Reviewed on May 31st, 2006

Visually

The visual perception for Outlaw Star Vols. 3 - 5 are exceedingly good quality but they could improve on some of the blurry and fuzzyness on some of the battle scenes. Other than that it's good.

Audio

Before, on the first 2 volumes of Outlaw Star I found the audio really horrible and not to my liking as well as the music. Though I admit on Vols. 3 -5 the audio is much much improved and makes the anime worthwhile to watch.

Storyline

At the end of the opening episodes of Outlaw Star, overconfident Gene Starwind and Jim Hawking had lost an employer and gained an experimental ship they dubbed the Outlaw Star. The ship itself is a phenomenal asset, but it also represents a phenomenal financial drain. Between port fees and the need for a proper ship's registration, weapons, supplies and equipment, Starwind & Hawking is suddenly firmly in the red. Gene deals with half the problem by hitting up his new Outlaw acquaintances for help, blithely promising he'll pay them back when he makes it big. After some comic relief involving a miffed cat-girl out for revenge, he makes the same promise to an old friend, a swishy space merchant whose flirtations make both Gene and Jim twitchy. The equipment Gene wants is dauntingly expensive, but he sees a chance to make a deal when a famous assassin, "Twilight" Suzuka, comes after the merchant. Gene intervenes and gets hired as an impromptu bodyguard.

Holding off Suzuka gets him the material he needs, and he, Jim and Melfina begin refitting and repairing the Outlaw Star. Meanwhile, a band of pirates still stalks Gene and company, and a clash with an inhumanly powerful enemy leaves Gene near death. A spur-of-the-moment alliance and an emergency takeoff get the Outlaw Star's crew back into space, where they face more pirates and a difficult decision. They've got a fantastic ship and a full load of supplies, but virtually no money and no off-planet reputation that could be parlayed into cash. Jim's temper begins to boil over as he tries to convince Gene that the situation is serious and can't be cheerfully ignored, but Gene refuses to discuss the future. "When you're a big guy like me, you gotta do big things!" he boasts, but if he has any specific big things in mind, he doesn't feel like discussing them with his partner. His mixture of secretiveness and seeming irresponsibility infuriates Jim, who alternates between nagging, yelling and ignoring Gene altogether--at least until they arrive on Heiphon III, where Gene exhibits the beginnings of a plan.

DVD

The reason I give it a 2 out of 5 is because of the DVD I got from a japanese importing store. The DVD that I bought was really in bad shape and came with not many special features, though this was on my own personal experience so the rating may vary.

Overall

Overall, I find Outlaw Star Vols. 3 - 5 wonderful to watch which exclude all of the minor setbacks on the DVD I watched the volumes on. :)

by Aidan