Did Firefly Rip Off This Famous Anime?

gamerant.com:

There is no doubt that when people discuss some of the best space western shows of all time that Firefly is sure to come up on the list. It's considered a classic creation by Joss Whedon and many fans lament that it never got a proper second season, even with the movie Serenity bringing back the cast and crew.

However, the show has always been marred by one particular controversy — the fact that it may have stolen many of its story elements from the anime Outlaw Star. What really makes the difference between a simple homage and outright ripping off ideas? Did Firefly really have that much in common with this overshadowed anime from the 90s? It's time to settle the debate once and for all.

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While often overshadowed by Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star is considered to be one of the greatest sci-fi anime of all time so it would make sense if Joss Whedon took at least some inspiration from the show. Still, it's reasonable to begin with a simple question: Did Outlaw Star come out early enough to have influenced the production of Firefly?

While some would point out that the manga began serialization back in 1996, there was never an official English translation for the series even after it was made into an anime. This makes it so that the first time Whedon or the rest of the production crew could have seen Outlaw Star was during its original run in 1998 when it was broadcast on TV Tokyo or when the full DVD collection of the series was originally released back in 1999.

Even with Outlaw Star's first run on Toonami back in 2001, there still could have been enough time for it to be used as inspiration for the show since Firefly's first episode airing on September 20, 2002.

When it comes to the debate