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I was born in South Africa, then my parents moved to Poland. I love being a teacher :P
Hobbies: music, art (I draw and paint), kendo, karate, anime and manga, Japanese culture and language, crochet, knitting and cross-stitching (:D), playing the flute, reading books, playing computer games (I play rpgs, stealth games, browser games and turn based strategies), my other hobbits include Frodo, Sam, Pippin and Merry :P
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All Comments (2) Comments
In any good story, the climax has to be connected to the beginning of the story. And in the beginning of Cowboy Bebop we are introduced to Spike and understand that he has a mysterious past. So the final episode has to deal with that, there is no other choice. The ending couldn't be related to a random enemy, it had to revolve around something personal to Spike.
You have a good point that Julia and Vicious were not developed properly enough for many viewers to care. I forgive the show for this error because I just like so many aspects of the show, and I can infer certain details about the relationship of the three characters. But your complaint is a legitimate one.
But I disagree that 'the past is the past'. The point of the show is that each character has to deal with their unresolved issues before they can move on with their lives. Jet, Faye and Ed all have to deal with their pasts in their own way. Spike has to deal with his own issues in the climax, and because the show is a tragedy, he dies. But he dies content and at peace, because if he had lived he would have been miserable. He did after all kill the man who used to be his best friend, and lost the love of his life.
The most powerful moment of the show is before he leaves the ship, where Faye and Jet tell him he doesn't have to leave. But Spike leaves anyway. That choice is a compelling one. We see similar choices made in cinemas best films, such as in Michael Mann's Heat, where Robert De Niro has to make a choice near the end: Stay or leave?
Cowboy Bebop is a character study, rather than a plot driven show. For example, a TV show like The Sopranos is also a character study, but many viewers didn't understand that and would get frustrated when certain story details were brought up but never followed. Because the show only cared about the characters and how they changed to events. A plot-driven show, like '24' for example, is more concerned with the story driving characters forward.
Cowboy Bebop is a show about disparate characters running away from their pasts, briefly colliding together on a ship, and then going their own ways in the end. It's not perfect, there are areas for improvement, but I love it and find it inspiring and very entertaining.