Except it was entirely justified.
Sure, Cowboy Bebop is actually a pastiche of genres heavily influenced by classic American films; spaghetti western, space road trip, gangland crime drama, buddy comedy, etc. But through amalgamation of these narrative elements, it has morphed into a unique creation with tremendous amount of polish and flair, consisted of wildly varied bounty-of-the-week episodes and punctuated by individual character arcs that end up becoming the series' highlights.
What the show did with its characters are truly special. They started off as strangers to the audience and to each other (except for Spike and Jet, who are already acquainted in the beginning), only to gradually reveal fascinating layers of personality and history. There's no big drama or obvious bonding scenes between them, but as they bickered, cooperated, and told stories to each other, a subtle bond is formed throughout the show and I couldn't help but be emotionally invested at their fates. It is through these characters, particularly in the different ways they react to their past demons (*a recurring motif), that the series got the substance to go along with its dazzling style. The writing of the show also made excellent use of symbolism and thematic delivery through subtle means; it's never distracting nor overly obtuse, and it's there to reward those actively looking to unravel more from the narrative.
Much has already been said about series director Shinichiro Watanabe, screenwiter Keiko Nobumoto, and composer Yoko Kanno, so I'm pretty much just preaching to the choir here, but I'll say it anyway: this is one hell of a team, and we're lucky to have them in the anime industry. Th their vision, the world of Bebop is a rich, diverse,cornucopia of colorful characters set against the backdrop of sweet gorgeous music. I'm not a fan of jazz, and normally I don't even pay much attention to a show's given oST unless it's really exceptional or really terrible, but the composition and performance in this show is really something else. The Seatbelts, a multi-national and heavily instrumental band spearheaded by Kanno, contributed an incredible variety and quantity of stuff that became integral in setting the mood, whether it's the extremely iconic instrumental OP in Tank!, the gorgeous wordless vocal in ELM, the haunting lyric of Call Me to accompany one of the most heart-breaking scenes in any anime, or the somber jazz piece of Space Lion, just to name a few examples from a (very) deep list.
I couldn't find it in me to give me a perfect score; my enjoyment of the stand-alone episodes are uneven, and the show never really sustained a sense of momentum until the final three episodes. I could also see someone watching this for the first time and find it to not really be that compelling, but it's important to note that Cowboy Bebop really became something special through repeat viewings, where one is more attuned to observe the homages, foreshadowing, and hidden nuggets of information in even the least consequential episode. Bottom line, if you're looking for something with serious entertainment and artistic merits, you owe it to yourself to watch this. Twice, at least.
