Cowboy Bebop

Review date: 04/20/2008
Reviewed by: Isaiah aka. Drake264

Cowboy Bebop is arguably one of the greatest anime of all time. A futuristic series set in a world a couple hundred years ahead of our own, where we follow four bounty hunters on their adventures. Just head to any anime convention, despite the series being nearly 10 years old you're sure to see cosplayers. But what makes this anime one of the best, what makes it so phenomenal, and my personal favorite. Characters, story, development, and subtly, this anime does exceptionally in all of these fields.

There are probably somewhere about 20+ characters in the show, and as much or as little as you are given about each of them, you still care to a degree. Spike, Jet, Faye, and Ed/Ein (Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Trivusky IV), are the four main characters, each with their own pasts and problems. Spike is our main character, a general outline of the accidental genius, who seems to be good at everything. His past with the Red Dragon Syndicate becomes one of the focal points of the story. His sleepy, and easygoing nature make him easy to like and as a character easy to enjoy.

Jet Black, cliché aside, Jet's a great character, a big guy, strong and stoic and normally the voice of reason, an Ex-cop, he does a good job of keeping Spike's antics in check. Jet's known as "The Black Dog" for his tenacity and often uses his old cop background to his advantage when chasing bounty heads.

Faye Valentine the beautiful seductress of the series with no knowledge of her past, and mysteriously massive debt. She drifts into the crew in the first few episodes and becomes a major part of the crew. Her love of materialism and things of that nature mask who she really is, and how she changes over the course of the show a she discovers herself and her past.

Ed/Ein are the crazy duo of a girl and her genius dog, Ed is a girl 13 years of age, created in the guise of Yoko Konno the music director for the series. Eccentric and animal like she's a genius at computer hacking. Ein is a dog found early on in the show that grows close to Ed and the two of them work perfectly together.

The story is very well done, each of the characters, and their interactions are done so subtly that at first it's hard to really know everyone's connection. Spike's past is the focus of the main story and is told through random small flashbacks over the course of the series. Each of the characters deal with their own pasts and histories over the course of the show, and the writers do well to introduce us to completely outside stories and characters. All the outside stories are still enrapturing and deep in their own right, some just downright heartbreaking.

All in all this is an amazing series, great characters, nice plot, amazing subtly in story and development. All of these reasons sum up why Cowboy Bebop is considered far and wide to be one of the greatest anime of all time. Check it out and enjoy.