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FUTURE HERO NEXT GENERATION OUTLAW STAR
THE ANIME
Future Hero Next Generation Outlaw Star is an anime about a guy, who, through a series of circumstances, manages to acquire the most highly advanced spaceship known, as well as the bio-android, who navigates the ship. This man is joined by a group, who eventually become his friends, during his journeys through space. This series lasted only one season, though a spinoff, called "Angel Links", was created from it. Also, there is a manga for this series, but I really don't know that much about that one. This page will be based solely on the anime, mainly the English dub that is airing on Cartoon Network, since that is all that I have been able to see.
*SPOILERS*
| Gene Starwind | James Hawking | Hilda |
| Melfina | Aisha Clanclan | Gilliam |
| Fred Luo | Suzuka | Guen Kahn |
| Harry McDougal | Ron McDougal | Hazanko |
| Anten Seven | Minor Characters | Character Stats |
Gene Starwind is the main character of the series. He's about 20 years old, a bounty hunter, and pretty much a rookie in space, but only because he has trouble handling space travel in a normal ship. He actually has been into space before; he was just a boy when he first went up. However, during this trip, Gene lost his father, and he was the sole survivor of the trip. As a result, he developed a fear of space, even though going into space was his biggest dream.
Gene Starwind's voice, in the Japanese anime, is done by Shibuya Shigeru.
Jim Hawking is 11 years old and is sort of like Gene's sidekick. Whenever they're bounty hunting, he backs Gene up and scans for weaknesses. He is the co-owner of Starwind and Hawking Enterprises, where "they fix everything, from tractors to relationships." Jim is also the son of a hacker and a mechanical genius.
Jim Hawking's voice, in the Japanese anime, is done by Matsumoto Rika.
Hilda is the reason the whole adventure started. She contacted Gene and Jim, disguised as a woman named Rachel, because she needed certain parts and a body guard. Gene and Jim agree, but they later learn that "Rachel" was actually an outlaw named Hilda. She still needed the parts and the body guard, though, so Gene and Jim stayed with her. The parts turned out to be for her arm, and the body guard was necessary to fight against the Kei pirates, who were after Hilda because she had stolen Melfina and the XGP-15A2.
Hilda's voice, in the Japanese anime, is done by Fujita Toshiko.
Melfina is a bio-android, and the navigator of the Outlaw Star (aka XGP-15A2). Hilda stole her from the Kei pirates, along with the XGP-15A2 in order to prevent them from reaching the Leiline. Melfina is the only being that is able to allow access to the Leiline, though no one fully understands why. The people who created her put in some coding that they didn't understand into her, which enabled access to the Leiline. While with Gene and Jim, her only duties, aside from navigator, are cooking and cleaning.
Melfina's voice, in the Japanese anime, is done by Kawasumi Ayako.
Aisha is a Ctarl-Ctarl, a half human, half cat being with the strengths of each and very few weaknesses. She is an officer of the Ctarl-Ctarl when she is first introduced. However, because of the incident with Hilda, she is demoted to resident officer, which means that she doesn't get paid by the Ctarl-Ctarl and that all she has is the title. She blames Gene and Hilda entirely for her predicament. Unfortunately, Hilda is dead by this time, so Gene is on his own and very confused. At first, Aisha just wanted to kill him, but Gene always managed to escape by outsmarting her or forcing her to use up all her energy. When this wasn't working, Aisha decided that Gene owed her big time, so she became one of the crew of the Outlaw Star.
Aisha's voice, in the Japanese anime, is done by Miyamura Yuko.
Gilliam is the Outlaw Star's computer. He can be cynical (He often doubts Gene's piloting abilities). He's also egotistical sometimes, but that's because he knows that he is one of the most advanced space ships that are out in space. He controls the little maintenance workers (They look like soda cans) who often do repairs inside the ship. The only time they can do any work outside of the ship is when they are in space, because they're arms are too feeble to do any work when gravity is present.
Fred Luo is an old friend of Gene and Jim. He's very rich and a shrewd businessman. He provides all the funding for Gene and Jim's journeys, though he is still waiting for them to pay him back all the wong that they owe him. (The only reason he keeps loaning them money is that he has a special fondness for both of them. [In the Japanese anime, Fred is gay.]) Fred has shops all over the universe, so Gene and Jim can get all the supplies they need from almost anywhere in the universe.
Fred's voice, in the Japanese anime, is done by Seki Toshihiko.
Suzuka is an assassin, who fights with a wooden sword, that Gene meets on Sentinel III. She was employed by someone unknown to the viewer to kill Fred Luo. Fred hired Gene to protect him from Suzuka after he learned that she was after him. (Suzuka did not kill Fred the first time that he saw her because the time past twilight, which is where she got her name from. She only assassinates people at twilight.) Gene fought with Suzuka, and the match ended up as a draw because Gene stole her sword and her sash. He made her promise to not kill Fred until she has defeated Gene. Because Gene was able to do this, Suzuka became interested in the crew of the Outlaw Star, and eventually becomes one of the crew.
Suzuka's voice, in the Japanese anime, is done by Sayuri.
Guen Kahn is a very intelligent, but very strange, man who seems to know a lot about Melfina. He was first introduced during the Heifong Space Race, when he noticed that the XGP-15A2 was running. He stopped Gene and the crew of the Outlaw Star at one of the checkpoints and tried to get some information. He continued to attempt to contact Melfina and Gene, because he had some information on the Galactic Leiline. As it turns out, he was one of the people who helped create Melfina, but not even he knows all about her. He put in some code that he did not understand, which bothered him immensely. He wanted to get to the Galactic Leiline in order to get as much information as possible.
Guen Kahn's voice, in the Japanese anime, is done by Aono Takeshi.
Harry McDougal is an 18 year old kid, the younger brother of Ron McDougal. He's also a cyborg. He once told Melfina that they were alike, because they both had robotic parts and they both didn't have any parents. Harry said that he was created in a test tube, but whether or not this is true, only the McDougal brothers know for certain. Harry also happens to have a major crush on Melfina, which has caused his intense dislike for Gene Starwind.
Harry's voice, in the Japanese anime, is done by Kashiwakura Tsutomu.
Ron McDougal is the older brother of Harry. He and Harry work together doing just about any job...if it's for the right price, of course. They call themselves outlaws, but no one is really certain where they stand. They have many connections throughout the universe, which enables them to get the most high tech equipment, even equipment only those on the Space Force have access to. Ron, like Harry, also has an extreme hatred for Gene Starwind. Unlike Harry, however, Ron only hates Gene because he has the XGP-15A2 in his possession, and therefore has the key to the Galactic Leiline.
Ron's voice, in the Japanese anime, is done by Nakata Kazuhiro.
Hazanko is the leader of the 108 stars, and controls the Anten Seven, a group of assassins that are supposedly the greatest in the universe. Little is known about him. He must be very powerful, however, because he commands the Anten Seven. He is a master of Tao magic, so castors are useless against him. He reports to the Tendo Emperor, whom he despises. His one desire is to be the most powerful being in the universe.
The Anten Seven is a group of assassins who are supposedly the best in the universe. They are under the command of Lord Hazanko. Each of the Seven specializes in a different form of assassination. The Seven are:
Tobigira - a master of disguise.
Hanmyo - able to use cats in space combat.
Iraga - a werewolf that has amazing life force.
Jukai - his abilities have yet to be determine by those alive and outside of the Anten Seven.
Hitoriga - a martial arts master.
Hamushi - uses her good looks to enchant men.
Shimi - an amazing warrior known by all in the pirate guilds.
Minor Characters
Character Stats
The basic plot of this story is a guy, with a small group of friends, journeys through space searching for a treasure in order to try to make it big while he is being chased by pirates, other outlaws, and the space forces. However, this summary doesn't really do the story justice. This just gives the basic idea of what's going on, the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. It could be describing countless other animes.
The real plot of this story is Gene, an outlaw trying to make a name for himself, and his cohort Jim are thrown into a confusing situation because of an incident involving "Hot Ice" Hilda and the Kei pirates. Then, after working hard to gain the Hilda's trust, he and Jim are orphaned, and end up being caught in the middle of something they don't understand. However, they keep progressing forward, meeting new people along the way and gaining valuable allies, until they reach their ultimate destination, the Galactic Leiline.
I really liked this series. It's funny, it's got tons of action, and the animation is really good. There's some minor romance, but not much. Sure, there were some episodes that weren't that thrilling, but every series has that. In fact, the only episode I didn't enjoy too much was the episode that took place in the military base of one of the private sectors of the space force. All the other episodes amused me. There's only one other problem I can think of off the top of my head, but it has nothing to do with the series itself. The only other problem deals with the dubbing. Sometimes, it seems that they cut out something important or interesting (they probably did, too), but this was expected. Aside from that, even the dubbing was pretty. I like how they left in the some of the Japanese music, which made the dubbing a little better than most that I've seen. Anyway, I recommend the series.
Some images are finally up. Click here to view them.
Check out my captures from Outlaw Star.
Click to see the list of Outlaw Star music I currently possess.
© Hajime Yodate, Takehito Itoh, Sunrise/Shueisha, Sotsu Agency, Morning Star, Bandai Entertainment and any other companies related to the production of this anime or the manga.
