Cowboy Bebop

IronPoke · Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 7:11 am Post subject: Cowboy Bebop

I watched the series through for perhaps the 4th time and found that more things were revealed to me this run through. I've come to the conclusion that each episode is far too rushed and would fit more comfortably in an hour-long slot. Also, I've concluded that 75% of Cowboy Bebop is depressing beyond words. Funny how we all love this series so much when so much of it gives us the blues.

jjjynx · Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 8:32 am Post subject:

Rushed....a little, not too rushed, IMO. And about the depressing part...it's not depressing, just Grave.

GrinfilledCelt · Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 4:28 pm Post subject:

I must have seen it through at least ten times now. I would still watch it on CN but I believe they've taken it out of the lineup about a month ago. I still occasionally notice things I hadn't noticed before. I think that Cowboy Bebop is one of the finest pieces of cinematography ever. I would (and have) put it right up there with the likes of Casablanca and Citizen Kane. I wouldn't presume to change a thing about it. The show is great in so many ways. The story and the storytelling is great, The music is great. The artwork and backgrounds are great. The compositions of the scenes are great. Even the dubs are great.

Yes, it is sad. One of the main characters dies at the end but that isn't the only reason. The show is about a small group of people who come together for various reasons, who really only have one thing in common - they live life on their own terms and pay a heavy price for it.

The real power of the show is it's characters. It makes you really care about them, even many of the minor characters, who only appear in one episode, are more interesting than major characters in other shows. The ones that die make you sad and you wonder what happens to the ones who don't. Many could be the subjects of other shows or movies, like Annie, Cowboy Andy, Gren, Bob, Zebra & Giraffe, Mao, VT, Roco Bonnaro, Mad Perroit, Laughing Bull, ... I could go on and on, it's a long list. If I were inclined to write fanfics, these are the people I'd write about. I could fill heavy tomes about these people without ever mentioning Spike, Jet, Faye or Ed.

Cowboy Bebop is the standard against which all other anime are judged. A few come close, many fail miserably, most don't even try. Even the creators of Cowboy Bebop themselves can't top it. Wolf's Rain failed and Samuari Champloo wasn't too bad. Both are good in their own right but compared to Bebop, they just don't cut it.
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Songs for the flash frozen.

JetBlack87 · Black Dog Joined: 27 Mar 2006 Posts: 318

My biggest complaint(and it's not that big) is that the show is too episodic. Only 5 of the 26 episodes deal with Spke/Vicious/Julia. The problem is I couldn't choose any of the other episodes to get rid of in order to have more of these because they're all so good.

I still think the show is pretty much perfect.

GrinfilledCelt · Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 4:49 pm Post subject:

That's one of the things that make it great. Just like life, it isn't just one linear story. Life goes on and you deal with the issues as they come up.
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Songs for the flash frozen.

IronPoke · Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 6:49 pm Post subject:

Well, I decided to call the episodes too short just for the sake of argument. Every series is restrained by 20 minute segments per episode. Some anime drag these 20 minutes out with very little actually happening, like Wolf's Rain. Others, like Cowboy Bebop, who have so much story to tell often have to cut minor details and compress dialogue. I never noticed til this time around that each episode, each bounty hunt, felt rushed and many times certain incidents felt too coincidental, too contrived, to be believable. Also, the dialogue in Bebop is always excessive when it comes to criminals and tech talk. When it comes down to each character, however, the dialogue really thins out. I know that some people love this sorta thing, but by the end of the series, we still know hardly anything about the main characters. We don't even see how Jet and Spike hooked up or how Faye first broke into the bounty hunting business, or even how the Bebop was first found. Am I the only one who cares?

Also, I say that Cowboy Bebop is depressing because alot of the episodes leave you feeling mellowed out, or like jynx said, grave. Alot of the episodes are about heavy stuff that sinks in. The more you watch them, the heavier they get.

swollenlymphnodes · Posted: Wed May 03, 2006 11:26 pm Post subject:

Which is why I thought it should've been a 50 episoder. I don't think anybody complained if it were twice as long as it already is.
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GrinfilledCelt · Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 12:15 am Post subject:

Anime Otaku Chik · Posted: Thu May 04, 2006 2:59 am Post subject:

rofl that sounds pretty reasonable.

I can't think of anything else to say about the series. I think you guys pretty much covered it. Damn.
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IronPoke · Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 1:37 am Post subject:

jjjynx · Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 10:23 am Post subject:

That didn't stop Grave from killing people, did that?

Anime Otaku Chik · Posted: Fri May 05, 2006 8:28 pm Post subject:

Hahaha! Nope!
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jjjynx · Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 2:48 am Post subject:

See, that's the good points about animations and movies. In them, it's legal to break laws.

swollenlymphnodes · Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 7:45 am Post subject:

IronPoke · Posted: Sat May 06, 2006 9:38 pm Post subject:

Who is this Grave Jynx keeps referring to?

Another thing, if Faye Valentine is not really her name, just one given to her by that quack doctor who named her after his favorite actress, then why does that elderly lady back on Earth call her by the name Faye? Also, and this may be a mistake of the fansubs I've read, but in her flashback episode she hears that she has been asleep for 216 years. Probably mistranslation if she still has people around that are alive and knew her. So someone set me straight. Did she become a famous gambler after cryosleep or before? Was it the gateway accident that put her into cryosleep?