SerenityMovie.net

[Shrike]

Anyone seen the Anime series "Outlaw Star"? A friend lent it to me, and after watching two episodes, I'm wondering if Joss Whedon saw this before he wrote Firefly.

It's set on an outlying planet which is considered part of the space "frontier," and the main character uses some old-fashioned weaponry in addition to the high-tech stuff. The opening scene, with a saloon barfight, has the same "space-western" feel as the opening of Train job.

More importantly, in the first episode, a person who turns out to be more than she let on hires the protagonists to transport a piece of cargo for her. When they are attacked by people trying to steal the cargo, the protagonist forces his client to open the cargo, revealing ... a young girl, nude, curled in the exact same position as River is when Mal opens the crate. so .... "frontier" science fiction (I believe fans had been calling it a "Space-western") that focuses on "outlaws" whose life changes when a deceptive client is revealed to be transporting a "special" young girl in a crate, and enemies begin to try and capture her? I think those are some serious similarities, and I think the series ended in 2000. Just curious if anyone has seen this and has any clue what I'm talking about.
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"To lose all this forever is the essence of being human, my love."
-Aenea

[ecgordon]

I have not seen that anime, but you are not the first to suggest the similarities between it and Firefly (as well as Cowboy Bebop).

I won't try to deny it, or try to defend Joss against such allegations. Even if he was influenced by something else (as are all creative people, all the time), it does not alter the fact that Firefly is a great show.
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wo men ren ran zai fei xing

[Garrett]

As Roger Zelazny said, "Good writers borrow. Great writers steal."
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~Garrett, Practitioner of Larcenous Crafts

"You might say that other people's property comes naturally to me."

[space rat]

While I havn't seen the entirety of Outlaw Star, I won't deny it's both an amazing anime, as well as something Firefly could easilly been based off of.

(character info from Julie's Outlaw Star Page)

The protagonist-Gene: (age 20)
Gene is pretty much "Outlaw Star's" main character. He likes shooting stuff and drinking, spends...uh...'quality time' with women, and runs a small, semi-legitimate business which basically consists of bounty hunting and taking any kind of odd job for money (provided it's not too dangerous). His house is a mess. He acts like your basic 20-year-old guy. ^_- He has a deeply rooted phobia of space travel (stemming from his childhood, when his father forced him into the only escape pod of a burning ship). This makes things interesting when he winds up going into space (he has to drink heavily in an attempt to keep from getting sick). But he winds up the captain of the ship "Outlaw Star," which somehow keeps him from feeling confined and scared (although he's still scared of space).

The Pilot/Mechanic-Jim: (age 11)
Despite his appearance, Jim is every bit as mature as Gene, maybe more so. (Not that that's saying much. ^_-) He's Gene's partner, and always refers to Gene as 'aniki' (I've heard that word used for 'brother' and also just for someone who sees someone else as a mentor--Anime Village translates it as the natural-sounding 'Gene,' instead of an imposed translation like 'mentor' or something). He's really an excellent mechanic. I'm pretty sure he thinks adults are nuts. ^_^ He has an unnatural attraction to his car, I'm afraid; he's named it Ehefrau, which is German for 'wife.' ^_^; Other than that (and seeing Melfina as a mother figure (!)), he's pretty normal.

An Outlaw-Hilda: (age 20)
Hilda's pretty much the one that starts the story off; she demands Gene and Jim escort her to a farm... Anyway, she has an eyepatch over her right eye, but is an outlaw, not a pirate. She's the one who gets Jim, Gene, and Melfina to the Outlaw Star in the first place (she steals it in return for some money she's owed). She is not pictured in the theme song. Draw conclusions accordingly.

The Android/Navigator/Girl in the box-Melfina: (age unknown)
I generally refer to Melfina as 'the naked chick in a box'--Hilda, Gene, and Jim opened a briefcase supposedly full of something valuable and it turned out to be HER inside, cryogenically frozen. She's an android, trying to figure out why she was made; nonetheless, she's a very *human* android, who can feel emotions, eat, etc. In the ship Outlaw Star, she takes off all her clothes and gets in a clear cylinder of gel to serve as navigator. Weird stuff. She's still trying to figure out *what* she is, exactly.

The Alien/Catgirl-Aisha: (age 18 )
She used to be Ambassador Plenipotentiary of the Ctarl-Ctarl Empire, a very very powerful type of cat people. (Yeah, another catgirl...her character single's cute, anyway...) She is very strong, nearly able to beat Gene, Jim, and Melfina all put together, and can transform into a super-powerful beast (so she says, anyway...). She holds a major grudge against Gene and company, and is broke, but still wants to track them down...

The Assasin-Suzuka: (age 21)
The resident cool assassin/mercenary of the series. Wears Japanese-ish clothes (which causes her trouble at least once), and insists on keeping her word and killing her victims when she says she's going to kill them (not a minute later). Her weapon is a wooden sword (which doesn't get detected by weapons detectors), but she can cut through walls and stuff with it (not to mention people), and can just about beat Gene (who has a gun!) with it. Tries to maintain a very cold/stand-offish attitude. In other words, she's very cool.


thats it for all the really important people. While I had made the connection in the back of my mind, I haven't watched this in a while, so I never realized how closely similar the two were. *shrugs* oh well, there are only (what did my english teacher say?) 12 differnt stories in the world. The only difference ever is the details and people involved.
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