Wednesday, June 19, 2013
I decided to write this article for two reasons: one, I have a few friends who told me they couldn’t get into Cowboy Bebop, so I thought I could give some pointers for people who have trouble getting into it, so that they can see what they are missing out on. And two, one of the guys at work has been watching it recently, and it just really made me want to talk about one of my favorite anime shows.
For those of you who are anime fans, there is no way you haven’t heard of Cowboy Bebop. And for those of you who aren’t anime fans, Bebop is probably one of the only animes you have heard of. The reason the show is so widely known is because it is instantly accessible. The show isn’t like Samurai Champloo in the sense that it isn’t geared towards guys (let’s be honest, anything with that much action must be, right?) It’s not super plot heavy (though, I do think the overarching plot is pretty damn impressive, it only encompasses 5 of the 26 episodes.) This show is completely about the characters, and there is at least one for every type of person.
Of all of the arguments I hear about Cowboy Bebop, I think the one I get the most often is, “I just couldn’t get into it. There wasn’t a story.” And while I agree with that, I also completely disagree at the same time. Bebop has an interesting concept where it tells the adventures of three bounty hunters (Spike, Jet and Faye) in an episodic fashion. Because of this, only five of the episodes are really connected, the rest are just random adventures the characters go on, random backstory about a character, or (more often than not) both. This can turn people off because most people are used to a more straight progression of story, so I have started telling people to watch specific episodes to get a general feel for the characters, and to also get that amazing story I keep talking about.
Here is a breakdown of the eight essential episodes:
Session 1: Asteroid Blues
Session 3: Honky Tonk Woman
Session 5: Ballad of Fallen Angels
Session 9: Jamming with Edward
Sessions 12 and 13: Jupiter Jazz
Sessions 25 and 26: Real Folk Blues
Watching those eight episodes is just under three hours. Two of those are only there to introduce new characters, but if you leave those out you only need sessions 1, 5, 12, 13, 25, and 26. I think it is good to get the character introductions in too, but maybe that is because I love the characters so much...and rightfully so.
The biggest strength behind this show is the characters. They are all so complex and fun that you can’t help but enjoy watching their many antics. Maybe the show fails for so many people because they can’t get through every episode, so they miss out on the interesting backstory for Jet in Ganymede Elegy and Black Dog Serenade. Or maybe they wanted to see more of Faye, like in My Funny Valentine or Speak Like A Child. No matter who your favorite character is, there are episodes to make you love them even more. I think that you just need to push on through to find those gems, and then you can go back and enjoy the ‘filler’ episodes a little more.
I use the term ‘filler’ very loosely though, because, honestly, every episode is gold to me. I think some of my favorite episodes are absolute stand alones. Toys in the Attic, Mushroom Samba and Pierrot Le Fou are some of my favorites, and they have no tie to back story, or the overarching Spike/Vicious plot line. When you see these episodes you realize that with strong characters like Spike, Edward, Faye and Jet (and don’t forget Ein!) you don’t need to string a plot along 26 episodes.
I guess what I want you to take away from this article is this: go watch Cowboy Bebop. If you have tried and couldn’t get through it all, try watching the eight episodes that I suggested and see if that grabs your attention a little more. If you were looking for more of one character, check out what I listed. But please, give it a chance. It may not be the best anime out there, but it definitely deserves a lot of the credit it gets, so don’t miss out!
