Do space westerns rock by default?

[justira]

I've been buzzing around lj and ran into somethingorother Firefly-related and realized how much that series rocks all over again. I have yet to finish it or see Serenity, but I still love it.

Which made me remember two other space westerns that are awesome: Trigun and Cowboy Bebop. (Trigun manga is much more space-related than the anime, which is just mostly western.)

What is it about space westerns? I can't think of any others, and the three that I can think of are all pretty damn good. Does the genre rock by default? Is it a difficult meld and so less dreck gets it?

=P

Comments

[aciel.livejournal.com]

Heart Firefly, here, and Bebop. I think, yes. Firefly--has a lot to do with the language and the garb. Bebop--it's the world they create without explaining, so you discover a little more every time.

Never done the Trigun.

[justira.livejournal.com]

Dude, Trigun is the shit. I'll burn you copies of it or something.

Actually, what you should *really* do is read the manga. It's amazing, and so much better than the series. The two only start out the same - the series ends after 26 episodes, I believe, and it encompasses about... oh, pure content-wise I guess about 1/3 of the manga's story. But as far as plot, character background, interaction, detail, backstory, it's got about 1/10 of the manga. The anime storyline departs *completel* from the manga one after a certain point. And yet it's *still* a good series. Imagine how hard the manga rocks =P

I have about half the books myself, but I read most of the manga in Japanese with an online translation nearby, so I'm actually not too familiar with the quality of the English translated versions. It seems pretty good, though, from what I've seen.

[ash-mantle.livejournal.com]

*envies you*
yeah, i own the series and have seen glimpses of the manga. the manga is better.

space westerns are what westerns were sixty years ago: an exploration of the interactions of people in a dynamic enough environment to make cool stuff happen. thus, they rock.

[flyboymike.livejournal.com]

You could even call Star Wars: A New Hope a space western. They're just good, I guess. Bebop's also got one of the most bitchin' soundtracks ever.