Thread: Just watched the first episode.

WHOA! Who copied who? Outlaw Star, or Firefly? Because the part with the "it" inside the "thing" (see how craftily I've avoided spoiling?) Is basically the same thing, right down the pose the "it" is in. WHOA! Mind blown.

Bro' I think Firefly copied Outlaw Star ! Were is the uniqe story of Firefly God dammit -.- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35TbGjt-weA

This has been discussed online before (Googling it brings up forum discussions dating back nearly 12 years) and Joss Whedon has denied seeing Outlaw Star before Firefly (although it's been said that he's seen it since). Outlaw Star predates Firefly.

That said, the "Chick in a box" trope is not all that original. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/GirlInABox

ANYTHING PAST THIS POINT COULD BE SPOILER-IFIC TO FIREFLY OR OUTLAW STAR. IF YOU HAVEN'T FINISHED EITHER, BE WARNED.

Also, other than some small similarities (The aforementioned "Girl In A Box", both ending before their time, the use of Chinese [trope] culture, and the space setting) the two shows are immensely different.

If you think about it, even the similarities are different in their own respects. River Tam knows who she is, Melfina doesn't. (While River is dealing with her own issues, their respective identity crisis' are way different.) Their main purposes differ as well: Melfina is used to help pilot the ship, where as River is more of an assassin girl. They only really share the Girl In A Box trope and the fact that they are often used for plot advancement.

The space setting in each is different. One is Toward the Stars and the other is is our universe. The technologies used in each is different and the governments in play are different.

The Chinese culture is used in a different way in each as well. I called it a "Trope" culture because it is really an appeal to the mystic in one sense (Tao masters and "mysticisim" in Outlaw Star) and more of a poke at population ratios in Firefly (they speak Mandarin because the Chinese became the dominant race in the future as current trends show today - they make up nearly a quarter of our world with India in second).

END OF POSSIBLE SPOILER LAND.

So, while yes, everyone eventually goes "But this is Firefly!", it really isn't. The similarities seen are really only surface level.

I see that Outlaw Star came first, so I'm finding it hard to believe that Joss Wedon did not straight up steal the scene. He may have had a similar plan all along (girl in box, blah blah blah) but if you put both frames next to each other they are basically identical shots.

while the similarities seem to be there, we can never really be for sure if he copied outlaw star, can we? I mean, firefly was cancelled before it was finished, so do we know how the storyline ends?

Its really hard to find any "original" works now-a-days. I won't say they're copying someone elses work; more like getting inspirations, ideas from it. Did you know the the creators of the matrix got a lot of their ideas from the ghost in the shell movie. If there was no ghost in the shell, there wouldn't have been the matrix

"Japanese director Mamoru Oshii's Ghost in the Shell was a strong influence. Producer Joel Silver has stated that the Wachowski brothers first described their intentions for The Matrix by showing him that anime and saying, "We wanna do that for real." Mitsuhisa Ishikawa of Production I.G, which produced Ghost in the Shell, noted that the anime's high-quality visuals were a strong source of inspiration for the Wachowski brothers."

I say a happy coincidence.
They are both great shows worthy of their own praises.

Originally Posted by vegeta87952

while the similarities seem to be there, we can never really be for sure if he copied outlaw star, can we? I mean, firefly was cancelled before it was finished, so do we know how the storyline ends?

Well, in my defense, I've still only seen the first episode and my comment is really only about the one scene. Any potential thematic cross-overs aside, the pose, the nudity, the case - it's 1:1.