The futuristic misadventures and tragedies of an easygoing bounty hunter and his partners. In the year 2071, the Solar System is linked by a network of hyperspace gateways. Police lose their grasp on crime and a bounty hunting system has been implemented. On an old fishing starship called the "Bebop," a cool as Zen man of mystery, a macho former hard-boiled cop, a brash and fickle woman with a large debt, a whimsical whiz kid hacker and an unsuspecting Welsh Corgi band together to hunt bounty heads for a meager living. Unfortunately, they are some of the unluckiest people in the star system. These are the stories of the adventurous (and misadventurous) lives of four struggling people and a dog. Cowboy Bebop is one of the most acclaimed anime out there, especially since it was an early introduction for many fans. Its been running on Adult Swim for a freaking decade! By the time I was watching Saturday night anime, it was only on late. The two episodes I did watch didn't impress me.<br/><br/>Now that I'm older and wiser, I thought I could appreciate it more. Perhaps those two episodes were flukes. But alas, this series just isn't for me. There is some fun action, and the animation is among the best. I love the detailed, realistic sci-fi machinery, settings, and backgrounds. They pulled me halfway through the series before I quit.<br/><br/>But the character and plot of Cowboy Bebop are pretty shallow. The episodes are individual vignettes, so strong writing and characters are needed to hold them up. Instead, we have two-dimensional good guys hunting down one-dimensional bad guys. Our main cast barely develops, even with a few memories pulled up. They're fun, but they get boring after a dozen episodes. As for the side-characters, half of the them are stereotypical thugs, and most of the rest did not have enough time, depth, or personality to connect with me. Plot-wise, I almost always thought "It was alright" instead of "Wow, that was amazing!"<br/><br/>When I first started, I was pretty pumped up. Then I was mildly interested. Then I relegated it to background noise. I have never given an anime more of a chance. I can see why people love it, but I don't see how its well-written. Even at its best, I only thought it was okay. But apparently, that isn't enough, considering even respectful, 5/10 reviews are getting a barrage of downvotes. If sci-fi action + jazz is enough for you, then its fine. But I wouldn't even place it on the Top 100. Cowboy Bebop has proved to stand the test of time, for myself at least, and keeps getting better with each run through.<br/><br/>Set in a futuristic world where there are colonies throughout the entire solar system, Cowboy Bebop tells the stories of the bounty hunters, or "cowboys," that reside upon the ship the Cowboy Bebop. Our main character is Spike Spiegel, a very suave character who doesn't seem to take life too seriously until you start to dig into his past with the infamous "syndicate." Next in line is Jet Black, the owner of the Cowboy Bebop who used to work as a police man and is now a bounty hunter just trying' to get by. He's another cool cat who's the wise and "aged" one of the rather motley crew. Then there's Faye Valentine who seems to have the most interesting story in that she can't remember her past at all until she finds a few lost artifacts from her original time. Then there's the comic relief: Edward the hacker and Ein the data dog.<br/><br/>Combined, this posse seems to have some of the strangest luck and it's told beautifully throughout the episode. The way it's told, it seems to have an amazing knack for conveying some pretty deep ideas in a rather playful manner. Nothing that I can think of can really compare to this style.<br/><br/>What really takes Cowboy Bebop over the top is the music. Yoko Kanno masterfully blends jazz, funk and a hint of rock to really add to this atmosphere Cowboy Bebop creates. I've actually bought a few of the OSTs, a fine addition to anyone's CD collection.<br/><br/>If I could, I'd give this anime a 9.5/10, but unfortunately I can't do that on IMDb, so I gave it a 9.
Bereng replied
296 weeks ago