Cowboy Bebop
Stylish
adventure with space cowboys
by Isaac
September 8, 2004
|
 The battle of Old versus New
|
|
From the very
introduction of the show down to the final moments, Cowboy Bebop
is unique, a style all it's own. The now famous words that fill the
background as Tank! plays its way through the introductory minutes
clearly sum up Wantanabe's goal... no accomplishment of Cowboy Bebop.
Surely there have been many series about bounty hunters, and many
series taking place in space. Cowboy Bebop though, is no
"conventional fixed style" series. Wantanabe creates "dreams and films
by breaking traditional styles." The series that truly "becomes a new
genre itself" is the one and the only Cowboy Bebop.
Most movies and shows today rely heavily on a concrete plot to tell
their story. Bebop, however, needs not to do such a thing. Like
what can be seen in movies done by director Quentin Tarantino, the
focus of the series lies not on the story line; but rather the way the
story is told. Bebop depends upon character personalities and
emotions to drive the story. Wantanabe gives to us a world of action
and suspense; yet, at the same time he exposes the characters through
the events to us making the show not only interesting, but emotionally
moving. Through dialogue, emotions, and reactions of characters, we are
allowed glimpses past the facade put up by almost everyone in the
series, to the more true personality of the characters. These facades
and emotions are something that remain true to real life, which allows
a person to relate to them better, further enhancing the viewer's
connection with the characters. Bebop lacks a full, deep bodied
plot that is filled with countless events and details, but as said by
Studio Ghibli member Isao Takahata: "A strong story doesn't need
details. The story would be enough to appeal and to impress the
audience." And Cowboy Bebop, no doubt, is impressing.
The crew of the Bebop embodies five anti-heros that make up one of the
most dysfunctional bands of people one could ask for. Jet Black, owner
of the Bebop, is the serious minded ex-cop who could be considered as
the biggest authority figure of the group. As oldest and most sensible,
Jet often times must deal with the other's problems. Faye Valentine, a
woman who doesn't mind using her body to her advantage, is a debt
loaded con-artist that eventually finds her way onto the Bebop, many
times bringing her problems along with her. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu
Tivruski IV, of Ed for short, is a famous hacker who had dreamed of
living on the Bebop. Ed's incredible hacking skills prove of good use
to the crew; however, her absolutely insane antics are quite out of
place in the Bebop. Ein, a Welsh Corgi, is the result of some illegal
experiment that has left him amazingly intelligent. Many times, Ein
even shows up the humans with his intelligence, but goes unnoticed by
much of the crew. Finally, Spike Spiegel, an ex-mob member whose most
shady of pasts will come back to haunt him. Spike, modeled off Lupin
III, is naturally suave and debonair. An expert marksmen, ace pilot,
and student of Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, along with his bad-ass
attitude, Spike is no-one to mess with. But get to know him and he
seems to be a great guy. As a matter of fact, most of the characters
seem to have an undesirable personality at first, but as the series
progresses, we find that all, especially the main three (Jet, Spike,
Faye), have something beautiful and incredibly likable inside. This is
the magic of Bebop.
Younger children should avoid Cowboy Bebop on account of the
content. Even the first episode jumps right into the darker nature of
the show. Wantanabe does an excellent job of forcing desperate bounties
into incredible situations where a sudden rash decision will change the
whole tone of the episode towards a more dark and depressing one that
the viewer can feel through the music, and the reactions of the
characters. In the first episode, Spike chases one of his bounties in
his trusty Swordfish. As the bounty and his girlfriend find themselves
between the cops and the ever closing bounty hunter, a sudden loud bang
is heard, followed by silence and an expression of complete shock on
Spike's face. The girlfriend of the drug-addicted bounty took away his
misery upon realizing they had nowhere else to run. Later in the
series, Jet is forced to chase down a bounty wanted for murder.
However, Jet's ex-girlfriend, who is now the girlfriend of the bounty,
is doing everything in her power to keep him free. Jet must face his
residual feelings to resolve this chase and catch the bounty. These all
are real emotions from realistic situations that are amazingly set up
by Watanabe.
Do not fret though, there are many breaks from
the dark and more depressing moments of Bebop. The show is
riddled with character related humor that can oftentimes be
laugh-out-loud funny. Bebop uses no slapstick humor, but
instead makes situations humorous because of the characters attitudes
or interactive dialog. During the first episode, we find Jet telling
Spike that the "Special beef with bell peppers" is ready to eat. "You
Don't call a meatless beef with bell peppers... beef with bell peppers"
responds Spike. "You do when you're broke" the ships owner barks back.
It is the character related humor that also doubles as a great
dialogue. We don't find out financial troubles from desperate actions
in search of money, Wantanabe tells us through a simple conversation
which gives us a good laugh as well.
Aside from the character related comedy there are several episode that
are flat out hilarious. Toys in the Attic plays on the Alien theme of a
mysterious monster stranded inside the ship with your crew, taking out
one member at a time. Mushroom Samba is Ed's hilarious adventure to
find food that becomes a parody of shows such as Shaft. Cowboy Funk
brings in a bounty hunter dressed as a cowboy who seems to press just
the right buttons to piss Spike off. Laughs will ensue as the two
angered and similar personalities clash throughout the episode. Bebop
uses it's own style of comedy to very successfully lighten the load of
the dark series as to not leave the viewer with a heavy feeling.
Whether it is a scene of comedy or one of action, Bebop
continuously has great music playing. The soundtrack of Cowboy Bebop
has become famous worldwide for it's amazing variety and outstandingly
well done tracks. Composed by Yoko Kanno and mostly performed by the
Seatbelts, the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack is one of the best
soundtrack I have ever heard played on any show or movie. From the
catchy jazz tunes, to the 70s style funk, to even hard rock, the music
is expertly integrated in to each and every episode. Whatever the mood
of the scene, the music matches and enhances it, adding another great
level of enjoyment to Cowboy Bebop. The music of Cowboy
Bebop assisted in making the show famous, and the show helped the
music become world renown.
Many people will try to classy bebop as a Sci-fi or action series. The
truth is though, Bebop remains incredibly difficult to
classify. Most certainly Bebop takes place in space, and it has
action; yet, it holds so much more within it's episodes. Philosophy,
comedy, psychology, and so much more lurk throughout the episodes of
the series. Incredible aspects fill Bebop and make it the
lovable show that is is. Bebop has everything you may ever want
in a show, and that is what makes it so incredible. The deep look into
the characters, the dark atmosphere, the relieving comedy, and the
powerfully emotional scenes are only a part of what Bebop has
to offer. Wantanabe truly created a series "which becomes a new genre
itself."
If you call yourself an anime lover, or if you hate the anime genre, or
if you don't even have a clue what anime is, just take my word for it
and go see Cowboy Bebop as soon as possible. And if you don't
enjoy it... well then there is something very wrong with you. |
|
 |
| Director: |
Shinichiro Watanabe
|
| Genre:
|
Action/Sci-Fi
|
| Episodes:
|
26 TV Show
|
| Released:
|
4/3/1998
4/23/1999
|
| Production: |
Bandai Visual
Sunrise
|
| Also known as: |
N/A
|
| Links: |
| ANN
Profile |
|
|
