Cowboy Bebop

Title: Cowboy Bebop

Year: 1998

Creator: Hajime Yatate

Director: Shinichirô Watanabe

Cast: Kôichi Yamadera (Spike Spiegel), Unshô Ishizuka (Jet Black), Megumi Hayashibara (Faye Valentine), Aoi Tada (Ed) 
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure, Space Western

Number of seasons: 1

Number of episodes: 26

Special notes: A intelligent animation which tends to perfection

            A sole look at the title, “Cowboy Bebop”, leads the viewer to uncertainty, fuels his desire to learn more about a new world and to witness the birth of a new genre, a genre that is vast enough as to embody philosophy, music, action and adventure.

            The plot is set in 2071 and the space as we know it is redefined, Earth is barely habitable and it’s a shadow of what it used to be due to meteor bombardments. The former Earth-related crime syndicates, police forces and governments have expanded their reach; even if the injustice is at a greater scale, the causes remain the same.

            Shinichiro Watanabe gradually pulls the viewer into his realm and does this by experimenting in the first episodes of the series with both the characters and the plot. The initial crew has Jet Black, the owner of the “Bebop” spaceship and its captain, and Spike Spiegel. As the plot deepens, the crew gains new members: Ein, Faye Valentine and Edward.

            The series seems to be action driven after watching the first episodes but the mystery about the characters’ history increases and, when it becomes too much to bear, the story slowly uncovers the mantle of secrecy which covers their past.

            Spike Spiegel appears to be a fulfilled bounty hunter, living without fear and enjoys feeling on the edge. He throws himself in the arms of danger only to escape its clutches and he seems to be a daredevil but he only acts as such because he lives in a “dream-like” manner. Versed in martial arts, pick pocketing and fire arms, a skilful pilot (“Swordfish II” spacecraft), his story eludes us from the beginning only to come back with a great thrill afterwards. His melancholy is hiding behind his cybernetic eye is emphasized when his former relationship with a mysterious woman, Julia, is mentioned.

“I once met a man... the unusual type no doubt. There was something about his eyes... one wasn't the same as the other. This seemed like a person who had been through hell, came back and lost in a world of false illusions. Perhaps this is all an illusion. Maybe just a dream... Whatever it is, I'll always remember that man I met. For it was after that day, that I realized what it means to live.”

“Look at my eyes, Faye. One of them is a fake because I lost it in an accident. Since then, I've been seeing the past in one eye and the present in the other. So, I thought I could only see patches of reality, never the whole picture. I felt like I was watching a dream I could never wake up from. Before I knew it, the dream was over...”

           

              Jet Black, also know as “Black Dog” because he never lets his victims get away once he catches their scent, is a former Inter-Solar System Detective. He caries a cybernetic arm to remind himself of the imminent danger and to avoid being caught off-guard. He is a mechanic, a skilled marksman and a dangerous hand to hand fighter. His lack of combat finesse is compensated by the fact that he is the only one of the crew who has friends and doesn’t avoid asking them for help. He is the owner of the “Bebop” and the head of the “family”. He also has a small spaceship (“Hammerhead”). He was romantically involved with an old friend who abandoned him. One of his passions is taking care of his bonsais.

"Jet: Damn that blues harp sounds sweet; I knew it would.

Spike: I thought you liked jazz.

Jet: Don’t be dense. I started wailing the blues when the doctor whacked my bottom on the day I was born."

"When I was a cop, this was my beat. I’m the Black Dog and when I bite I don’t let go. I have no regrets about her, but I’ll settle this score on my own turf."

            Ein is a data dog created by scientist for undefined purposes. He further entices the viewer’s desire for mystery because nobody seems to notice his intelligence. He also seems to posses the ability to speak with other animals.

            Faye Valentine is an unexpected bounty hunter and a strange woman. Her gambling addiction is a part of her and she lives by the code of the thief: lie, cheat and steal. She was born on Earth and woke after 54 years of cryogenic induced sleep with a unexpectedly big debt. She doesn’t remember anything about her past and, in this matter, is exactly the opposite of Spike and they seem to complete one another. She has thief skills and pilots a heavy spacecraft (“Red Tail”). Faye is also the most undecided and insecure character of all as she comes and goes throughout the entire series seeking her past or avoiding it.

            "Survival of the fittest is the law of nature. We deceive or we are deceived, thus we flourish or perish. Nothing good ever happened to me when I trusted others. That is the lesson."

"I tell ya, instead of being alone in a group, it's better to have real solitude all by yourself. " 

            Edward was a nomadic hacker until she joined the “Bebop” crew by blackmailing Faye Valentine. She is a genius and greatly appreciates Ein’s company. Her hacker skills help the crew in different situations and her main “weapon” are her goggles which allow her to “net dive”. 

"Lesson! Lesson! If you see a stranger, follow him."

"Ed: Ed will introduce Ed. Full name - Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the 4th.

Spike Spiegel: That's a long name.

Faye Valentine: Who the hell's this?

Ed: Ed made up that name for Ed, isn't it cool?

Spike Spiegel: If you made it up, how can you be the 4th?"

   

           This crew’s chemistry is negative and, ironically, this is what holds them together and makes them so interesting. The “Bebop” is presented as their home especially at the end of a “session” when they gather as a family and start pointing finger at those who made mistakes or, when they actually take the bounty, they argue about splitting the winnings. Here Jet tends to be a “mother” by calming the spirits and talking to everybody as an equal.

"Spike Spiegel: Hey, Jet, did you know that there are three things that I hate?

Jet Black: What's that?

Spike Spiegel: Kids... animals... and women with attitudes...

Jet Black: Oh?

Spike Spiegel: So why do we have them on our ship!"

            As a bonus, the series has 26 “sessions”, each session being named after popular music titles. The original soundtrack is composed by “Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts” and it fits like a glove to the action of “Cowboy Bebop”. The counterculture musical genres such as bebop, jazz, beat and early rock takes the listener to other dimensions and, together with the animation, the aggressive instruments will strengthen the viewer’s feelings.

            I strongly recommend this anime series in all terms as it is a reference for present and future works and a cinematographic piece of art.

“The work, which becomes a new genre itself, will be called… Cowboy Bebop”

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