Why do I like Cowboy Bebop so much? It’s animation. It’s Japanimation. The music is really fantastic. The visuals are very compelling. The characters are moody and their relationships are complex. The individual episodes build to introduce a rich world of characters, politics and economy. The plot is finite. It is set in a future where everybody gets their own spaceship. All of this and more combine to make for an interesting story line.
So what is the McGuffin for Cowboy Bebob? (Don’t know what a McGuffin is? Check my post on “What is a McGuffin?”) Initially I thought the answer was that they are bounty hunters. But that’s not quite right. Bounty hunters seems kind of odd, but this turns out to be a Space Cowboy story, so it works. The McGuffin is the bounties that they struggle for in each episode. However, Spike may be working on a different , overarching McGuffin that I will not reveal.
The video clips are examples of the brilliant music composed by Yoko Kanno and performed by The Seatbelts. Kanno is greatly talented. Each episode has a different theme, and different theme music, all of it from Kanno. Her music crosses many genres and is extremely well done.
I leave it to you to explore the Cowboy Bebop episodes and movie. There is a live version that is set to air on Netflix on November 19, 2021. It has experienced delays for a variety of issues (an actor broke an ankle, Covid delays). It will be interesting to see what the live version will offer. Netflix is advertising that Yoko Kanno will be doing the music for the live version. Let me update this 6-6-2024.
Cowboy Bebop had 10 episodes with live actors on Netflix. The reviews were not favorable, and the show was not re-upped for another season. Too bad. I liked it. It was amazing in detail for the characters and costumes. I think the reason it was panned was because it was not screen for screen the original Bebop. That’s a tall order. If you like the anime, and you aren’t too obsessed, you might enjoy the Netflix version. Think of it as a pleasant extension of the Bebop Universe – not canon – and let it go at that.
I did just bring up Netflix’s Bebop to revisit it. The characters are good, very good. The opening matches the anime opening. I love that opening. “Tank” blasted by Yoko Kano and The Seatbelts, video that follows the anime closely, yet works in “live” characters. But, come on, you know, it’s all about the rimshot. Color to B&W. Ahhhhhh.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1402301557094244352
That alone is reason to check it out. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the links included here. There’s plenty more on Youtube and HULU.
“See you, Space, Cowboy!”
Here are two more links that I recently came across. This first delves into the characters of Cowboy Bebop. The second is a Spotify Playlist for all the music. They like Yoko Kanno almost as much as I do:
https://nerdist.com/article/cowboy-bebop-soundtrack-spotify-yoko-kanno/
And here’s a link to someone who has done some deep thinking about Bebop:
https://screenrant.com/cowboy-bebop-quote-jet-series-theme
Details, details:
https://www.cbr.com/cowboy-bebop-things-fans-never-knew-about-bebop-crew/
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