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Year: 1997-1998
Genre: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi, Space
Episodes: 26
Rating: 6 out of 5
The band is playing a sweet melody. At first, it’s a simple, slow jazz song. The trumpet barely is heard while the piano plays along. Each key heard in your ear. The soulful but smooth jazz singer begins her song. Her voice is sweet but full of pain and sorrow. You sit in the back, put your feet up on the table while smoking a cigarette. You read the newspaper as a waitress comes by and gives you another round of scotch. You smile and sip on your drink before continuing on. You listen to the soulful singer sing. She makes you remember the past with lost love and life you once had. The door swings open when the person you’re waiting for walks in. You smile before taking another drink. The person sits at the bar. You slowly get up and make your way over to the person. You point to the bartender. As you walk, the singer’s voice becomes more prominent as her song becomes more soulful. You sit at the bar and say hello to the person at the bar. You do idle talk for a while before you say they are the one you been waiting for. A smile is exchanged between you as you continue to listen to the song knowing that one of you must go. The person guesses that you are a bounty hunter. You tell them that they can have one last cigarette and drink before being taken away. You two listen as time moves slowly, thinking about life before you two met.
Cowboy Bebop is the greatest anime ever that presents a perfect blend of adventure, jazz, and anime that will leave you in awe. From the opening scene to the end, it is an anime that sets the standard of all anime series.
Overview:
The year is 2071. Most of humanity has left the Earth and has colonized most of the planets and moons in the Solar System. Travel is done through hyperspace gateways, yet fifty years before an accident with a hyperspace gateway made the Earth almost uninhabitable. With humanity spread out, the crime rate has risen to unprecedented heights. The Inter Solar System Police (ISSP) set up a legalized contract system, in which registered bounty hunters, known as “Cowboys,” chase criminals and bring them in alive in return for a reward.
Cowboy Bebop follows the crew and bounty hunters of the spaceship Bebop and their adventures together. The crew consists of Spike Spiegel, an exiled former hitman of the criminal Red Dragon Syndicate, and his partner Jet Black, a former ISSP officer. Through their adventure together, the crew begins to grow with the additions of Faye Valentine, a beautiful, amnesiac con artist; Edward Wong, a very extroverted girl skilled in the world of hacking; and finally Ein, a genetically-engineered Corgi with human-like intelligence.
Cowboy Bebop‘s main storyline focuses on Spike and his deadly rivalry with his former partner Vicious. Once thought of as dead, Spike finds himself slowly being drawn back into the criminal world and his previous life. A life that he must put to rest once and for all. Will Spike finally find happiness with his former girlfriend, Julia, and live happily ever after, or will he stop his old friend and partner and end the syndicate he once belongs to once and for all?
Review:
Cowboy Bebop is a fantastic anime. Hold up, Cowboy Bebop is an ALL-TIME CLASSIC anime. I have to say this one more time, so everyone understands. COWBOY BEBOP IS THE BEST ANIME EVER MADE!!!! HANDS DOWN!! Where does one even begin in discussing this anime. It is so great in so many areas. Shinichirō Watanabe has given the world an anime that is a masterpiece. One that transcends the anime genre.
One might start this review with the story, but let’s talk about the music and soundtrack. Holy Shit is the soundtrack amazing. Composer Yoko Kanno truly outdid herself when doing making the music for this anime. The primary theme or focus is on jazz, and it shows out so well. Out of all the songs, the opening and ending theme songs is what stand out the most and play extensively on the jazz theme. The opening theme called “Tank!” performed by Seatbelts really gets you in the mood for this anime. The song is a big band jazz piece with a Latin-infused hard bop style and a rhythm section that combines a double bass and bongo drums. It starts off really nice with a steady buildup. With the only lyrics in the whole song, “I think it’s time we blow this scene. Get everybody and the stuff together. Ok, three, two, one, let’s jam!” With the blare of the trumpet and the opening sequence, it gets you hyped. It’s simply amazing, and how the song ends will have you thinking about it all the time. The ending theme called “The Real Folk Blues” performed by Seatbelts is a powerful song that fits the anime so well. The song is sung in Japanese, but it plays so well off that blues and jazz feel and tone. The lyrics in English are powerful, talking about love and how they should never give up on each other. It fits the central character spike so well. It’s a song that can definitely be sung in a blues club. Almost every episode has some type of jazz music that fits perfectly. Whether it’s the episode of the kid that can’t age that plays the harmonica or just the simple melody between breaks, jazz is prevalent throughout the anime. It just doesn’t stop there. Heavy metal music makes an appearance along with opera.
Watanabe and character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto truly make this anime with the characters. No anime can be done without some characters. They truly outdid themselves with the characters and the development of each character. It takes a while to learn the background of each character, but each one is truly fascinating. The show’s primary character and focus are on Spike Spiegel. Spike is a bounty hunter with a past that he left behind. What makes him stand out is he is thin has brown eyes (with one being artificial) and fluffy green hair while always wearing a suit. He is a follower and practices Jeet Kune Do, along with believing in Bruce Lee. Even with his skills, he is a heavy smoker, lazy, a great thief, but also a man with a past. He tries his hardest to keep the past out of his life, knowing it will come back to him one day. He is an antihero that is worth rooting for.
Jet, Spike’s bounty hunter partner, is a former cop but has lost confidence in his previous life. He is the complete opposite of Spike in almost way. Jet is bulky and wears casual clothes while having a beard, balding, and an artificial arm. Faye Valentine is a character that seems to be really annoying but has a great background story. She has dark purple hair, bright green eyes, and a body to die for. She wears revealing clothing, but her primary attire is bright yellow hot pants and a matching, revealing top. She is a con artist and seems to be a thorn in everyone’s side, but deep down, she cares for her bounty hunting family.
Rounding out the Bebop family are Ed and Ein. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, or Ed for short, is an elite hacker prodigy from Earth. She is the comic relief of the whole anime. Ed is a teenage girl whose father forgot about her. She has the mannerisms of a wild animal or monkey. She walks around barefoot while managing to get in bizarre positions that no human should be able to. She is a free spirit, refers to herself in the third person, and has no worries about life, yet she’s an expert hacker and chess master. Ein is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi brought aboard the Bebop by Spike after a failed attempt to capture a bounty. Ein has an extraordinary intelligence and knows what everyone is doing and can answer everyone by barking. He usually barks once for “yes” and twice for “no.” Out of everyone, Ein spends the majority of his time with Ed.
The episodes of Cowboy Bebop are fun, entertaining, and engaging. The episodes or sessions as they are called are very easy to follow. No two episodes are alike, and it is not a continuous anime. You can actually miss a few episodes and not be lost. The episodes range from out of this world, to very serious and dark, to laughter. The overall storyline follows Spike, and that storyline is only five sessions/episodes long. In those episodes, you really get to see Spike’s past and his encounter with his rival Vicious. Those are the episodes that you can’t miss. Session 5, “Ballad of Fallen Angels,” was the episode that made you go, “Okay, Shit is about to go down, and we hit the serious level.”
Finally, the voice acting is what makes this anime so great. The actors/actresses they picked for the dub version is amazing. Steve Blum as Spike was phenomenal. Blum is practically the go-to voice actor for almost everything, and he does an outstanding job. Skip Stellrecht voices Vicious. Stellrecht gives Vicious that sinister voice that makes him almost terrifying. All the voice actors/actresses are wonderful.
Cowboy Bebop is an anime that everyone must watch no matter what. It is the perfect anime to watch if you are on the fence about anime. Whether it’s the different types of episodes, the style of music that is played in the anime, the characters, or even the animation, this anime has it all. No matter what, watch this anime and join in on loving the instant classic. In the words of Cowboy Bebop…….., “See You Space Cowboy.”
