Side note: I want to make it clear. This is not my final review. I will watch the series again sometime in the future. I always learn something new about the series and myself. Also, I’m working on my grammar. Hopefully, by next review, I will be able to express myself better and I will have my grammar knowledge perfected! This will be the first time I’ve done a review, which means I am just going with the flow. Either way, I hope you enjoy!
“Whatever happens, happens” is a quote from the series. The quote might be simple to you but for someone who loves this series, this quote could be your motto to life. The quote reflects the series-simple yet deep, sexy, smooth, and so god damn cool. This series is Cowboy Bebop.
Most likely, if you’re an avid anime watcher you’ve already seen this, and probably more than a few times. And if you haven’t you’re new to watching anime. The new to anime starter pack recommendations usually starts with series such as Cowboy Bebop and FMA: Brotherhood. They are the top tier certified classics that happen to be praised from all walks of life in the anime community, which rarely happens. I am one of those people who’ve seen the series over a thousand times. And every time, I re-watch the series, I love Cowboy Bebop more than I did previously.
Cowboy Bebop made its debut in 1998. It’s been a recurring theme in my life ever since. Every American child, in the early 2000’s, knew they accomplished staying up past their bedtime, once InuYasha or Cowboy Bebop hit the television screen. I have vivid memories that take me back. I can remember being so fukking sick early in the morning throwing up, while watching InuYasha, before I eventually went to the ER. I can remember staying at my grandparents when Cowboy Bebop would popup on the television screen, before I fell asleep. Years went by and at least one of these shows continued to fill that time slot for Adult Swim and Toonami (Toonami programming made a comeback in 2012.) Cowboy Bebop was the first anime ever to debut on the Adult Swim block back on Sunday, September 2nd, 2001. Currently in 2018, Cowboy Bebop is airing every weekend on Toonami. Cowboy Bebop continues to dominate Cartoon Network programming. Cowboy Bebop has been in my life ever since I was a child and continues to remain in my life as a college student.
Cowboy Bebop is a series animated made by Sunrise in 1998. The director Shinichiro Watanabe (Fun Fact: Watanabe is credited for Samurai Champloo), screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane, and composer Yoko Kanno helped contribute to this twenty-six-session classic. The shortest description of what Cowboy Bebop is this “bounty hunters searching for criminals.” The longer description would be about a series set in the year 2071, with the protagonists being bounty hunters, who live together on a spaceship named Bebop. The protagonists are Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine, and Edward Wong (and if you want to count the dog Ein.) The Bebop team goes on adventurous missions while dealing with their individual problems. Spike’s problems happen to be the central focus of the series. Bebop’s genre can be listed as space Western but Watanbe listed this series as a “new genre unto itself.” Watanabe lists his main inspiration for Cowboy Bebop as Lupin III. Lupin III is a familiar name but it can be argued Cowboy Bebop has surpassed Lupin in popularity. Cowboy Bebop has won many awards while receiving praise from all over the world, specifically Japan and the United States. Cowboy Bebop is labeled as the gateway series into anime. The series is still popular to this day. Also, Cowboy Bebop is considered the greatest anime of all time.
I’ve stated that I’ve seen Cowboy Bebop many times. But I truly haven’t understood Bebop until my last watch. I think we all can agree, that one can’t truly understand how legendary the series is, until you reach adulthood. The kid version of myself thought Bebop was a decent show, but I threw the ‘’classic’’ label on front of the name because everyone else did. I was trying to fit in before I developed my own taste in Anime/Manga. Currently, the 23-year-old version truly believes this series is a classic. The kid version of myself, thought this was a 26-episodic series, where some episodes were random and certain characters happened to be too damn annoying or uninteresting. Aka Faye and Jet. I now understand each episode has a meaning that paves the way to a conclusion for each character and their stories towards the end. Except, the Toys in the Attic episode. I don’t know what it brings to the full story, besides paying homage to Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey. But besides that, I also realize I relate to characters who I didn’t care for in the past. Aka Faye and Jet. However, I never realized this until my 242th watch. And one important detail I never noticed about the series up until now is this. Cowboy Bebop is fukking sad. Behind the sexy music, iconic characters, gorgeous scenery, the adventures and many cool quotes. Everyone in the series is going through something rough. Bebop focuses on concepts such as being lonely, the meaning of life, and dealing with the past at the same time trying to go forward. And it’s those type of concepts you can only grasp through experience.
Now it’s time to “review” the series. Cowboy Bebop is considered the greatest anime of all time. And I’m confident I agree and if not it’s top five. Cowboy Bebop story is simple to follow. They are bounty hunters looking for bounties, meanwhile they are dealing with their personal conflicts. The personal conflicts make the series what it is. I could never understand why the highly praised animes were considered the classics, as a child. I was the Shounen guy who idolized Goku (I still do hehe) but I realized I can’t relate to him. Goku’s damn near perfect. He eats whatever he wants, can fly, gets stronger with age, has thousands of power ups by screaming, and has died damn near ten times. I may not know what the setting of Cowboy Bebop feels like. But I can relate to the protagonists. The protagonists have the perfect mix of anime clichés and realism I can relate too. For example, the internal conflicts of not being able to let go of the past. We all miss something. It can be someone who’s no longer in your life or a certain feeling or time you know you will never experience again. It’s something every human deals with. The realism in the series to touch your emotions is amazing.
I want to review the protagonists who I didn’t care for in the past. I love Faye and Jet now. But first, I want to give a brief praise to Spike and Edward. Spike is honestly the coolest anime character ever. First of all, dude pulls off the messy hair. The only other dude to pull off messy hair like that is Bob Dylan. Spike Segal and Bob Dylan are in a league of their own as GOATS (Greatest Of All Time.) From what I’ve heard, Spike’s messy hair is a dedication to Dylan. Spike is also smooth beyond one’s imagination. He has so many quotes that I can cite faithfully, which is weird because I can’t remember my studies. The type of quotes that come off the top of my head are:
“Does it look like I have money?!”
“whatever happens, happens”
“I love the type of woman that can kick my ass.”
The quotes happen to be like the series. It’s simple and cool. It’s more of a you must see and hear Spike’s delivery for yourself type of thing. Spike is one of those guys who you can’t ever imagine being that cool until you witness it for yourself, explanations don’t justice his character. Either way, he’s a legendary anime character that remains as everyone’s favorite, decades later. Edward Wong is the second female protagonist. I remember being a child wondering if Edward was a boy or girl. I’m pretty sure I wasn’t 100 percent, until multiple Google searches confirmed for me. Fun fact: she was originally supposed to be a male. They changed Ed to a girl to even out the gender ratio. She’s also inspired by the music director of Bebop. I consider Ed the comic relief of the series. The series can get dramatic and intense at times. Ed always saves the mood with her cuteness and childlike personality. The episode, Mushroom Samba, convinced me we need an Ed and Ein spinoff, or at least we should have received an extra episode or two, of those two going on an adventure. Every interaction between both is gold. And Ed’s voice actor is one reason why the dubbed version of Bebop is classic tier. It was like she was born to play Ed. Ed steals everyone’s hearts as soon as she enters the series.