Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop Review

I know it first aired back in 1998, but I just finished watching Cowboy Bebop recently. I'm not going to lie, I consistently was seeing it on lists of the best anime of all time, and I was really doubtful going in, but now that I've watched it I know why Cowboy Bebop is so highly acclaimed. It's just good. It's so good. If someone asked me what my favorite anime ever was I wouldn't hesitate to say Cowboy Bebop. If you haven't seen it you should. If you have seen it you should watch it again, without a doubt it is a wonderful anime.

If you haven't viewed the pleasure that is Cowboy Bebop it is set in the year 2071 and follows the lives of bounty hunters traveling on their spaceship, the Bebop. There is definitely overarching stories and themes, but generally you don't need to remember what the previous episode was about to understand the one you're on. Similar to something like a TV crime drama, most episodes feature a criminal that this bounty hunter crew is going after, although the show is so much more than that.

Cowboy Bebop contains these overarching themes of things like loneliness and one's relationship with the past. The characters have subtle and realistic relationships with each other and themselves, everyone has an involved backstory and you just automatically fall in love with all of them. We all have main characters that we dislike, you'll love all of the main four characters in Cowboy Bebop.

Can I just talk about the music for a second? For some anime I skip the opening theme sometimes, even if I like it. When you're binge watching an anime sometimes you just get tired of hearing the same opening song over and over. That never happened to me with Cowboy Bebop. What a great opening sequence, and what a great way to start off every episode. And then, the jazzy, funky, occasionally bluesy music featured in mostly every episode. Ahhhhhhh. I loved every piece of music that was played in this show, it fit so perfectly with the story.

Also the art. Cowboy Bebop is without a doubt an old anime, and when I watched the first episode and saw Spike's hair for the first time, I will say that I was put off. By the third episode I was over it, I loved the art style, so if you are picky about things like that like I sometimes am, don't worry about it, the sheer greatness of Cowboy Bebop will overcome any doubts you have about the art style.

The anime is somewhat of a comedy, but it did make me cry. Beware episodes 24 and 26, they were extremely sad for me. (Although like, everything makes me cry and get emotional.) And I would recommend watching the last three episodes in one fell swoop, as with many anime.

I'd just like to reiterate that you will not be disappointed with Cowboy Bebop, it doesn't matter if you think that you don't like action anime or jazz music, or older anime art styles. Cowboy Bebop is for everyone and I guarantee you will enjoy it.

See you space cowboy...