Outlanders

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Outlanders (アウトランダーズ, Autorandāzu) is a Manga written by Johji Manabe, best described as a Space Opera with a strong dose of Science Fantasy, an Action Girlfriend and a whole heaping load of Fan Service. It tells the story of the alien Princess Kahm and Tokyo News Photographer Tetsuya Wakatsuki as they try to save the earth from the invading forces of the interstellar Santovasku Empire. Oh, and Kahm's father is the emperor. The Santovasku (referred to as Saint Evascureze in the OVA) use giant techno-organic spaceships, or "Biomechs," and they utilize both their advanced technology as well as their mastery of sorcery in their assault on Earth.

The manga was distributed by Dark Horse Comics in the United States prior to the expiration of their license on the property. The Dark Horse version was translated by Toren Smith of Studio Proteus. There is also an Outlanders OVA, produced by AIC on behalf of Tatsunoko Production and is not listed on Tatsunoko's web site. In 2005, Central Park Media released a remastered version of the OVA with new voice actors. A poll was conducted to select said actors, with fans selecting who they wished to voice the characters.

Manabe would later revisit the Outlanders universe with the one-shot manga, The Key of Graciale. Although it is not a direct prequel to his earlier Outlanders manga in terms of plot, Princess Kahm does return as heroine complete with her band of trusted servants in tow.

The OVA condenses roughly the first half of the series into a single self-contained episode less than an hour in length; all but the main story elements, in addition to most of the non-essential characters, are subsequently dispensed with.

This should not be confused with the Outlanders novel series by Mark Ellis, spun off from the Deathlands series of post-apocalyptic novels.

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Tropes used in Outlanders include:

• Action Girl: Kahm and her best friend, Battia.
• Action Girlfriend: Both the above.
• Actor Allusion: Kahm is voiced (in Japanese) by Fumi Hirano. Easy to keep straight. Lum is a green-haired "horned" alien princess. Kahm is a green-haired "horny" alien princess.
• The Alcoholic: Geobaldi has a big jug of... something he takes a swig from almost every time he's seen.
• Arranged Marriage: Kahm is fleeing one of these.
• Babies Ever After: Quintuplets, even! (manga spoiler)
• Badass: Battia and Geobaldi qualify, though Kahm suffers some Badass Decay after her capture.
• Beta Couple: Battia and Geobaldi.
• Bleached Underpants: Manabe publishes both erotic doujinshi and original hentai manga to this day. He also publishes some doujinshi based on his own work, as Ura Outlanders.
• Boisterous Bruiser: Geobaldi, toned down from his Blood Knight introduction in the manga.
• Bottle Fairy: Battia has elements of this.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In the manga, the Emperor resorts to mind-wiping Kahm to stop her rebellion relationship with Tetsuya. Tetsuya succeeds in regaining her memories.
• Butt Monkey: Tetsuya
• Bizarre Alien Biology: Averted with Kahm and Battia. Possibly played straight with Geobaldi, but is not made clear.
• Catgirl: Battia has cat ears.
• Chainmail Bikini: Kahm and Battia's attire of choice.
• Crash Into Hello: More of a Charging Attack into Hello, but you get the idea. However, rather then the associated awkwardness, the two are instantly attracted to one another.
• Creator Cameo
  • Johji Manabe himself voiced a background character in the Japanese dub of the OVA.
  • He also drew chibi versions of himself as extras in the manga.
• Curb Stomp Battle: Sick of Geobaldi calling him a monkey, Tetsuya uses Kahm's sword to attack him, only to be slashed to ribbons. Kahm is forced to employ a secret healing technique to save him afterwards. The incident is not mentioned again.
• Damsel in Distress: Kahm briefly becomes one of these after bringing Tetsuya to meet her father. It didn't go well.
• The Dulcinea Effect: Tetsuya quickly succumbs to this.
• Dwindling Party: Battia, Gerobaldi and Raika all die in that order when trying to rescue Kahm, after Earth's Destruction.
• Earthshattering Kaboom: Ironically this is not applied to the Earth's Destruction. This however applies to the Destruction of the Santovasku Empire.
• Earn Your Happy Ending: In the manga. Considering what happened it may be somewhat bittersweet.
• Everyone Comes Back Fantasy Party Ending: The special epilogue to the manga.
• Expy: A green-haired alien princess with horns and a bikini comes to Earth with her father's invasion fleet, and then decides on a whim to marry a Japanese boy after he sees her topless. If that's not familiar enough, she's named Kaamu (instead of Ramu) in Japanese. The major difference is Urusei Yatsura plays the whole alien invasion angle for comedy, and it's all but forgotten by the end of chapter two.
• First Guy Wins: Tetsuya is the first human male Kahm meets that isn't ugly and trying to kill her.
• Fan Service: Rampant.
• Fish People: Nao and the entire Nuba tribe. They're not aquatic, but still.
• Five Rounds Rapid: Early in the OVA, Kahm lands her ship on Earth while being attacked by the military, presumably the JSDF. Her ship wipes the floor with them. After personally slaughtering a whole squad with only her sword and Chainmail Bikini, she bumps into Tetsuya taking pictures of the action. Cue plot and no further mention of the destruction.
• Funny Animal: Geobaldi, a starship captain and Master Swordsman implied to be from a world enthralled by The Empire.
• Furo Scene: Sort of, as the scene is an actual bath as opposed to a soaking bit.
• "Glad to Be Alive" Sex: Tetsuya gets his happy ending.
• Gratuitous English: In the theme song.
• Green-Haired Space Babe: Kahm
• Grey and Grey Morality: More like the Blue and Orange Morality of the Santovasku Empire vs. the Fantastic Racism of Humanity. Even among the rebels, Geobaldi has no problems destroying New York City and Washington D.C.
• Half-Human Hybrid: The implied result of Kahm and Tetsuya's relationship. Not just implied in the manga.
• Heel Face Turn: Geobaldi after being convinced by Tetsuya and Double Subverted with Raika. See Shipper on Deck.
• Horned Humanoid: All of the Santovasku royals, but Kahm's horns are much cuter than her father's.
• Hot Amazon: Kahm and Battia again. The OVA basically runs on this and Action Girlfriend.
• Insignificant Little Blue Planet
• Interspecies Romance: Well, duh. As Tetsuya discovers first-hand after accidentally depriving her of her Modesty Towel, and in subsequent encounters, he and Kahm are not only anatomically compatible, but also biologically.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Geobaldi
• Kill'Em All: The only characters to survive the entire series are Kahm, Tetsuya, and the main crew of the Rha Ledaruba.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Princess Kahm briefly forgets Tetsuya and tries to kill him (again), due to the magic of the Santrov Emperor.
• Last of His Kind: Tetsuya by the end of the entire series is the last human alive.
• Load-Bearing Boss: The Emperor is a particularly egregious example, causing the collapse of an entire planet.
• Love At First Sight: More or less what happens between Kahm and Tetsuya, at least in the anime. (The manga is somewhere between Best Her to Bed Her and Fire-Forged Friends.)
• Love-Obstructing Parents: The Emperor frowns upon his daughter's shenanigans.
• Magic Kiss: Kahm gives Tetsuya the ability to understand her alien language with a kiss, which she says is a simple spell. Though later they cast an area-effect version of the spell, probably so Kahm didn't have kiss the entire Nuba tribe.
• Meaningful Name: Geobaldi, is named after Italian folk hero and revolutionary warrior Giuseppe Garibaldi. Guess who he ends up fighting for? His Number Two is Gari, of course.
• One Head Taller: averted, interestingly enough. Kahm and Tetsuya are roughly the same height. Played straight with Battia and Geobaldi. Battia's no shrimp, but Geobaldi is massive.
• Organic Technology: Santovasku tech seems to be equal parts this and Magitek.
• Overly Long Gag: Everyone keeps calling poor Tetsuya a monkey.
• Ready for Lovemaking: Kahm is an eager woman indeed. Her outfit facilitates this.
• Rebellious Princess: Kahm again.
• Rescue Sex: Almost happens, but is stopped by Battia and Geobaldi reminding them that they still have a nigh-impossible escape to execute.
• The Rival: Battia's intial appearance leads to a Sword Fight with her friend Kahm, but we quickly discover she's more of The Lancer.
• Rocks Fall, Everyone Dies: Literally, more like The Moon Falls, Humanity Dies. Also happens to the Santrovasku Imperial Planet.
• Rubber Forehead Aliens: Mostly. Kahm only has a pair of horns that wrap around her hair, and Battia has cat ears. Then there's Geobaldi. Justified in that they originally came from Earth.
• Shameless Fanservice Girl: Kham, of course.
• Shipper on Deck: Raika, the German girl from the manga. She sneaks aboard Kahm's flagship to try to kill her, and ends up coming out of hiding after listening to the Emperor offer to leave Earth alone if Tetsuya leaves Kahm -- just to deliver a Shut UP, Hannibal. She immediately starts working on arranging the wedding ceremonies.
• Slap Slap Kiss: How Kahm and Tetsuya meet. The kiss confers Kahm's language to Tetsuya.
• Small Annoying Creature: Kahm's personal staff includes two Yoda-sized frog-creatures and their three children. the woman offers Kahm advice on how to court Tetsuya during the Furo Scene. The couple's catchphrase is "Leave them alone", in reference to our favorite green-haired space princess and her squeeze.
• Super-Powered Evil Side: Tetsuya's old boss Aki once the Ancient Conspiracy turns her into the Black Magician Girl Jilehr.
• Sword Fight: Several.
• Squee: Kahm's reaction to Tetsuya coming to her rescue. Almost results in Rescue Sex.
• That's No Moon: In the manga, Earth's moon is revealed to be an ancient space battleship.
• Throwaway Country: Subverted in the manga; Japan is completely destroyed by the end of the first storyline (although all significant characters escaped). Earth is destroyed about two-thirds through the series.
• Treacherous Advisor: Court advisor and fleet commander Progress is implied to be this by Kahm, but never gets a chance to enact whatever scheme he had in mind. Neo is revealed to be one as well.
• Venus Needs Men: Part of the reason Kahm comes to our planet in the first place. She also genuinely cares about us and would rather her father not wipe us out.
• Twerp Sweating: The Emperor doesn't even bother trying to intimidate Tetsuya. He's got that part down pat. He just skips straight to the execution by being fed to nasty giant alien worms. Cue Battia pulling a Lando Calrissian to save Tetsuya from the aforementioned horrible fate.
• You Sexy Beast: Battia, to Geobaldi.