The ramblings of a bearded crazy person

Cowboy Bebop

WOOHOOO!! Cowbooooys…Innn….SPAAACE!!!

First aired in 1998, Cowboy Bebop is another oldie with high ratings. But this time, I feel the praise is more justly deserved.

Set in the year 2071, Cowboy Bebop tells the story of some bounty hunters, (cowboys,) who travel around the Solar System in their ship, the Bebop. There isn’t a lot of the Real World Physics that was displayed in Planetes, but I do have to hand it to the creators, though. The visual effects for entering and leaving the hyperspace gateways, are what can only be referred to as Darn Cool.

Spike Spiegel is a Martian. (No, not a little green man with six eyes and tentacles, he’s a human that was born on Mars.) He is skilled at martial arts, which many people learn the hard way. He is also handy with a gun, and a good pilot. Spike usually has a laid-back attitude, often sarcastic, and has fluffy hair.

Jet Black is the actual owner of the Bebop. A big guy, he’s the group’s jack-of-all-trades. He can do everything from repairing the ship, to making dinner. Jet is also skilled at hand-to-hand combat, but unlike Spike, who uses more technique, Jet uses raw muscle to get the job done.

Faye Valentine is brash, and very lazy. At times, she relies on the guys to do all the actual work of bounty hunting, while she reaps the benefits. However, she will sometimes go out on her own. And in a fight, she can handle herself fairly well.

Edward is a 13-year-old, hyperactive girl. She is extremely good at hacking computer systems, and is known as “Radical Edward”. She is also very flexible and strong, being able to walk around on her hands while scratching her nose with her foot. She rarely walks anywhere, preferring more fun movements like rolling or flipping. For all these reasons, I like Ed.

Ein is a dog. A very smart dog. He is also very fond of Ed.

One part that I particularly liked a lot, was when the guys got ahold of an old Betamax tape from the early 2000’s. Nobody knew what it was, since in 2071, they all use discs for storage. (Just like we do now.) It made my skin crawl when Spike started pulling the tape out of the cassette. “NO! YOU’LL RUIN IT!” It was a realistic reaction for someone from the late 21st century, though. And so, I laughed at the whole thing.

At first glance at that scene, the fact that the creators used Beta instead of VHS doesn’t make a lot of sense. After all, VHS won the format war in the late 80’s, didn’t it? Since Cowboy Bebop was made in 1998, surely the creators should have known that? If this was an American production, that would be true. But this wasn’t an American production. In Japan, Beta continued to be popular, with tapes still being produced as late as 2002. So it actually makes perfect sense for them to have used a Beta tape. (There’s a little history lesson for you.)

Another notable thing about the series, is the English dub. Normally, I abhor dubs. Rarely do they sound as good as the original Japanese. Cowboy Bebop is the rare exception where the dub is on-par with the originals. Many people even say that it’s better than the original. Now I don’t know about that, but it’s certainly not worse.

And now it’s time for your amusing video of the week:

Livin in the Fridge

Toys in the Attic. That whole episode is Made Of Win. Though I admit, I am partial to slimy creatures that form in fridges, as you may remember.

2 Responses | Add your Own

  • 1 WavatarThe Blog of Xbolt » The Most Bestest Animes of All Tiem

    […] Cowboy Bebop is just a solid science fiction show. And just plain cool in almost every respect. […]

  • 2 WavatarInnah

    Hey Peter if you really want to get into an anime i sugsget Neon Genesis Evangelion its sorta old anime (like 1997) but the storyline is pretty intense and it has a lot of symbolism and metaphors but overall it has a soild story and great voice-overs. this may sound rude but i sugsget listening to the japanese voice overs because they have more emotion than the american cast. Neon Genesis Evangelion is 26 episodes with three directors cut episodes (watch the directors cut episodes instead of the original ones because the directors cut will make more sense) with 4 movies. The two original movies are Death and Rebirth (this movie basically re-tells all of the 25 episodes so its basically a review so its up to you if you want to watch it) the second one is The End of Evangelion which is the final movie and ends the series. They recently re-made the series by making new movies that will explain more than what the original had to offer. the first new movie is Evangelion 1.11 (you can find it at best buy or anyother store like that) this movie basically re-tells the series but with wayyy better animation and new scenes. the second new movie (it hasnt been released in america yet but it will soon) is Evangelion 2.22 which is a whole new story in total. you gotta watch it.well for cow boy bebop its a good anime but its not that great haha thats my opinion. but it does get good though its suppose to have the best english cast in anime history but i watched it with the japanese cast.

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