Why do people say Cowboy Bebop is awesome?

[Brad Shepard]

I liked the charecters myself.

 

[Doctor What]

"Toys in the Attic" is still nightmare fuel to this day.

OT: While it may have been a lot of people's first anime, it's not nostalgia that makes people say it. It's like the "Firefly" of the anime world. Just so many things to many people. There is something in it that you'll enjoy, you just need to keep watching.

 

[The Deadpool]

Honestly? Finish the series. Seriously.

There IS an over-reaching plot, but it doesn't really come together until the end.

 

[Flunk]

I've seen quite a few anime but I don't like Cowboy Bebop either. The plotline is really obvious and I don't like the main character. I thought the music was too retro to the point of being annoying. Additionally I've always hated westerns.

Not everyone likes everything, I'm sure you can find people who hate Star Wars if you look hard enough.

 

[tmujir955]

Erm... how can you judge it 5 episodes in?

Anyway, like others have said, it's the best because it is entirely unlike the rest. All the other animes stretch on endlessly (and needlessly) for hundreds and hundreds of episodes. They beat a very dead horse for the sake of keeping the train rolling and getting more money. But Cowboy Bebop has less than 30 episodes. For this reason, every episode is a brand new experience, and nothing is needlessly dragged along. And it doesn't have to have filler arcs due to manga struggling to keep up.

It is an anime with balls. It takes balls to stray away from the usual anime set up of having nine thousand freaking episodes about the invincible protagonist tackling every powerful enemy that rises against him. It takes balls to go with a jazz-themed musical score. It takes balls to have the deep and unexpected content the episodes sometimes have. And it certainly takes balls to end the show the way they did, with no spin off or extra series.

And the movie is absolutely incredible. Absolutely incredible.

Oh man, the movie.

Possibly one of the best I've seen.

The thing about Bebop is that in all anime, you go through episode after to reach a climax.

And that climax is fucking awesome.

With Bebop, there is a climax every episode. Each telling a different story is not a weakness, it's a strength.

 

[bojac6]

To be fair I'm 5 episodes in.

That means you're just on the first episode that's actually about the main story. That means you're just now starting it. Come back when you finish the show (or at least get to Jupiter Jazz) and then see if your opinion has changed.

 

[Raziel_Likes_Souls]

Diversity, bro.

Bebop is one of those rare finds that stretches all across the emotional spectrum. Every episode is, literally, russian roulette. It could be largely comical (Mushroom Samba,) disturbingly dark (Pierrot Le Fou,) or even uncomfortably isolating (Toys in the Attic,) and it plays off of these so well.

Maybe it's the fact that it feels like a long, arduous odyssey rather than just a series of events slapped together that draws people into it.

I know I'm one of 'em.

Pretty much this. So much goddamn variety.

 

[Irridium]

As others have said, it has good writing, good pacing, good characters, good episodes... it basically has everything and does it very well. Its relatively short, so it doesn't overstay its welcome, every episode is someting new and very varied, the one movie it had was amazing...

Its basically just an amazing anime, with something for everyone.

Plus it spawned this masterpiece:

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Honestly? Finish the series. Seriously.

There IS an over-reaching plot, but it doesn't really come together until the end.

The Deadpool is right. I watched it on the Adult Swim, back before it had the reputation as the best-ever that it has today, and honestly it was good but not the best -- until the finale. Without spoiling it, the last few episodes kicked it up from a solid anime -- one of the better one's I'd seen, but certainly not the greatest -- to one of the greatest TV series that I've seen, period. I guess what I'm saying is, stick with it -- not only is it worth it, but it's a fairly short series anyway.

 

[s0m3th1ng]

Despite the fact that most of Yoko Kanno's stuff is remixed classic rock...it has one of the best soundtracks of ANY show...let alone animation.
It's also the only anime I can watch again and again and still be entertained.

 

[Dr_Baron_von_Evilsatan]

At least get to Jupiter Jazz Parts 1 and 2. Those were the episodes that got me hooked back in the day. There are a lot of reasons that people enjoy CB, as many posters have pointed out. A few things that I liked (not heavy points but stuff that hasn't been listed yet). The universe is realistic. Not brightly colored hair or giant swords. Just kind of what you'd expect from the future: a mish-mash of ethnicities and societies. Also, it's one of the few shows where I don't like some of the characters but I still CARE about them (Faye especially). The show can also delve into some serious philosophical ideas when it wants to. Lastly, Ein actually acts, looks, and sounds like a dog (albeit a very smart one).


See You Space Cowboy

 

[Diddy_Mao]

It's an anime that has as few anime tropes as possible, which makes it watchable to me (Though "Ed" makes me cringe).

That's pretty much it for me.
No loser guys and their improbable Harem of 15 - 19 year old schoolgirls, no giant robot battles, no magical girls and no supernatural love stories.

Just good animation, fun stories and kick ass music.

 

[JC175]

To Narrow down my problem a bit more, here it is. I don't like how each episode is a separate story. I find that the best part of anime is that they can tell a story better then a movie because they can flesh things out, and not drag on for hundreds of episodes with no real story with an end like most TV shows.

Though some anime are like this, namely the most popular like Naruto, Dbz, Bleach. etc
I've never actually gotten into any of them except i got into Naruto for about 40 episodes and gave up because it was endless patting.

Watch the whole series, then have an opinion. There is a narrative throughout it all in bits and pieces, it all comes together in the final few episodes.

EDIT: Bang.

 

[crimsonshrouds]

this is why

Listening to this song was the first things i thought of when i saw this thread.


Heck i haven't seen this anime in ages but this song has been stuck in my head for all these years.

 

[Ethylene Glycol]

To be fair I'm 5 episodes in. I am enjoying it, but it is by no means a masterpiece like i hear it is. For example anime news network has it in their top 10 anime list.

What is so special about this show?

To fully appreciate Cowboy Bebop, you have to have seen it before every anime ever starred a cool nihilistic gunslinger in a slick outfit. If you haven't, there's no way to fully understand.

That being said, Cowboy Bebop does have some of the best music ever.

 

[CarpathianMuffin]

It's one of the most diverse, interesting, engaging shows out there with fantastic voice acting on both ends and dramatic scenes that make sure it doesn't all go to waste. Is it the best thing since sliced bread? No. Is it fantastic? Yes.

 

[sumanoskae]

I couldn't tell you, I'm not one of them. I think Bebop is a damn good anime. The characters range from human and likable(Jet) to downright fascinating(Spike). That's just one half of the story though, the other half is plot and development(What happens and how people respond to it), and in that area, Bebop is good, just not great. Without spoiling to much, the characters are very good to begin with, but they don't really change much. And the plot is, well virtually nonexistent. It often feels like the characters backstories are more interesting then what's going on now. I'd say it's a jack of all trades. The story is good and the characters are good. There's just nothing great about it, there wasn't a moment that made me go "OH SHIT!" or "WHYYYYY *Sob* WHYYYYY!!!!" or "FUCK YEAH!"

Except the music, the music is fucking awesome

 

[Space Spoons]

It's different. That's really the only way I can explain it. Most anime employ pop to meet their musical needs; Bebop's soundtrack is predominately contemporary jazz. Most anime follow an overarching story; Bebop is largely episodic. Most anime contain elements of the fantasy genre, or something close to it; Bebop is a mix of Western and sci-fi. Perhaps most importantly, most ensemble anime try to make you fall in love with the cast; Bebop makes no such effort, and does in fact get a lot of mileage out of the fact that the main cast consists of horrible, selfish people with pasts mired in tragedy (except maybe Ein).

These traits might not seem remarkable today, but at the time of the show's creation, it was considered pretty revolutionary, and it's still different enough from most contemporary anime to stand out.

That said, I think calling it one of the best anime ever made is kind of misleading, if "best ever" means "universally loved no matter what". It's definitely a love-it-or-hate-it show. If you're five episodes in and you still don't like it... Your opinion probably isn't going to change.