Cowboy Bebop: Yose Atsume Blues

As others have said before me, quite a few things stand out when it comes to this special.

The music is key: hip-hop, jazz, blues, Watanabe shows once again his masterful taste in music.
The mantra-like sentences shared during each part are, I admit, quite a bit too much but that's just the author's style that we've come to know -- Overall, the special is part of the entire Cowboy Bebop experience and aesthetic: albeit not an essential part of the story.

If you liked the genre-defining Cowboy Bebop, indulge yourself in this melancholic love letter to the series' aesthetic and unique charm.

copied from my review on another site titled ''A review from a meta mindset(, mostly written to get people to look at this episode (with a meta mindset)).''

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Cowboy Bebop was started/approved with the intention of selling toys/merchandise of the space-ships, Watanabe was given creative reign and produced something fairly controversial, the show wasn't promoting their spaceships/toys enough, it was too violent (especially with the school violence going on at the time), and it had the whole jazz/blues thing it had going on, the producer pulled out halfway through the show (though luckily enough the show was picked up by Bandai) and an "ending episode" had ... be made in place of episode 14.
Watanabe used this episode to critique quite a few things that went on behind the scenes, while also having this commentary be accurate to the lifestyle of the characters presenting it.
The episode is divided into 24 parts; the ones I found most interesting, or have the clearest view on, will be discussed.

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Part 16: Violence

Due to a rise in school violence Japan was highly aware of violence in media, much like the American "video-game cause violence craze", for this reason Cowboy Bebop and its fairly realistic depiction of violence was looked at with contempt.
In part 16 Watanabe has Spike not only say his famous "be like water" quote, but also quote Bruce Lee by saying "what I am teaching is not self-defence or how to defeat opponents or anything like that... But rather, how to express yourself through movements.", Spike himself comments "you can tell Bruce Lee wasn't just some movie star or some martial artist, can't you?".
It's pretty clear Watanabe intended this as commentary on the accusations that Bebop glorifies and incentivises violence, he says there's philosophical depth and artistic expression in violence, that incredibly thoughtful and respectable people exist around violence.
It also has a scene of Spike buying a weapon, and when Spike comments about seeing the weapon before in some movie the salesman behind the counter, who looks like a real thug, has an excited and cute reaction, showing that even by owning a weapon shop and looking like a thug you are not automatically a violent person, hyperbolically showing that watching something violent isn't determinate of your character.

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Part 1, 2, 7, 8, 10 & 24: Beauty of Art

Part 1 goes into detail about how changing even a small seemingly insignificant thing could change a person entirely, part 7 talks specifically about writing; stating that the original intent deserves special attention.
Both of these are quite obviously about Bebop itself, especially since it talks about writing so directly, Watanabe believes in his artistic vision, and part 2 talks about what he believes about those who would meddle around with it; there are those that would "cut away at the bonsai tree (Bebop) until it loses all its personality" while in part 8 Faye states that it is precisely those flaws and undesirable traits others might cut off that "are what truly make a woman stand out".
Part 10 contains Watanabe's opinion on a lot of other stuff out there, shows that capitulated and no longer contain a true artistic vision, shows truly made to sell toys; he describes it as "sugar candy that will rot your brain".
The ending song, part 24, is about his fear that there will no longer be great artistic shows, that sugar candy and studio meddling will become the norm and the great days of artistic integrity will have died out.

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Part 7, 9 & 14: Watanabe's Intentions

Watanabe says he wants to surprise the audience in part 7, and in part 9 he makes it clear that the worst response to what he creates would be apathy, he wants people to have an opinion on his work "I spoke: "I don't feel anything toward anyone" Bull spoke: "that is.... the greatest misfortune on this earth"".
In part 14 the greatest thing about bounty hunting is said to be the freedom; the lack of a clear rule book, and the downside is said to be how once you start doing what you want you're told that it's against the rules and people will get mad, an obvious way of saying that once you start making a show like Bebop the higher-ups are gonna start complaining despite originally giving you free reign.

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I hope you'll enjoy watching Mish mash Blues with a (possibly) new way of looking at it.

"This Is Not The End. You Will See The Real "Cowboy Bebop" Someday!"

I never expected a recap to be this good. People might have skipped it coz of the common misconception that it's a recap of the first 13 episodes. But in reality, it is a collage of all those messages that we could never properly understand that the show called "Life Lessons"

Story: -
Montages of the same plot, but was great to see everyone talking so freely.

Art: -
Same as the original.

... Sound: 10/10
(Soundtrack was really catchy and the music was amazing, which goes without saying)

Character: 10/10
Viewers got to know what the characters really were on the inside.

Enjoyment: 8/10

Overall: 8/10
Definitely worth a watch.