapter selection window that featured Melfina. The DVD extras are on the second disk, where you can view some characters sketches and watch the frenetic opening sequence without text getting in the way.
I do have to admit, however, that I was underwhelmed with the English dub. I became a fan of the series in Japanese, which has surely colored my perceptions, but I found the English actors came across a little too disinterested in their roles. Whoever portrayed Gene sounded too much like Don Johnson circa-MIAMI VICE for my taste, and I felt he particularly lacked the brash and manic intensity Shibuya Shigeru originally brought to the character.
All in all though, OUTLAW STAR is simply awesome, and I urge anyone who enjoys sci-fi or anime with humor, action and pathos to spin these disks on their DVD player right away.

Released in North America by AnimeVillage.com
DVD, 225 minutes
Subtitled and Dubbed, Catalog #0820
$44.98
Available now in the USA
Where to buy