Cowboy Bebop

[godofallu]

I really love Cowboy Bebop but I wouldn't consider myself an anime person. I thought that would be the beginning to a beautiful love for me but instead 99.9% of anime is just frustratingly childish and weird.

People will tell you that shows like Trigun or Outlaw star are super close. They will tell you mecha animes are amazingly similar or that Ghost in the shell is made for adults. They're wrong. I don't want a weird cat lady or a goofball protagonist who dodges bullets or mechs that speak using the worlds most annoying 12 year old girl's voice.

I did think Black Lagoon was pretty good but other than that... just a ton of garbage that MLP and neckbeards love.

 

[wrightguy0]

I too have only just started getting into anime, I just finished all of Full Metal Alchemist and i really want to give Cowboy Bebop a look now

 

[Just_A_COMS_Major]

Cowboy Bebop was probably the one of the most entertaining and engaging shows I've seen. I started watching it because I had actually received the soundtrack unknowingly from one of my friends, and my roommate at the time told me I should watch the show. In my opinion, the finale was just a great sort of closure to Spike's personal character development. Having said that, I also watched Samurai Champloo as well. It, too, was very enjoyable, but it didn't pull me in quite as well as Bebop, though, that's not to say it was bad. As a previous poster said (sorry for not quoting here) Miyazaki films are good if you are looking into more anime, as are some of the Gundam series. I was a G Gundam fan, myself. And if you consider Zoids to be anime, I would look into those. They are sometimes a little childish, but I remember them fondly. The roommate that introduced me to Bebop also was fond of Ghost in the Shell and Trigun. I have yet to watch either of those shows just yet, but his opinion is usually trustworthy in these matters.

 

[Soundwave]

Shinichiro Watanabe has another show coming out in a similar vein this like, january I think? Called Space Dandy.


I strongly echo the sentiment that you should make all speed to watching Samurai Champloo, that show had an ending of similar quality that I found myself able to appreciate MORE after having watched the ending of Bebop.

Watanabe has also got a show out there called "The Kids on the Slope" that I really, really enjoyed.

 

[Easton Dark]

Also, it's still way more enjoyable than Bebopp. And while the Escapist will disagree, both MAL and Anidb agree with me.

I agree with you.

FMA:B and Code Geass shit all over Cowboy Bebop, and both have better endings. Bebop's good, but 'dat regicide.

 

[The Clitosaurus]

I really enjoyed the show, but the mood whiplash on the last two episodes really turned me off it. I wasn't really a fan of Spike's backstory to begin with, and every time Vicious appeared on screen, I cringed a little bit. The guy is a walking bundle of anime clichés; long silver hair, badass longcoat, using a katana when everyone else uses a gun, and just generally acting too-cool-for-school in every situation. To me, he seemed incredibly out of place in a universe that otherwise felt relatively mature.
It didn't help that they put the comic relief on a bus the episode before the finale, and completely sidelined every character other than Spike. Faye's arc was basically complete, but it would have been nice if she and Jet had had some meaningful contribution in the finale.

 

[Extra-Ordinary]

Oh man, that's my favorite anime of all time.

And I barely remember how I felt about the ending, I think I felt it was... right, in a way.
I actually cried when Ed left. Funny thing, I thought Ed was annoying when we first met her (she is a *she*, right?) but when she left, I just found it really sad, and the music didn't help my emotional state.
That's another thing, the music absolutely makes this show for me. Yeah, the plot is good, the actors are good (I watched it dubbed, don't cry about it) but the song choice sets or at least enhances the mood each and every time.

 

[crazygameguy4ever]

Definitely one of the anime series that need to be seen by every anime fan.. All of the characters have tragic or in some way, messed up pasts that make you feel a genuine connection with them, cause they all feel like they could really happen... Ed's bizarre life growing up,wondering around everywhere, Faye's mysterious past that made you feel sorry for her missing out on so much of her life, Jet being betrayed by his partner as a detective and Spike trying to escape his past as part of the criminal group, The Syndicate and his life with the women he loved, Julia.. I've always held onto the hope that Cowboy Bebop will return someday, cause it still is such a great series( there's a reason it's been on the air in reruns on Toonami/Adult Swim for so long). Cowboy Bebop is on my list of my all time favorite anime series ever.

 

[MrHide-Patten]

As much as I enjoy Cowboy Bebop I will say that it's praise sort of goes over my head, it's alright, but not really mind blowing personally. Probabaly 'cause I don't dig the classic anime asethetic that people really cream a batch in their shorts about.

I'd say I've got a more emotional connection to Samurai Champloo, again not brain burstingly brilliant, but it's the first 'serious' anime I watched on TV until I figured out you could watch that shit on the internet.

 

[sextus the crazy]

I'd like to know: are there any other fans of Bebop here? When did you first watch it and how did you feel about the finale?

Of course, I like it. It's pretty much mandatory. TBH, I never watched the ending, I just read the synopsis of the last episode because I couldn't be bothered. I didn't care much more the "story" parts with Vicious, as I felt that the one off episodes were more what Bebop was about.

 

[Spacewolf]

Personally I found it intensely boring, the characters where OK but not exactly anything special either.

 

[Cowabungaa]

Shinichiro Watanabe has another show coming out in a similar vein this like, january I think? Called Space Dandy.

I really really like Bebop and Champloo because they feel so grounded, but that seems to be one helluva wtf-fest.

Kids On The Slope looks fantastic though, especially as a jazz fan. I wasn't surprised to see Yoko Kanno's name pop up there.

 

[littlewisp]

Bebop is one of my all time favorites. Then again, I'm one of those anime fans who didn't really care for FMA:B (I always get distracted), couldn't make it through the first few episodes of Geass, and couldn't get past the first episode of Gurren Lagann. Maybe I'm not really an anime fan after all, I dunno. What I will say is that the music, the art, and the episodic format really caught me. And sometimes I randomly sing songs from the show that aren't exactly renowned for their lyrics.....

LIKE THIS

http://youtu.be/x9DFqW94jI8

WE ARE THE DOGGY DOGGY DOGS!

I mean, come on, how is that not brilliant?

(now this is going to be in my head all day)

 

[Alssadar]

Good ole Bebop. My favorite anime, I have to say.
Not just because it's not "kawaii~uguu," but that's a large factor. It's a unique setting, with unique motifs and aesthetics.
The use of Jazz, Cowboy Blues, and the titular Bebop set the stage for a variety of settings, ranging from high-lit Casinos to New Morocco(A fantastic idea), to the cowboy-like wastes of Western bounty hunting and the noir crimes of the big cities. The technology isn't fancy or pristine, what we normally expect from the future--it's manual, and dirty. The use of each episode as a "Session" was a small, but interesting thing, as well as having each session be a musical reference of its own.
The characters themselves are well-grounded (Ed was just eccentric), each with their own different philosophies and inspirations behind them, and are well-developed so that they aren't a one-emotion cliche.
I do have much more to say, but the tvtropes page says it better, go visit it if you're interested. However, for the sake of my time and others, I will not link it.

 

[Stillgard]

It's still a favorite of mine right up next to anime's like Death Note and Ghost in the shell: SAC and Full Metal Alchemist. Enjoy it.

 

[Ticklefist]

Yeah once the anime craze died down after the early 2000s Cowboy Bebop still stood as one of the things that was actually good.