Thread: Would you ever watch...

Would you ever watch the story prior to or after Outlaw Star of an individual character?

By this I mean, if they were to take one of the main say 5 characters and gave them their own 13 episode anime series that takes place before or after the main series, would it be something you would be interested in... And if so, of which character?

To my knowledge, this has not been done with any of them but I could be wrong.

It has sort of been done. It's not one of the main 5, but Angel Links is a spin-off/sequel that follows Meifon Li, whose crew consists of some minor characters that appeared in the OLS anime.

I'd much rather watch an OLS-specific one as you described. Either Aisha or Melfina would be my preferred character. This hasn't been done yet in anime form, but if you count the doujinshi, magazines, interviews, manga extras there are some (very brief) things like what you are outlining.

Originally Posted by JustinYatesMusic

I’m not sure if the magazines, interviews, magna. Etc cover these things....but I’d love to see it on screen.

Yes they do! Well, some of the ones you listed. Namely:

>Sukuza’s origins too. She is painted as a total bad ass but sits around drinking tea most of the time. I’d like to see how she got her rep.
>How Jim and Gene met would be another good one.

I know that these two are covered. Gene & Jim in the manga itself, while Suzu's background is more "told" not "shown". There are these character profile pages in the manga that go into detail on each character, so we get a lot of what we know about her from there. In addition, she is featured in some doujinshi & magazines. We are far from translating every doujin, manga page, interview, concept drawing, storyboard, light novel, and piece of promotional material so who knows how much more we'll find going forward?

Anything related to Outlaw Star I would definitely watch.

Like Zemekis said, this has been done... to an extent. We learn about how Gene and Jim met up in one of the drama CD episodes. Melfina doesn't really have much of a past and her future would probably be dependent on Gene and/or Jim in a sequel. I agree that Aisha would probably just be annoying. Suzuka's story could be interesting, so for me she's a candidate, but I think if I can bend the rules a little a prequel about Hilda would be the best option. It could be about her clashes with the Kei Pirates, what got her involved with them and how they cut off her arm, her connections with Swanzo and McCoy, and of course an extended look at the events directly leading to Outlaw Star. (Hilda's fight in Sentinel's space, etc.) Maybe she was only a main character for four episodes, but when you consider she's still a popular fan favourite despite the shorter screen-time, it's easy to see why a lot of people would enjoy a Hilda prequel and there's a lot more to work with.

Originally Posted by JustinYatesMusic

I’ve got to read that drama CD!!!

Hahaha we're working on it. All in due time, my friend.

Originally Posted by JustinYatesMusic

I could dig a Hilda prequel.

I’ve got to read that drama CD!!!

You can still read the document and learn about how Gene and Jim met.

There's a preliminary PDF (or doc file) at the Leyline. It's unedited but it's still certainly good enough for a preview.

Looking back, I quite like how the original show wrapped up.
While they overcame some big challenges and saw some crazy things, the crew of the Outlaw Star are still people with tangible, believable personalities and pursuits.

I've hypothesized as to the direction of an OLS sequel before.
Perhaps Suzuka and Aisha could have more "solo missions", or miniseries which revolve exclusively around them to give their characters more flesh. However, because Gene, Jim and Melfina are tied to the Outlaw Star we would need to be a bit more inventive in order to get character study-like series for them individually.

Not impossible by any stretch, though. Perhaps they want to upgrade the ship in some fashion, and due to its sophistication and connection to the Space Forces and Pirates, such a task is not so simple, so they would have to spend time on a planet or at a dock, where they end up getting separated as the result of some conspiracy to steal the ship. Then, during their mission to regroup, we have more individual character-themed episodes.
However, it would take some serious doing to push that into thirteen meaningful episodes.

So, as far as sequels go, I would just be happy to see these characters again, faithfully represented and not botched like many attempted sequels in media.

For prequels, I would definitely shoot for a Hilda miniseries. She plays a pivotal role in the show, but enjoys very little screen time.