I don’t think there has been a stronger unity between a series and its protagonist than the dramatic 26-episode story of Cowboy Bebop and Spike Spiegel, a series that is exactly like its protagonist and a protagonist that is exactly like its series. For example, Goku was the ideal fit for Dragon Ball Z, a powerful young man known for screaming while in combat and (on a lesser note) for not being there when he’s needed the most; the series is also known for the same two things, the second one being that the series lacks in plot and characterization when it needs it the most. Another example I have is Master Keaton and the titular character of that series, Taichi Keaton. Taichi is a man who should be interesting due to him being a man of many occupations but he comes across as boring just like how the series itself should be interesting due to it being a Naoki Urasawa work but it also comes across as boring. However, I think no protagonist is more suited to a series than Spike Spiegel is to Cowboy Bebop. Spike is a bounty hinter with a past as a former gangster, a native of Mars always hungry for some quick cash. With his wispy dark green Afro and a cigarette in his mouth, Spike journeys from planet to planet in a stylish red fighter plane searching for criminals to apprehend. In the beginning of Cowboy Bebop, Spike was simply a rambunctious young man with dislikes galore and an unceasingly stubborn attitude. Throughout the series, my appreciation for our hard-smoking protagonist grew as Spike became someone who easily flowed between exuding laid-back charm and rugged intensity, as someone who matured to appreciate what he once disliked (kids, dogs, and women with attitude), and as someone who alternated between simple methods and extravagant approaches to solve problems. Actor Steve Blum knows, above all else, how to make a character interesting and Blum was at his all-time best in his role as Bebop’s beloved bounty hunter. Spike Spiegel, the “space cowboy” that the series consistently references, dominated every scene of Cowboy Bebop from the first (a black-and-white shootout) to the last (where Spike spoke one final word, fueling memories of Citizen Kane).
“They are sick and tired of conventional, fixed style jazz,” – Words in Theme Song
Jazz is the definitive sound of Cowboy Bebop, a genre of music closely associated with the word “cool”, and the jazzy songs in Bebop are far from one-dimensional, the songs a passion-filled combination of fast-paced and slow. Bebop’s soundtrack not only contains jazz; there’s also western-themed tracks, hard rock, hypnotic blues, soft rock with English lyrics (extremely rare in anime), and even some bongo beats. At one point, Cowboy Bebop ventures into the classical genre at one point by sampling a famous piece (Tchaikovsky’s “Waltz of the Flowers” in episode 11). The two things I love most about Bebop’s soundtrack are the theme song and the ending theme. “The Real Folk Blues” has the enviable honor of being Bebop’s ending theme, a soulful soft rock song accompanied by a collection of grainy black-and-white images (My favorite part of the ending theme is when the singer says “The re-al FOLK! Blues…” Powerful stuff, man). If you’re reading this review, I know you’ve heard Bebop’s legendary theme song already, an intense, fast-paced jazzy track with a blues guitar in the beginning and a hyperactive horn near the end. Of course, there’s more to Cowboy Bebop than the theme song but man, what a theme song it is!
“Don’t leave things in the fridge,” – Spike Spiegel (Episode 11)
The four main characters don’t merely leave their pasts in the fridge; they allow it to linger until it comes back to bite them. Jet Black is an ex-cop/bounty hunter and the pilot/mechanic of the ship Bebop, a gruff Russian cook with a soft spot. I think actress Wendee Lee delivered a much better performance as Bebop member Faye Valentine, a cigarette-smoking enigma with a gambling addiction, than she ever did as the soft-spoken voice of Azusa Fuyutsuki in Great Teacher Onizuka (Faye’s first scene in Cowboy Bebop is simply unbelievable). As much as I like Spike, Jet, and Faye, my favorite character in the series has to be the one and only Edward Wong Hau Pepulu Tivrusky the Fourth (‘Edward’ or ‘Ed’ for short), a skinny red-headed adolescent girl who specializes in computer hacking, talks in the third person, and injects a unique enthusiasm into every scene she’s in. Throughout the series, a plethora of supporting characters are brought to the fold, from a talking computer program to a homely, rock-loving trucker (The most interesting of these are a trio of elderly Hispanic bickerers that show up in the series again and again). There are also characters in Cowboy Bebop that only appear for one episode but receive more depth than characters in different series earn in a season, like the eccentric cowboy Andy, Mad Pierrot the flying psychopath, Wen the immortal harmonica player (the spiritual predecessor to Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood’s Pride), and Elisa, Jet’s former girlfriend. Cowboy Bebop is so phenomenal a series that even characters that don’t amount to much end up being celebrated as classic examples of characterization. Of course, I’m talking about Bebop’s main antagonist Vicious, a white-haired swordsman who never really stood out to me besides having a creepy voice. Other than Vicious, Bebop’s characters are well-acted, complex, and (above all) interesting.
You could argue that Cowboy Bebop isn’t a great series because of its overly episodic plot, the unresolved issues of some of the side stories, and its lack of a legitimately great villain. These are all good points to use in an argument but I’d have two words for you: screw you. Cowboy Bebop is the rare anime series that combines multiple genres into one: mystery, space western, film noir, comedy, blaxploitation, action, philosophical drama, pulp fiction, and even horror (only in episode 20). Every great series has classic scenes but very few series contain scenes as poignant as the ones in Cowboy Bebop; there’s the Cathedral Fall Scene (where images of Spike’s past are revealed with beautifully creepy singing), the Hidden Film Scene (where a younger version of a certain character encourages the viewer in what’s easily the most heartbreaking scene of Bebop), and the Final Fight scene (where Spike finally confronts his past by blowing away his enemies in dramatic fashion), these three scenes distinguishing themselves from the others. Even the episode previews are great, from Spike’s hilarious rant in the episode 6 preview to Jet’s critical review in the episode 18 preview, from Faye’s glorifying speech about love in the episode 15 preview (much to Spike and Jet’s displeasure) to Mad Pierrot’s unforgettable laughing in the episode 20 preview, and (my personal favorite) Edward’s announcement that the series is over during the episode 12 preview. While watching this series, the one thing that confused me the most was the issue of the characters running in motion during the theme song. “Why are they doing this?” I asked myself. Then I figured, “Maybe they too are trying to watch Cowboy Bebop.”
