Cowboy Bebop

Overview

Cowboy Bebop is a "space western" anime (a theme similar to the Trigun series) written by Keiko Nobumoto and directed by Shinichiro Watanabe. Unlike Trigun, it takes a more serious and darker tone and uses more realistic technology, such as firearms. A short series, only 26 episodes of Cowboy Bebop were created. The series follows a group of bounty hunters traveling on their ship named the Bebop. Each episode revolves around a bounty which the characters are trying to take. Though they often take on large bounties, they usually rack up some big costs, someone else gets there first, or everything goes wrong at the last minute. When the crew isn't hunting, they're usually whining about the Bebop's empty fridge.

A unique aspect of Cowboy Bebop is the obvious influence which American musical styles have had on the series. Many songs throughout each episode are Jazz, and action scenes were created to go with the songs. Many episodes borrow their names from popular music, such as "Honky Tonk Women" and "My Funny Valentine", or musical genre styles, like "Mushroom Samba."

There were two manga adaptations of the series.

Plot

The team

Set in the future, Spike Spiegel and Jet Black are bounty hunters who have trouble raking in a bounty. Not that they have any problem apprehending criminals-- they're both very skilled --but things tend to fall through at the end, either because they've destroyed something expensive or their bounty slips away at the last minute. They ride around in their ship, the Bebop, and occasionally pick up companions, such as erstwhile rival/ally Faye Valentine, young computer genius Ed, or the remarkably intelligent welsh corgi Ein. Over time, everyone's past comes back to haunt them: Faye was cryogenically frozen decades prior and then used by the man who unfroze her. Left in a future where she has no connection to anyone anymore, she bounty hunts and sleeps around to get by, trying to act detatched. Jet had been a cop until his partner betrayed him and he lost an arm, now replaced by a cybernetic limb. As for Spike...he was a member of the Red Dragon mafia, until he fell into a love triangle with his partner Vicious and the mysterious Julia. The series does not have an overarching plot per se, preferring to focus on how each character deals with his or her past, present and future.

Characters

	Spike Spiegel (スパイク・スピーゲル Supaiku Supīgeru) Voiced by: Koich Yamadera Steven Blum
	Jet Black (ジェット・ブラック Jetto Burakku) Voiced by: Unshō Ishizuka Beau Billingslea
	Faye Valentine (フェイ・ヴァレンタイン Fei Varentain) Voiced by: Megumi Hayashibara , Wendee Lee
	Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV (エドワード・ウォン・ハウ・ペペル・チブルスキー4世 Edowādo Won Hau Peperu Chiburusukī Yonsei) Voiced by: Aoi Tada (Japanese), Melissa Fahn (English)
	EIn (アイン Ain) Voiced by: Kōichi Yamadera

Other major characters

	Vicious" (ビシャス Bishasu) Voiced by: Norio Wakamoto Skip Stellrecht
	Julia (ジュリア Juria) Voiced by: Gara Takashima (Japanese), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (English)

Manga

Anime

OVA