Cowboy Bebop

 Cowboy Bebop (カウボーイビバップ) is the legendary sci-fi series created by Watanabe Shinichiro.  The series ran for 26 episodes between 1997 and 1998 and had a theatrical movie in 2001.

    Cowboy Bebop follows the adventures of a ragtag group of misfits traveling the Solar System near the end of the 21st century, doing what ever they can to keep surviving.  The series begins with bounty hunter partners Spike Spiegel and Jet Black, who travel between colonies and communities in the Solar System aboard the Bebop.  Travel is made possible through warp gates and humanity has spread between Mars and Jupiter following a catastrophic accident involving a gate on the Moon.  Jet, an ex-cop, owns and operates the Bebop working with Spike to collect bounties.  Spike had previously worked as an assassin for a wide spread crime syndicate,  He faked his own death following troubles with a woman associated with the syndicate that he had fallen in love with.  Eventually a third bounty hunter named Faye Valentine forces her way onto the Bebop.  Faye had been under cryogenic stasis for decades, having been born near the end of the 20th century.  Her gambling habit seeming to be a catalyst for her 'career' as a bounty hunter.  As the trio go back and forth chasing leads for huge payouts a forth member forces their way onto the ship in the form of a child prodigy hacker from Earth named Ed.

    The overall plot point of the series, which is primarily episodic in nature, is Spikes equal from the crime syndicate, Vicious, who begins to hunt him down once it is learned he lives.  Spike had attempted to steal Vicious' girlfriend and flee the syndicate.  Before they could get away Vicious set up a trap to kill him.  After years of being dead, Spike's re-emergence aggravates Vicious as he plans a coup on the syndicate.  Spike on the other hand seems to have a death wish as he is constantly pulled towards Vicious and the women he almost died for, dragging the rest of the Bebop crew into his personal problems.

     Bebop is now one of the legendary iconic anime and in some ways its a deserved title.  It presented a different style of anime at a time when TV anime was beginning a massive change in how it approached things.  The series is a finely crafted mash up of classic B movies; western, Hong Kong action, body horror, mafia, cyberpunk, the list goes on.  The style and character influences are numerous and hail from a golden age of cinema.  Between its eclectic and catchy soundtrack to it's distinct and lovable main characters the show has a lot to enjoy.  When it comes to fans of anime, across different generations, its hard to find people who have not seen or heard about the series and the response is generally positive.

    So why the hell did it take me close to 20 years to actually finish watching it?  I have no idea.  Laziness?  Distracted by other things?  I started watching it around the turn of the century when the fansubs were the only thing available and then bought the DVD box set in 2008.  I watched the fansubs up until episode 20 and never continued the series.  I knew how it ended and everything for years and years, and watched the movie when it played in the theater locally.  Yet, for some reason I was never compelled enough to finish the story.  I did eventually do that after 2 failed attempts at getting my kids to watch it, the 3rd time worked and we jammed through the entire thing in a weekend, with much satisfaction to finally be done with it.  But what does Bebop mean for me now, after all this time?  The Blue soundtrack see's semi frequent rotation in my vehicle and I still lust for a really well details model of the Swordfish.  Finishing the series was satisfying in a way that did not lead to a desire for more.  I've probably watched the first 12 episodes a dozen times but may never watch any of them again.  I think the repeated viewing were attempts to get on with watching the whole thing, but always wanting to start from the beginning.  Yet I would undoubtedly become disinterested and stop.  I don't dislike the series, I greatly respect it and recommend it to anyone who hasn't enjoyed it. But it's become a thing of the past that doesn't need to be revisited any longer.  But how much has Bebop really shaped anime overall?  Or did it just imprint something into Western audiences that has made it more sacred than it really is?

    Cowboy Bebop, while a little late at first, has been widely available commercially for a long time and is very easy to track down.  It's typically available on any number of streaming services as well.