Anyone remember Cowboy Bebop? An amazing anime in my opinion. Good plot. Good action. A kick ass theme song.
Had pretty much everything. ^_^
Had pretty much everything. ^_^
Cowboy Bebop
- Thread starter twilight_dweller
- Start date
Recommended Videos
I'm a huge fan of it. I have all OSTs, and they frequently end in my player.
Well, now, that was quite a short reply, but I'll let this mini-thread as CB centric.
EDIT: Aw, screw it. Try Samuraï Champloo as well. Same deal, all OSTs, excellent character, I love the humour.
Well, now, that was quite a short reply, but I'll let this mini-thread as CB centric.
EDIT: Aw, screw it. Try Samuraï Champloo as well. Same deal, all OSTs, excellent character, I love the humour.
Cowboy Bebop was wonderful. It was the first real anime I got into, and I've been looking for the next one for me to really enjoy. But I think the music made it work as much as the art or the story.
Samurai Champloo is decent too, but I enjoyed the sci-fi elements of CB much more.
They usually had a new song for each episode and kind of let that theme take you through the story. The name of the episode pretty much doubled as the name for that song. Good music too, but at the time I was also really into jazz.
Samurai Champloo is decent too, but I enjoyed the sci-fi elements of CB much more.
They usually had a new song for each episode and kind of let that theme take you through the story. The name of the episode pretty much doubled as the name for that song. Good music too, but at the time I was also really into jazz.
"Cowboy Bebop" remains, for me, an unparalleled anime experience. It's one of the few series that sounds as good dubbed as it does in the original Japanese. The Adult Swim ubiquity hurt its cachet but revisiting it reveals a program that, while light on overarching plot, is incredibly strong on style and winning characterization. I fell in love with the Bebop crew and happily awaited each new stand-alone mission. The series only falters when it tries to forcibly reconnect with the Julia/Vicious narrative that we never knew very much about to begin with. Otherwise viewers are treated to a gorgeously animated, innovatively scored (dig those Yoko Kanno tunes!), and smartly imagined tale of a not-too-distant future. The jazz-blues-folk-Western-Samurai (and so on) cultural mash-up alone makes the show worth checking out.
Of course being rather aloof when it comes to anime I'm sure I miss out on quality material all the time. I hear Fullmetal Alchemist and Ghost in the Shell: SAC are both excellent. Anyone care to fill me in on the other Big Hits?
Couldn't agree with you more. I wonder if that's one of the reasons I love Firefly so much. In it's way, it reminds me of it.mobilesworking said:
Haven't found any other anime I like even close to as much.
Cowboy Bebop, Trigun and Ghost in the Shell are my top three anime series. They leave any competition behind by miles. Personally I consider the dub of CB to be better than watching it with subs, maybe because its setting and characters are so western compared to other anime. Even in Trigun the characters are clearly drawn from eastern archtypes.
The parallels between cowboy beebop and firefly never really occured to me, but on looking back its quite apparent that firefly is probably as close to a live action beebop as your likely to get.Redfeather said:
That said, both shows are brilliant of their own merits.
Throw in some dust and a dash of Chinese and Bebop does begin to resemble Firefly. And I lurve me some Firefly (and anything else Joss Whedon, for that matter).Redfeather said:
Cowboy Bebop is fantastic, and any time a friend of mine gives me the crazy eye when I say that I enjoy anime, I make them watch it. I have to my credit several converts at this point. To whoever said they liked the English dubs, I agree that they did a decent job with it, but I still prefer the subs. I don't feel like the voices they got for Spike and Faye favorably compare to the original voicework. I like to get emotional context from the original track, and pick up my textual meaning from the subtitles. To each his own. It probably has the most to do with what you watched first, and which voice you associated with the characters.
I like Samurai Champloo a lot, but as others said, it is not as good as Bebop. But, when each arc is only 26 episodes (which in many ways I am grateful for), I can't help but to be happy to have a different 26 that maybe aren't as good, but are still great on their own.
Ghost in the Shell, movies 1 and 2, I like. The GitS:SAC series I've seen a few of, and in general, it just seems very slow. I've never seen the SAC movie.
Trigun and Fullmetal Alchemist are both animes that I've enjoyed, but they have more of the bizarre facial expression things that I can live with, but don't like as much when everything else is being drawn with such detail. Both end up being a little more mature than you expect them to be just from watching an episode or two, but they are very good.
And I guess we've hit on the mainstream anime which has managed to hit US shores. There are far more really good animes around, if you know what to look for, but they speak to more varied tastes.
The Firefly - Cowboy Bebop connection: I love things in space, for sure. And both series have awesome, loveable crews. But Bebop is "cowboy" just because its the term they use for bounty hunters, and Firefly is cowboy because they were actually going for an old-west style world, set in space. Aside from the space, and the being awesome, unless someone wants to point out some more solid parallels, I'm going to have trouble associating them beyond that.
EDIT: I highly recommend Hellsing. Badass does not even begin to describe it.
I like Samurai Champloo a lot, but as others said, it is not as good as Bebop. But, when each arc is only 26 episodes (which in many ways I am grateful for), I can't help but to be happy to have a different 26 that maybe aren't as good, but are still great on their own.
Ghost in the Shell, movies 1 and 2, I like. The GitS:SAC series I've seen a few of, and in general, it just seems very slow. I've never seen the SAC movie.
Trigun and Fullmetal Alchemist are both animes that I've enjoyed, but they have more of the bizarre facial expression things that I can live with, but don't like as much when everything else is being drawn with such detail. Both end up being a little more mature than you expect them to be just from watching an episode or two, but they are very good.
And I guess we've hit on the mainstream anime which has managed to hit US shores. There are far more really good animes around, if you know what to look for, but they speak to more varied tastes.
The Firefly - Cowboy Bebop connection: I love things in space, for sure. And both series have awesome, loveable crews. But Bebop is "cowboy" just because its the term they use for bounty hunters, and Firefly is cowboy because they were actually going for an old-west style world, set in space. Aside from the space, and the being awesome, unless someone wants to point out some more solid parallels, I'm going to have trouble associating them beyond that.
EDIT: I highly recommend Hellsing. Badass does not even begin to describe it.
I've heard someone tell me to try Planetes. Anyone heard about it?
Hellsing is cool. The OSTs - same deal. Very great boogy rock jazzy stuff.
The video quality is not always top, but it's more than enough to enjoy it.
A last note on the Ghost in the Shell SAC: they're slow to build up, some episodes complete the main arc, while others stand... on their own. Many are slow paced, but I like that. I don't like my cyberpunk to have erratic pacings. They're also quite brainy, just as much as in the Mamoru movies, but have more humour, like in the manga.
When it comes to the action, it has nothing to envy to the films.
I wonder why Samuraï Champloo doesn't get that much love. It's curious. It's also one of Watanabe's projects besides Cowboy Bebop.
It's clearly not the same stuff, but damn, when you start watching the episodes... I've gone through a marathon, I couldn't stop.
One of the crucial plot elements behind the show is that the two males (Jin and Mugen) in the band (of three characters) have sworn to help the third character they travel with, a girl (Fuu) to find her father. Then, they'll resume the battle to the death they put on standby in the first episode. So there's a lot of value added to the relations between the characters.
What also gives this show its own strenght is its whole anachronic style, mixing the Edo era with hiphop and lots of humour, finally supported by nifty kengeki action. Sometimes, it feels like SNK's Last Blade.
Besides, the opening theme is very good.
I got glimpses of Trigun, and for all what I've seen... it's still a bit too "easty", but the few episodes I got on when zapping on TV, satisfied me enough to have me watch them to the end.
But this is not an anime I'd rush to, though.
As for Cowboy Bebop, everybody has seen the movie, right? It's a hell of an experience, again. The music is, once again, fantastic, and the action sequences furiously exciting, notably the dogfight at 3/4 of the film.
It's also very moving at the end.
Hellsing is cool. The OSTs - same deal. Very great boogy rock jazzy stuff.
The video quality is not always top, but it's more than enough to enjoy it.
A last note on the Ghost in the Shell SAC: they're slow to build up, some episodes complete the main arc, while others stand... on their own. Many are slow paced, but I like that. I don't like my cyberpunk to have erratic pacings. They're also quite brainy, just as much as in the Mamoru movies, but have more humour, like in the manga.
When it comes to the action, it has nothing to envy to the films.
I wonder why Samuraï Champloo doesn't get that much love. It's curious. It's also one of Watanabe's projects besides Cowboy Bebop.
It's clearly not the same stuff, but damn, when you start watching the episodes... I've gone through a marathon, I couldn't stop.
One of the crucial plot elements behind the show is that the two males (Jin and Mugen) in the band (of three characters) have sworn to help the third character they travel with, a girl (Fuu) to find her father. Then, they'll resume the battle to the death they put on standby in the first episode. So there's a lot of value added to the relations between the characters.
What also gives this show its own strenght is its whole anachronic style, mixing the Edo era with hiphop and lots of humour, finally supported by nifty kengeki action. Sometimes, it feels like SNK's Last Blade.
Besides, the opening theme is very good.
I got glimpses of Trigun, and for all what I've seen... it's still a bit too "easty", but the few episodes I got on when zapping on TV, satisfied me enough to have me watch them to the end.
But this is not an anime I'd rush to, though.
As for Cowboy Bebop, everybody has seen the movie, right? It's a hell of an experience, again. The music is, once again, fantastic, and the action sequences furiously exciting, notably the dogfight at 3/4 of the film.
It's also very moving at the end.
About Ghost in the Shell SAC: I've noticed that in the few episodes I've seen. I always feel like I'm caught in the middle of something bigger, never really getting the whole picture with the laughing man. Whereas with Trigun, Bebop, and Champloo, it's easier to drop in and out. Taste a bit, get hooked, and then ride from start to finish. From what I've seen, GitS:SAC is very good, just not consistently hooky when you jump in somewhere other than the start.
And don't get me wrong, I really like Champloo. But I never had the emotional investment to the characters that I did with Bebop. And, personally, I love the closing theme to Champloo. It's an excellent series, and I do think it suffers popularity wise by being in the shadow of it's older brother, but I think Bebop is better. Champloo is just really good too.
I know what you mean about Trigun, but I think it would serve you well to watch the series from start to finish. Or at least, let me pick out some of the more sober ones for you. There's a lot of slapstick, especially early on, but there are some real high points as the story moves along.
And lastly, I hope everyone's seen the Bebop movie. I had the pleasure of seeing that in a theater a couple years ago, and it's awesome. My last runthrough of Bebop I also just stuck the movie in where the wikis estimate it comes in the season arc, which is fun stuff too. Its like 4 extra episodes, makes it last a little bit longer. Never lasts long enough, but at least it's a little.
To get a little more esoteric, a friend of mine had me watch Haibane Renmei [sp?]. I didn't know what to expect going in, and I didn't even know halfway through, but I really enjoyed it.
And don't get me wrong, I really like Champloo. But I never had the emotional investment to the characters that I did with Bebop. And, personally, I love the closing theme to Champloo. It's an excellent series, and I do think it suffers popularity wise by being in the shadow of it's older brother, but I think Bebop is better. Champloo is just really good too.
I know what you mean about Trigun, but I think it would serve you well to watch the series from start to finish. Or at least, let me pick out some of the more sober ones for you. There's a lot of slapstick, especially early on, but there are some real high points as the story moves along.
And lastly, I hope everyone's seen the Bebop movie. I had the pleasure of seeing that in a theater a couple years ago, and it's awesome. My last runthrough of Bebop I also just stuck the movie in where the wikis estimate it comes in the season arc, which is fun stuff too. Its like 4 extra episodes, makes it last a little bit longer. Never lasts long enough, but at least it's a little.
To get a little more esoteric, a friend of mine had me watch Haibane Renmei [sp?]. I didn't know what to expect going in, and I didn't even know halfway through, but I really enjoyed it.
Admitting you like anime used to be as dangerous as admitting you played video games and to a certain extent still is.
I do like Bebop too, primarily for the music. That's what really drew me in and kept me watching. Part of the reason I think Samurai Champloo isn't as big as Bebop is because the feel of the music really isn't there the same way it was for Bebop. For example, the intro and outro music for that series is great but music that defining almost never plays during the actual episodes unlike with Cowboy Bebop. So while Samurai Champloo is a really good series it just doesn't make use of the music the way Bebop did.
The Ghost in the Shell SAC series is great I actually own the first season on dvd I plan on buying 2nd gig when they release the collection dvd instead of just buying all the volumes like I did with the first.
With S.A.C. you really do have to watch it beginning to end you really can't just jump in and out. That's one of the things I appreciate about this series though, because watching this series also like watching the equivalent to a graphic novel where there is an over arching primary plot where the first 17 or so episodes all contain sub plots that often tie into the primary plot. Like for example if you watch the first 3 episodes of the first season there is almost no mention of the laughing man. The main laughing man plot doesn't really get started until episode four and from then until about episode 20 the laughing man story is treated more like a sub-plot where you have to actually pay attention and hear the connections to the laughing man case. It's an anime that really ask you use your brain and not just turn it off while you watch.
I do like Bebop too, primarily for the music. That's what really drew me in and kept me watching. Part of the reason I think Samurai Champloo isn't as big as Bebop is because the feel of the music really isn't there the same way it was for Bebop. For example, the intro and outro music for that series is great but music that defining almost never plays during the actual episodes unlike with Cowboy Bebop. So while Samurai Champloo is a really good series it just doesn't make use of the music the way Bebop did.
The Ghost in the Shell SAC series is great I actually own the first season on dvd I plan on buying 2nd gig when they release the collection dvd instead of just buying all the volumes like I did with the first.
With S.A.C. you really do have to watch it beginning to end you really can't just jump in and out. That's one of the things I appreciate about this series though, because watching this series also like watching the equivalent to a graphic novel where there is an over arching primary plot where the first 17 or so episodes all contain sub plots that often tie into the primary plot. Like for example if you watch the first 3 episodes of the first season there is almost no mention of the laughing man. The main laughing man plot doesn't really get started until episode four and from then until about episode 20 the laughing man story is treated more like a sub-plot where you have to actually pay attention and hear the connections to the laughing man case. It's an anime that really ask you use your brain and not just turn it off while you watch.
i only ever watched the cowboy bebop movie, which it thought was really good. Haven't really seen any of the series