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Cowboy Bebop is a highly acclaimed and well-respected anime. Not only is it arguably the greatest anime of the 90’s, but to this day, it is still considered by some to be the greatest anime that has ever graced us with its presence. As such, one would assume that expectations are rather high for this review, given the subject matter. In the past, I have spoken very highly of this anime, even going so far as to include it on a list of five anime that I believe you should watch before you die. And that’s an opinion I still stand by. But today, I plan to be objective because it is my belief that no matter how highly rated a show is, or how popular a show is, you can always find flaws somewhere, as nothing is ever perfect. A show that is true perfection? I do not believe that we have had the honour of such a show being brought into existence. Though Cowboy Bebop, in many ways, comes close. So with that in mind – ladies, gentlemen, and others – my name is Arkada and welcome to Glass Reflection. Today, the Star Wars of anime, Cowboy Bebop. Are you ready? THREE, TWO, ONE…let’s jam!
The Setting
The year is 2071 and, by this time, mankind has reached the stars. With the invention of hyperspace gate technology, humankind has begun to spread out into the unknown galaxy. But with every frontier, crime runs rampant, as the law and the police who enforce it can only handle so much. And when a criminal becomes so elusive that the cops just can’t seem to catch them no matter how hard they try, well that’s when they need the help of some good old-fashioned cowboys. Cowboy Bebop follows the story of a ragtag band of bounty hunters who travel the cosmos searching for adventure and excitement and…oh, who am I kidding? They are just looking to get some food on the table so as to not starve. Going from episode to episode, our heroes attempt to collect bounties on criminal scum, and despite all of them being quite badass in their own right, they sometimes suck at their jobs.
The Characters
Starting off the character list is Spike Spiegel, a martial arts expert and skilled pilot with an outfit reminiscent of Lupin the Third and a sense of humour to match, though not as cartoony. It would be good to mention upfront here that all of the main characters from Bebop are played straight in an era where characters designed to be overacted was considered to be the norm. Not to say that there isn’t some upbeat humour to be had, even with Spike specifically. His past, like most of the other characters from this series, is shrouded in mystery for the majority of the show. He was once a member of a highly prominent criminal syndicate, before leaving through unknown means and joining up with the Bebop. But because you can never truly leave a crime syndicate, his past comes back to haunt him throughout the series, like a nightmare that he can never truly wake up from, making for some of the most interesting plot twists later on. Spike’s greatest trait is how he is able to switch his attitude depending on the situation and not be bogged down in depression when things get rough, as some other hero protagonists might. He can be kicking ass one minute, then be confronting his past the next, but he still makes it back to the Bebop in time to complain by the end, and that’s why he’s kind of awesome.
Next up is Jet. Jet is one of the more straightforward characters out of the main cast. A former cop, Jet buys the Bebop and begins his new bounty hunting gig with Spike, after losing his arm. Jet mainly seems to act as a father figure for the rest of the Bebop crew, dealing with the business side of things, as well as ship maintenance, analysis, and holding the biggest contact book with outside agencies that are useful for gathering information on their various targets. But like Spike, he also has a past that he would sooner leave behind than return to, which could be one of the reasons behind their friendship, as well as one of their failings. More importantly though, Jet is the voice of reason. When Spike goes off on a crazy hunt or Faye steals all of their money, you can expect Jet to be the most rational, with an attitude of “I’m too old for this shit”.
Ahh, Faye Valentine, the famous femme fatale who tops the list of most people’s sexiest anime characters, despite slowing being replaced by newer characters over the last several years. Unlike both Spike and Jet, Faye is frantically trying to find her past instead of running away from it. Because of this, she immerses herself in excessive greed and gambling to make herself feel better, much to the dismay of her partners. Despite possibly being the most inexperienced fighter compared to Spike and Jet, she can hold her own in combat, though never really places herself into a situation where she needs to. Instead, she relies on her charm to get her through the day. There are times when Faye can be soft-spoken and vulnerable, adding much to her character, but it’s her sassy attitude that keeps her interesting and keeps us coming back to watch more.
Lastly, there is Edward. Edward is…special. To me, Ed seems to exist as an attempt to lighten the mood in a show that would otherwise spend far too long in the dark side of characterizations. She’s a zany super-hacker from Earth who joins the Bebop crew because she thinks it will be fun. No seriously. She has a very childish nature about her, even though her intelligence is off the charts, and she’s never put into a situation where she needed to be anything else but that wacky sidekick who did silly things. But you know what? That was perfectly fine. She may not have had the same amount of development or screen time as her peers, but it was her childlike black and white view of the universe that gave the show a much needed new perspective on various situations. Plus, she’s just fun to watch.
With the show’s secondary characters, the great thing about them is how simple yet involved they tend to be. Most new episodes have a new character introduced that you’ll never see after the episode is complete, but their arcs are simple enough that a twenty-minute timeslot is all you really need to get the gist of their character. They have enough development so that they aren’t just cardboard cut-outs. The same goes for the reoccurring characters, the three old guys as well as the two actors for Big Shot. They never get in the way of the story of any given episode, but they have enough screen time to be memorable in their own special ways.
The Story
The overall plot to Bebop is simple enough to grasp very quickly, but just because it’s simple doesn’t stop it from being one of the most entertaining and interesting plots in anime. The story, as great as it is, still has flaws though. I made mention earlier that the crew of the Bebop, considering how skilled they are, more or less suck at their job. No, really. In the entire run of the series, the crew is unable to catch or turn in the bounty on fourteen separate occasions. Sure, it’s one of the series’ main plot points that they never have any money around, and what little they do have is usually either spent on repairs or stolen by Faye for gambling. But for characters that skilled, you’d think they would catch a break at least most of the time.
The other major gripe I have with the show is its rather slow start. Bebop really doesn’t get truly interesting until episode 5 Ballad of Fallen Angels. So when I’m attempting to convince others of just how good the show is, forcing them to watch episodes 1-4 is a little difficult. Now don’t get me wrong, the first four episodes are not bad at all, but considering the show’s reputation as one of the greatest anime in existence, those first four episodes are kind of a bad introduction. Personally, if you’re trying to show off this anime properly, start off with episode 5, move on to episode 6 Sympathy for the Devil, then head back to episode 1 and go from there. Episodes 5 and 6 have enough context so that you don’t get lost, but enough intrigue to make the first four episodes more entertaining than they are on their own straight off the bat. Other people may have differing opinions on the viewing order, but that’s how I see it, and it’s worked for me so far.
The Animation
Officially, Cowboy Bebop was animated by Sunrise, the creators of shows such as Escaflowne and Gundam. But more astute viewers may research and discover that a very large chunk of Sunrise’s staff left to create their own production company, BONES. So why is this relevant? Well, besides the fact that BONES’ first major work was the Cowboy Bebop movie Knocking on Heaven’s Door, two of Cowboy Bebop’s animation directors as well as the show’s producers are the founders of BONES. And BONES as a production studio is kind of really well-known for their rather high production values in shows like Fullmetal Alchemist, Soul Eater, and Eureka Seven.
Anyway, long story short, Bebop’s animation is phenomenal for its time and it still stands up today, even though it was one of the last anime to be made using traditional cel animation before everyone started to use digital for everything. If anything, this only adds to the testament of Bebop’s animation because this show is so fluid, it is like water. It’s one thing for digital animation to be as fluid as water, but when you know that that same quality can be achieved with someone drawing all the frames by hand. That’s an achievement that few hold, and even then, it’s not done as well as this.
The Sound
I have spoken about Yoko Kanno’s work on soundtracks in the past, so much so that to offer her more praise would make me sound like a broken record at this point. But it needs to be stated as many times as I have. In this case specifically, it would be a travesty to not mention the soundtrack for Cowboy Bebop, as it is what has introduced the majority of anime fans to her work, and it is constantly cited as some of the best work that she has ever accomplished. Cowboy Bebop is a show that revolves around music. While being heavily influenced by both jazz and blues, there are a multitude of genres that the show uses from episode to episode. Speaking of this, most of the episode titles are musical references in and of themselves. For example: The Rolling Stone’s Honky Tonk Woman, Aerosmith’s Toys in the Attic album, and Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. Most importantly, there’s the show’s opening theme TANK! which is in a class all of its own. It’s one of the few openings that not only can get me pumped for watching the show, but it just gets you pumped up in general. Turn it on while you’re eating breakfast and you’ll be all like, “Hell yes, this is going to be an awesome day!”
And I would be remiss to not mention the English dub of Bebop, as it has basically been the benchmark of every anime dub that has followed it. This is the dub that even has dub haters saying, “I don’t normally listen to dubs, but when I do, it’s Cowboy Bebop.” The norm, pre-Bebop, was that dubs had characters that were overacted and were almost always comical to a degree because that’s what people had come to expect from their “cartoons” as it were. And it wasn’t always the actor’s fault either, as not many of the characters had the same amount of depth that the Bebop crew does and overacting was just how things seemed to fit. But Bebop had to be done another way, and it did so with some of the most memorable performances that I have ever heard in an anime dub, with vocals by Steve Blum, Wendee Lee, John Daniels, and Melissa Fahn, with voice direction by the great Mary Elizabeth McGlynn. And all together, these people with these characters were able to create performances that are arguably unmatched in anime.
Final Verdict
Cowboy Bebop is an absolute classic and a defining example of what anime is and what it is capable of. There is something in this anime for everybody to enjoy, and I have yet to meet someone who hasn’t found something. It is my belief that the only people who don’t like Bebop are the people have never watched Bebop, or they are the kind of person that dislikes popular things just because everyone else says that they’re awesome. If you’re still not convinced, watch Balled of Fallen Angels, and decide for yourself.
Without any further ado, I present you the average score for the categories of story, characters, animation, sound, and my own personal enjoyment, which – after having it blasted from the very tank that the opening song gets its name from – leaves me awarding Cowboy Bebop with an 8.7 out of 10. I’m rating this classic Certified Frosty – a rating reserved only for the best of the best and those shows too important to ignore. At the time of this video, Cowboy Bebop is not available for internet streaming. However, it is available from Bandai Entertainment in the States and also its European branch, as well as from Madman in Australia, though it’s a little bit harder to find than most. As far as additional anime recommendations go, why not try some other classics including Madhouse’s Trigun, and BONES’ famous Fullmetal Alchemist series? Both of these will do you very well.
And with that, I leave you. Until next time – ladies, gentlemen, and others – stay frosty.
