Average Rating: 
Rating: - Cowboy Bebop Is God
Cowboy Bebop is quite possibly the best animé I've ever seen. The entire series is done so well and with such passion that the effort that went into it did not go unnoticed. I have yet to find any inconsistencies in the series, and I've never seen any of the characters do or say something you wouldn't expect the them to. In my opinion, this is the best animé ever.
Rating: - I don't like anime
I really don't like anime. It's true. Growing up in the '80s and seeing the reruns of '70s imports (like Speed Racer), not to mention the whole Pokémon thing that hit while I was in high school, I know some people out there like those things but I find them repulsive and annoying. Silly caricatures with gigantic eyes and frame rates of about 2 per minute, almost like watching a slide show with really bad narration.Then a friend pressured me to watch Cowboy Bebop on Cartoon Network. He knew my reservations about Japanese cartoons, but pushed me into it anyway (it was a Saturday night, I wasn't doing anything anyway...) and I haven't stopped thanking him. This series is good. Not good, great. This is the program that anyone who says "cartoons are for kids" should watch. The first thing that I noticed was that the episodes were each standalone. Most of the popular animations of today are very series-oriented, if you miss one the next one probably won't make sense, and the whole thing feels soap-opera-ish. But not Bebop. Oh, it's true that there's an ongoing storyline, but you don't have to be familiar with it to enjoy any given episode. In fact, it might be good to watch them out of sequence once and then in order, you'll get everything on two different levels. Then there's the music. It is easily the best music in a cartoon, possibly the best in a television series. Just like I don't like anime, I don't like jazz. Or so I thought, but many thanks to Yoko Kanno for proving me wrong on that count. It's original, it's catchy, and even though I didn't much care for a lot of it initially, it now has so much emotion attached to it that I have added it to my regular listening. I definitely can't say that about any other television series ever. Oh, the characters. Where can I even begin? They have complexity and depth, worthy of some of the best movies to ever come out of Hollywood. They each have their own backgrounds, their own motives, they have personality. After twenty-six episodes, it's hard not to develop an attachment to at least one of them. You don't have to take my word on this; I've seen many others who agree with me on this. Besides, you could watch it and decide for yourself. As far as I'm concerned, this is essential viewing. Not everyone might agree with me, but I have a feeling that there are many out there who would absolutely love this show if they saw just one episode. It turned me on to anime, and I'm pretty hard to sway in opinion. If you're into anime, this is a must. If you can bring yourself to realize cartoons as something other than Bugs Bunny and Mickey Mouse, this is probably for you, too. It's for adults of all ages, and appeals for so many reasons. By the way, the dubbed version may be better. Nothing against the original cast, and it's not a personal aversion to subtitles (I usually prefer subbed to dubbed), but the English cast are incredible. I've never seen that kind of attention or acting in translation. And, because of the nature of the show, I think it just feels better. A message from the converted.
Rating: - Forget what you've seen on Cartoon Network's 'Adult Swim'...
This is, quite possibly, the best anime ever produced.The story is set in the future. The Earth has been rendered virtually uninhabitable by a star gate accident. Humankind has terraformed several of the nearby planets and escaped to them. Of course, escaping the Earth is one thing; escaping humanity is another... Among the crowds of villains and victims, two bounty hunters set off on a quest to (literally) keep the bulldog fed. Along the way they pick up a couple of women (in the most unconventional sense). While all of them think they are in pursuit of happiness, they gradually come to realize they are instead running from their respective pasts -- and their pasts are catching up quickly. Set to a largely instrumental, jazzy, and original score, with beautiful artwork, creative story lines, introspective philosophy, quirky humor, fast-paced spacecraft and faster hand-to-hand combat, Cowboy Bebop is everything anime was meant to be. If you are genuinely interested in a series that exceeds your expectations, escape to Cowboy Bebop.
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