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Outlaw Star Episode 03 – All Aboard the Ctarl-Ctrain

This episode always was a bit of a lull for me. Like the last two there is quite a bit of whirlwind action taking place within the runtime, however it feels like a bit too much time is spent in transit. After putting the kybosh on their nighttime assailants, Hilda and the gang make off for the mysterious ship she spoke to Gene of last week. Obviously this means more space battles…

Outlaw Star Episode 02 – Pathos to Gail Simone’s Chagrin

In the fight for gender equality, I believe women have a more pressing group to compete towards than men: The waifu. You may wonder: “Yo, aren’t waifus women? What makes them different and treated better?” Well, it’s a matter of this.

When you stick a woman in a refrigerator, chances are she’s dead. When you stick a waifu in one, it’s for the purpose of waking her up again for some story element a bit of a ways away. The argument has an issue however in that River Tam was NOT a waifu, nor should be considered one. However, that is another story for another day (That will never come). Let’s get back to Outlaw Star.

Outlaw Star Episode 01 – Makings of a Legend?

I’ve a confession. I never really finished Outlaw Star. I watched the first half until the midpoint of what I remember is the Space Race, and then lost interest after that, except for the then-taboo “Hot Springs Planet Tenrei”. However, thanks to FUNimation and an evolved animu home media market which does not sell 25 to 26 episode series in three-volume two-disc sets with an MSRP of $44.99 each, I have decided to take the plunge once more. It’ll not only be great finishing this, but it’ll also be great having a full opinion on the complete product instead of one where I’m “Oh, what I saw was good but I didn’t finish it.”

Let’s fix this, shall we?

L/R Licensed by Royalty Episode 12 and 13 – Kingsmeh-n [FINAL]

SPOILERS

These final few episodes go out as you would expect them to if you’ve been paying attention to how I’ve been writing these. I’ll just laundry list some key points, make an additional comment, and get to the real meat of this article: looking back at the entire series and what happens moments after the crux of the finale.

Here we go:

L/R: Licensed by Royalty Episode 09 – Seventh Inning Streeeeeeeeetch

It seems popular foreign television doesn’t make its way to Ishtar much these days, for Des seems to have only heard OF Get Smart, but has never watched it. Cute cultural gags which are funny in and of itself without one knowing the existence of Get Smart, goes a long way.

So this week is where Noelle gets to hang out with Jack and Rowe again after the events of Episode 7. To the show’s credit, it does not waste any time with having to set up the situation where Noelle escapes her bodyguard’s watch. Right off the opening, Claire has already replaced Noelle, who is supposed to be at Ishtar’s first baseball game. So what wacky adventures do those three have now that the princess-in-waiting’s on the prowl?

L/R: Licensed by Royalty Episode 08 – The Princess Diaries

They’re still having that staring contest since the week before last. Man alive…

In a moment of serendipity, it seems that two week gap between this article and the last coincides with the time passed in the show. L/R’s been doing their thing, and Noelle’s been doing her own thing. The thing is, they haven’t doing a thing involving each other since Angel Island. The former has been keeping a guarded distance from her due to the Angel matter, which is unfortunate for the latter who wants to see both of them. You can tell Noelle’s trying her best given the circumstances, but it is also prevalent how she feels like a caged bird given her new status. Interesting, given her more than affable acceptance in the last episode. Maybe she didn’t anticipate it’d be this difficult?

L/R: Licensed by Royalty Episode 07 – Ivory Island Escapades

Man, Jack and Rowe must be having a most intense staring contest with one another in that shot.

Jumping into the thick of things, it is up to L/R to continue their mission to find and detain the elusive Angel, who was not Jack’s old flame after all. After some detective work, given the use of old Ivory Island songs, they decide to well… go to Ivory Island. This means we not only see Noelle again, but also get a ground-level view of her island. I guess Ivory Island is supposed to be a takeoff on the hinterlands of the UK, given Ishtar’s propensity to appropriate Anglo-Saxon culture? It makes me wish I knew where Ishtar was on a map since it has already ran the gamut of various geographic locales from mountain ranges, deserts, and now temperate island zones. This all seems very ill-defined and as a result is off-putting, at least to me anyway. Ishtar is such an isolated microcosm.

L/R: Licensed by Royalty Episode 06 – Plotting on Up

Talk about your super serial episode here, folks. I think we might be picking things up given the goings on here. Ivory Island is back in the show again, with major terrorist attacks on a mining facility and a major official of the corporation who owns it. Now it’s up to L/R to figure out who this bomb maker is and put a stop to him/her before they destroy their next target.


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