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Ranked #19
Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop

Alternative Titles

Japanese: カウボーイビバップ

Information

Type: TV
Episodes: 26
Status: Finished Airing
Aired: Apr 3, 1998 to Apr 24, 1999
Duration: 24 min. per episode
Rating: R - 17+ (violence & profanity)
L represents licensing company

Statistics

Score: 8.831 (scored by 102947 users)
Ranked: #192
Popularity: #22
Members: 162,763
Favorites: 12,064
1 indicates a weighted score
2 based on the top anime page.

My Info


Popular Tags

action adventure comedy drama sci-fi space
Aug 24, 2008
TheLlama
People who know me know that I'm not a fan of episodic anime series unless they're either one season (12-14 episodes) long or a slice of life series. Why? They have a tendency to get boring, or repetitive. But all rules and preferences have exceptions. You know what? Cowboy Bebop is that exception.

The story is set in a space western setting - a genre and setting I'm loving more and more for each show I watch that falls under the genre. We follow two bounty hunters, Spike and Jet, who own a ship called the Bebop. They travel the Solar system, chasing wanted criminals to read more
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Apr 30, 2013
Stuart111
Introduction:
On October 24th, 1998, Cowboy Bebop started its first full airing in Japan, it ended the next year on April 24th. It was later broadcasted in the United States as the first anime to ever appear on Adult Swim, and it still is broadcasted on a loop to this day. Now, as many of you probably know Cowboy Bebop is definitely a very popular anime, and it's no wonder it's still broadcasting today, even after most anime have left Adult Swim. Why is so popular though? Well the answer is simple, Cowboy Bebop is a very finely crafted, almost perfect creation that deserves every bit read more
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Jan 30, 2009
TheCriticsClub
Only a few anime series or movies could be considered true classics, and one of the most notable shows to fall into this category is iconic not just for its style, design and animation, but also for the depth of its characters and its music.

That anime is Cowboy Bebop.

Story

Cowboy Bebop is told as a series of standalone episodes, each of which is only really connected to one another by the characters, with very few of them directly following on from one another. This method of storytelling is now termed as “episodic”, and while the format is now commonplace in anime, this series set the standard read more
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Mar 7, 2013
Ibelucas
I was scared to touch this anime. Despite the reviews, despite my friend's sage advice, despite everything, I resisted for months. I didn't want to dive into something that showed only on Adult Swim at 2 in the morning on weekdays. It didn't seem like the kind of show I wanted to watch. I want to see the latest and greatest, the anime that grab the headlines, that are here and now, that are modern and are visually appealing. Cowboy Bebop didn't seem to me like it fit into any category I ever liked either. Western styled mixed with space drama? How can that even read more
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Jun 25, 2011
therustbelt
Cowboy Bebop has something that the anime world has seem to have forgotten in a coinpurse somewhere: balls.

I don't mean just any kind of balls. I mean huge, sweaty, hairy testicles that swing back and forth like wrecking balls at the sheer hint of thigh movement. The atom-slicing power of these balls could level Detroit in a single blow. I'm not talking about the steroid ravaged, "mom where's the protein" balls of TTGL or G Gundam either. Those are anime you put on right after you inject yourself with bull-shark testosterone and deadlift 440 lbs. No, the balls Cowboy Bebop slaps on the table are read more
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Jun 15, 2011
xm0123
Cowboy bebop was originally an anime series created by Shinichiro Watanabe in 1998. It consists of 26 episodes, a mini-sode, and a theatrical movie. It was released in America in 2001, and is one of the few anime franchises to be more successful in North America than in its native Japan. I have seen the 26 tv episodes and the movie. I already know what a lot of you are doing right now after glancing at the numerical score I gave; you're hitting up the comment box on my profile and writing these exact words:

"Fuck you! Cowboy Bebop is a classic! You're not allowed to read more
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Nov 7, 2006
Xinil
Cowboy Bebop is an episodic series. By episodic, I mean that one episode doesn't necessarily lead or follow the next one. With that being said, don't expect a lot of "plot" in this series. You watch Cowboy Bebop for the characters, plain and simple. Spike, Faye, Jet, Ed, Ein are what make this anime arguably one of the most memorable series ever produced. The music is awesome (especially if you're a fan of Jazz), the animation is top notch (considering when the series came out), and the enjoyment value is second to none.

While a lot of people want that "similar episode" feel, if you're the read more
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Apr 20, 2010
kajia
"Cowboy Bebop" reeks. It really does. It reeks of originality, it reeks of attitude, but most of all, it reeks of perfection.

I'm not gonna bother writing about how cool the main protagonist Spike Spiegel is, or how colourful the rest of the cast are - those are established facts and have been discussed to death already, so I'm gonna write about what makes "Cowboy Bebop" different instead. Almost everything about it is unusual. It's a clash of a huge number of often contradicting styles that, on paper, looks like disasters waiting to happen. However, the reality is that "Cowboy Bebop" takes everything in its stride read more
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Jun 3, 2007
jupiterjazz
Story, Character, and Enjoyment: 10/10 Drama Llama?
Cowboy Bebop is probably the most amazing anime I have had the privilege of watching. Even now, seven years after watching it for the first time I am having difficulty putting it into words. What is so unique about it is how the episodes don't link together, but instead mainly focus on a character or two. Director Shinichiro Watanabe did such an amazing job flushing out the characters whether the current episode shows them living their day-by-day life in the present, or delving into a certain characters unique past it really makes the Cowboy Bebop universe seem tangible. read more
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Oct 3, 2010
blushjoy
Cowboy Bebop is, in effect, an episodic, slice of life sort of series revolving around our Space Cowboys (and girls) Spike, Jet, Faye and Ed. This review is here to tackle some points about the series I feel are worth mentioning, as I know it's all been said before.

Now Cowboy Bebop has it all; great characters with good backstories, smooth animation, amazing music and lots of humor. So why don't I love it? Quite simply, Cowboy Bebop was a frustrating experience for me! I watched the series on and off over a couple of months, far longer than it normally takes for me to finish read more
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Jun 24, 2008
Venneh
Title: Cowboy Bebop

Manga, Anime: Cowboy Bebop has two manga incarnations to its name. The first, with the same title as the show, is a manga adaptation of the anime, with story by Hajime Yamate and art by Yutaka Nanten, and ran in Kadokawa Shoten's Asuka Fantasy DX magazine from April 1998 to April 2000. The second, titled Cowboy Bebop: Shooting Star, is a retelling of the anime, done by Cain Kuga, and also ran in Asuka Fantasy DX during 1997. Both have been licensed Stateside by Tokyopop, and the release date for the third and second and final volumes for both were read more
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May 5, 2013
ironcladgranite
Cowboy Bebop. Wow. What can I say that hasn't already been said? Instead of just writing a straightforward review, let me tell you WHY this is probably in my top 3 anime series of all time.

-It's got interesting characters
-The fight scenes are choreographed so well and the jazz-like music in the background mixes so well with the mood
-It has a fairly non-linear plot, so many of the episodes could be watched on their own without missing any important information from the previous episode
-It's got an amazing ending, perhaps one of the best of all time
-It doesn't ever take itself too seriously, but at the same read more
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Oct 25, 2012
Tyrel
One of the best classics I've been able to watch to date. It has everything down to sound, animation and character development. I will explain this into more detail later on, as I write my review. This review could contain spoilers for the very first part of introducing the characters, but won't affect the story at all.

-The story takes place in a space-western setting, where "The Bebops," hunt down criminals for large sums of cash, we could also call them "Bounty hunters." However, most of the criminals tend to get away from our good crew, or are either left for dead never to see the read more
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Jun 28, 2011
milkman57
Do you miss the days where outer space felt like a place where people went to work, did their laundry and lived their average lives, instead of a futuristic, chrome-plated, automated, flashing, beeping gadget? I certainly do. Titles like “Star Wars” made space feel like someplace that you might live someday, instead of a place where everything was shiny and new, and nobody ever had to do manual labor. Cowboy Bebop is on to something with the way it portrays outer space. At least, that’s what avid fans of the series may tell you.

Being one of the more popular anime titles out there, does it read more
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Feb 26, 2010
MightiMidget
I have been putting Cowboy Bebop off for a month or two, watching an episode here, watching an episode there, dropping it, putting it on hold, picking it back up again, etc. It's a little hard to get into considering it is solely character driven from the first episode on, and since you don't even find out...anything...about the characters until the tenth or so episode, there isn't much to work off of in the "do I or don't I" character like/attachment department.

Story-wise, Cowboy Bebop doesn't actually have any past 4, maybe 5, episodes overall. It is episodic, some of the 20 minute plotlines a read more
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Apr 5, 2008
Isambard
Shinichiro Watanabe's Cowboy Bebop is one of the legends of anime. It's a program most anime viewers have heard of regardless of whether they've watched it in full or not and thanks to the multiple airings it's received over the years on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block it's a small number indeed who've never seen at least an episode. I can safely say that before I purchased Bandai's recently released complete collection I'd seen most of the episodes on television in one order or another so I wasn't watching anything strikingly new but this does mark the first time I've watched Cowboy Bebop read more
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Feb 24, 2013
FullmetalCowboy
***I originally posted this review on Anime-Planet***

Critic's Log: Earthdate - March 12, 2012. Review #1: Cowboy Bebop.

It is the year 2071 and Mars has become the central hub of human civilization ever since a hyperspace experiment on the moon failed and made Earth uninhabitable. The entire Solar System has been accessible thanks to reliable hyperspace gates and crime syndicates have exerted their power and influence over the government and the ISSP (Inter-Solar System-Police). As a result, The ISSP has put in a bounty system similar to The Old West has been included to deal with fugitives, terrorists and other criminals. The bounty hunters are usually read more
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Dec 9, 2011
reinis-jan
The almighty and legendary Cowboy Bebop. Well, here goes my best shot.

Story: 7,5
At first to me it seemed like Cowboy Bebop will be an episodic anime, which ones are usually plain bad and become boring after a few episodes. But Cowboy Bebop is a proof that anime mustn't evolve a single plot straight only to conclusion. Truth be said most of the Cowboy Bebop episodes are fillers, but not to the bad meaning of the fillers that you usually see in Naruto or Bleach or any other anime.

In Cowboy Bebop these episodes are more like expansions off the characters and mini stories with read more
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May 27, 2008
Darkmage530
"The work which becomes a new genre itself will be called Cowboy Bebop"

Cowboy Bebop is one of the few shows which can actually be called Epic. Not an epic such as the Homeric poetry but epic as Webster’s Dictionary says “extending beyond the usual or ordinary especially in size or scope.” It’s a word that shouldn’t be used lightly. Cowboy Bebop is the standard by which Anime should be molded after. It achieves near perfection in creation and at the end there is a feeling of fulfillment. No other anime has a more complete and satisfying ending.

The story element is read more
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Aug 31, 2007
jet2r0cks
I had the chance to watch Cowboy Bebop before. Why didn’t I watch it?

After watching Cowboy Bebop, it was as if I went through an otaku ritual. I believe that every otaku out there should watch Cowboy Bebop – at least once in their lives – and realize how anime should be done.

The story-telling, the dialogue, the feel, the emotions. Everything was just mixed right. Every episode was unique and almost perfect. Every episode started and ended in a way you didn’t expect. My personal favorite, was Session 20, Pierrot le Fou. That episode sent chills down my spine. I won’t tell why, just so read more
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