Cowboy Bebop

Crime is timeless. By the year 2071, humanity has expanded across the galaxy, filling the surface of other planets with settlements like those on Earth. These new societies are plagued by murder, drug use, and theft, and intergalactic outlaws are hunted by a growing number of tough bounty hunters.

Spike Spiegel and Jet Black pursue criminals throughout space to make a humble living. Beneath his goofy and aloof demeanor, Spike is haunted by the weight of his violent past. Meanwhile, Jet manages his own troubled memories while taking care of Spike and the Bebop, their ship. The duo is joined by the beautiful con artist Faye Valentine, odd child Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, and Ein, a bioengineered Welsh Corgi.

While developing bonds and working to catch a colorful cast of criminals, the Bebop crew's lives are disrupted by a menace from Spike's past. As a rival's maniacal plot continues to unravel, Spike must choose between life with his newfound family or revenge for his old wounds.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

When Cowboy Bebop first aired in spring of 1998 on TV Tokyo, only episodes 2, 3, 7-15, and 18 were broadcast, it was concluded with a recap special known as Yose Atsume Blues. This was due to anime censorship having increased following the big controversies over Evangelion, as a result most of the series was pulled from the air due to violent content. Satellite channel WOWOW picked up the series in the fall of that year and aired it in its entirety uncensored. Cowboy Bebop was not a ratings hit in Japan, but sold over 19,000 DVD units in the initial release run, and 81,000 overall. Protagonist Spike Spiegel won Best Male Character, and Megumi Hayashibara won Best Voice Actor for her role as Faye Valentine in the 1999 and 2000 Anime Grand Prix, respectively.

Cowboy Bebop's biggest influence has been in the United States, where it premiered on Adult Swim in 2001 with many reruns since. The show's heavy Western influence struck a chord with American viewers, where it became a "gateway drug" to anime aimed at adult audiences.

Episode Videos

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Cowboy Bebop, Shooting Star Bebop: Cowboy Bebop
Side story:	Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira, Cowboy Bebop: Ein no Natsuyasumi
Summary:	Cowboy Bebop: Yose Atsume Blues

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Spiegel, Spike

Main

Yamadera, Kouichi
Japanese

Valentine, Faye

Main

Hayashibara, Megumi
Japanese

Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, Edward

Main

Tada, Aoi
Japanese

Black, Jet

Main

Ishizuka, Unshou
Japanese

Ein

Supporting

Yamadera, Kouichi
Japanese

Vicious

Supporting

Wakamoto, Norio
Japanese

Eckener, Grencia Mars Elijah Guo

Supporting

Horiuchi, Kenyuu
Japanese

Julia

Supporting

Takashima, Gara
Japanese

Von de Oniyate, Andy

Supporting

Ebara, Masashi
Japanese

Mad Pierrot

Supporting

Ginga, Banjou
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Cook, Justin

Producer, Director

Maseba, Yutaka

Producer

Minami, Masahiko

Producer

Watanabe, Shinichirou

Director, Episode Director, Script, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

"Tank!" by The Seatbelts (eps 1-25)

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Ending Theme

	1: "The Real Folk Blues" by The Seatbelts feat. Mai Yamane (eps 1-12, 14-25)
	2: "Space Lion" by The Seatbelts (eps 13)
	3: "Blue" by The Seatbelts feat. Mai Yamane (eps 26)

Reviews

Apr 17, 2024

CyanCheetah

Recommended

Ahhh Cowboy Bebop, this was an anime I put off for 3 WHOLE YEARS...
I don't know why I did that. I kept finding other shows to watch. But Ultimately I decided to start it...

And oh boy! I liked the show overall, I will get into details.

The Plot: About a group of 4 people traveling and they are all bounty hunters (Would Edward count? I guess since she is part of the group). These bounty hunters collect bounties, but this anime was very episodic and showed us different bounties with their backstories and characters in each episode. This anime had somewhat of a cohesive story at ... the end where they all came through by dropping hints and small pieces of backstory information throughout the episodic episodes. The last 4-5 episodes were the "Climax" and resolution all at once. It did come together.

I will 100% admit I kind of underestimated this show. For some reason, I was somewhat fixed that this would be similar to Evangelion due to the neo-future of the world. but while Evangelion was a somewhat confusing psychological thriller, Cowboy Bebop was more down-to-earth and understandable.

The Characters: Spike, Jet, the Girl, Edward, and Ein the Dog. Ein was an amazing addition that uplifted the scenes a ton. The best part was when Ein followed Edward during the later part of the show. (No spoilers!)
Jet is a great character not sure why he isn't well-liked, but I liked Jet as a character. He might have seemed like a tough unlikeable character but down inside he knew that he needed each and every one of them and might I say a Tsundere??
Spike is probably my favorite character. The most understanding and well-written character.
Edward was a great addition too. Legit uplifted me whenever she was on screen smiling!!!

The Music: Baccano and Cowboy Bebop share very similar jazz intros so I will go a lil in depth comparing them. Both Baccano! and Cowboy Bebop have an opening theme that stands out due to its use of jazz music, which is a rarity in the world of anime. The opening for Baccano! features a lively jazz tune that sets the tone for the show's fast-paced and action-packed story. Meanwhile, Cowboy Bebop's opening theme, "Tank!", blends jazz with other musical genres like bebop and swing, resulting in a truly unique and memorable piece of music that is still beloved by fans today. Despite their differences, both openings share a common trait in their use of jazz music, which makes them stand out from the majority of anime openings.

The Animation: I was pleasantly surprised by the animation quality of this nearly 25-year-old anime, but my favorite episode by far was the Church episode. The attention to detail in the animation of the stained glass on the Church was truly impressive and added an extra layer of beauty to an already captivating episode.'

The show was indeed impressive and managed to capture my attention for the most part. However, towards the end, it felt like the storyline was not well connected, which left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Final Score: 8/10
Thanks!
-CyanCheetah

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Feb 9, 2024

Labracadabrador

Mixed Feelings

Cowboy Bebop was an interesting watch. It's definitely one of the anime that requires you to read in between the lines as not everything is presented to you at face value like most anime nowadays. However because of that it may be hard to grasp some of the overarching themes in this show without having to watch an explanation video of the entire series. For this reason I gave it a 7, as personally I believe that a piece should portray it's themes clearly, otherwise it'd probably be an 8 or 9.

But the more I think about the show I can see why people enjoy ...

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Feb 17, 2024

Noya_xoxo

Not Recommended

Funny

Don't understand the hype. Except the music and style it was super boring.
The ''deep meanings' and ''symbolism'' don't hit if that is ALL there is. Each episode felt like filler with maybe 1 good scene.
Julia is insufferable. Her final scene has zero impact. You can't honestly tell me you care this much about such an empty character that you get no exposure to. Even if it impacts Spike, as a viewer, it doesn't hit. Her presence was more annoying than anything else.
Spike was a an amazing character until they decided to strip all the good stuff off of him and literally make ...

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