Cosmo Shidan

This has to be one of the worst live-action space westerns ever produced. Not only are the villainous Alliance non-threatening, but the main characters are a set of racial stereotypes. For one, you have a masculinized black woman who's defined by her 2 white male companions in the form of Zoe, a pacified black priest in Shepard Book, a promiscuous Indigenous woman who lusts for white guys would be Kaylee, and an aggressive and sweet Latinx sex worker such as Innara. Meanwhile Mal Reynolds I feel is probably the most dated character in the series, given how he's portrayed as a not only sexist, but he has the gull to insult his only means of support, Innara. It's a wonder how he's still in business. Then there's the white nationalist character, Jayne Cobb, whose basically Dr. Smith from Lost In Space, but without a brain. All the while, River has to be the most annoying character, as she has very undefined powers, and while having the gull to show no respect for people's personal property or privacy. And then there's her brother Simon, who comes off as a bit bland. The less said about him the better. Now when it comes to the villains, I have to wonder what makes the Alliance evil? We never see or hear any mention of atrocities they have committed, and it's not until the movie we do, which should have been in the series from the start. Also, the aesthetics really clash. Most of the time the scenery is 90% western, and 10% space opera. I find it most jarring especially when all but one of the planets is nearly desert. Why not have planets that are lush forests? In my view, a completely western themed environment works in a space western when it's entirely on a singular planet like in Oblivion, rather than nearly every planet looking the same. While there's Chinese, Arabic, and South Asian architecture, food, and clothing, there appears to be an absence of said peoples in the main cast. Anyhow, that's my two cents for why I hate this show so much.

A wonderful update to the Flash Gordon mythos, the series does away with its techno-Orientalist roots. All the while it stays true to the spirit of the comics. This essentially done by making Ming a fascist and mirror image of Flash Gordon, if he turned evil. A must see!

Starhunter is much better than Firefly could ever be. For one, its storyline isn't given the backseat as the latter show, and is focused on developing its principle characters as opposed to Firefly. Another thing to note is that, Starhunter has a semi-realistic take on its setting in that it takes place entirely in our solar system, while making spaceships travel between planets in a matter of days. This makes it a little more like Cowboy Bebop, since it is centred around a group of bounty hunters who act as a family, with retrotech, but one of the members holding a dark secret. Although unlike Bebop, stargates are notably absent. Overall, I do recommend giving it a watch.