Cowboy Bebop

Note: Not to be confused with the 2021 Netflix live action adaptation of the same name.

Cowboy Bebop is a neo-noir sci-fi space western anime released in 1998 during a time when anime was starting to get real popular in the west during the late 90s and was the "gateway drug" to anime fans in the west.

The main story is about 4 bounty hunters named Spike, Jet, Faye and Ed, along with their pet Corgi Ein, who travel around the Milky Way galaxy looking for one bounty after another, barely making it out in each episode.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Awesome characters with a deep ambiguous mysterious backstory for each of them. Especially Spike and Vicious.
 * 2) Intense and realistic action.
 * 3) Incredible animation that even today it still looks amazing, even by comparison to many modern anime. It also has a unique style that makes it great to look at.
 * 4) There are some funny moments like when Faye talks about Ed in the 9th episode.
 * 5) Tragic overarching story.
 * 6) It has an amazing concept with a Wild west setting in a futuristic world, something that would inspire other such projects later on.
 * 7) Amazing jazz music by Yoko Kanno.
 * 8) An absolutely incredible opening and ending theme song.
 * 9) Intense spaceflights.
 * 10) Ein the dog is the reason why many Welsh Pembroke Corgis are named Ein because of how smart and cute he is.
 * 11) Excellent voice acting, especially in the English dub, with Steve Blum as Spike being a particular standout.
 * 12) Many pop culture references and the episode Ballad of Fallen Angels is a massive tribute to John Woo.
 * 13) The ending is tragic and ambiguous.
 * 14) Incredible dialogue especially from Spike.
 * 15) Well-balanced serious and comedic moments.
 * 16) The slow pace is very well executed and is used to keep the series to be very interesting.
 * 17) The movie was just great & relaxing to watch.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) Ed can get a bit annoying.
 * 2) We never get to know if Spike survived or not from being shot in the final episode, with most people thinking he's dead, though this is intentional.
 * 3) The Netflix remake is lackluster, being so terrible it got canned after the release of the first season.

Trivia

 * 1) The series writer, Keiko Nobumoto, also wrote the cult-classic series Wolf's Rain.
 * 2) The show recieved a live action remake which premired on November 19, 2021 as a Netflix original and lasted only one season.

Videos
hvXw_5jlW3Y L_q2QmYYs7s JrKvmioNfP4 eFuHZxFhYY0