About Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop is a critically acclaimed and influential anime series released in 1998. The series, conceived by Sunrise Studios, follows an adventurous story told in the context of space western. Set in a futuristic world in 2071, the series explores the lives of bounty hunter crew traveling in their spaceship called Bebop. Each episode is dedicated to individual tales filled with conflicts and the past of each main character, mingling dark themes with a humoristic touch.

Making / Production

Cowboy Bebop was produced by Sunrise Studios, under the brilliant direction of Shinichirō Watanabe. The creative team includes Keiko Nobumoto as chief scriptwriter. It was first broadcasted on TV Tokyo and later due to its mature themes, was moved to satellite TV channel WOWOW.

Actors

• Steven Blum voiced the character of Spike Spiegel who is a bounty hunter with a laid back attitude and a mysterious past as a member of the Red Dragon Syndicate.
• Beau Billingslea is the voice behind the character Jet Black, a former cop and owner of spaceship Bebop. His deep voice gave an organic touch to Jet's character.
• Wendee Lee provided the voice for Faye Valentine, a sassy bounty hunter with a gambling problem and no memory of her past.
• Melissa Fahn depicted Edward (real name Françoise), being a lighthearted and peculiar child prodigy hacker.

Trivia / Interesting Facts

• The series director Watanabe has stated that Cowboy Bebop was a unique project without any restrictions or mandates from the studio, allowing the creative team to create freely.
• Einingrad, the spaceship by which villains Vincent and Elektra escape in the Cowboy Bebop movie, is actually named after a brand of Russian Vodka.
• Cowboy Bebop’s title refers to its unique blend of space setting (Cowboy), and the influence of music (Bebop genre) on the series.

Awards

Cowboy Bebop won the Japan Media Arts festival grand prize for animation in 1999 and American Anime Awards for Best DVD Package Design.

Quotes

• "I’m not going there to die. I’m going to find out if I’m really alive." - Spike Spiegel
• "You were always there for me, and that's all I needed. Just you." - Faye Valentine

Music, Soundtrack

• The Cowboy Bebop soundtrack is notable for its unique blend of jazz, blues, and other western styles of music. The soundtrack was composed by Yoko Kanno with performances by the Seatbelts.
• Some of the popular tracks include “Tank!”, serving as the show's main theme, “Space Lion”, “Blue”, among others.