Move over, Dragonball and clubs! Here comes the latest Japanese cartoon import to burrow its way into the minds of American youth: Outlaw Star.
Sound familiar? Well, we wrote the same thing back in October about another Japansese cartoon, Vision of Escaflowne. Escaflowne disappeared from the scene after a few weeks when it was inexplicably cancelled by the Fox network.
But, if you build it, they will come, and if you draw it and show it on Cartoon Network, they will search. A new challenger has moved into the anime fray this week, and moved in like an elephant taking over your living room. Outlaw Star will not be ignored.
Four weeks ago, there were no searches for Outlaw Star. The following week, it was popular as the nation of Ukraine and the Statue of Liberty, far below the Lycos 50. The next week, it tripled, to a level of interest similar to the films Unbreakable and Finding Forrester.
It stayed at that level one more week, and then premiered as part of Cartoon Network's Toonami programming on January 15. By the end of the week searches had increased by 500% over the week before, or 1700% over three weeks previous.
In fact, Outlaw Star just missed the Lycos 50 this week at #54. It received more searches than other cartoons including South Park (#56), Sailor Moon (#57), and Gundam Wing (#61).
Like most anime programs, Outlaw Star is a space action story, this time starring a redneck gun-for-hire and his mechanical whiz-kid partner who get mixed up with some intergalactic fighting. It is supposed to have a bit more humor than other animes, but it's still wholesome family fun. Will it reach Dragonball proportions? Well, it needs a few more products with its name first, but never underestimate the interest in anime online.
If you're interested in checking out Outlaw Star, you can purchase some episodes on video from Lycos Shop.
