Anime August #3: Outlanders
Anime August #3: Outlanders
Fanservice, romance, and sci-fi action galore in this 80s ova
Welcome to the third issue of Anime August, presented by Astro Demon Press. This week, we are covering the 1986 OVA Outlanders. Outlanders is based on Johji Manabe’s manga of the same name. The manga is a mix of space opera, action, romance, and comedy, and has a heavy focus on fan service. The manga was brought over to the US in the 80s by Dark Horse comics.
The OVA is a condensed adaption of the first several arcs of the manga. The manga had a much longer running story, so the OVA feels like the first part of the much longer story. For the purpose of this article, we will mainly focus on the OVA. For full disclosure, this article is written largely based off the English dub of the OVA.
The OVA was produced in the 80s and directed by Yamada Katsuhisa. Katsuhisa has a fairly decent number of credits in the anime industry, mainly for works released in the 80s and 90s. His other credits include the 80s adaption of Dragon Quest III and the series Record of the Lodoss War.
Outlanders is a relatively short OVA, coming in at around 51 minutes. A large amount of story is condensed in that run time. The story opens with an alien spaceship descending to Earth, entering a war zone. It easily blasts apart multiple jets and helicopters, before its it chief passenger, Princess Kahm, exits the ship and begins handily defeating multiple soldiers. The the action sequence is quick and serves as a decent introduction to one of the OVA’s co-leads. Princess Kahm, in addition to being one of the OVA’s leads, is also one of its chief sources of fan service. Her armor is essentially a bikini and when she is not in that, the OVA is constantly finding excuses to have in various states of undress.
The opening fight is quick but also bloody. Kahm quickly dispatches of the soldiers she encounters, with blood spewing everywhere. Despite how bloody the sequence is, it is set to fairly upbeat, almost comedic score, which lightens the mood. This sequence helps set the tone of the rest of the OVA, which despite some dark moments, is mainly comedic and light hearted. I was able to find a clip of this sequence, although it is very low quality.
After this, the OVA quickly introduces its other lead, the human boy Tetsuya, war time photographer. He immediately starts shooting picture of Kahm, before they meet. They are quickly smitten with each other, and Kahm kisses Tetsuya so they can understand each other. After their brief meeting, Kahm takes Tetsuya onto her ship, claiming him as her fiancé. At first Tetsuya is reluctant, but he quickly seems to come around.
Once on the ship, the main plot moves along quite quickly. Other characters such as the dog man Geobaldi and the cat girl Battia are quickly introduced. Geobaldi is a hard drinking space warrior and Battia is an old friend of Kahm who wears a similar outfit to her. They are both romantically involved, sharing several romantic scenes together. The audience is also introduced to Kahm’s alien servants, who act as a source of comedic relief and tease Tetsuya about marrying Kahm.
One of the strengths of Outlanders is it character designs. They are all distinctive and colorful, even if the characters themselves are rather simple. Not much time is spent developing them, but they are likable enough to keep the view invested. A heavy emphasis is place on comedy and fanservice. The animation goes out of its way to show off its female characters in skimpy outfits, and action scenes often emphasize this too.
Outlanders also does not shy away from showing full nudity, rather than censoring it. Sex is also openly discussed by the characters, with Tetsuya and Kahm’s relationship at the core of those discussions. The OVA ends with them in bed togethor. Despite the overall comedic undertone that the subjects are treated, there is a tenderness to Kahm and Tetsuya’s relationship, and their romance is treated as genuine plot point rather than one written just for laughs.
The romance between Tetsuya and Kahm ends up becoming the main driving force of the OVA. Kahm’s attraction to Tetsuya is not explained in great detail, but it is portrayed as genuine. Tetsuya meanwhile finds Kahm attractive, but is overwhelmed by the situation he finds himself in. His feelings for Kahm do grow though. Since this OVA is short, it feels relatively underdeveloped, but both leads are just likable enough for it to work. Throughout the OVA, Tetsuya is treated as a joke by the other characters, with most not viewing him worthy of Kahm. However, he eventually steps up, willing to fight for his princess and defend her honor, saving her at the end.
One aspect of the OVA worth noting is that despite its fan service, none of its female characters ever feel like that is all they are reduced to. Kahm is a strong, independent character, whose actions are the main driving force of the OVA. She is routinely portrayed as a strong fighter with an independent spirit, who is comfortable with her body and who she is. Battia is also portrayed as a strong character, who is mature, confident and also plays a key role in saving the heroes. The story avoids reducing anyone to just cheap fan service and it helps elevate the Outlanders.
There are two villains introduced in this OVA, the adviser Progress and Kahm’s father the Emperor. Both feel relatively underdeveloped, but at least have well done designs to set them apart. It is established that both want to force Kahm into an arranged marriage, largely for their own selfish reasons.
Perhaps the biggest weakness of Outlanders is that is has both too much story and not enough. The villains do not have much personality, and the Empire Kahm’s father leads and its interest in Earth are not delved into in much details. The OVA is clearly condensing several arcs from the manga into one episode that is under and hour. At the same time, so much story is covered that a lot of plot points are left underdeveloped, and it feels rushed. There is a solid, fun concept buried in the OVA, but it ultimately comes off feeling like a weak adaption. The manga does appear to be a fun read, so those interested in Outlanders may be more interested in checking that out.
Outlanders is a short, fun watch, that never feels like it reaches its full potential. Given the length of the manga, the story would probably have been better served by receiving a full series to adapt it, but that never happened. As it stands, the OVA is still worth watching, although probably only once for how light the story is. However, the characters in it are just likable enough that it will be a fun watch.
That’s all for this week everyone.
Media and Pop Culture News from around the web:
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