Firefly is an 'Outlaw Star' rip-off!!! (apparently)
POSTED BY: Daz
UPDATED: Tuesday, February 17, 2015 08:53
VIEWED: 39795
PAGE 5 of 6
Right. All this has done for me is to push me over the line to buy the Outlaw Star DVDs. We can all get along in my house.
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Comparing similarities is all fine and dandy, and I don't see anything wrong in it myself. But before I came here, I was drumming up any and all enthusiasm I could for the Serenity movie at another forum, and out of nowhere came a guy who went so far as to call Joss Whedon a "no-talent plagerizing ass clown" who "totally ripped off Outlaw Star".
To make it interesting, I asked this man if he was bothered by all the similarities in other anime to movies and shows from America (the door swinging the other way, in other words)...and, naturally, he clammed up.
I love anime to no end...some of my all-time favorite movies and shows have been anime. To add to this, I have met many anime fans who are genuine and good folks that appreciate the medium for what it's worth.
Sadly though, at least here in the states, I've noticed a certain "fringe element" amongst anime fans...certain people who are infatuated with anime simply because of it being Japanese. To this fringe element, no other medium of story-telling can or will exist...no matter how excellent another story is, if it's not Japanese, or Asian for that matter, they'll automatically hate it. I personally think it's a form of drag these misguided people are suffering...they long to be something they're not, hating themselves, hating their surroundings, so they engross themselves with some pop culture from another nation and make it their way of life...even going so far as to tack a "san" or a "sama" onto peoples' names, embracing anything and everything as long as its Japanese no matter how bad it may be (hentai anybody?).
What do I think? I personally don't give a flying crap if Joss Whedon borrowed or "plagerized" anything...I look at final products, and I go with what is the more appealing to me. Besides, if there was so much ripped off from Outlaw Star, why hasn't any lawsuits been filed?
For that matter, if we're going to go on this "who did it first" logic this fringe element clings to when it's convenient for them, then there should be no other car company in the world other than Ford, Taito should be the only video game company making shooters since they were first with "Space Invaders", and there should've never been another transforming robot comic or show out of their beloved and perfect utopian Japan since "Tanku Tankuro" came out in the 1930's! (*whew* run-on sentence!)
Sorry if I got on a soap-box. 
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I belive in Outlaw star I can swear remembering a "special" bullet that makes a black hole or something like that. To my knowlege I have never seen that on Firefly. (this a small diffrence but I still think Outlaw Star was a little more serious and unbeliveble, personaly i never broke out laughing while whatching it)
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Quote:
Originally posted by VolanGeneral:
I belive in Outlaw star I can swear remembering a "special" bullet that makes a black hole or something like that. To my knowlege I have never seen that on Firefly.
Oh but wait! There was something similar!
Remember in the "Our Mrs. Reynolds" episode, when Jayne fires Vera at the space station?! The effect it had was the bad guys being sucked out into space when the windows bursted (similar to the effects of a graviational pull of a black hole)! And Vera is a very special gun to Jayne! This proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt! Joss Whedon totally ripped that off too!
Sorry...I'm not being serious at all...I just figured I'd beat some Japanophile to that ridiculous conclusion.
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Bah forget you guys.
...unless you're Japanese.
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Quote:Ummmm, no.
Originally posted by LouGojira:
I just figured I'd beat some Japanophile to that ridiculous conclusion.
You get to keep that one all to yourself.
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Quote:
Originally posted by VolanGeneral:
I belive in Outlaw star I can swear remembering a "special" bullet that makes a black hole or something like that. To my knowlege I have never seen that on Firefly. (this a small diffrence but I still think Outlaw Star was a little more serious and unbeliveble, personaly i never broke out laughing while whatching it)
The "bullet" you're talking about was a number 4 caster shell. It was one of the special ones Gene got just before going to the Galactic Leyline.
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It really isn't that big of a deal to recycle cool ideas!
"There's nothing new under the sun." (or so they say) There's just new combinations!
Listen to what Joss himself says...
Quote:
http://www.foxhome.com/firefly/assets/videos/joss/2_4.mov
"It's a science fiction western drama action comedy hybrid, much like all the shows I do. It's something I haven't seen on TV for a while. I'm not sure if I've ever seen all of the elements in place. It's got a great deal of action, and a great deal, obviously, of cool spaceships and all the things I love in science fiction, but it's actually just really Stagecoach. It's using a nice compelling setting, a journey in this case, hopefully a very looooong journey, to learn about people, and see their interactions, and see what makes them tick, and learn about society and life and what it all means... but with action... and a whore!"
http://www.foxhome.com/firefly/assets/videos/joss/2_6.mov
"I don't know if there's anything that I'll ever do that anybody's never seen before... but this show is new in the sense of the way it treats the future..."
I could happily go to my grave never having heard the term "rip-off" again.
I just wanna talk about the "independently cool" bits that all these works share!
I mean, it's just plain undeniably COOL how the simple word "boat" connects Firefly to Cowboy Bebop...
Jayne: "The only people she's a threat to is us on this boat!"
The Bebop floats, so it's literally a BOAT after it makes planetfall.
Can't ignore some'n like that!
Moving on...
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Quote:
Originally posted by cljohnston108:Quote:Ummmm, no.
Originally posted by LouGojira:
I just figured I'd beat some Japanophile to that ridiculous conclusion.
You get to keep that one all to yourself.
Then I guess I better zip it with the whole "Wash and Zoe being an inter-racial relationship rip-off of Roy Fokker and Claudia Grant from Macross" theory huh? *lol*
Just funnin' around...I just hope some Japanophile somewhere hasn't honestly thought something so absurd...
Maybe I should be worried that this has even occured to me as a joke!
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It is very true that the non-storyline elements are directly comparable to Outlaw Star, which in it's own right is a great work. 1.) A ship that is considered a hunk of junk piloted by roguish types. 2.)Young innocent female genius mechanic. 3.)Girl found in a cryogenic box who is a genius and has psychic powers. It does go on. HOWEVER, Firefly is a completely different animal in execution and is AMAZING. Do not let the defense of something we are ALL passionate about blind you to facts. Check out Outlaw Star, it is a great series, and it goes it out say, so if Firefly and YES they are different shows, however there are core elements that link them.
Keep flying.
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