Alright! Today I'm reviewing the hit 1998 anime series Cowboy Bebop, which takes place in the not-too-distant future of 2071 where humanity has had to conquer the stars after an unfortunate accident left Earth nearly uninhabitable. With such a large territory to cover and a rising crime rate, the government has now taken to using registered bounty hunters (Called "cowboys") to find criminals hiding in the outer reaches of the habitable universe. Enter the spaceship Bebop, led by former cop Jet Black, overly cool Spike Spiegel, cryogenic gambler Faye Valentine, an insane tech prodigy known as Radical Ed, and a Corgi named Ein.
There are several aspects of Cowboy Bebop that I loved, but the most endearing was the ensemble effect. Every main character introduced is instantly likable and they have fantastic chemistry together. Their costuming is impeccable and iconic, their interactions warmly realistic and hilarious, and the real joy of the show came from watching all four share screen time. When it happened it was magical, and it was used sparingly enough that it was always the highlight of any given episode.
My absolute favorite character was Radical Ed, a weird little androgynous hacker who, and I cannot stress this enough, was literally insane. I give all the love and the world to her English voice actor Melissa Fahn, who was just delightful to listen to. The odd inflections, trailing sentences, and sing-song nature of the lines, when combined with the fluid animation of the character, made for an instantly hilarious character who was always a joy to watch. I liked the animation and voice acting for every character (Steve Blum's voice is perfect for nihilism), but Radical Ed was a work of art.
I also admired the animation that easily combined the noir tone of the show with its high-tech sci-fi setting. Every single ship, background detail, and weapon is ridiculously detailed and full of depth and character. However, there was a very unfortunate trade-off - with such detailed animation, the framerate was unfathomably low at times, like the prettiest cyberpunk slideshow you've ever seen. As I said above, Ed is the only physically expressive character in the show. It's a fair trade-off, especially when the dialogue and fight scenes are as dynamic as they are, but it is somewhat disappointing given how stellar the animation looks otherwise.
The series was also episodic in the best way, easy to drop in and out of. Each episode brought something unique to the table; a new villain with a surprisingly emotional payoff combined with a crew pairing we don't normally see, for example. It made it much more enjoyable to casually watch, with only three or four episodes related to the "overarching" plot. However, this did mean that the aforementioned plot - Spike's rivalry with Vicious and love affair with Julia - barely feels important, especially since the series had already reached its emotional peak two episodes earlier in "Hard Luck Woman."
At the end of the day, Cowboy Bebop is fun and funny enough to merit a watch regardless of how deeply entrenched in the "weebisphere" you are. The mere concept of the series - cyberpunk bounty hunters chasing down poor and unfortunate souls in a world that's moved on from ours - combined with the old-fashioned execution and sound design are all matched by animation that's as epic as the ideas presented. The characters are unbelievably likable and work perfectly off each other, and Radical Ed is an icon.
It's the closest thing we'll ever get to a second season of Firefly (Or, rather, Firefly was the closest we'll ever get to a second season of Cowboy Bebop). Cool as the other side of the pillow yet heartfelt as an early 2000s Pixar movie, Cowboy Bebop is an anime that can be enjoyed by all.
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| -1 for Faye's design. I know animators are a lonely bunch, but holy moly calm down. |
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