Cowboy Bebop

[Ldude893]

Just 30 minutes ago, I finished watching the finale of Cowboy Bebop for the first time. I started watching the series during the summer since I wanted to try out anime, and all sources pointed to this show as a starting point

And without spoiling much of the episode to others, the finale made Cowboy Bebop one of the only animated shows aside from Avatar to ache my tear ducts. I never grew up with Toonami as a teenager or was a fan of anime, but after watching this I'm already eager to jump into another anime series. I loved nearly every moment of this show, and I'm planning on watching the Bebop movie sometime soon.

I'd like to know: are there any other fans of Bebop here? When did you first watch it and how did you feel about the finale?

 

[Kolby Jack]

Bebop is a great show. I'd even go as far as calling it one of the greatest anime ever made. But in my own humble opinion, I much prefer Shinichiro Watanabe's other anime, Samurai Champloo. It's a bit lighter in tone than Bebop and it doesn't have any "zany" MAIN characters like Edward, but I guess that's what I like about it. You can clearly tell they're made by the same guy, but at the same time they are VERY different shows.

Honestly, even if you don't agree with my opinion, I strongly suggest checking out Champloo.

Edit: S'pose I should answer your question as well. Like I said, I thoroughly enjoyed Bebop. As for the finale, it was good, but frankly I'm not fond of overly ambiguous endings. Did Spike die? Did he somehow live? Who knows? I prefer happy endings, to be honest. His exit was awesome though.

 

[SajuukKhar]

Did Spike die? Did he somehow live? Who knows?

I recall one of the guys who made the show saying spike wasn't dead, he just passed out.

 

[GundamSentinel]

Cowboy Bebop was one of the first anime works I watched as well (after Akira, Dragonball Z and Gundam Wing). I thought it was amazing at the time and I still do. I loved the ending (I'm a sucker for sad endings). People say it's too open-ended, but in my mind it's always been clear: the story is resolved and Spike dies. And in my mind it's perfect that way.

Personally, I don't watch a lot of anime any more. It's mostly some mech series (including Gundam, obviously), Miyazaki films and the odd film or series that comes across my path. I think Cowboy Bebop is still my second favorite anime, after Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and I think it will be that way for some time (unless Gundam Unicorn continues its awesomeness ).

 

[FalloutJack]

I'd like to know: are there any other fans of Bebop here? When did you first watch it and how did you feel about the finale?

Well, yes. I am a fan of it. You don't have to censore the ending bit, though. After it's been out for years, the statute of limitations for that should be over.

Anyway, I originally saw it on Cartoon Network, first at Toonami and then late nights. Great stuff, wonderful music, good plot and acting. Spike's love of Jeet Kune Do got me into watching Bruce Lee films. I can actually do some of that stuff, sent a 300-pound man into a wall once. Also, I have quick fingers. The music also got me into Yoko Kanno, who's done great work in a number of animes that I like. Between her crew and The Pillows, I've found some damn good music.

As for the finale, it was very good...but it got tears out of me, like listening to the track at the end of Hard Luck Women (Call Me, Call Me). Spike was a dynamic character. He was a hurting fellow who had the strength to smile at things and even wax philosophical. He was an ass-kicker and a guy who doesn't like to lose. It's gotta be good when you're serious, but you can also be funny, and you're voiced by Steve Blum.

Seeing him go...if - like the rumor says - he isn't really dead, then I'm happy. Because...when the movie came out and I saw it for the first time, I was happy to see him, like seeing a good friend walk in through the door after being gone for years. He's that well-built.

 

[Casual Shinji]

As for the finale, it was good, but frankly I'm not fond of overly ambiguous endings. Did Spike die? Did he somehow live? Who knows? I prefer happy endings, to be honest. His exit was awesome though.

That wasn't really ambiguous though... at all.

The very moment Ed left the Bebop you knew something very serious was gonna happen, like someone dying. And then what's-her-name the blond woman dies who is the love of Spike's life, and the outcome becomes pretty clear. That and ofcourse the white birds flying off, the camera slowly panning up toward heaven as a sad tune plays, a star fades out, and the final scene showing Spike's lifeless yet peaceful face.

He's dead.

As for the show itself, I was never as in love with it as many others were. It's a bit too all over the place for me. It's definately a good show with some beautiful moments, but on a whole it doesn't really do it for me. I see it more as an exercise in style rather then a real story.

 

[Zhukov]

I watched that fairly recently for the first time as well.

It was... I dunno.

At first I bloody hated it. But it did eventually grow on me. By the end I was enjoying it.

However the tonal whiplash is a bit much. I realise that having moments of levity is a good thing, but in this case I found the constant whacky tended to undermine the more serious stuff. A prime example being that cowboy-themed bounty hunter. Not Ed though. For some reason I actually rather liked Ed.

Oh, and Spike annoyed the shit out of me. He had his good moments, yes, including the finale, but I can't stand that particular anime character archtype. There's probably a Japanese word for it that anime fans all know, but I just call them "too-cool-for-school characters" and I really can't stand them. Having one slap-bang in the middle prevented me from ever really loving the show.

 

[Blunderboy]

It's pretty much the finest anime ever.
I'm not usually a fan of anime but I love pretty much everything about Cowboy Bebop.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Well, yeah. I haven't seen an actual episode in years, though. Maybe I should look into that...

 

[Soviet Heavy]

In terms of ending Code Geass has pretty much the best ending I ever saw in the entretainment industry.

If you enjoy plot holes the size of Mexico and ignore the brutal power vacuum and subsequent civil war that would happen, sure. Not really a *happy* ending in my mind, as much as they play it off to be.
Then again, this may just be because I found R2 to be a disaster from the very first episode the moment they hit the reset button. After that it was jumped shark after jumped shark as things went from "Deus Ex Machina" into "Complete Bullshit".

I never grew up with Toonami as a teenager or was a fan of anime, but after watching this I'm already eager to jump into another anime series.

I'd suggest watching Macross Plus. It's only four 45 minute episodes, but they're on Youtube for free. Same director, Shinichiro Watanabe, and it stars Bryan Cranston.

 

[Right Hook]

I'd like to know: are there any other fans of Bebop here? When did you first watch it and how did you feel about the finale?

I was like ten years old when I first watched Cowboy Bebop on Toonami, I caught pretty much every episode in order. That show made me SO depressed, it was strange but I was really depressed at that age. I guess it maybe wasn't the show and I really enjoyed watching it but it deals with some pretty deep themes that I may have been too young to be comprehending as well as I was.

As an adult it is absolutely one of my favorite animes and it is usually the first one I'll suggest to people. It was my first foray into a more mature anime, before that I was just a DBZ fanboy.

EDIT: The finale, it is one of my all time favorites, maybe it is simply because I hadn't seen anything like it before. I love when an end really feels like an end.

 

[A Weakgeek]

The finale of Cowboy Bebop to me was one of the best endings I've seen. The action before it (Kicking grenades around, setting C4 on the escalator etc.) was also some of the coolest in any animation Ive seen.

 

[Terramax]

Just 30 minutes ago, I finished watching the finale of Cowboy Bebop for the first time. I started watching the series during the summer since I wanted to try out anime, and all sources pointed to this show as a starting point

And without spoiling much of the episode to others, the finale made Cowboy Bebop one of the only animated shows aside from Avatar to ache my tear ducts. I never grew up with Toonami as a teenager or was a fan of anime, but after watching this I'm already eager to jump into another anime series. I loved nearly every moment of this show, and I'm planning on watching the Bebop movie sometime soon.

I'd like to know: are there any other fans of Bebop here? When did you first watch it and how did you feel about the finale?

I watched it for the first time a few months back. When I first started watching, I thought it was seriously overrated. But it grew on me. I still think it's overrated, but very good never-the-less. Some of the plots have questions that beg to be answered. How the F&%$ did that lady get out of the handcuffs? One minute she's handcuffed, next scene she magically gets out of them. No explanation. There are moments when I think the writers just ignore obvious plot holes. I get you're not supposed to take things too seriously sometimes, but they're just so blinding obvious!

I didn't like the ending either. I thought it was a bit of a cop-out. I get that they made an ending that was creatively different from the usual cliche, but it personally didn't satisfy me. I don't get what was so amazing about the love interest. Another thing, I didn't like how the episodes relied so much on coincidences.

Anyways, I'm rambling on. I did like it. But I prefer Cyber City Oedo and New Dominion Tank Police.

 

[King of Asgaard]

Cowboy Bebop: the only anime series to ever get me to shed tears.
I've tried other anime over the years (Death Note, FMA and Trigun to name a few) but none have had the sheer emotional kick that Bebop had.
And let's face it, on an episode-by-episode basis, barring a couple of bum ones, the episodes are consistently engaging.

 

[FPLOON]

In terms of ending Code Geass has pretty much the best ending I ever saw in the entretainment industry.

If you enjoy plot holes the size of Mexico and ignore the brutal power vacuum and subsequent civil war that would happen, sure. Not really a *happy* ending in my mind, as much as they play it off to be.
Then again, this may just be because I found R2 to be a disaster from the very first episode the moment they hit the reset button. After that it was jumped shark after jumped shark as things went from "Deus Ex Machina" into "Complete Bullshit".

I think out of all of the obscure foreshadow/throwbacks that R2 had that were related to certain events and/or characters in the first season, I still can't believe even the freaking cat had a bigger role in the overall plot of R2... (I'd rather take Code MENT at this point and that's an abridged version of Code Geass... "You got something on your face..." *Ironside song plays*)

OT: At the time Cowboy Bebop was on Toonami, I couldn't get into it per se... I would watch the movie, but never the show... Instead, I ended up watching Samurai Champloo, since it was made by the same person as Cowboy Bebop and, to me, felt more "accessible" to someone my age at the time... Now with owning both complete series on DVD, I can say that if you've seen one of them to completion, then you should definitely watch the other one to completion... Think of them as cousins living in the same country or some metaphor like that...

As far as the ending's concern, I really liked the ending to Cowboy Bebop. Despite it's notion of if Spike's dead or just passed out, it rarely left any questions unanswered (in terms of it overall story arc) and/or to be fan-interpreted and I really like that in a series in general... Even when I rewatched IGPX, I found it to be quite content with that series's ending as well...

I have already shown this series and Samurai Champloo to my mentor not too long ago (and he doesn't even watch anime outside of Miyazaki films and "The Count of Monte Cristo"[footnote]...What? It was a good adaptation...[/footnote]) and he freaking loved it... (Granted, he loved Bebop a little more than Champloo, but you know...)

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Bebop's awesome. I watched all of it in 2009. I remember some anime-channel aired it in the '90s but for a while I was convinced anime was too disturbing for me (I was traumatized by an Evangelion promo as a kid) and skipped it. I also thought it was mostly porn. The first image I ever saw of Bebop was Faye and Ed in their undies, sharing a scene in Session 24.

Anyway, loved the show. I've seen it several times. I've managed to introduce it to a few people. It also got me to search for other interesting "26 episodes" anime, like Samurai Champloo, Baccano! and even Evangelion. None ever really matched my love for Bebop, but there you go. I liked Samurai Champloo, but I thought it had way too much filler and for a show ostensibly more narrative-oriented than Bebop, it was pretty weak. The three-part finale felt pulled out of nowhere. Bebop managed the tonal dissonance and the finale's "purpose" better, I think.

 

[briankoontz]

Just 30 minutes ago, I finished watching the finale of Cowboy Bebop for the first time. I started watching the series during the summer since I wanted to try out anime, and all sources pointed to this show as a starting point

And without spoiling much of the episode to others, the finale made Cowboy Bebop one of the only animated shows aside from Avatar to ache my tear ducts. I never grew up with Toonami as a teenager or was a fan of anime, but after watching this I'm already eager to jump into another anime series. I loved nearly every moment of this show, and I'm planning on watching the Bebop movie sometime soon.

I'd like to know: are there any other fans of Bebop here? When did you first watch it and how did you feel about the finale?

"Are there any other fans of [Cowboy] Bebop here?" - Jeez man, why not go to the desert and wonder if there's any sand. Cowboy Bebop is often cited as the best anime series of all time.

I watched it a few years after it came out, not long after watching my first anime, Ghost in the Shell. CB has a good finale which fits in with the show at large.