The Irresponsible Captain Tylor centers around the exploits of Justy Ueki Tylor, a lazy man who signs up with the Military in hopes to have a nice desk job, live a cozy life & be able to retire with a great pension. However after Tylor ends up saving a retired Admiral from assassination through blind luck (or genius, however you look at the character), he is commended & immediately promoted to that of Captain of the space cruiser/destroyer, the Soyokaze.

Along with a group of misfits who have no business aboard a space cruiser, Tylor is quickly thrusted into the middle of a war between the United Planets Space Forces (Or UPSF, the human race) & the Raalgon Empire, Elves like Aliens. During the war, Tylor proves to be an unstoppable force, surviving the most impossible situations every time, but is it through blind luck or strategic genius? Not even Tylor knows!

The Irresponsible Captain Tylor is mainly split into 2 halves, the first half never takes itself too seriously & relies quite heavily on comedy as we get to know the characters better, & the groundwork of the story is laid. There are some dramatic undertones tossed in a bit, but don't expect too much substance in the 1st half. The 2nd half is quite the drama with some comedy sprinkled in here & there. A great thing about Captain Tylor is when it's doing comedy, it's flat out hilarious (episode 20, where the crew gives Tylor his 1st porno film is a great example) & when they do dramatic episodes, they do it just as stellar as the comedy aspect (Without getting too spoilery, the last few episodes get heavy with drama & it's done extremely well.)

A major recurring theme in this series is the question "Is Tylor a hidden genius, a lucky idiot, or perhaps a bit of both?" Fortunately, the writers leave the question unresolved & leaves it up to each individual viewer. The result is a satisfying conclusion.

Characters: One of the better aspects of the show is the cast of characters. How can you not love a show that includes Jason from the Friday the 13th film series as a gag!? Tylor while lovable & brings a needed charm/charisma to the show, doesn't really steal the show. He's held up by a strong supporting cast. Lieutenant Yamamoto is the by the books Military man who is a great foil to the slacker that is Tylor. Tylor's eventual love interest Lieutenant Yuriko Star, another by the books officer like Yamamoto, the main difference is she's the only one willing to stand up & call out Tylor for his laziness, & foolishness. They have alot of fantastic scenes & banter together, Tylor & Yuriko's relationship is one of the best aspects of the show that slowly builds properly over time & is well executed.

Dub cast: This is my personal favorite part of the show, a dub from the late 90's/early 2000's that is solid from top to bottom. Back then it was hard to find a great dub, but Irresponsible Captain Tylor definitely has a standout cast in my opinion. Anime fans will know the lead dub actor, Crispin Freeman (Alucard in Hellsing), who is one of the more popular voice actors currently in the business is here in one of his first starring roles, & to be quite honest...you can't even tell he's new to the business at this point, he does some fantastic work here as the wacky Captain Tylor & really brings the character to life. He is definitely the standout in cast full of great dub actors. Other personal standouts includes David Brimmer, who brings the series straight man Lieutenant Yamamoto to life & captures him perfectly. Sadly, David didn't have much of a career in voice over. Rachael Lillis provides the voice for Tylor's love interest, Yuriko Star, & does a great job in the part. Lastly, along with Freeman, my personal favorite performance, Josh Mosby as Dom, Azalyn's right hand guard, the actor has a natural talent, & it pains me to see he only has 2 other credits to his voice over resume, he did a fantastic job.

Positives: is it is clear that it has a trajectory in mind from the get go. It's tightly written & has a great buildup throughout the show & pays off extremely well at the end. It's definitely a character driven show with a lovable cast. Negatives: None. The show is fantastic top to bottom.

VIDEO
The aspect ratio is 1:33:1. This remastered version is much clearer than the old limited edition collection that I also own, not much grain at all here. It's definitely a solid remastering for an old series.

AUDIO We get 2 language tracks here. An English dub & Japanese with english subtitles. I always prefer to watch dub, & this one stands the test of time, unlike most dubs from it's time.

EXTRA'S Not much in terms of extra's I'm afraid, but the standout are the Liner Notes. They give some detailed background on the production of each episode, they were a nice read after each episode. Other than that, we get some Character bios, Ship data, Textless opening/closing themes, & a few trailers on each disc.

OVERALL
Tylor is a underrated space classic that got lost in the shuffle, it definitely deserves more exposure & I'm glad to see it get a remastering. This is one of the better anime titles out there, so go out & check out the wacky adventures of Captain Tylor & the Soyakaze! Consider this HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.