when a space frieghter [karma] is hijacked, a team of bounty hunters [gren and bob] take on the assignment of evacuating the crew and cargo. ironcially, the same corporation that called for the team attacks them to prevent their mission. with a new member [iria] on the team, they survive the attack and set out to find the karma, only to find that its crew has already been killed by the cargo [zeiram]. the team tries to destroy the monster, only to have iria become the only surviving member in terms of flesh and blood.

needless to say, iria is devastated. not only has she lost her older brother, but the planet she ends up on won't give her the supplies she requests because no one has heard of the karma mission. frustrated and tired, iria takes out her agression on a kid [kei] who tries to steal her ship, but after a hug that "feels like home" the two become friends. now with a new sidekick on board, iria has some run ins with old acquinatances which include zeiram. in time, iria becomes aware of the connection between the administrative offices and zeiram and uses everything at her disposal to expose the conspiracy and find out what happened to her brother.

iria. gren's younger sister and apprentice. she wants to be like her brother, a bounty hunter, and for the most part it seems like she was taught well 'cuz she's one tough girl. she's a bit over protective of her brother in the beginning, but when she's forced to let him go, she's determined get revenge on the monster that took him from her.

gren. iria's older brother and mentor. though he is a master bounty hunter and can take care of himself, his comrades know how protective iria is of him and constantly tease him about the "leash" she has him on. he has confidence in iria's ability as a bounty hunter, but protects her when he can.

bob. a comrade of iria and gren. while on the karma, he gets wounded by zeiram and iria thinks that's the end of him, until she finds him again in the form of a computer. in this new compacted form, he provides her with information about the from there on about zeiram and the administrative offices.

zeiram. a special organism that can assimilate anyone and anything it gets ahold of. the creature is deemed to be indestructible, but that doesn't discourage iria's need to destroy it. it's bent on destruction and fulfills the sick desire by commiting mass murder and so forth. it also has the ability to clone itself as other monsters.

kei. an orphan girl who everyone mistakes for a boy because of her supposed dirty mouth and reckless style. she befriends iria after trying to steal her ship and remains her partner in crime. she gets attached to iria and worries about her whenever she's fighting zeiram.

komimassa. an orphan boy who hangs out with kei. he befriends iria after kei tries to steal iria's ship and is killed by zeiram while trying to retrieve a gun for iria during a battle.

fujikaro. in his first appearance, you'd think he was nothing more than a bounty stealing jerk, but when he reappears later, he and the odd contraption he flies around in becomes some use to iria in her search for zeiram.

opening. yes, i loved this. it has my approval. you must see it.

story. the storyline was pretty good. nothing too out of the ordinary for a sci-fi bounty hunter anime, but the way it was executed made it pretty damn good.

characters. iria's my favorite character, since she's the most developed [probably because she is the main character]. she's not perfect ["you overshot it by three floors, iria"] but she's quick-witted and can easily make up for her mistakes with expert usage of her gadgets. the other characters had personality, but not quite enough to make them as well-rounded as her ...

animation. my favorite aspect of the whole anime. there's a lot of fast-paced action scenes but nothing seems overdone to the point where it's excess, it just fits perfectly.

music. adds to the mood of every scene very well. i've heard the complete soundtrack is extremely good, and from the tracks i've found on-line, i wouldn't doubt that opinion.