"Kaubôi bibappu" (1998) TV series

Creator:

Hajime Yatate

Seasons:

1 | unknown

Release Date:

8 January 2003 (Germany)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Sci-Fi | Thriller

Plot:

The futuristic adventures of an easygoing bounty hunter and his partners.

Plot Keywords:

Bounty Hunter | Corgi | Ex Cop | Futuristic | Dark Past

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Dec. 27	2:30 AM	TOON	Asteroid Blues	#1.1
Sun. Jan. 3	2:30 AM	TOON	Stray Dog Strut	#1.2

Cast

Steve Blum	...	Spike Spiegel (26 episodes, 1998-1999)
Beau Billingslea	...	Jet Black (26 episodes, 1998-1999)
Kôichi Yamadera	...	Spike Spiegel (26 episodes, 1998-1999)
Unshô Ishizuka	...	Jet Black (26 episodes, 1998-1999)
Wendee Lee	...	Faye Valentine (24 episodes, 1998-1999)
Megumi Hayashibara	...	Faye Valentine (24 episodes, 1998-1999)
Melissa Fahn	...	Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV (16 episodes, 1998-1999)
Aoi Tada	...	Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV / ... (16 episodes, 1998-1999)

Also Known As:

Cowboy Bebop (International: English title) (USA)
Cowboy Bebop (Argentina) (Spain) [es]
Cowboy Bebop (France) [fr]

Runtime:

25 min (26 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

French | German | Italian | Spanish | Tagalog | English | Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Certification:

Japan:R | USA:TV-MA | Singapore:Unrated | UK:15 (some episodes) | Spain:15 | UK:18 | Canada:14A (some episodes) | Brazil:18 | Peru:18 | Canada:18A | Australia:MA | Italy:VM14 (video rating) | New Zealand:M | New Zealand:R13 (some episodes) | Austria:18 | Argentina:18 | Germany:16 | South Korea:15 (DVD rating)

Company:

Bandai Visual Company

Trivia:

Spike and Vicious exchange weapons as an homage to a fatal quick-draw in Ying hung boon sik II (1987).

Quotes:

Ed: Smoke smoke, Faye Faye. Puff puff, Faye Faye.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in F-Zero GX (2003) (VG)

Soundtrack:

Space Lion

The Best of Anime

This one goes right up there with Trigun and Evangelion.

Cowboy Bebop weaves the story of space cowboys on the lookout for bounty. The main character, Spike, with a haunting past of betrayal and a lost love, chases bounty across the stars with Jet, the burley ex-detective with a prosthetic arm. The two later come across the sexy outlaw Fay, who comes and goes as she pleases. Teamed up with an eccentric child computer-hacker named Edward (whose gender is questionable, despite the name) and a worthless but adorable mutt named Ein, it's a odd couple of characters with secrets buried in the past.

The plot of the 24 (or so) episodes are almost never linked to one another, contrary to most animes. Making it hard to tell when a generic story involving chasing a bounty could later turn into an important puzzle piece in the intricate plot. For the most part these characters are light-hearted and crack some pretty funny jokes (such as a tower bomber who dresses up as a giant teddy bear, or a dim-witted bounty-hunter who rides a horse and acts like he's in a John Wayne western movie), but the story can seamlessly turn from humor to guns and explosions to gripping drama. Part of this plays in acclaimed Japanese composer Yoko Kanno's songs, ranging from jazzy tunes you'd swear were written in Chicago to beautiful vocal pieces accompanied with organs and full orchestras.

Don't be shrill to the series saying, "It's just a stupid cartoon," because this is a lot more like a mini series. Backgrounds painted so beautifully you'd swear they were pictures. Dialogue so vivid it's almost Shakespeareian. Fight sequences and explosions as carefully choreographed as a movie. Characters so three dimensional you'd almost forget you were watching a cartoon.

Cowboy Bebop is an experience. A genre that is an entirety within itself.