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The kids are all wrong
Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 anime series directed by Shinichiro Watanabe.
Twenty-six episodes were produced by Japanese animation studio Sunrise. The series debuted on Japan's TV Tokyo on April 3, 1998 but only twelve selected episodes were broadcast due to its violent content, and ran in its entirety for the first time on Japan's satellite network WOWOW from October 23 to April 23, 1999. It is licensed in North America by Bandai Entertainment and currently airs in the U.S. on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block.
A spin-off movie, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door , was released in Japan on September 1, 2001 and in America the following year by Sony Pictures. Two manga series based on the TV series were also made.
[h=1]Plot[/h]
Bebop follows a band of space-traveling bounty hunters thrown together by circumstance and necessity, but each with passionately disparate private agendas. Each episode tells the story of how the group tracks down wanted criminals in a futuristic setting while dealing with personal issues that arise by location, people they meet, or misgivings about the morality of the subject of their bounty. While each episode as well as the movie stands on its own, the backstories of the characters and their growing intimacy together make the whole much greater than the sum of its parts.
In the year 2071, the planets and moons of the solar system have been colonized following an accident involving an experimental hyperspace gateway which has made most of the Earth's surface uninhabitable. The crew of the spaceship Bebop travels the solar system trying to apprehend bounties. In the slang of the era, "cowboys" are bounty hunters, hence the name of the series. Each member of the Bebop crew contributes their own unique abilities to help catch bounties. Most episodes revolve around a bounty; however the real focus of the show concerns the pasts of each character, which unravel and connect as the series progresses.
Arguably, the main plot focuses on Spike Spiegel, a former member of the Red Dragon crime syndicate who is haunted by a past love triangle between his former syndicate partner, Vicious, and a mysterious woman named Julia.
The series also focuses on the histories of the other Bebop crew members: Spike's partner Jet Black, a former ISSP officer on the Jovian moon Ganymede; Faye Valentine, an indebted gambler recently awakened from cryogenic slumber; Edward, a genius girl computer hacker who can hack at 10 times the speed of an expert hacker, and Ein, a Welsh Corgi with above-average canine intelligence that is capable of countless amazing acts.
Although the show begins with only Spike and Jet aboard the Bebop, the second episode introduced Ein, which later led to something of an in-joke about the Bebop's luck in attracting new crewmates.
[h=1]Reception[/h]
Bebop was popular in Japan and became one of the biggest adult anime hits ever in the United States, opening the genre to an audience that previously considered anything but live-action to be juvenile. The unflinching adult themes of the show, along with the political undertones and jazz tracks from series composer Yoko Kanno, became a favorite of many Americans tuning into Cartoon Network's then-new late night block Adult Swim in late 2001.
Bebop is widely respected for its multiple layers and deep characters, combined with a very free-flowing feel to the story itself (heavily influenced by American culture, especially the jazz movements of the 1940s, hence "bebop") and a large number of well-choreographed action fighting sequences (from space battles to martial arts hand-to-hand combat).
The series was later referenced in 2008 when Cartoon Network's Toonami block was ended. During the last few moments of the blocks broadcast, Tom, the block's host character voiced by Spike's English dub voice actor Stephen Jay Blum, looked at the screen and said "Bang!", the final line spoken by Spike at the end of the last episode.
During an interview, when asked whether there would ever be a continuation of Cowboy Bebop, director Watanabe replied "Someday, maybe someday." It should be noted that some official material, such as the theatrical movie, was made after Bebop's cancellation, but took place before the show's ending chronologically. A live-action "adaption" of the series is currently being made, with Keanu Reeves rumored to play Spike.
[h=1]Characters[/h]
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 100%"] [TR] [TD="width: 25%"]Original Story
Hajime Yatate
Director
Shinichiro Watanabe
Planning
Sunrise
Character Design
Toshihiro Kawamoto
Color Coordination
Shihoko Nakayama
Art Direction
Junichi Higashi
Director of Photography
Yoichi Ogami
[/TD] [TD="width: 25%"]Music
Yoko Kanno
Music Producer
Victor Entertainment
Opening Theme
"Tank!"
by The Seatbelts
Ending Themes
Episodes 1-12, 14-25
"The Real Folk Blues"
by The Seatbelts ft. Mai Yamane
Episode 13:
"Space Lion"
by The Seatbelts
Episode 26:
"Blue"
by The Seatbelts ft. Mai Yamane[/TD] [TD="width: 25%"]Animation Production
Sunrise
Production
Bandai Visual
Sunrise
Producer
Kazuhiko Ikeguchi
Masahiko Minami
[/TD] [TD="width: 25%"]U.S. Licensor
Bandai Entertainment
ADR Production
Animaze
ADR Direction
Melissa Williamson
English Adaptation
Marc Handler[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [h=1]Episode guide[/h]
See under List of Cowboy Bebop episodes.
Twenty-six episodes were produced by Japanese animation studio Sunrise. The series debuted on Japan's TV Tokyo on April 3, 1998 but only twelve selected episodes were broadcast due to its violent content, and ran in its entirety for the first time on Japan's satellite network WOWOW from October 23 to April 23, 1999. It is licensed in North America by Bandai Entertainment and currently airs in the U.S. on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block.
A spin-off movie, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door , was released in Japan on September 1, 2001 and in America the following year by Sony Pictures. Two manga series based on the TV series were also made.
[h=1]Plot[/h]
Bebop follows a band of space-traveling bounty hunters thrown together by circumstance and necessity, but each with passionately disparate private agendas. Each episode tells the story of how the group tracks down wanted criminals in a futuristic setting while dealing with personal issues that arise by location, people they meet, or misgivings about the morality of the subject of their bounty. While each episode as well as the movie stands on its own, the backstories of the characters and their growing intimacy together make the whole much greater than the sum of its parts.
In the year 2071, the planets and moons of the solar system have been colonized following an accident involving an experimental hyperspace gateway which has made most of the Earth's surface uninhabitable. The crew of the spaceship Bebop travels the solar system trying to apprehend bounties. In the slang of the era, "cowboys" are bounty hunters, hence the name of the series. Each member of the Bebop crew contributes their own unique abilities to help catch bounties. Most episodes revolve around a bounty; however the real focus of the show concerns the pasts of each character, which unravel and connect as the series progresses.
Arguably, the main plot focuses on Spike Spiegel, a former member of the Red Dragon crime syndicate who is haunted by a past love triangle between his former syndicate partner, Vicious, and a mysterious woman named Julia.
The series also focuses on the histories of the other Bebop crew members: Spike's partner Jet Black, a former ISSP officer on the Jovian moon Ganymede; Faye Valentine, an indebted gambler recently awakened from cryogenic slumber; Edward, a genius girl computer hacker who can hack at 10 times the speed of an expert hacker, and Ein, a Welsh Corgi with above-average canine intelligence that is capable of countless amazing acts.
Although the show begins with only Spike and Jet aboard the Bebop, the second episode introduced Ein, which later led to something of an in-joke about the Bebop's luck in attracting new crewmates.
[h=1]Reception[/h]
Bebop was popular in Japan and became one of the biggest adult anime hits ever in the United States, opening the genre to an audience that previously considered anything but live-action to be juvenile. The unflinching adult themes of the show, along with the political undertones and jazz tracks from series composer Yoko Kanno, became a favorite of many Americans tuning into Cartoon Network's then-new late night block Adult Swim in late 2001.
Bebop is widely respected for its multiple layers and deep characters, combined with a very free-flowing feel to the story itself (heavily influenced by American culture, especially the jazz movements of the 1940s, hence "bebop") and a large number of well-choreographed action fighting sequences (from space battles to martial arts hand-to-hand combat).
The series was later referenced in 2008 when Cartoon Network's Toonami block was ended. During the last few moments of the blocks broadcast, Tom, the block's host character voiced by Spike's English dub voice actor Stephen Jay Blum, looked at the screen and said "Bang!", the final line spoken by Spike at the end of the last episode.
During an interview, when asked whether there would ever be a continuation of Cowboy Bebop, director Watanabe replied "Someday, maybe someday." It should be noted that some official material, such as the theatrical movie, was made after Bebop's cancellation, but took place before the show's ending chronologically. A live-action "adaption" of the series is currently being made, with Keanu Reeves rumored to play Spike.
[h=1]Characters[/h]
- Spike Spiegel
Voiced by: Kouichi Yamadera (JP), Stephen Jay Blum (US)
Spike is a 27-year-old freelance bounty hunter with reckless skill and extraordinary luck. Before he teamed up with Jet, he was a member of the Red Dragon syndicate on Mars, until a woman named Julia came into his life and persuaded him to quit. He has exceptional hand-eye coordination and is a master of the Jeet Kune Do fighting technique, but when he's not chasing bounties he shows a more laid back and disinterested personality.
Spike is a 27-year-old freelance bounty hunter with reckless skill and extraordinary luck. Before he teamed up with Jet, he was a member of the Red Dragon syndicate on Mars, until a woman named Julia came into his life and persuaded him to quit. He has exceptional hand-eye coordination and is a master of the Jeet Kune Do fighting technique, but when he's not chasing bounties he shows a more laid back and disinterested personality.
- Jet Black
Voiced by: Unshou Ishizuka (JP), Beau Billingslea (US)
A relentless man of muscle, Jet's methods of bounty hunting are the exact opposite of Spike's. He prefers a more tactical approach, something he picked up from his days as a Inter Solar System Police officer on Ganymede, where he was known as the "Black Dog" for his ruthless tenacity. One of his arms was replaced with a bio-mechanical limb which serves as a constant reminder of why he left the ISSP.
A relentless man of muscle, Jet's methods of bounty hunting are the exact opposite of Spike's. He prefers a more tactical approach, something he picked up from his days as a Inter Solar System Police officer on Ganymede, where he was known as the "Black Dog" for his ruthless tenacity. One of his arms was replaced with a bio-mechanical limb which serves as a constant reminder of why he left the ISSP.
- Faye Valentine
Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara (JP), Wendee Lee (US)
Faye is a gambling woman with a large debt and a long streak of bad luck. Three years ago she awakened inside a cryogenic tube with no knowledge of who she was or where she came from, as well as a massive hospital bill she had no means to pay. While desperately seeking clues to her past, she joins the Bebop crew much to the chagrin of Spike and Jet, who both have reservations about her brash, untrusting attitude.
Faye is a gambling woman with a large debt and a long streak of bad luck. Three years ago she awakened inside a cryogenic tube with no knowledge of who she was or where she came from, as well as a massive hospital bill she had no means to pay. While desperately seeking clues to her past, she joins the Bebop crew much to the chagrin of Spike and Jet, who both have reservations about her brash, untrusting attitude.
- Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV
Voiced by: Aoi Tada (JP), Melissa Fahn (US)
Also known as "Radical Edward" in some circles, Ed is a child genius hacker with more than a few personality quirks. Her eccentric behavior has raised a few eyebrows from others around her, including her crew mates on the Bebop, but her technical expertise has proven invaluable as a source of information on bounties. She is also often mistaken to be a boy.
Also known as "Radical Edward" in some circles, Ed is a child genius hacker with more than a few personality quirks. Her eccentric behavior has raised a few eyebrows from others around her, including her crew mates on the Bebop, but her technical expertise has proven invaluable as a source of information on bounties. She is also often mistaken to be a boy.
- Ein
Ein is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi who was stolen from a data research laboratory and later adopted by Jet. He shows subtle signs of above-average canine intelligence which most of the rest of the crew fail to notice.
[h=1]Credits[/h]
[TABLE="class: grid, width: 100%"] [TR] [TD="width: 25%"]Original Story
Hajime Yatate
Director
Shinichiro Watanabe
Planning
Sunrise
Character Design
Toshihiro Kawamoto
Color Coordination
Shihoko Nakayama
Art Direction
Junichi Higashi
Director of Photography
Yoichi Ogami
[/TD] [TD="width: 25%"]Music
Yoko Kanno
Music Producer
Victor Entertainment
Opening Theme
"Tank!"
by The Seatbelts
Ending Themes
Episodes 1-12, 14-25
"The Real Folk Blues"
by The Seatbelts ft. Mai Yamane
Episode 13:
"Space Lion"
by The Seatbelts
Episode 26:
"Blue"
by The Seatbelts ft. Mai Yamane[/TD] [TD="width: 25%"]Animation Production
Sunrise
Production
Bandai Visual
Sunrise
Producer
Kazuhiko Ikeguchi
Masahiko Minami
[/TD] [TD="width: 25%"]U.S. Licensor
Bandai Entertainment
ADR Production
Animaze
ADR Direction
Melissa Williamson
English Adaptation
Marc Handler[/TD] [/TR] [/TABLE] [h=1]Episode guide[/h]
See under List of Cowboy Bebop episodes.
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