Cowboy Bebop

Crime is timeless. By the year 2071, humanity has expanded across the galaxy, filling the surface of other planets with settlements like those on Earth. These new societies are plagued by murder, drug use, and theft, and intergalactic outlaws are hunted by a growing number of tough bounty hunters.

Spike Spiegel and Jet Black pursue criminals throughout space to make a humble living. Beneath his goofy and aloof demeanor, Spike is haunted by the weight of his violent past. Meanwhile, Jet manages his own troubled memories while taking care of Spike and the Bebop, their ship. The duo is joined by the beautiful con artist Faye Valentine, odd child Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, and Ein, a bioengineered Welsh Corgi.

While developing bonds and working to catch a colorful cast of criminals, the Bebop crew's lives are disrupted by a menace from Spike's past. As a rival's maniacal plot continues to unravel, Spike must choose between life with his newfound family or revenge for his old wounds.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Spiegel, Spike Main

Yamadera, Kouichi Japanese

Valentine, Faye Main

Hayashibara, Megumi Japanese

Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, Edward Main

Tada, Aoi Japanese

Black, Jet Main

Ishizuka, Unshou Japanese

Ein Supporting

Yamadera, Kouichi Japanese

Vicious Supporting

Wakamoto, Norio Japanese

Eckener, Grencia Mars Elijah Guo Supporting

Horiuchi, Kenyuu Japanese

Julia Supporting

Takashima, Gara Japanese

Von de Oniyate, Andy Supporting

Ebara, Masashi Japanese

Mad Pierrot Supporting

Ginga, Banjou Japanese

Cook, Justin Producer, Director

Maseba, Yutaka Producer

Minami, Masahiko Producer

Ikeguchi, Kazuhiko Producer

Reviews

Dec 8, 2024

MrSlamboni

Recommended

My favorite anime in existence. In fact, before Cowboy Bebop, I only watched movies because I thought series take too long. This is something you can recommend to anyone because there is nothing degenerate in it. There is no Nami bouncing around in a bikini while Sanji nosebleeds as he sees here. There is none of that loli baiting nonsense. Whenever I recommend Cowboy Bebop, it is 100% guilt-free and it was the only reason I ever gave anime a chance.

The show has some pitfalls. Vicious is a very generic villain with a stupid name. It also doesn't make sense why Vicious mainly uses a ... sword in a futuristic world where guns are commonplace. The second episode is boring. The original voice acting takes you out of the immersion (you should watch it dubbed).

The core strength of Cowboy Bebop is its ability to entertain. There are overarching plots, but they are largely ignored and the show is mostly episodic. Some things here and there relate to the main plots which eventually gets resolved at some point. I think this is a strength of the show. They don't drone on and on about a story which frankly, in itself isn't that big of a deal. It's about watching a likeable crew do missions here and there which are always exciting and/or dramatic. The point of the show is to sit there and enjoy watching spectacles unfold, not to sit there and seriously analyze everything.

After watching a lot of episodic adventures, the main plot for each character will eventually come together at some point in the show, leading to a dramatic climax. The payoff of these climaxes is great because you sort of gather pieces of the story along the way. The structure also helps because you enjoy the fun of episodic adventures and also the drama of a large plot.

The animation is amazing. I would say it holds up really well even to this day. It's not realistic, but it gives the action fluidity and activity that you cannot match using live action means. Cowboy Bebop really leverages the fact that it's an animation as a big advantage. The characters move and bend in ways that defy physics, but it looks really cool so who cares.

I love the characters. They all have realistic personalities and interact just like you would expect. They aren't shonen-style comrades who are always cordial with each other and would sacrifice their lives for each other. They are bounty hunter coworkers and they act like it. They bicker, get mad at each other, help each other, act selfish sometimes and cooperative other times. They also come with their distinct personalities and backstories which you learn about as the show continues.

I am a big fan of jazz, so it will be no surprise to say that the music of Cowboy Bebop is my favorite. The opening theme is just the best. The ending theme is perfect for the bittersweet endings it usually has. I feel nostalgic remembering every episode ending on some bittersweet tone, followed by "See you, Space Cowboy" and Blue Folk Blues playing with a background of Spike's cryptic backstory. It's just perfect.

Cowboy Bebop transcends the genre not by telling a mindblowing story, but just by being the most entertaining. There are shows with better main plots, animation, or characters. However, none of them entertained me as much as this. It is so unique without having anything really "genius", and I loved every second of it (except episode 2 that shit was boring).

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Feb 9, 2024

Labracadabrador

Mixed Feelings

Well-written

Cowboy Bebop was an interesting watch. It's definitely one of the anime that requires you to read in between the lines as not everything is presented to you at face value like most anime nowadays. However because of that it may be hard to grasp some of the overarching themes in this show without having to watch an explanation video of the entire series. For this reason I gave it a 7, as personally I believe that a piece should portray it's themes clearly, otherwise it'd probably be an 8 or 9.

But the more I think about the show I can see why people enjoy ... it so much. The approach to this anime is very realistic in it's portrayal. In fact I could say that in the far fetched future this could very well be the life of someone out there floating in space if we ever advance that far scientifically. As the anime has its boring episodes where it doesn't really add anything to the plot point, episodes with action aplenty as you would expect from a life as a bounty hunter, and finally episodes that build at the overarching theme, which is rather quite similar to the life we live ourselves; minus the gun slinging action for most of us of course. Looking back at it in that perspective it's almost as though we are just witnessing a portion their lives through a scope and it somewhat makes those boring episodes more bearable. As if we are just watching someone live out their life to the best of their abilities.

Overall I would say to give it a shot. I can see why this anime can hold a special place in people's hearts, but Cowboy Bebop is definitely starting to show its age.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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Feb 17, 2024

Noya_xoxo

Not Recommended

Don't understand the hype. Except the music and style it was super boring.
The ''deep meanings' and ''symbolism'' don't hit if that is ALL there is. Each episode felt like filler with maybe 1 good scene.
Julia is insufferable. Her final scene has zero impact. You can't honestly tell me you care this much about such an empty character that you get no exposure to. Even if it impacts Spike, as a viewer, it doesn't hit. Her presence was more annoying than anything else.
Spike was a an amazing character until they decided to strip all the good stuff off of him and literally make ... him into an air-head who is completely useless and suddenly seems to have lost all his brain-cells.
Ed is just...there. Only actually active in like 2 episodes and then get's a terrible resolution. It literally made no sense. Why would Ed leave with someone who clearly doesn't care if they are even there?
Fay was cool until you realized that she follows the same formula every.single.time.
Justice for Ain. He deserves his own show. Had more charisma and character than any of the other 4.
Vicious is just an empty villain in his peak emo phase.
I understand that for it's time it was a masterpiece but the plot is not cutting it. Sorry.
It had so much potential to be amazing, but it wasn't. You have those amazing characters and beautiful animation with great music and yet it STILL ended up feeling like staring at wall-paint dry.

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

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