is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Johji Manabe. The story follows the alien Kahm, crown princess of the interstellar Santovasku Empire, who invades Earth and meets and falls in love with human news photographer Tetsuya Wakatsuki. The couple and their allies soon find themselves caught in a war between Earth's military, the Santovasku invasion forces, and an ancient clan seeking vengeance on the Santovasku. Outlanders is largely a space opera series that combines aspects of science fantasy, romance, comedy, and fan service.
Outlanders was created out of Manabe's desire to try his hand the space opera genre. He was driven by his penchant for illustrating attractive, sword-wielding girls and large, detailed spacecraft, as well as his interest in science fiction epics such as the original Star Wars Trilogy. Outlanders was Manabe's first serialized work and was featured in the Hakusensha manga magazine Monthly ComiComi between January 1985 and November 1987.
Individual chapters of Outlanders were collected and sold as eight tankōbon volumes in Japan during its publication in Monthly ComiComi. The series spawned an anime adaptation in the form of an original video animation (OVA) by Tatsunoko Production, released in Japan in December 1986. The manga was translated into English by Toren Smith of Studio Proteus and licensed in North America by Dark Horse Comics beginning in 1988 as one of its earliest manga properties. The OVA received two English dubs: the first from U.S. Renditions in 1993 and the second from Central Park Media (CPM) in 2006. Critical reaction to the anime has been largely mixed regarding its tone, animation, and sound design, though many agreed that the adaptation condenses too much of the manga's plot.
Plot Outlanders begins in modern-day Tokyo with the arrival of a Biomech, a giant, organic starship that easily destroys several Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF) helicopters. News photographer Tetsuya Wakatsuki comes face-to-face with the craft's occupant Kahm, crown princess of the technologically advanced, interstellar Santovasku Empire. She charges him, he manages to fend her off, and she retreats without her sword. Kahm's father, Emperor Quevas, is informed that the Santovaskuan "sacred planet" is infested with humans while the JSDF supreme commander Togo prepares for an impending war with the alien invaders. Battia Bureitin Rou, a Santovasku fleet commander and Kahm's best friend, is sent to retrieve the princess when she returns to the city in search of her sword. During a skirmish with the humans, Battia's ship takes heavy damage, which triggers the Biomech's self-destruct mechanism. Having found her sword and Tetsuya in his apartment, Kahm receives a warning from Battia and evacuates with Tetsuya as the entire Japanese archipelago is vaporized. Meanwhile, Tetsuya's boss, Aki Okazawa, is taken to Siberia by the JSDF. There she meets Neo, Togo's superior and the leader of the secret world political organization known as the Shadow Cabinet. He exposits that millions of years earlier Earth was the seat of the Ra Empire, torn apart in a civil war between two belligerents: the Yoma Clan and the progenitors of the current Santovasku Empire. Neo, himself a surviving Yoma from this conflict, tells Aki that her body houses the spirit of the Yoma witch Jilehr Maruda and that he wishes to utilize her immense power to exact revenge on the Santovasku. Shortly thereafter, Quevas gives the order for all human life to be exterminated, resulting in large portions Europe being bombarded by the empire. Neo awakens Jilehr within Aki and the assaulting platoon is instantly obliterated by her magic.
Tetsuya hears of Japan's fate and forces Kahm to return him to Earth. The two crash land in Germany and meet scavenger Raisa Vogel. They evade capture by German troops and Raisa splits off on her own. Kahm and Tetsuya discuss marrying to create a diplomatic alliance between the humans and Santovasku. The couple rendezvous with Kahm's Nuba Tribe servants, use her crashed ship's communicator to call for extraction, and set a course for the Santovasku imperial home world. Battia joins them. Kahm tells her she is denouncing her father's intention of arranging her marriage to produce a royal heir and is strategically marrying Tetsuya to stop the war. Once arriving and making their case, an unconvinced Quevas has Tetsuya arrested and sentences him to death then puts Kahm under house arrest. With the aid of Battia and the Nuba, they manage to escape and head for Earth again in hopes of gaining support from its military to fight the empire instead. Realizing their affection for one another has grown, Kahm and Tetsuya still intend to wed. Upon reaching Earth's orbit, Kahm pleads with empire affiliate Geobaldi to join their efforts, which he does following a duel with Tetsuya. Neo continues to groom Jilehr in exacting vengeance on the Santovasku. Togo, now the head of Earth's global armed forces, plots against the Yoma so that humanity alone may ultimately triumph so that he can achieve his own ambitions of galactic conquest.
The rebels land on Earth, reunite with Raisa, and have brief diplomatic talks with Togo before leaving. Togo then has Neo gunned down and initiates Operation Phoenix. This unveils the Earth's moon as an enormous weapon called Dola, which was built by the Ra Empire eons ago. Raisa and Aki both join the rebels and take part in Kahm and Tetsuya's wedding. The festivities are cut short when an imperial army group is sent to their location by Quevas to demolish Earth for Kahm's continued defiance. A large battle between the Santovasku and rebel squadron ensues. Aki becomes Jilehr once more and takes control of the rebel vessels while Togo gives the command to have Dola strike the battlefield frontlines. A substantial percentage of the Santovasku fleet is vanquished, but as Togo's team celebrates they receive a taunting call from Jilehr. Realizing the sorceress survived the initial blast, Togo desperately demands another to eliminate her. However, the humans lose control of the ancient weapon to Jilehr as she sets it on a collision course with Earth. After madly proclaiming his aspirations to rule the galaxy, the selfish Togo is assassinated by one of his officers just as Dola and planet impact, wiping out humanity.
The protagonists find that they have warped to the outskirts of the Santovasku imperial planet. Jilehr shows herself again, this time surrounded by the vengeful ghosts of the Yoma Clan. Jilehr causes the rebel Biomechs to fire on the planet, prompting Quevas to engage with her in a fierce battle of magic. Before the Yoma spirits succumb to the emperor's overwhelming abilities, Aki breaks free of Jilehr's hold and dies. Quevas subsequently appears aboard Kahm's spacecraft. He reveals his initial plan to reclaim Earth was to ensure the Yoma's eradication. He then teleports with his daughter to the planet's imperial palace. With Jilehr gone, the rebels regain control of their warships and breach the planet's defenses to rescue Kahm once more. Battia, Geobaldi, and Raisa all sacrifice their lives so that Tetsuya can reach the palace. Tetsuya proceeds to the royal throne room and is confronted by a hostile Kahm. With no memory of her husband due to the influence of her father's mind control, she attacks Tetsuya only to come to her senses moments later. A final confrontation between Quevas and Kahm ends with the princess fatally wounding the emperor with a sword stab. His death brings with it the destruction of the imperial planet and the Santovasku Empire. Kahm and Tetsuya manage to depart with the Nuba just as the planet explodes. Three years later, they have happily settled on the peaceful planet Ekoda. Now with quintuplet daughters and one son, Kahm and Tetsuya receive a visit from the souls of their deceased friends during an annual festival.
Characters Protagonists
The human main protagonist, and a young photographer for the newspaper agency Toa News. Originally self-conscious and timid, he grows in courage and willpower during the war, mainly when he falls in love with Kahm, and takes up the fight against the Santovasku Empire.
The story's alien main protagonist, and the impulsive crown princess of the Santovasku Empire. She originally came to Earth to escape her confined life in the imperial palace and find adventure and excitement in battle. After first attempting to kill Tetsuya, she falls in love with him, compelling her into helping him defend the Earth against her father's predations.
A catgirl officer in the Santovasku Empire, Kahm's minder and best friend, and Geobaldi's lover. She is a swordswoman of extraordinary skill. She dies during Tetsuya's assault on the Imperial palace to rescue Kahm from her father, although her spirit returns in the manga's epilogue as part of a special holiday (on which the living are allowed to spend one day each year with dear departed friends and family) on the planet on which Tetsuya and Kahm have settled.
An immensely strong soldier and a member of the Gadom, a primitive bear-man people which were all but eradicated by the Santovasku Empire. The few survivors were drafted as battle fodder into the imperial forces; Geobaldi has risen to the rank of commander over their forces. After testing Tetsuya's courage in a duel, he becomes impressed enough with him to turn against the empire. He is killed during the final attack on the imperial palace, but returns as a spirit in the story's epilogue.
/ A reporter for Toa News, and Tetsuya's boss. A very temperamental, stubborn personality, she is used by Neo as a vessel to resurrect the dead Santovaskuan witch Jilehr Maruda, who was reincarnated in her, as his weapon of vengeance against the empire. Despite her bossy nature, she deeply cares for Tetsuya, and it is this affection which allows her to rid herself of Jilehr's spirit, although the strain kills her. Like Battia and Geobaldi, she appears again as a spirit in the manga's epilogue chapter.
A young German girl who lost her family during the first wave of the Santovasku invasion, she encounters Tetsuya and Kahm when the alien princess first returns him to Earth. Because she falls in love with Tetsuya, and due to her hatred for the alien invaders, she and Kahm initially become rivals, but Raisa eventually ends up aiding them in their struggle against the empire. She is killed during the final mission to rescue Kahm from her father, but returns as a spirit in the manga's epilogue.
The head of Kahm's faithful servants, the Nuba Tribe, a clan of dwarfish reptilian humanoids.
Nao's wife.
A bespectacled member of Nao's servant clan who falls in unrequited love with Raisa.
Antagonists
The supreme ruler of the Santovasku Empire. He is Kahm's caring but overbearing father, and ruthless to the extreme, he even resorts to mind control to get her back to his side. He initiates the invasion of Earth solely to eradicate Neo, the last survivor of the Yoma Clan who poses a threat to his life. When Tetsuya invades the imperial palace to rescue Kahm, and she sees him injured, she shakes off the mind control and mortally wounds her father, thereby triggering the utter destruction of the empire.
The supreme commander of the Japanese Self-Defense Force. On the surface the leader of Earth's defenses against the aliens, he is actually a member of the Shadow Cabinet, a small group of Earth people who are aware of Neo's origins and are working hand in hand with his goals to destroy the empire. Secretly, however, he schemes to take control of Earth for himself, manipulating Giru and even Jilehr to this end; but Jilehr, unwilling to be dominated, eventually turns against him. Just before Jilehr wipes out the rest of humanity by causing the Moon to crash into the Earth, Togo is killed by one of his underlings when his megalomania turns into desperate ruthlessness.