Cowboy Bebop, Review by The-Mental-One

27 ‘Sessions’

sci-fi | comedy | drama | action | noir - "Space Western"

Run time: 25 minutes per episode, 11 hours 15 minutes series marathon.

Set in an alternative and futuristic 21st Century Cowboy Bebop is an anime that takes you places very few animes have ventured. The settings and surroundings show a pioneering attitude both in the show itself and the characters you meet along the way. After a number of early disasters, Astral Gate technology has been perfected and mankind are able to approach the speed of light. In 2071 the people you find on this new frontier aren’t all nice people, in fact some of them are downright criminal. I’d say this show has inspired many to come after it, possibly including Joss Whedon’s masterpiece ‘Firefly’.

This is a show about a couple of bounty hunters, and a few other individuals they’ve picked up on their travels. We have Jet Black the bounty hunter who built t he Bebop, his ship, and Spike Spiegel, his partner, who’s a lanky, easygoing guy adept at jeen kune do (and seems to be liked by many a female otaku). Jet is a rough-sounding ex-cop with a bionic arm. He seems to be a father figure to Spike, and is often the more rational of the two. On some of their little escapades they pick up the following ‘crew’. Faye Valentine, an independent young woman who likes money, I mean she really likes money. She had a bounty on her head and her past is somewhat mysterious. Faye is considered sexy by almost any male I’ve known who’s watched the series, and I don’t suppose she’s bad looking for someone her age. Ein, a rather intelligent little mutt, who must have made the series creators millions in plushie sales alone, and Ed a genius hacker who’s young and, well, a tad odd. Let's face it this is one of those shows that almost anyone who's watched it has liked. It's a drama with a lot of action in it but manages to still have decent stories and character development.

So there we have the four of them and a dog on a space ship, Spike is often seen as the main character but the sessions seem to give equal attention to them all. This is great for a character-based show as you can learn so much about each of the characters rather than focusing in on just one person. Still there is a plot that runs behind the entire series, which revolves around Spike's shady history as a member of the Red Dragon crime syndicate. He left the Red Dragons but that doesn’t mean they forgot about him, he has plenty of enemies who would sooner see him dead. The main conflict is between Vicious, another Red Dragon member, and himself. We also see Jet's past as a cop is explored, with a lot of development into his reasons for leaving the force and becoming a bounty hunter. Faye’s past is peeled back layer by layer and we watch as she slowly comes to terms with it.

There are a few episodes that are put in to contrast with the drama and work as stand alones from those that delve into the character’s pasts. Some of these can be extremely funny, others are a little silly and a few were bizarre, if you were lucky they’d be all three at once. No matter how much I plug the character focused side to it, this anime isn’t totally character or plot driven, it has some amazing action sequences. There are chases, gun battles, and some of the best martial art scenes I’ve seen in anime.

Production values on this show were obviously high, the artwork is crisp and clear, and whilst it may be showing it’s age a little I believe the fact that it’s slightly dull in places merely adds to the aesthetic noir values of the series. You can see that computer graphics have been used occasionally and while they normally work well there are a few instances where they glare at you and really don’t mesh with the more traditional animation.

Whilst I’m not a big fan of the music used in the opening credits it seems to fit the feel of the show perfectly. The opening credits themselves remind me of 60’s and 70’s cop shows mixed with such greats as The Man from UNCLE and the original live action Batman. The music is wacky and fast paced jazz and the graphics are full of things that remind me of Warhol. The rest of the music is a mix of funk and jazz and a few classical pieces.

Voice acting is good for both the Japanese and the English versions, I quite often prefer subbed anime but I can happily listen to this show in English. I give this show a big thumbs-up, the characters and most of the plots are easily believable,. The series can be gritty and dark but has light and even comical moments and you can very easily become attached to the characters.

9/10