I've consumed almost no Anime, meaning specifically Japanese animation. Anime has long included shows targeted at adults instead of just being entertainment for children, a difference from how animation is usually used here in the U.S. What I'm looking at today is very much a show with serious subject matter, violence and other mature points, and is not for young kids. It's a far cry from the Dragon Ball Z of my youth. Maybe that's too weird for you. Maybe you'd give it a chance.
Called Cowboy Bebop, what we have here is an animated space western and noir series. On recommendation from a friend I was immediately interested based on his description. The name was vaguely familiar due to some chatter of a new Netflix live-action adaption (out now) but I knew no details. For today we're only going to talk about the old animation which, relatedly, is also available on the streaming giant. Though the language was originally in Japanese they did a great English dub and that's how I watched it. There are only 26 episodes at just over 20 minutes a piece, a relatively tiny commitment for TV.
I don't know if I'd go so far as to say the intro song and credits is an important part of the show. It is however an extremely catchy tune and thoroughly memorable. Whenever I even thought about watching another episode I'd start humming it and I've been doing that again as I write. What stuck out immediately were similarities to the 60's James Bond openings, like Dr. No or From Russia with Love. A big band feel, jazzy, colorful, silhouettes. As much as I like it, I do always chuckle at the late-night-show-esque crash at the end.
3..2..1 let's jam
As for setting, this takes place in 2071. The Manga (graphic novel) was published in 1997-98 and the show's broadcast run was in 1998, making the story about 75 years in the future. As is usual with science fiction the real world doesn't seem to be keeping pace, but that's typical and nbd. By 2071, in this iteration of history, Earth has been mostly abandoned and humanity spread out over the known solar system. The protagonists visit various recognizable hard celestial bodies like Venus and Mars, Ganymede and Europa (moons of Jupiter) and travel through the asteroid belt. The people they meet are a real cross-section of mankind, people of all colors (i.e. not everyone is Japanese).
We, the viewers, follow a small group of bounty hunters. Their ship is named Bebop and it functions as a mobile base, both in space or after landing in port towns on the different planets they visit. It also operates kind of like an aircraft carrier for their smaller jump-jets, resembling fighter planes, used for short range travel or in battle. The crew travels far and wide in search of 'bounty-heads,' as they call them, criminals or others with bounties placed on them. In a lot of ways the show setup is eerily similar to Firefly and this show (1998) must've been a huge inspiration for that one (2002-03). A big difference is the crew. First there were two, Spike and Jet.
The primary character, even amongst the main crew, is a tall, lanky young Japanese man named Spike. A martial artist, he seems to be the one that does most of the actual legwork (tracking, fighting etc.) in bringing in bounties. One of his fights in the first episode of Cowboy Bebop got me to keep going with the show. Their target, a dangerous dealer of a drug that enhances combat abilities, has already killed a number of attackers that came en masse. Spike takes him on alone, wearing a poncho like the Man With No Name, and his fighting style (here seen for the first time), is just like Bruce Lee. He even does it with a smile on his face and cracks jokes throughout. I was hooked. It's funny though, when not actively on a mission Spike appears bored and acts mopey and doesn't seem to be paying attention to what's going on around him, so he's quite the enigma. As a contrast his partner, the slightly older Jet, is more earnest, more level headed, less egotistical and takes care of everything on the ship as pilot, mechanic, cook. They're a solid pairing.
After a little while these two run into a few others, more chance meetings than anything, and the crew, if we can call it that, is rounded out. Faye, a young woman, has a penchant for gambling but brings some serious skills to the table that complements and rivals Spike. She's useful to have around but she's constantly off on her own and even she doesn't know if or when she's going to be back. Ed, a tween girl (who I initially thought was a boy), is a absolute computer whiz. She's got a ton of energy and is pretty weird but can find anyone or anything through the internet. They also pick up a dog, a Welsh Corgi, who they name Ein. Everyone but Jet annoys Spike.
We're thrown right in without a lot of explanation, which in this case is for the best. Bit by bit details come out about how the universe functions. Different planets have different cultures and purposes. Certain crime organizations are more powerful than the police. Technology governs many parts of life. Ships can get around the solar system quickly using hyperspace gates. With such short episode duration I appreciated how these details come out organically.
They use the time well. Every episode is unique and most are self-contained stories with surprising complexity. Besides the crew, the main action, location and critical side characters (targets, allies, whatever) all change over and over. They're frequently hunting a bounty, sure, but it never goes according to plan and they're suddenly thrust into something entirely different. A common bit is they don't end up getting a reward, for one reason or another, and as a result are constantly out of supplies, like food.
For a while there doesn't seem to be any overarching plot. Then you get some of Spike's past, flashes of his memory are explained. You think this is it (I'm usually overwhelmingly narrative driven). But the show abruptly returns to what it was doing before, every episode seemingly a separate entity. Along the way slivers of backstory for the rest of the crew are revealed. You gain a sense of who they are, how their past defines them and why a foreboding existential dread is perhaps inescapable. It grew on me that this group belongs together, needs each other, even if they didn't always feel or see it that way. And just when you finally think you understand them, the show ends.
I'm impressed, and can see why this is considered an ideal introduction to Anime. I can't stress enough how well they blended and referenced various styles, with sci-fi, western and mystery only the start of it. One episode was like Alien, with an unknown creature hunting them while traversing space. Another features a seemingly unbeatable psychotic killer hunting down Spike for no good reason. The show is self-referential about this, utilizing little comments ("a new genre unto itself") when cutting to break. It's also quite clever, funny and even downright philosophical. I'd often feel simultaneously sad and content as an episode ended, like a nostalgia for experiences not my own. I only wish there was more.
No, I haven't looked into the live action version as yet. If I had to guess it probably focuses entirely on the interspersed Spike-centric narrative, with Vicious and Julia and the syndicate. That's not necessarily a bad thing, and it could be an intriguing more fleshed out story. But it's also not the primary reason I loved the Anime. It really was the wholly separate and unique vignettes that paired the relatable, if exaggerated, crew members with compelling new characters in ever-changing situations. I somehow cared, time after time, for minor side characters that only appeared in one episode. The very episodic nature for most of the series, with how it was executed, is what I enjoyed most. I haven't seen anything else like it.
(bang)
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