‘Cowboy Bebop’ is an essential piece of anime, easily ranked in the top 10 by most serious fans of the genre.
And for good reason!
Anime News Network’s Mike Crandol gave the series an ‘A+’ rating for the dubbed version, and an ‘A’ rating for the subbed version. He characterized the series as “one of the most popular and respected anime titles in history”, before adding that it was “a unique television show which skillfully transcends all kinds of genres”. Crandol praised its characters as “some of the most endearing characters to ever grace an anime” [1]
Cowboy Bebop is a lesson in style; the creative team behind it knew how to make something that really is wickedly cool. From the undeniably enticing musical opening to the nonlinear storytelling; to the visuals that depict some of the most exciting space-battles, gunfights, and fight scenes ever animated – it all comes together to make something that just feels right.
The show incorporates beautifully intricate storytelling with a moving jazz soundtrack (composed by Yoko Kanno) and an artstyle that imbues the characters/world with ardency, life, and an absolutely enthralling colour palette – all in a devilishly delightful villain-of-the-week episodic structure. But don’t worry, there’s also an overarching story that involves our protagonist Spike AKA “Fearless”, his adversary “Vicious” and their vengeful struggle for supremacy. Existentialism is used masterfully to highlight themes of grief, loss, futility, love, and morality; to name a few.
Spike Spiegel; the main character of ‘Cowboy Bebop’ is an ex-career criminal now gone bounty hunter, competing for a little extra scratch – to make ends meet – in a universe that’s as impoverished as it is technologically advanced (my opinion differs from Mike Crandol, I believe the show is a masterful fusion of Western & Cyber-punk genres). Spike works alongside Faye Valentine, Jet Black, and later in the series Edward Wong, all four are eventually employed as “Cowboys”; a colloquial term for the gunslinging galactic bounty hunters that patrol the planets of the solar system in the year 2071.
Edward is a later addition to the crew (introduced halfway into season 1) so I won’t be mentioning his character much in this article, but perhaps I’ll cover him later in Part II.
Spike’s martial arts skills are barnone: his confidence in hand-to-hand combat and piloting is some of the finest in the known reaches of space. He is well versed in multiple forms through his expertise in Jeet Kune Do: Boxing, Wing Chun, Fencing, Tai Chi, Taekwondo, and Jujutsu.
Jeet Kune Do was founded by famed martial arts practitioner Bruce Lee, a famous figure in Earth’s history that Spike idolizes.
The initial trio (Spike, Faye, and Jet) travel between worlds aboard a modified interplanetary fishing trawler named “Bebop”, often finding themselves short on cash due to the amount of collateral damage they end up causing while chasing bounties – and the massive fines they incur as a result.
Jet Black is the steadfast paternal figure of the three – seeing as he is the owner/captain of the Bebop it makes sense – he’s the oldest and therefore the more sensible member of the team. Jet is consistently infuriated with the haphazard approach of the others. He worries most about the team’s bottom line; debating whether they’ll receive their bounty credits or get stiffed. The latter case scenario is a recurring theme of the show – often played for humour in the final moments of an episode.
Spike Spiegel: Uh, listen Jet. You said “bell peppers and beef.” There’s no beef in here. So you wouldn’t really call it “bell peppers and beef,” now would you?
Jet Black: Yes, I would.
Spike Spiegel: Well, it’s *not*!
Jet Black: It is when you’re broke!
[2] Quotes from IMDb.com
In the second episode of the series,
Faye Valentine, master-card-player and occasional thief is recruited (rather she recruits herself despite Spike & Jet’s misgivings) after the pair capture her while she’s caught taking part in an elaborate con within a casino. They attempt to bring her in for a reward but Faye escapes with a priceless data-chip; the objective she had sought. She later ends up talking her way onto the team – after competing with them to capture an individual with a particularly hefty bounty. Once part of the crew of the Bebop, she adopts a certain data-dog (this is a literal canine that has priceless data embedded within its neural pathways, similar to Keanu Reeves in Johnny Mnemonic) that the pair acquired from a previous mission. That dog is “Ein” and happens to be a fairly important character unto himself; plus he’s cute as all hell!
Even though they all bicker, and Jet & Spike often remark on how she’s an additional mouth to feed, it’s plenty clear that the two welcome the rather well-equipped female aboard their vessel (it is an anime so a bit of *ahem*fan service*ahem* is expected). Even though she outshines her male counterparts on more than one occasion; getting the bounty and glory before they manage to she also saves their asses time and time again.
So, clearly, pros and cons?
This is a continual character dynamic in the series that’s also carried over to the Netflix adaptation, but with a more shall we say conservative take on Faye Valentine.
There was of course a general fan uproar at what was seen as deviating from the source material through the de-sexualization of the character’s look & attire [see below]…
“Though individuals of every color, creed, and gender have taken issue with the disappointing, ‘less sexualized’ live-action translation of Faye Valentine’s costume in Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of Cowboy Bebop, Salon has (unsurprisingly) convinced themselves that the backlash to the alteration of the iconic character’s signature look is based solely on “horny male outrage.”
[3]
All that being said, I don’t mind the live-action version of Faye one bit. I think Netflix still managed to capture the spirit of the character while utilizing creative liberty. I actually really enjoyed the actresses (Daniela Paneda) portrayal of Valentine.
But as a fan of the OG anime – I get it.
In the next installment, I’m going to expand upon this comparative analysis contrasting Netflix’s adaptation with the original TV Tokyo series developed by Sunrise (dir. Shinichiro Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto & character design Toshihiro Kawamoto) and whether or not the live-action version stays faithful to the soul of the franchise.
Oh yes, there’s also a ‘Cowboy Bebop’ movie.
Might cover that at some point, we’ll see…
Rating
9.5/10
See you space cowboy…
__________
Sources:
[1]
Crandol, Mike (February 21, 2002). “Cowboy Bebop: The Perfect Sessions DVD Box Set – Review”. Anime News Network.
[2]
https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0213338/quotes
[3]
Salon Claims Backlash To Faye Valentine’s Costume In Netflix’s Live-Action Cowboy Bebop Is Based On “Horny Male Outrage”
Spencer Baculi (Aug 26, 2021)
BoundingintoComics.com
