Why do people like Cowboy Bebop?

[spartan231490]

I just don't get it. I found it to be phenomenally disappointing. Yeah, it has really well done action scenes, but so do most action anime. It feels really disjointed and awkward to me. Most episodes have virtually nothing to do with the others, there is no real over-arching plot. Which would be forgivable, but the characters don't seem to have any real motivation except to "get ALL THE MONEYZ," which makes them unrelatable. Unrelatable aside, they aren't really likable either. The main character has his moments, but most of the rest are just stereotypical, predictable, and boring.

Am I missing something here? Or do people really rate it as one of the greatest anime out there based solely on the fact that it has frequent, well-executed action? I don't understand how people can rate it so highly based on that alone.

 

[darlarosa]

The over arching plot is..well there isn't one so much as an examination of how the lives of these characters interact

Faye- wants to know about her past, and pay off the tremendous amount of debt she was unfairly left with
Spike- wants to know why Julia betrayed him, and wants food
Etc.
Different characters have different wants and needs, and whether they acknowledge them or not they react. The money is to live. It's more of a focus on character reactions and how people respond to their world. It's strength is it's subtle themes, the odd characters, and how desperation(define that as you will) can control anyone. At least that is my analysis

It sounds like you 1) did not pay too much attention 2) did not piece together the plot 3) Just plain did not like it.

I completely disagree with you on everything you have said, and I do not suggest that you watch a lot of noir films or Samurai Champloo.

 

[Diddy_Mao]

Well for one thing it's a product of it's time. it may not stand out in a crowd right now, but when it came out it was one of the few main stream commercially available Anime titles that wasn't a cookie cutter harem comedy, giant robot or magical girl show.

Yeah if you know where to look there was a lot of other stuff out there but Cowboy Bebop hit American audiences during the height of the second resurgence of Anime popularity and as such was probably in a tie with Trigun for the first "serious" anime series that a lot of new fans to the genre saw.

I'm personally in the opposite side of the boat as I had started to branch out my interests into a larger variety of Animation and was rapidly losing my "everything Anime is great." mentality and Cowboy Bebop was probably the last show that I really followed and enjoyed before I stopped watching anime heavily.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Hard to say. While I don't want to played the nostalgia card but it's really one of those "you had to be there" to had fully liked it (every people I know who didn't like Cowboy Bebeop were not there when it first aired in the US/UK). Cowboy Bebeop was part of the stepping stones that made Anime more mainstream outside of Japan today.
Beside it does got a plot, well a hidden one if you actually paid attention to it (in that it's about Spike running away from his problem since he suppose to be the next in line to take over that gang but Vicious interfere or something that that, it has been a while I since watched it).
Also Cowboy Bebop had great soundtrack (since you don't hear jazz and blues that often unless you're fan of it), chracters and action sequences.

I suppose she sum it up well to why we liked it

 

[hazabaza1]

Because it's pretty rockin'.
Plus Spike is so damn cool.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Because it's not a hero's story.

It's about a couple of bounty hunters, down on their luck.

There's no universe that needs saving or some big bad enemy to defeat.

It's a character piece, and a damn good one at that.

 

[DazZ.]

I've barely liked any anime yet I've watched all of Cowboy Bebop.

Not sure if that means anything.

 

[spartan231490]

Because it's not a hero's story.

It's about a couple of bounty hunters, down on their luck.

There's no universe that needs saving or some big bad enemy to defeat.

It's a character piece, and a damn good one at that.

Right? It's something new.

I consider it a work of art. The whole piece is consistent, and I find it beautiful to observe. It's sort of like a tragic play, you fall for the characters and begin to love watching them succumb to their respective fates.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Because it's not a hero's story.

It's about a couple of bounty hunters, down on their luck.

There's no universe that needs saving or some big bad enemy to defeat.

It's a character piece, and a damn good one at that.

Right? It's something new.

I consider it a work of art. The whole piece is consistent, and I find it beautiful to observe. It's sort of like a tragic play, you fall for the characters and begin to love watching them succumb to their respective fates.

Except for Ed

She just crazy.

 

[spartan231490]

Because it's not a hero's story.

It's about a couple of bounty hunters, down on their luck.

There's no universe that needs saving or some big bad enemy to defeat.

It's a character piece, and a damn good one at that.

Right? It's something new.

I consider it a work of art. The whole piece is consistent, and I find it beautiful to observe. It's sort of like a tragic play, you fall for the characters and begin to love watching them succumb to their respective fates.

Except for Ed

She just crazy.

What do you mean 'except for Ed'? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?

*draws her sword*

 

[Casual Shinji]

It's style over substance, but in such a manner that the style becomes the substance.

The overarching story to Cowboy Bebop is nothing much. It's the way that it's executed which gives it its heart and soul. That final scene from the episode Ballad of Fallen Angels is just a guy falling out of a window, but the way it's presented on screen along with the accompanying soundtrack makes it one of the most striking moments you've ever seen. And not just in a shallow "oh, that looks pretty" sorta way, but a genuinely emotional scene told solely through visuals.

On paper Spike is just your run of the mill rogue anti-hero, but his performance on screen is what makes him a unique and memorable character.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

I'm not a particularly big fan of anime. Two of my roommates at university were obsessed with it though, and they insisted that they'd get me interested somehow.

They decided to marathon Cowboy Bebop with me.

Regardless of my overall feelings toward anime as a whole, I loved Cowboy Bebop. I loved the characters (for the most part... I freaking -hated- Ed), I loved the universe that it was set in, I loved that it was mostly a character study, and I love that it had a story that was subtle rather than over-the-top.

Though I haven't found any other examples of anime that have taken a hold of my interests quite like Cowboy Bebop did, I do find that it's completely changed my perceptions of the genre. Before Cowboy Bebop I was completely hostile toward anime. I thought it was nothing but giant robots and magical scantily-clad women with screechy voices and the bodies of twelve-year-olds. Now I'm able to recognize that the genre as a whole is incredibly varied, and there's undoubtedly more anime out there that I'll someday enjoy now that I won't just immediately shoot it down.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Because it's not a hero's story.

It's about a couple of bounty hunters, down on their luck.

There's no universe that needs saving or some big bad enemy to defeat.

It's a character piece, and a damn good one at that.

Right? It's something new.

I consider it a work of art. The whole piece is consistent, and I find it beautiful to observe. It's sort of like a tragic play, you fall for the characters and begin to love watching them succumb to their respective fates.

Except for Ed

She just crazy.

What do you mean 'except for Ed'? WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO SAY?

*draws her sword*

Sorry, sorry, of course, where are my manners?

Except Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV.

 

[spartan231490]

It's style over substance, but in such a manner that the style becomes the substance.

The overarching story to Cowboy Bebop is nothing much. It's the way that it's executed which gives it its heart and soul. That final scene from the episode Ballad of Fallen Angels is just a guy falling out of a window, but the way it's presented on screen along with the accompanying soundtrack makes it one of the most striking moments you've ever seen. And not just in a shallow "oh, that looks pretty" sorta way, but a genuinely emotional scene told solely through visuals.

On paper Spike is just your run of the mill rogue anti-hero, but his performance on screen is what makes him a unique and memorable character.

Yes. The ending.

I still maintain that the Cowboy Bebop finale is my favorite in anime.

 

[Zenron]

It's a classic because it's a giant how to guide in characterisation and aesthetic design.It has a great soundtrack, the art was years ahead of its time and the ending stands out as one of the best endings of all time. Yes, the episodes don't really have much of a connection, but that's just a structural format. A lot of animes take the episodic route.

Anyway, that's why I like it anyway.

 

[Casual Shinji]

It's style over substance, but in such a manner that the style becomes the substance.

The overarching story to Cowboy Bebop is nothing much. It's the way that it's executed which gives it its heart and soul. That final scene from the episode Ballad of Fallen Angels is just a guy falling out of a window, but the way it's presented on screen along with the accompanying soundtrack makes it one of the most striking moments you've ever seen. And not just in a shallow "oh, that looks pretty" sorta way, but a genuinely emotional scene told solely through visuals.

On paper Spike is just your run of the mill rogue anti-hero, but his performance on screen is what makes him a unique and memorable character.

Yes. The ending.

I still maintain that the Cowboy Bebop finale is my favorite in anime.

I was actually referring to this one from episode 5. Best part of the series in my opinion.


The ending to the show was very good, too. If not really frikking depressive.

 

[NeutralDrow]

It's a classic because it's a giant how to guide in characterisation and aesthetic design.It has a great soundtrack, the art was years ahead of its time and the ending stands out as one of the best endings of all time. Yes, the episodes don't really have much of a connection, but that's just a structural format. A lot of animes take the episodic route.

Don't forget the surprisingly good dub, for those of us stuck with the American tv showings. When an English voice cast can stand up to Japanese cast that includes Megumi Hayashibara and Norio Wakamoto, someone did something right, somewhere along the line.

 

[Mouse One]

Fun characters, terrific music, whimsical for the most part with a dollop of seriousness. Lots of riffing on establish SF tropes.

And yeah, love the ending.

*Bang*

 

[Attercap]

Cowboy Bebop had a welsh corgi. End of argument.

Edit: To be clear, welsh corgis = awesome.

Edit continued: Plus, Cowboy Bebop has a great soundtrack.

 

[Vault101]

Ive been considering watching it....(after some mvoies and paranoia agent)

I'm very picky the any Amime I might watch though....if it has big eyes and stupid hair I'm not watching it

anyway I feel like when peopel make threads like this its like "if you have to ask then your not going to like it, forget it and movie on"