AAA - Cowboy Bebop

Okay, so now we're changing gears, a lot. Forget fantasy, kingdoms, swordfights (well, almost), and the epic feel of Escaflowne. Cowboy Bebop is a completely different animal. Ponder the title for a moment. Cowboys, associated with Westerns, sunsets, and (ugh!) country music... And Bebop, the epitome of cool. It actually is rather fitting but, WHERE do they come up with these ideas? Cowboy Bebop is about a group of bounty hunters who act like film noir detectives, oh yeah, and it's set in a futuristic Star Wars type world. Once again, where do they think of these things? And can Hollywood start borrowing some of their ideas? Because this series definitely blew me away. It's so original, so quirky, and so new. Drawback: this is definitely Adults Only. Rated R. Not all of it, but there are certain episodes and certain scenes that go beyond PG-13. I know. I'm a bad person. But, but, but *stammers* oh just watch the trailer...



So that music, playing during the trailer? It's by Yoko Kanno. That is a tune called "Tank!" and it's amazing. Please listen to it. It's on the sidebar. I told you Yoko Kanno was diverse right? Well here's where it really shows. Cowboy Bebop utilizes jazz, swing, blues, and even some rock amongst other things. The music to Cowboy Bebop can be... a little strange... Consider that the name of Yoko Kanno's band is "The Seatbelts." But this is exactly what I love about anime. It can be so out of the ordinary. Ordinary gets boring after a while. One of the funny things about anime songs (or J-pop in general) is that they use Engligh sometimes. Sometimes it's just three words followed by a string of Japanese. Apparently they think it sounds cool. When a whole song is in English generally it doesn't make any sense whatsoever. :-) This next tune is called "Bad Dog No Biscuits," and it's a little strange with crazy guitar riffs, random cheering, and some down and dirty 'bone solos. Get it? Oh dear, bad pun.



The first episode introduces us to Spike Spiegel and Jet Black, two space-age bounty-hunters or "space cowboys" (weird phrase huh. Their ship is called "the Bebop," thus Cowboy Bebop). Spike and Jet are pretty good at what they do, but they're generally broke anyways. The reason being Spike causes a lot of damages while chasing down a bounty and these have to be payed off. Who knows how long these two have been operating this way, but things are about to change. It starts when they go after a dog-napper with a huge bounty on his head (episode 2). The dog, we find out later, is some sort of genetically altered genius and that's why it's so valuable. Spike and Jet never figure this out though, so after losing the bounty, because they're both really big softies at heart, they keep Ein as a pet. Ein is adorable and generally knows exactly what's going on even when everybody else is clueless. Awwwwww.

Next tune: Piano Black. Kanno uses a lot of sound effects in her music and usually it's very effective.



The next addition to the Bebop crew is my least favorite. Faye Valentine.
Faye is actually a pretty good character. Spike and Jet run into her at a casino, where she's working as a dealer. Eventually Faye teams up with the two, thinking that if she nabs a huge bounty she'll be able to pay off her enormous debt. And where does that debt come from? Well, if you don't mind the spoiler, the truth is Faye knows next to nothing about her past. This is because she was cryogenically frozen decades and decades ago, and now that she's been revived she's left with a mountain of medical bills and a case of amnesia. Plus she's been through a bad relationship since so she pretty much hates men. The only thing I don't like about Faye is her tendency to dress provocatively. Come on, wear some real clothing please. Other than that Faye's pretty much equal to Spike and Jet in terms of skill, so it's nice to see a strong female character.

I actually don't know what this next tune is called. I don't remember it from the series, but it's a good representation of some of the quirky music Kanno writes.



The final addition to the Bebop crew is my favorite. Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Trivusky the 4th. Ed for short. Ed is... a girl. Genius. A 13-year-old girl genius. Named Ed. Actually, Ed doesn't know her real name so she made this one up which, in the words of Spike "if you made it up then how can you be the 4th?" Ed is amazing. Like Ein, she generally knows what's going on even when everyone else doesn't. Before she joins the Bebop, Ed is known as the famous hacker "Radical Edward." When she's suspected of hacking into a satellite a bounty is put on her head and the rest is cowboy history. Ed is as wacky and weird as they get. Her dialogue generally doesn't make sense, except that it does, once you realize what's really going on. That probably doesn't make sense but needless to say Ed is awesome. The following quote pretty much sums up Ed. "I think I know, I don't think I know, I think I know, I know I don't think I know, I don't think I think..."

Music is used in interesting ways in this show. This next song, which I know as "Green Bird" although I've heard it called "ELM" and "The Ballad of Fallen Angels," is actually used in a chase scene. It's a very emotional moment, so it makes sense to not do the obvious thing and use upbeat chase-scene music. I like that kind of subtlety.




And then of course we have Spike and Jet. Jet is also a favorite of mine. An ex-cop with a tough exterior, Jet's actually a big softie with a love for cooking. And jazz music. Jet pretty much acts as a mother-figure, which is pretty hilarious. He really cares about everyone else on his ship and although he acts like he's angry with them it usually masks the fact that he's worried about them. In his own words, "I'm Jet Black, 36 years old. I'm often told I don't look 36, but you shouldn't judge people based on appearances... or how much hair they have..."

This next tune is called "SPY." Very James Bond.



And finally we have Spike. Spike's kind of like Jet in that he pretends to have a tough exterior. In his own words, "There are three things I hate the most: Kids, pets, & women with additude. So tell me, why do we have all of them packed into our ship!?" But Spike feels responsible for his comrades and it shows. As for himself, Spike's pretty laid-back with a devil-may-care attitude towards his own safety, a tendency to push people a way, and really poofy hair. His fighting style is a tribute to Bruce Lee I guess, although I'm not really that familiar with Bruce Lee. Needless to say, Spike can hold his own in a fight. Spike has an interesting past (he was a former criminal and now he's paired up with an ex-cop. Interesting, neh?)

Okay, okay! I know you will like this song even though it has one sort of swear word in it sort of. I'm amazed at the use of instrumentation here. Contemporary vocals and pipe organ. It's awesome!



Oh wait? I almost forgot! Who is this menacing fellow? Well there has to be a villain doesn't there? This one is straight out of Spike's jaded past and is aptly named Vicious. We don't see him often, but when we do generally a very cool fight scene ensues. Let's just say that Vicious defies the saying "never bring a knife to a gun fight." Vicious is a great villain, which is interesting because you feel absolutely no sympathy for him. He's just evil. Yet he has depth somehow. Plus, let's face it, a black suit and a katana? Cool.

Cowboy Bebop's plot is exclusively character-driven. If any outside struggle does come along, it's generally only for one episode. The main storyline deals exclusively with the characters' pasts and how they relate to one another, which is interesting. Because they're all looking for something, and as I heard someone say, they don't realize that what they're looking for is right there with each other. The show is very clever with more references than I could ever catch or understand. Every episode either refers to a song title or a style of music ("Asteroid Blues," "Jupiter Jazz," "Gateway Shuffle," "Mushroom Samba"). The show can be simultaneously funny, deeply emotional, and reflective. Unfortunately there's exessive violence and some sexual references that I could definitely do without, which is partially why it's only my number three. (Sometimes I think the Japanese are more obsessed with violence than we Americans are). But altogether it's a solid and unique piece of work.