Outlaw Star

Outlaw Star is a japanese seine manga series written and illustrated by Takehiko Itō and his affiliated Morning Star Studio. Outlaw Star was originally serialized in the monthly Shueisha magazine Ultra Jump between 1996 and 1999 for a total of 21 chapters.

The series is a space opera/Space Western that takes place in the "Toward Stars Era" universe in which spacecraft are capable of traveling faster than the speed of light. The plot follows protagonist Gene Starwind and his motley crew of an inherited ship dubbed the "Outlaw Star", as they search for a legendary, outer space treasure trove called the "Galactic Leyline".

Sunrise Studios produced a 26-episode anime adaptation that was directed by Mitsuru Hongo and aired on the Japanese station TV Tokyo in early 1998. The animated series has since been translated and broadcast worldwide. This includes an English version from Bandai Entertainment that aired on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on January 15, 2001. The broadcast of the series was heavily edited due to its adult content. Profanity was removed, scenes with violence and lewd behavior were cut or toned down, and many scenes containing nudity were altered by digitally inserting clothing onto characters. Episode 23, in which the Outlaw Star crew visits a hot spring planet, was not aired due to nudity and suggestive themes. However, some instances of adult language were not removed for the anime's initial run. Sean Akins, Toonami's creative director at the time, claimed that Cartoon Network made all of their own edits to their licensed properties during this time period, which they did "in a way that preserves the story". The character, Fred Luo, a recurring homosexual character, was considerably toned down. Cartoon Network had no specific editing policy with regard to gay characters, but "overt sexuality or implied sexuality of any kind are not allowed".

Outlaw Star also appeared on Toonami's Midnight Run in 2001 and Adult Swim in 2002. The series also appeared on Adult Swim's April Fools Event in 2012 that resulted in the rebirth of Toonami.

Sunrise produced a spin-off television series titled Angel Links, which aired in Japan in 1999. Outlaw Star and Angel Links take place in the same universe; characters from both series appeared in an episode of Outlaw Star, but the two have little else in relation. Morning Star Studio also drafted a proposed, OVA sequel series to Outlaw Star titled Outlaw Star 2: Sword of Wind on its official website with character designs and a plot outline. Set three years after the events of Outlaw Star, it was to continue the adventures of Gene Starwind and Jim Hawking in their new starship named "Sword of Wind". Due to the lack of the franchise's popularity in Japan and the busy schedule of animation director Mitsuru Hongo, no production date was set. In October 2001, Takehiko Itō commented that his team only had static, preliminary plans for the sequel series and that they could perhaps continue the manga series in the future.

Plot
Outlaw Star is a space opera/Space Western set in the fictional "Towards Stars Era" universe. During it's past, an asteroid containing a material known as "dragonite" crashed in the fictional Arashon desert of northern China. Scientists found that the dragonite contained properties related to "ether", an energy source that would allow spacecraft to travel faster than the speed of light, and thus traverse large distances of the universe in a short time. As new colonies were formed throughout the vast reaches of outer space, pirates, assassins, and outlaws began to threaten humanity's new frontier. To create order, the Earth Federation established four empires: USSA, Einhorn, Piotr, and Tenpa. However, internal power struggles within the factions and conflicts amongst one another become abundant, leading to inevitable lawlessness. The storyline starts shortly after an infamous outlaw named "Hot Ice" Hilda flees from the Kei Pirates, a branch of the Tenpa. Hilda has stolen from them a highly-advanced prototype ship dubbed the XGP15A-II and a suitcase containing a bio-android called Melfina, the only being capable of interfacing with the ship.

Outlaw Star opens on the backwater planet Sentinel III, on which the protagonist Gene Starwind and his 11-year-old business associate James Hawking run a small jack-of-all-trades business. After the two take a job as bodyguards for a disguised Hilda and engage in a brief skirmish with the Kei Pirates, Gene and Jim find themselves the owners of the XGP15A-II (which they nickname the "Outlaw Star") and the caretakers of Melfina. Hilda reveals that the ship's true purpose is to locate the "Galactic Leyline", a place which popular claims say is a holder of immense treasure, knowledge, and power. Throughout the course of the series, the crew grows to include the kimono-garbed contract killer Twilight Suzuka and Aisha Clanclan, a catgirl of the Ctarl-Ctarl alien race.

The anime episodes often involve Gene and his comrades taking on various jobs or missions to fund their ship's massive maintenance costs. Throughout their travels, the crew often encounters Ronald and Harry McDougall, a pair of bounty hunters responsible for the death of Gene's father. Ronald acts as a rival to Gene, while Harry wishes to form a bond with Melfina, a bio-android like himself. The crew also contends with others that learn of the Outlaw Star's connection to the Galactic Leyline. They are Nguyen Khan, a scientist wishing to gain omniscience through the Leyline; and Lord Hazanko, the leader of the ruthless assassin organization the Anten Seven, who seeks the Leyline to gain ultimate power. The series climaxes when all parties meet on the physical plane of the Leyline.

Outlaw Star Crew
Gene Starwind - Gene is a 20-year-old man who developed a fear of space flight and a hatred of pirates during an attack when he was 15. This attack resulted in his father's death at the hands of a band of mercenaries led by Ron McDougall. Gene was thrown into an escape pod moments before their ship exploded, and landed on Sentinel III where he would remain until the beginning of the series. Gene is scared of space, until Hilda questions him, Hilda's questioning of his courage is the turning point where Gene's fear of space gradually begins to fade. While on Sentinel III, Gene met the much younger Jim Hawking and the two went into business, forming a company called Starwind and Hawking Enterprises. Gene is a reckless ladies' man and a bit of a pervert who shamelessly flirts with almost every woman he meets; he would rather try to achieve his goals with a minimum of effort, and his reckless attitude proves a continuous source of frustration to Jim.

Despite his brash nature, Gene does have a caring side to his personality which he usually displays toward Melfina. After realizing Melfina had no recollection of her purpose or function, Gene promises to help her find her past and protects her from the various individuals in pursuit of her. Throughout the course of the series, he begins to develop feelings for her, but is hesitant to act on them for fear of making himself vulnerable. It also results in him forming a rivalry with Harry McDougall, who is far more open in his pursuit of Melfina's affection.

Gene is well armed with a variety of weapons, including a pistol, grenade launcher, knife, rocket launcher, etc. His special weapon, a Caster gun, fires special Caster shells; magic bullets that are effective against Tao priests and other entities protected against normal weaponry. Caster shells are projectile capsules containing a spell cast by a wizard that has been contained, allowing non-magic users to fire the spell from a gun. Caster shells are also numbered by power level (although not incrementally), the three most powerful being 4, 9, and 13. Caster shells are considered antiques, however, and are difficult to acquire. Some of the effects of the caster shells include opening up small controlled black holes in order to absorb an opponent, as seen by the shell being used effectively against Hamushi and ineffectively against Hazanko. Gene only reserves these particular caster shells for powerful opponents, since they carry the extreme danger of killing him if he uses them consecutively. Gene's ear piercings are also incredibly useful to him, as they possess a communication device that serves like a two-way radio which allows him keep in contact with Jim, who holds the other communicator piercing.

James "Jim" Hawking - Jim is the 11-year-old business partner and sidekick of Gene Starwind, though how they met is unknown. He is the son of a famous computer hacker known as the "Computer Wizard." Jim serves as the team's computer expert, hacker, strategist, and back-up. Unlike Gene, he is responsible, concerned, and worries about the team's finances and plans, preferring to earn money the hard way rather than to take risks.

Jim becomes good friends with fellow Outlaw Star crew member Aisha Clan Clan, who is in some ways his opposite: Jim gets treated like a child even though he acts like an adult, while Aisha, though an adult, acts like a child. Jim also looks up to the android Melfina as a mother figure (whom he occasionally has to protect from Gene's lecherous advances), and gets along well with the Outlaw Star’s on-board computer, Gilliam II. Jim has trouble, however, trusting strangers such as Hilda, who first approaches him and Gene under false pretenses, and Suzuka, who tries to kill Gene and whose motives are unclear.

Melfina - Melfina is a bio-android created by Professor Nguyen Khan using ancient biotechnology found within the Grave of the Dragon ruins. The complexity of the information was so vast that even a great mind like his couldn't understand it all. Some time after she was created, both Melfina and the Outlaw Star were stolen from the Kei pirates by the outlaw Hilda, who intended to use them to find the Galactic Leyline. Melfina's appearance is of a petite and slender young woman with shoulder length black hair and large brown eyes. While her physical age appears to be eighteen, her real age is that of only two. She has no recollection of her past or why she was created, which often troubles her throughout the series. Later, on the planet holding the ruins of the Grave of the Dragon, she sings a mysterious song (the ending song for episodes 1-13) which possibly signifies the weight of the questions about her existence that she wants answered.

Despite being an artificial humanoid, Melfina possesses both free will and human emotions as well as the physical need for food and rest (although for some unexplained reason she lacks the ability to dream). Her personality is sweet-natured, with a polite and loving -albeit generally naive- demeanor, and because of this Jim thinks of her as a mother figure. She's noted as having a natural talent for cooking, and serves as the Outlaw Star’s official chef in addition to being the ship's navigator.

After the death of Hilda, Melfina travels with Gene after he promises to find her purpose, and gradually begins to develop feelings for him. Later in the series, it is revealed that she was created to navigate to the Galactic Leyline, and is the only one able to act as a medium to access its vast powers. Because of this, the pirates referred to her as the "Maiden of the Leyline".

Melfina navigates the Outlaw Star from within a cylindrical chamber on the bridge that rises from the floor and fills with a clear, liquid-like substance, supposedly to help her link with the ship. The liquid is most likely a stabling agent to help ensure that her link is static-free, and because of this she has to navigate without wearing any clothes. She covers herself with her arms across her chest, and her lower area is obstructed by the chamber's outer retractable metal coverings. As part of Cartoon Network's editing, she is portrayed as wearing tight black shorts and a strapless black bra.

Aisha Clanclan - Aisha is an 18-year-old Ctarl-Ctarl officer with a considerable ego and superhuman strength. She is also far more durable than any human and also claims to have the best ears in the universe. While it is unknown if they are the best, she is shown to be able to hear small noises that no one else on the crew can. In episode 5, she claims to be immortal, but it is unknown whether or not this is based in fact or is merely Aisha's immense ego and racial pride. Even if it is true, it is more likely a reference to how difficult Ctarl-Ctarls are to kill than to an increased life-span. Aisha can be rather absent-minded at times, acting on rash impulse and not really caring about anyone other than herself, and she tends to act like a child. She does have a closer relationship with Jim over the course of the series, and starts to concern herself with his well-being, acting like an older sister to him in many ways.

As with all Ctarl-Ctarl, Aisha has access to an ability referred to in the dub as "Beast Strength", where she taps into the primeval powers of her racial ancestors. This allows her to increase her strength and possibly her speed and durability, but is extremely energy-draining; Aisha burns a lot of calories by using this ability, and is always depicted as eating massive quantities of food afterwards. This ability is somehow tied to lunar bodies, both their presence and their phase, though it is unclear if these make it easier for her to access the ability, or if they reduce the amount of energy it drains. Using Beast Strength makes Aisha more animalistic in form and, apparently, in mentality; at less than full power, her fingernails elongate into claws and she sprouts a tail, while at full power she assumes the form of a feline-like creature that resembles a white tiger with elongated ears.

Aisha was originally in charge of locating the Galactic Leyline for the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire, but after she unknowingly allowed Hot Ice Hilda to escape, her government ordered her to stay behind on Blue Heaven to look for clues as punishment. Aisha finds out that Gene Starwind is connected to Hilda and tries to pump him for information. However, Gene knows nothing of the Galactic Leyline, and eludes her by stunning her with a Caster and leaving her to pay the considerable restaurant bill she racked up. Later in the series, Aisha was able to trick Gene into letting her on board the Outlaw Star during the Space Race, where she finds out that the McDougall Brothers have more information on Hilda than Gene does. Aisha then decides to join the crew, since they are the ones who were indirectly responsible for her demotion in the first place.

During the series, Aisha entered the universe's strongest woman tournament whilst under the guise of a wrestler called "Firecat" (the real Firecat had been captured by Aisha, and was kept tied up and gagged in a locker.) The Ctarl-Ctarl were banned from the tournament five years before when one transformed into her beast form and, after being reprimanded and disqualified for biting off her opponent's ear, went berserk and killed over nine hundred people with thousands injured. In the final fight with Iraga of the Anten Seven, Iraga transformed into a wolf, forcing Aisha to transform into a tiger. Aisha eventually defeated Iraga and secured her place as the strongest woman in the universe. It should be noted, however, that as Ctarl-Ctarl were banned from the competition, it is unknown whether Aisha was crowned the universe's strongest woman or simply disqualified after the final fight.

"Twilight " Suzuka - Suzuka is a female Ultra Class A ninja-assassin who only kills when the sun is setting, hence her nickname "Twilight". Her preferred weapon of choice is a bokken, or wooden sword, which through secret, semi-mystical swordplay can be used to slice metal and smash concrete. On the next stroke, however, it will land only a knockout blow on her opponent. She uses a wooden sword instead of a metal one to prevent it from being identified by metal detectors as a weapon. She first appears when she tries to kill Gene Starwind's friend Fred Luo as part of her contract with a rival weapons seller. Gene is able to outsmart her and force her to consent to come after him before she kills Fred as part of her pride. However, in her next appearance, Suzuka saves Melfina from a Kei Pirate and decides to help the group against the Kei Pirates, mainly to go after a member of the Anten Seven named Hitoriga, who killed her family. Surprisingly, Suzuka seems to know more about the Kei Pirates than the rest of the crew.

Among the various members on Gene’s ship, Suzuka could best be considered the lone wolf, relying very little on outside help to accomplish her goals. To add to her already enigmatic demeanor, she frequently disappears at ports to take care of "business." She is quiet and pensive, and once tells Gene that she sticks around only because she finds him interesting, much to his chagrin. Throughout the series, there are only three known battles that she has lost; once in the past to Hitoriga (who killed her family), once to Gene, and once to Shimi (possibly due to a meal Aisha had cooked rather than lack of skill).

Much about Suzuka's past is unknown, such as why the Kei pirates would target her family, how she survived, and who trained her. Even her age is never really mentioned during the run of the series, though she is estimated to be around Gene's age. All that is known is that her pursuit of the Kei Pirates is of a personal nature, particularly towards the assassin Hitoriga. Near the ending of the series, it is implied that she has feelings for Gene. During her fight with Hitoriga, he says, "Well wonders never cease. I'm surprised that you would even consider a partner (referring to Gene Starwind). So Suzuka, are you in love with him?" She responded by telling him that he will hear her answer after she kills him, as a sort of gift in order to see him off to the after life. After the fight and Suzuka wins, she never tells Hitoriga her true feelings for Gene so the nature of her feelings for him have been left unresolved.

Cartoon Network heavily edited references to Suzuka being an assassin on the first episode she appeared in (Episode 6) when this show aired on Toonami, though some references managed to slip by.

Supporting Characters
"Hot Ice" Hilda - Hilda is an Outlaw who, for unknown reasons, has a problem with the Kei Pirates. Not much is known about Hilda from before she met Gene. She is responsible for taking out one of the Pirate Guild's leaders at the cost of an arm and an eye. In retaliation, she stole the XGP. After being pursued by pirates, she came to Sentinel III, where she witnessed Gene and Jim kill the assassin 'Death' Rob. She hired the two, under the name Rachel Sweet, to perform jobs for her. When the pirates caught up with them, her true identity was revealed. She tried to kill Gene, but he was able to overpower her, and at gunpoint she revealed the existence of Melfina. Escaping with Gene, Jim, and Melfina, they made their way to Blue Heaven where, while resting, they were attacked by outlaws sent by the McDougall Brothers.

They escaped to the Farfallas system's sun, where the XGP was being held in an orbiting asteroid. The pirates used a Tao Spell to track them down and, thanks to the McDougall brothers, Hilda's ship Horus was destroyed. Hilda escaped and tried to reach the XGP by climbing the pirate's grappling cable. However, the cable snapped, sending Hilda, the Tao Master, and her ship into the sun. Hilda stopped the Tao Master from making a final attack on the XGP by grabbing on to her leg and detonating a bomb hidden in her tooth, killing both of them. Her final words to Gene were that "Outlaws never go down easy, no matter what happens to them." Possibly in memory of her, Gene named the ship the Outlaw Star.

After Hilda dies, Gene has several visions of her, mainly at times when he is scared and believes that he is going to die (Episodes 15 and 25). This possibly suggests that there was more to their relationship than meets the eye, although he could just feel guilty for his powerlessness when he was unable to rescue her from Farfallas' gravity well. The two were hinted at having spent the night together in Blue Heaven. Cartoon Network removed the scene in when Hilda commits suicide by detonating the bomb hidden in her tooth during the time it was running on Toonami, and instead made it seem that Hilda and the Tao Master died by sinking into Farfallas' sun.

Gilliam II - The XGP’s artificial intelligence system, Gilliam II is just as much a personality on board the Outlaw Star as any member of it's crew. Primarily communicating through speakerphones, an interface on the bridge, and a seemingly limitless number of miniature maintenance robots, Gilliam is a constant companion of the crew, and assists them in all areas of the ship’s upkeep – even including the kitchen-duty. Sporting a wryly sarcastic, if soft-spoken and humble, personality, Gilliam has been referred to as an “old man,” and indeed, is almost always engaged in reminding the crew of their personal duties and responsibilities, much as a father-figure or a butler might. This often irritates Gene, who would rather sleep late and shirk chores, and Gilliam, as a result, is frequently compelled to confront Gene about his laziness and inadequacy. Gilliam also regularly voices concern over his "future prospects" due to the brash nature of Gene's captaining.

When first activated, Gilliam seems hesitant to allow Hilda, Gene or Jim access to the XGP, noting that a large portion of memory has been deleted from the ship’s databank – no doubt a result of the hacking used to divorce the ship from its previous owners. However, upon being ordered, Gilliam enlists them as the crew, and remains unquestioningly loyal to them and their cause afterwards. Always boastful on the topic of the XGP’s prowess and sure to proclaim it “the greatest ship in the galaxy” at any given opportunity, Gilliam is nevertheless burdened by a programming limitation, which disallows him to question the nature of his existence. A technical safeguard against rebellious and sentient AI, Gilliam is still sentient of the restriction, and so while unable to contemplate his own purpose in life, he can contemplate, and does lament, his inability to ask such a profound question. As such, he greatly empathizes with Melfina’s quest to discover her identity (a task that he could never begin to attempt in regards to his own origin), and is always willing to exert himself to the fullest in her assistance. As much as he combs online databases available to him, however, he is never able to uncover any information that would help her.

As previously stated, Gilliam has a seemingly endless number of tiny maintenance robots to allow him to repair the Outlaw Star. While the majority of these robots are colored blue, Jim Hawking decides to paint one of them pink on a whim, and in subsequent episodes, Gilliam uses this pink robot as a means of speaking face-to-face with the crew more often than with the blue robots.

Fred Luo - Fred Luo is a 20-year-old weapons merchant and an old friend of Gene Starwind. Gene goes to him to supply weapons for the Outlaw Star, although it costs a lot of money for Grappler Ship weapons. Although Gene works hard to pay Fred back all the money he owes him, Fred offers discounts for doing favors for him and is willing to help Gene, so Gene is eventually able to pay him back. Fred is also a homosexual and is infatuated with Gene Starwind and Jim Hawking, a fact that is used occasionally for comic relief (some references of which were edited when the series aired on Cartoon Network). Fred appears briefly with his two bodyguards in Angel Links.

Professor Nguyen Khan - Khan was one of the leading scientists on the Leyline Project. He has an odd personality, often speaking to himself, thinking out loud and repeating the same phrases multiple times in a row. A hyper-intellectual, his communication and personal deficiencies evidence a mentality pushed near if not into a mild form of insanity by information-overload. Khan's goal in life is to gain ultimate knowledge, which drives him to find the Galactic Leyline, a "machine-god" created by an extinct alien race that acts as a catalog for all of existence. Khan first appears as a judge for the Heifong Space Race, recognizing the XGP as soon as it appears as an entrant in the competition. Afterwards he somewhat stalks Gene and his crew, going to extreme lengths to track them and their ship down. A shameless opportunist, Khan's only allegiance is to himself, and he is willing to use every conceivable ploy to achieve his goal of reaching the Leyline and attaining ultimate knowledge, switching sides and backstabbing practically every member of the cast.

Later on in the series, it is revealed that he was the scientist who decrypted some of the ancient biotechnology found in the Grave of the Dragon ruins that led to Melfina's creation. He was also responsible for the development of the XGP15A-II and was a major factor in the Leyline Project. Aside from Hazanko, Khan is the only person in the series shown to have knowledge of voice recognition codes which tap into Melfina's hidden powers related to the Leyline.

The McDougall Brothers
Ronald "Ron" McDougall - Ron is the elder McDougall Brother (35 years old). Despite his amoral personality, Ron is fiercely protective of his younger brother, Harry, who he considers his only family. Always calm, he is the brains of the McDougall's entire operation. He uses a caster gun like Gene, but it is basically the barrel of a Caster fashioned in the style of a Shakujo, the staff often carried by Buddhist monks. Ron is a man who will take on any job so long as the money is right and he ends up finishing ahead of where he started. Be it pirates, Space Forces, or private contractors, he will consider anything viable and carry out the job only as it is stipulated, and no further than that. This is demonstrated by the fact that as soon as his contract with the Kei pirates that were pursuing Hilda was up, he immediately turned on them, attempting to kill both the pirates and Hilda, as well as destroying the XGP.

Gene accuses Ron of being the man who killed his father, and, as such, the McDougalls are major antagonists throughout the first half of the series as Gene attempts to track them and exact revenge. Although Gene remembers seeing the El Dorado, the McDougall's ship, destroy his father's ship, however, Ron doesn't recall anything of the sort, noting that he has taken on so many similar jobs over his lifetime that he couldn't possibly remember them all. His ignorance of the incident only infuriates Gene more, but, because he possesses rare knowledge of the Galactic Leyline, Gene is always forced to hesitate when given a chance to finally kill him.

Henry "Harry" McDougall - Harry is the younger of the McDougall Brothers (18 years old). Similar to Melfina, he is also a synthetic human, a test tube baby created in a lab using genetic material from that of another individual who had earlier died. Though usually calm and arrogant, he is prone to intense fits of rage and insanity. In his first upfront encounter with the XGP, he tries to hack into it's systems. As a defensive measure, Gilliam shuts down and Harry encounters Melfina for the first time (Melfina was navigating the ship and thus was connected to its mainframe when the systems were shut down). From then on he developed an obsessive infatuation with her; claiming whenever they meet that they are one and the same and are the only ones capable of understanding each other and even directly admits to Melfina at the Leyline that he loves her. However, his attempts to make Melfina fall in love with him all fail as his emotionally unstable personality frightens her. In episode 17, Harry even beats Melfina unconscious after she refuses to accompany him.

Over the course of the series, Harry's body goes through numerous cybernetic enhancements, the first of which replaced his right arm with a mechanical prosthetic that allowed him greater strength and hacking capabilities. In the ruins of the Grave of the Dragon, Harry is nearly killed by one of Gene's caster shells which requires most of his body to be replaced with bio-android prosthetics that empower him with superhuman strength and speed as well as weapons in his arms and shoulders.

The Kei Pirates
The Kei Pirates are a collection of users of Tao magic. The group most often mentioned in the series is the 108 Stars, led by the mysterious Tendo King. Those in Outlaw Star are mostly led by Hazanko and his elite Anten Seven.

108 Stars
The 108 Stars are a group of Tao magic users from the Hoppo system, and members of the Kei Pirates. The name may come from the legend of the 108 Stars of Destiny, of the classic Chinese novel Shui Hu Zhuan. Centered around the Tendo King, their leader, the 108 Stars operate in smaller groups of 10 or 20, with the leaders of these groups acting as independents, pursuing their own interests. In the series, the group that pursues Gene Starwind and the rest of the crew of the Outlaw Star is led by a man called Hazanko. The members of this group supposedly possess a great power known as Sunjutsu (pronounced soon-joot-su), which is based on feng shui. They hunt Gene and his companions relentlessly, eventually setting the Anten Seven after them.

The Anten Seven
The Anten Seven, led by Hazanko, are an elite group of assassins who take their names from a variety of Japanese beetles. They were sent after Gene and the crew of the Outlaw Star. Each member has their own particular area of expertise and they utilize their techniques according to whatever obstacles need to be overcome. Up until the discovery of the Galactic Leyline, it seems that they had worked alone. Four of them seem to be Tao masters and the rest are skilled in different fields.

Lord Hazanko - Lord Hanazako is the leader of the Anten Seven and a high-ranking member of the 108 Stars. Wanting absolute power, he began searching for the Galactic Leyline to gain enough power to defeat the Tendo King and even the Tenpa Emperor. A ruthless tyrant, he was willing to do anything, even sacrifice his own people. A skilled and powerful Tao Master, he can deflect virtually any attack directed at him and use devastating Tao magic with very little effort, going so far as to reverse the fatal effects of a #4 Caster Shell and re-emerge unharmed from apparent nonexistence.

Shimi - Shimi, whose real name is Leilong, is the first assassin sent after Gene. At first, he sends one of his lackeys to take on his appearance and challenge Gene, but after the lackey is soundly defeated, he emerges in person, revealing himself to Gene (the two had met the previous night in a bar). The real Shimi carries an immense backpack around with him, which is full of an assortment of weapons, including a sword, pistol, rockets, and a top of the line Space Forces light shield. He is a very skilled duelist and is yet to be defeated. During their duel, he easily defeats Gene. After witnessing this, Jim, Aisha, and Suzuka attack, intent on vengeance, but are also thoroughly defeated. Surviving with a wound to his ribs, Gene is then challenged to a one-shot duel by Shimi. Gene wins the duel due to Shimi having a faulty gun (likely it was a dud and he was faking it). Believed to be dead, he is buried by Gene and the others, but eventually digs himself out of his grave muttering: "They sure buried me deep enough." Instead of continuing his life as an assassin, Shimi chooses to start his life anew as a wandering outlaw, having orchestrated his defeat and "death" for the exact purpose of removing himself from the Kei Pirates. A prior conversation with Gene portrays his lack of enthusiasm for killing. Although he is first to be defeated, he is suggested to be second only to Hazanko in strength/fighting skill.

Lady Iraga - Iraga is the second assassin that Gene and the crew encounter. Defying Hazanko, she entered into an intergalactic fighting tournament which decides the strongest woman in the universe. She is a member of the Hoke Shadow Boxing team, displaying incredible feats of strength and power enabling her to defeat the four-year consecutive strongwoman champion in under thirty seconds. She wears a pair of goggles to hide her eyes and gloves to hide her hands, which are wolflike. Like Aisha, she has the ability to fully transform into a large beast, a wolf-like creature. She was defeated by Aisha in the final round of the tournament, after completely destroying the tournament building and setting it and surrounding areas ablaze.

Hanmyo - Hanmyo is the youngest member of the Anten Seven and travels with her two cats. She pilots an advanced ship, the Torarato, which separates into three subsections, each equipped with its own grappler and weapons. These smaller ships are controlled by her cats, who she communicates with through a mental link. She is also an expert in martial arts, as seen when Jim initially spots her training near a water fountain on Symka 5. She easily proves to be a match for the Outlaw Star on their first encounter, forcing Gene and the crew to escape and dock at the satellite station Symka 5. She has a brief romantic involvement with Jim (never knowing he was part of Gene's crew), believing that their meeting was fate. However, apparently she met her death when the Outlaw Star unknowingly destroyed her ship when she attacked them a second time. She wanted to finish them off quickly, determined to keep her appointment with Jim for their second date. When the Outlaw Star finally left Symka 5, a single rose from the flowers Jim had given her on their first date could be seen floating in space.

Hamushi - When Hamushi fought Gene at the Leyline, he described her as "a tough little cookie and a righteous babe all in one." She is a temptress who uses her sex appeal to send her enemies into a false sense of security. Immune to most Caster Shells, she can effortlessly deflect or negate them with a mere flick of her pink fur-frilled fan, a weapon that in turn generates shockwaves. Only when Gene uses the rare number #4 shell is she defeated: in exchange for a portion of his life energy, the shell dismantles her organic structure into a flailing mass of wiry fibers of flesh before absorbing her into a miniature black hole. The black hole has been rumored to "compress" the target of the rare caster shell, this would explain why a similar caster shell could not contain Hazanko (his power produced data too large for the caster shell to contain). She appears to be the commander of Hazanko's personal ship the Geomancer.

Tobigera - Tobigera is a master of disguise. Mainly used for comic relief in the Hot Springs Planet episode, he attempts to assassinate Gene a number of times using a claw with three long blades on his right arm while dressed as a tourist, but is always thwarted by several random, yet highly comedic deus ex machina, all whilst Gene fails to realize any danger.

Jukai - Jukai is the oldest member of The Anten Seven and presumably is an old man with a very raspy voice, although his face is never seen and little is known about him. He is wrapped from the neck down in a straitjacket with a spiked back, and wears a mask with a stylised number six on it. His specialty appears to be manipulation of hydrogen/oxygen particles in the air around him, as seen when he teleports Hazanko to the Leyline's gate. He attacks by turning into a giant whirlwind, appearing to be made of water, and ramming into his opponents. Though his arms and hands are pretty much restrained in the jacket he can still cast spells by shaking his body from side to side while chanting. He appears to be Hazanko's right hand man and the strongest spellcaster other than Hazanko himself.

Hitoriga - Hitoriga is an assassin much like Suzuka, and not much is known about his past except for the fact that he was responsible for killing Suzuka's entire family as part of a contract. A swordsman himself, when he battled Suzuka in the past he was able to defeat her, making him the only person to have ever done so in a sword-fight. Afterwards, he altered his face and body to look precisely like hers, giving him the bizarre appearance of a doppelganger, but normally wears a bag like mask with painted eyeholes and a toothy grin. He states he did this because he is in love with Suzuka and wanted to at least see her face since he knew he could never have her.

Episodes
The 26-episode anime adaptation of Outlaw Star, directed by Mitsuru Hongo and produced by Sunrise, began broadcasting in Japan on TV Tokyo from January 8, 1998 and ended on June 25, 1998, although the broadcast actually began on January 9, as it was in a 1:15 AM time slot.

An English language version of the series was licensed by Bandai Entertainment and ZRO Limit Productions, and was aired on the evening Toonami block on Cartoon Network beginning on January 15, 2001 and ending on March 30, 2001. The series began it's second run on the block on July 16, 2001 and ended on August 17, 2001. This broadcast of the show was heavily edited due to its adult content. Profanity was removed, scenes with violence and lewd behavior were cut or toned down, and many scenes containing nudity were altered by digitally inserting clothing onto characters. Episode 23, in which the Outlaw Star crew visits a hot spring planet, was not aired due to nudity and suggestive themes. However, some instances of adult language were not removed for the anime's initial run. Sean Akins, Toonami's creative director, claimed that Cartoon Network made all of their own edits to their licensed properties during this time period, which they did "in a way that preserves the story". The role of Fred Luo, a recurring homosexual character, was considerably toned down. Cartoon Network had no specific editing policy with regard to gay characters, but that "overt sexuality or implied sexuality of any kind are not allowed". Outlaw Star also had three runs on Toonami's late night Midnight Run block from January 15, 2001 to March 23, 2001, July 23, 2001 to August 3, 2001, and December 3, 2001 to February 8, 2002. The series also aired on Cartoon Network's late night Adult Swim block throughout 2002. However, the broadcast was cancelled late in the year and, according to Akins, the network allowed it's rights to expire by 2003. Outlaw Star was aired in the United Kingdom on CNX in October 2002.

Bandai released Outlaw Star in three DVD collections on September 1, 2000, February 14, 2001, and March 6, 2001. The Outlaw Star Perfect Collection Box Set, a DVD compilation of the entire series, was released on September 10, 2002. The series was again re-released on March 28, 2006 as the Outlaw Star Complete Collection. Outlaw Star additionally received DVD releases in Australia and New Zealand by Madman Entertainment on June 23, 2004, and in the United Kingdom by Beez Entertainment on April 25, 2011. Following the closure of Beez, the show was re-licensed by Anime Limited who will re-release the series in 2013.

List of Outlaw Star Episodes