Still on hiatus around these parts, as my non-work time is still considerably stretched for some reason. I've been spending a good amount of time catching up on modern anime via that Crunchyroll thing (not an advertisement, don't worry!). I've missed some good stuff lately.
But y'know, it's made me think about the stuff that got me into anime. Which I've covered a few times in the past. Today I want to focus on something a little more mainstream: Cowboy Bebop.
Before I knew what anime even was, I was a fan of it. I'm fairly certain when I was in elementary school and had gotten up just early enough, I found my brother watching Gao Gai Gar - a show I wouldn't even realize I'd be a fan of until well over twenty years later. But this isn't about that show - that's another topic for a very different day. Ever since that moment however, something was stuck in the back of my mind. Cartoons were f***ing awesome.
USA (the channel, mind you) introduced me one day, many years later, to Sailor Moon. I enjoyed the premise - magical powers were freaking awesome! But I still had no idea this was imported from Japan, oddly enough, or that anime was, in itself, its own category of cartoons. How young and foolish I was.
No, it wouldn't be until I was well into my teen years, and I saw the AMV Tainted Donuts at a friend's house how f***ing amazeballs anime was. I went home, and I immediately began to scour the nets for Trigun. And Cowboy Bebop.
They were the first real anime I'd seen, and my god, my poor little teenaged brain exploded. This. Was. AWESOME. From the intro alone, I knew Cowboy Bebop was something special. The story was great - bounty hunters in space! Always going from place to place, looking for the next big score, hoping it'll tide you over until the next job comes your way.
And let's not forget about Spike Spiegel, played by Steve Blum. I later came to appreciate subs over dubs, but these were the early days. Cowboy Bebop had everything: A kicking soundtrack that introduced me to Yoko Kanno (whose name I would soon start seeing everywhere!), an art style that has endured for decades, and characters whose personalities and backgrounds are downright freaking legendary.
It was really the whole story that drew me in though. I mean, the action sequences were downright astounding, but the story and the drama surrounding it really showed me what anime was capable of. How sweet and innocent I was, before I discovered what anime truly was. I AM LOOKING AT YOU DOG DAYS AND STRIKE WITCHES.
Thinking back, I think one of the best things about the show was that all of the side jobs were never really filler material. Except maybe the one about the Ganymede Rock Lobster. But god that episode was just so much fun, and provided a much needed light-hearted break for everything that was about to come.
And to be frank, watching Spike climb the same set of stairs for an eternity was just great.
In the end, Cowboy Bebop is a story about love, tragedy, and betrayal. Which are incredibly powerful motivators when used correctly, and a personal favorite of mine, which may be why it resonates so heavily with me to this day. Though I think the soundtrack might also have something to do with that.
And speaking of soundtracks? There was a movie as well: Knockin' on Heaven's Door. With the titular song as the main theme. God that is just hauntingly beautiful.
To say that Cowboy Bebop has been a huge influence on me through the years would be perhaps doing it a disservice. In terms of media that have shaped me and the way I think, I'd put it right behind the Metal Gear series. And unlike a lot of other shows out there, Cowboy Bebop sets out to do one thing, and it accomplishes that thing in a way that is so satisfying, you're okay with there not being anything else left to tell. The story has an ending, and after that? Well, that's just the end. It's over. You accept it, lament its loss, and look forward to the next great thing.
When I first got seriously into anime, there were a handful of shows everybody had to watch. Those shows were Trigun, Dragonball Z, Gundam Wing, Ghost in the Shell and Cowboy Bebop. Not just because most of those were what was on Toonami, but because those were the absolute best shows of its time. (I'll argue about DBZ belonging there, because I don't feel it is deserved, but man was their fanbase rabid as f**k.)
These days? I'd say only two of those still belong on that list: Ghost in the Shell, and Cowboy Bebop. Because one is a look at what our future might someday be like, while the other is just a timeless story about a couple of space cowboys.
I sometimes think that this show being one of my first serious forays into anime was a bad thing. It set the bar so goddamn high for me that most other shows that came out failed to meet my expectations. When people talk about the amazing storytelling in anime, I point at Cowboy Bebop and call it the perfect example. All of the main cast has their stories explained, and all of them have arcs that begin and end all wrapped up with a neat little bow. Even little Einie. God I love that Corgi.
Because of Cowboy Bebop, whenever I make characters for writing or gaming, I tend to try and ask myself what role they should fulfill, what brought them to that place, and how both of those things can come together to create a compelling narrative during the course of the story. And I like to think on some level that Cowboy Bebop did just that. Faye Valentine has inspired just as many characters for me as has Spike and Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski the Fourth.
If you're a fan of anime, and you've somehow never seen Cowboy Bebop? Do yourself a favor and fix that. Immediately. And if you have seen it, maybe now is a good time to revisit it. The movie is one I love to just pop in and watch through it again, because it too manages to capture everything that made the series great, while also ensuring that when it takes place in the show really doesn't matter - it stands alone all on its own. It's almost like one great big long bottle episode, and it is fantastic for exactly that reason.
Much like with the South Park movie Bigger, Longer, and Uncut, Knockin' on Heaven's Door plays like a long episode of the TV series. And it's great because of that.
I'm not sure what else I can say about this show. It's an amazing watch, and one of my all-time personal favorites. Go watch it if you haven't. Maybe it will inspire you just as much as it did me.
Now if you'll excuse me, I think I'm gonna listen to Knock a Little Harder for the next couple of hours. Because it was the absolute best way to end the movie, and a fitting note to end the franchise with.
See you around, Space Cowboy.
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