Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop
File:CowboyBebopDVDBoxSet.jpg Cowboy Bebop Limited Edition DVD Box Set
カウボーイビバップ (Kaubōi Bibappu)
Genre	Crime Fiction, Science Fiction Film Noir, Space Western
Anime television series
Directed by	Shinichirō Watanabe
Produced by	Masahiko Minami Kazuhiko Ikeguchi
Written by	Keiko Nobumoto
Music by	Yoko Kanno
Studio	Sunrise
Original network	WOWOW, Animax
English network	Sci Fi Channel (Animax), Adult Swim, SBS One, ABC2 Razer Adult Swim (Toonami) CNX, AnimeCentral Animax Asia
Original run	October 23, 1998 – April 23, 1999
Episodes	26
Manga
Cowboy Bebop: Shooting Star
Written by	Hajime Yatate
Illustrated by	Cain Kuga
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
English publisher	Tokyopop
Magazine	Asuka Fantasy DX
Demographic	Shōjo
Original run	May 1998 – October 1998
Volumes	2
Manga
Cowboy Bebop: A New Story
Written by	Hajime Yatate
Illustrated by	Yutaka Nanten
Published by	Kadokawa Shoten
English publisher	Madman Entertainment Tokyopop
Magazine	Asuka Fantasy DX
Demographic	Shōjo
Original run	April 1999 – April 2000
Volumes	3
Movies
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

Cowboy Bebop (カウボーイビバップ, Kaubōi Bibappu) is a 1998 Japanese anime series developed by Sunrise. It featured a production team led by director Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane and composer Yoko Kanno. The twenty-six episodes ("sessions") of the series comprise a complete storyline set in the year 2071. It follows the adventures, misadventures and tragedies of a bounty hunter ("cowboy") crew travelling on the Bebop, their spaceship. Cowboy Bebop also explores several philosophical concepts including existentialism, loneliness, and existential ennui.

The series premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo from April 3, 1998 until June 19, 1998, broadcasting only twelve episodes and a special due to its controversial content. The entire twenty-six episodes of the series were later broadcast on WOWOW on October 23, 1998 and ran until April 23, 1999. The anime was adapted into two manga series which were serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Asuka Fantasy DX. A Cowboy Bebop film was later released to theaters in Japan and worldwide.

The anime series was dubbed in the English language by Animaze, and has been licensed by Bandai Entertainment for releases in North America. It was also licensed by Beez Entertainment for English releases in the United Kingdom, and by Madman Entertainment for releases in Australia and New Zealand. In 2001, Cowboy Bebop became the first anime title to be broadcast on Adult Swim in the United States. Since then, the series has aired continuously in rotation due to its success.

Cowboy Bebop received widespread critical acclaim and became a commercial success both in Japanese and international markets, most notably in the United States. Many critics, and audiences around the world, praised it for its noirish approach, high quality soundtrack, unique characters, and relatable nature. The series became a cult classic and later came to be regarded as a masterpiece. Cowboy Bebop is now considered arguably the greatest and most influential anime of all time, and is also considered responsible for setting a new standard for anime in general. It garnered major science fiction awards and continues to receive universal praise for its characters, story, strong voice acting, animation and soundtrack.

Plot

Main article: List of Cowboy Bebop episodes

Setting

The series is set in the year 2071, when the entire Solar System has been made accessible through reliable hyperspace gates. In 2022, an explosion of an experimental hyperspace gateway severely damaged the Moon, resulting in a debris ring and meteor bombardments that eradicated a large portion of the Earth's population. As a result, many survivors abandoned the barely habitable Earth to colonize the inner planets, the asteroid belt and the moons of Jupiter.

Mars has become the new central hub of human civilization, and interplanetary crime syndicates exert influence over the government and the Inter-Solar System Police (ISSP), limiting their effectiveness in dealing with crime. As a result, a bounty system similar to that in the Old West is established to deal with fugitives, terrorists, and other criminals; the bounty hunters involved are frequently termed "cowboys". The standard currency is the woolong, which is roughly equivalent to the present-day Japanese yen.

The world of Cowboy Bebop is filled with anachronisms. The technology is a mixture of the futuristic (cybernetics, jump gates, energy weapons) and the modern (wheeled cars, handguns, zippo-styled lighters), both of which are blended together. Even "new" technology often looks a bit older and battered.

The three main classes of vehicles are ground vehicles, air vehicles, and space vehicles. Ground vehicles are the most mundane of the three, being wheeled automobiles not much different from modern automobiles. Aircraft are mostly jet-powered, although helicopters are not uncommon. Spaceships range in size from small one-man "fighters" to immense passenger liners and cargo ships.

Story

The 26-episode series revolves around the often violent adventures undertaken by the arguably mismatched crew of the BeBop starship. The crew is made up of four unique characters: Jet Black, a former ISSP police officer who retired following a mob hit that cost him his arm, Spike Spiegel, a laid-back exiled hitman of the ruthless Red Dragons' Syndicate, Faye Valentine, a beautiful amnesiac con artist who awakened into the future world after a lengthy period of cryogenic hibernation, and Radical Edward, a hyperactive and barefooted preteen girl with a reputation as a prolific computer hacker. They are also accompanied by Ein, a hyperintelligent, genetically-engineered stray Corgi hound.

By a strange twist of their respective fates, this foursome ends up partnering together, using their unique talents to become a ragtag team of bounty hunters, although their fortunes as such are at best mixed.

Throughout the series, Bebop crew members' pasts catch up with them, and the show regularly utilizes flashbacks to illustrate the history of the main characters. The day-to-day life of the crew is also explored throughout the series.

Characters

Main article: List of Cowboy Bebop characters

From left to right: Ein, Edward, Spike Spiegel, Jet Black and Faye Valentine

Spike Spiegel is a former member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate. Spike is a master in firearms and hand-to-hand combat, practicing Jeet Kune Do, and is also a skilled pilot. He flies a sleek red customized Mono Racer, an atmosphere-capable spacecraft called Swordfish II. His right eye is cybernetic. Despite his outwardly carefree attitude, he is haunted by the memory of his time in the syndicate, and particularly by his romantic relationship with a mysterious woman named Julia, and his conflict with arch-rival and former syndicate partner, Vicious. He is also an accomplished pickpocket. He is the first bounty hunter to debut.

Jet Black is a former ISSP (Inter-Solar System Police) detective and is the owner of the Bebop. Once called "The Black Dog" by his fellow officers for his relentless nature, he left the ISSP in disgust due to corruption and red tape, and turned to bounty hunting as a way to pursue justice. Although medical science could replace his lost arm, he voluntarily wears a cybernetic prosthetic as a reminder of the consequences of rushing into danger. He also owns a small yellow utility ship called Hammerhead. The Hammerhead has been equipped with a mechanical claw, and a harpoon that can be used as a tow cable. Like Spike, he too is haunted by the memory of a woman, Alisa, his longtime girlfriend who left him without reason. He is the second bounty hunter to debut.

Faye Valentine is a novice bounty hunter with a gambling addiction. She joins the crew of the Bebop uninvited, to the consternation of Jet and Spike. Though she abandons the ship several times during the course of the series, her attachment to the crew always brings her back. These feelings are apparently reciprocated, as Jet and Spike always allow her to return despite claiming they're pleased to see her leave. She pilots a generic heavy spacecraft called Red Tail which is pale blue despite the name and has been heavily modified with armament and tracking sensors. Her gambling, cheating, and competitive skills are unrivaled except by Spike. Much of her past and her real last name are a mystery, however it appears that she was severely injured in a space shuttle accident and was then cryogenically frozen until she could be healed. This expensive medical procedure left her deeply in debt, made worse when she adopted the debts of her husband (a man who married her shortly after her surgery, then later faked his death in an automobile accident). She emerges from the cryonic sleep in an amnesiac state, from which she eventually recovers. All vestiges of her past — home, family, possessions — are long gone. She is the fourth bounty hunter to debut.

Edward is a young, eccentric computer genius and master hacker. She uses the alias "Radical Edward" when hacking. Ed is a girl, though her name and androgynous appearance suggest otherwise. She had followed the travels of the Bebop before encountering the ship, and agrees to help the crew track down a bounty-head in exchange for becoming a member of the crew. Although extremely intelligent, Ed is still a child, and looks up to the crew of the Bebop as members of her family. She uses the fanciful name Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV, but an odd encounter with her father reveals that her real name is Françoise Appledelhi. She spends much of her time with Ein. She is the fifth and last bounty hunter to debut.

Ein is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, a former lab animal identified as a "data dog" by the scientists who created him. The scientists used him for unspecified experiments, enhancing him to give him extraordinary data-sniffing and pattern-recognition abilities. It is suggested that he possesses enhanced intelligence, which he displays in subtle ways throughout the series, including showing the ability to speak to other animals, and possibly Ed, and perfectly hacking the 'Scratch' website in Session #23. The rest of the Bebop crew, with the exception of Ed, often fail to notice these qualities and treat Ein as an average pet. He is the third bounty hunter to debut.

Vicious – grim enforcer of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate, a former friend of Spike and now his sworn nemesis. Vicious sports an emaciated, embittered look, wields a katana for a weapon and is always accompanied by a strange, crow-like bird perched on his shoulder. He lives up to his name both through his violent actions and his treacherous scheming within the syndicate. Despite only five appearances throughout the entire show, Vicious is arguably the series' main antagonist, or at any rate the only recurring one.

Production

In late 1997 and in early 1998 the "space adventure" genre was a very popular TV theme in Japan. Notable examples of space adventure anime series developed around this period include Sunrise's Outlaw Star and Madhouse's Trigun. Thus, Cowboy Bebop was not just a normal anime series produced by Sunrise. The entire studio became very enthusiastic to create the series and consequently assigned its top talents to help develop it.

The leader of the creative team was director Shinichiro Watanabe, most notable at the time for directing the futuristic adventure anime OVA series Macross Plus and Mobile Suit Gundam. Other leading members of Sunrise's creative team were screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical art designer Kimitoshi Yamane and composer Yoko Kanno. Most of them had previously worked together, in addition to having credits on other popular anime titles. Nobumoto had scripted Macross Plus, Kawamoto had designed the characters for Gundam, and Kanno had composed the music for Macross Plus and The Vision of Escaflowne. Yamane had not worked with Watanabe yet, but his credits included such other anime as Bubblegum Crisis and The Vision of Escaflowne.

Watanabe wanted to create not just a space adventure series for adolescent boys but a program that would appeal to sophisticated adults, exploring a number of philosophical concepts and themes in the process. The most important of the many elements of Cowboy Bebop were its sophisticated and mature existentialist and philosophical concepts. The dialogue of the series was kept "clean", but its level of sophistication was appropriate to adults in a criminal milieu. Themes such as drug dealing and homosexuality were key elements of some episodes.

The series' art direction centers on American music and counterculture, especially the beat and jazz movements of the 1940s–1960s and the early rock and roll era of the 1950s–1970s, which the original soundtrack by Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts defines.

The balances of the atmospheres of the planets and the racial groups of the people in Cowboy Bebop mostly originate from Watanabe's ideas, with some collaboration from set designers Isamu Imakake, Shoji Kawamori, and Dai Satou. The staff of Cowboy Bebop established the particular atmospheres early in the production. Initially in the production, the ethnic groups were not solidly established. Watanabe wanted to have many racial groups appear in Cowboy Bebop.

Mars was the planet most often used in storylines in Cowboy Bebop. Satoshi Toba, the cultural and setting producer, explained that other planets "were unexpectedly difficult to use." Toba explained that each planet in Cowboy Bebop had unique features, and in the plotlines the producers had to take into account the characteristics of each planet. Toba explained that it was not possible for the staff of Cowboy Bebop to have a dramatic rooftop scene occur on Venus, so "we ended up normally falling back to Mars".

Analysis

Style and appeal

Despite its setting in the year 2071, Cowboy Bebop inhabits an "organic, lived in, and believable" universe that "feels familiar to modern audiences" due to its anachronistic setting. Throughout the series several planets and space stations are all shown to be remade in the Earth’s image. The streets of celestial objects such as Ganymede resemble any modern port city, while Mars is replete with shopping malls, theme parks, casinos and cities. Cowboy Bebop's universe is filled with video players and hyperspace gates, eco-politics and fairgrounds, spaceships and Native American shamans. Futuristic elements are combined with the modern elements, "allowing audiences to easily connect with the Cowboy Bebop world".

In his review of Cowboy Bebop, Miguel Douglas, editor-in-chief of iSugoi.com, describes the style of the series:

the series distinctly establishes itself outside the realm of conventional Japanese animation and instead chooses to forge its own path. With a setting within the realm of science fiction, the series wisely offers a world that seems entirely realistic considering our present time. Free from many of the elements that accompany science fiction in general — whether that be space aliens, giant robots, or laser guns — the series delegates itself towards presenting a world that is quite similar to our own albeit showcasing some technological advances. Certainly not as pristine a future we would see in other series or films, Cowboy Bebop decides to deliver a future that closely reflects that of our own time. This aspect of familiarity does wonders in terms of relating to the viewer, and it presents a world that certainly resembles our very own.

Daryl Surat of Otaku USA commented on the series' "broad-ranging" appeal due to its style:

Cowboy Bebop was that rare breed of science-fiction: "accessible". Unlike many anime titles, viewers weren’t expected to have knowledge of Asian culture — character names, signs, and the like were primarily in English to begin with — or have seen any other anime series prior.

Susan J. Napier argues, in her book Anime from Akira to Princess Mononoke: Experiencing Contemporary Japanese Animation, that anime increasingly "exists at a nexus point in global culture… an amorphous new media territory that crosses and intermingles national boundaries". Napier goes on to point out that many Japanese commentators refer to anime with the term "mukokuseki", meaning "stateless". This implies that much anime is not specifically Japanese and therefore lacks a distinct national identity. Napier states that this "very quality of 'statelessness' has increasing attraction in our global culture". It is said that Cowboy Bebop reflects this and it is a great part of the show’s appeal.

Genre and cultural references

File:CowboyBebopchurch.jpg

Cowboy Bebop pays homage to several films. This specific scene is influenced by John Woo's The Killer.

Watanabe's main inspiration for Cowboy Bebop was Lupin III, a crime anime series from the late 1970s through the mid-'80s. Watanabe, however, made no secret that, in addition to Lupin III, the series paid subtle tribute to his favorite American films and series, which were shown in Japan during the 1970s and '80s including Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (the relationship between Spike and Jet), Bruce Lee films (Spike's martial-arts practice), films with blues or jazz soundtracks (the music of the series), as well as Blaxploitation films (the series has a very racially diverse supporting cast). Individual movies from Alien to Midnight Run were pastiched.

The series covered genres which included comedy, detective caper and action thriller. The musical style was emphasized in many of the episode titles, which were in English, such as: "Asteroid Blues", "Honky Tonk Woman", "Ballad of Fallen Angels", "Heavy Metal Queen", "Jamming With Edward", "Jupiter Jazz" and "Mushroom Samba". The anime draws heavily on Western sources, such as pulp detective stories, film noir, and American Westerns. There are also strong Hong Kong influences, mainly of the "heroic bloodshed" mold which includes films such as The Killer or Hard Boiled.

These continual borrowings from other genres and cultural products create a familiar access point for a western audience and must in some part explain Cowboy Bebop’s popularity. Unlike other anime and manga, where jokes and references are often exclusory or require knowledge of Japanese culture and/or the workings and conventions of anime, Cowboy Bebop is accessible – western audiences can connect with the characters readily and more fully understand their motivations and struggles. The characters are always hungry and in search of their next meal. They never seem to succeed, despite being supreme fighters, brilliant detectives, extraordinary hackers and duplicitous conwomen. Their very human flaws make them identifiable and appealing.

The sense of the familiar is emphasised and reinforced by the continual popular culture references throughout the series. Kung fu films are an obvious influence – Spike practises the martial arts and philosophies of Bruce Lee and some of the kung fu fights in the series seem to be lifted directly from Bruce Lee’s films. In ‘Stray Dog Strut’ the final fight between Spike and Hakim is influenced by Bruce Lee’s Game of Death while in ‘Waltz for Venus’, Spike’s kung fu lesson is eerily similar to a scene from Lee’s Enter the Dragon.

File:CowboyBebopBigShot.jpg

Big Shot, the fictional news source within Cowboy Bebop which provides information on various bounty heads, is a parody of the Western genre.

The genre of the western is another crucial influence on Cowboy Bebop. The most obvious reference is in the title of the show, ‘cowboy’, immediately suggesting a lawless frontier society. There are further examples throughout; a show called ‘Big Shot’ informs the characters of the current bounties, the crew continually come across saloons and desert worlds, engage in gunfights and standoffs. The show has a perpetual sense of lawlessness – both from the bounties they chase and from within the crew of the Bebop themselves.

Similarly science fiction is another key influence, not only in the spaceship and the futuristic setting but also in several direct and indirect ways. A homage of the Alien films is made in the episode ‘Toys in the Attic’ when an unseen predator stalks the crew. In ‘Wild Horses’ characters are named after the Star Trek crew and the influence of Star Wars pervades throughout.

The flavour of film noir permeates Cowboy Bebop. This is especially prevalent in the character of Jet Black (the archetypal ‘good man in a bad world’), a former cop who rails against the corruption of the police force but is forced into a semi lawless state of bounty hunting. As in film noir, characters are morally ambiguous – none more so than Faye Valentine who will betray her allies in the pursuit of a big bounty. The big city rain slicked settings of film noir are continually explored, especially in the episode ‘Ganymede Elegy’. Other visual and aural cues are also taken from film noir, in ‘Pierrot Le Fou’ for instance, Spike battles an enraged homicidal clown across a fairground, accompanied by lighting and camera angles any film noir would be proud of.

Music

Main article: Music of Cowboy Bebop

One of the most notable elements of Cowboy Bebop is its music. Episodes are called "sessions", each of which follows a different musical theme, and episode titles are borrowed from notable album or song names (e.g. "Sympathy for the Devil", "Bohemian Rhapsody", "Honky Tonk Women", "My Funny Valentine") or make use of a genre name ("Mushroom Samba", "Heavy Metal Queen").

Performed by Yoko Kanno and The Seatbelts, a band Kanno assembled to perform music for the series, the jazz and blues themed soundtrack helps to define the show as much as the characters, writing, and animation. Cowboy Bebop was voted by IGN in 2006 as having the greatest soundtrack for an anime.

Theme songs

Opening Themes

#	Transcription/Translation	Performed by	Episodes
1	"Tank!"	The Seatbelts	1–25 Ending themes # Transcription/Translation Performed by Episodes 1 "The Real Folk Blues" The Seatbelts feat. Mai Yamane 1–12, 14–25 2 "Space Lion" The Seatbelts 13 3 "Blue" The Seatbelts feat. Mai Yamane 26 Tim Jensen produced lyrics on some songs: "Ask DNA" sung by Raj Ramayya "Gotta Knock a Little Harder" sung by Mai Yamane "Call Me, Call Me" sung by Steve Conte Distribution In the United States, on September 2, 2001, Cowboy Bebop became the first anime title to be shown as part of the U.S.Adult Swim Launch. It was successful enough to be broadcast repeatedly for four years. It was rerun again in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2011. It is currently being shown on Adult Swim Video and on Toonami on Saturday nights in the United States. In the United Kingdom, Cowboy Bebop was first broadcast in 2002 as one of the highlights of the ill-fated "cartoon network for adults", CNX. From November 6, 2007, it was being repeated on AnimeCentral until the channel's closure in August 2008. In Australia, Cowboy Bebop was first broadcast on pay-TV in 2002 on Adult Swim in Australia. It has recently started broadcasting on the Sci Fi Channel on Foxtel. In Australia, Cowboy Bebop TV series was first broadcast on free-to-air-TV on ABC2 (the national digital public television channel) on January 2, 2007. It has been repeated several times, most recently starting from Monday, December 29, 2008 and finishing on Monday, June 22, 2009. Cowboy Bebop: The Movie also aired again on February 23, 2009, on SBS (a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting television network). In Canada, Cowboy Bebop was first broadcast on December 24, 2006, on Razer. Japan Cowboy Bebop almost did not appear on Japanese broadcast television due to its depictions of graphic violence. It was first sent to TV Tokyo, one of the main broadcasters of anime in Japan. The show had an aborted first run from April 3, 1998, until June 19, 1998, on TV Tokyo, broadcasting only episodes 2, 3, 7 to 15, and 18. Later that year, the series was shown in its entirety from October 23 until April 23, 1999, on the satellite network WOWOW. Because of the TV Tokyo broadcast slot fiasco, the production schedule was disrupted to the extent that the last episode was delivered to WOWOW on the day of its broadcast. The full series has also been broadcast across Japan by the anime television network Animax, which has also aired the series via its respective networks across Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia. Reception Cowboy Bebop was an overwhelming critical and commercial success. It was groundbreaking in many ways: it's cultural references, style, characters, and music set it apart from traditional Japanese animated series'. Because of its "accessible" nature, it can widely be considered the most beloved anime worldwide and the one most appreciated by people who don't like anime. At the same time, Cowboy Bebop influenced many other works of animation, including Japanese space western, Trigun and Joss Whedon's notable series Firefly. Michael Dante DiMartino, the creator of the Nickelodeon animated series Avatar: The Last Airbender also cited the series as an influence. The English dub of the voice acting is often considered to be even greater than the Japanese, a rare occasion for an anime. Bebop won a multitude of awards. Seiun Award in 2000, a Japanese science fiction award for the best science fiction work published during the preceding year, as determined by the Japan Science Fiction Convention. It was named Best Media of the Year by the Science Fiction Convention. Cowboy Bebop was so commercially successful that a film, Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira (Knockin' on Heaven's Door), was commissioned and released in Japan in 2001, and later released in the United States as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie in 2003. Legacy Cowboy Bebop is considered to be an anime masterpiece. A 2004 poll in Newtype USA, the US edition of the Japanese magazine Newtype, asked its readers to rank the "Top 25 Anime Titles of All Time"; Cowboy Bebop placed second on the list (after Neon Genesis Evangelion), placing it as one of the most socially relevant and influential anime series ever created. The American Anime magazine Anime Insider (No. 50, November 2007) ranked the 50 Best Anime by compiling lists of industry regulars and magazine staff, with Cowboy Bebop ranked as #1 of all time. In 2009, IGN published a list of the "Top 100 Animated Series", on which Cowboy Bebop placed 14th, making it the second highest ranking anime on the list and one of the most influential series of the 1990s. In 2006, the Japanese MiniTokyo review claimed, "To say nothing more, it is a masterpiece, a genre defining series that has a right to be held in such high confidence. Not many series can do even one of the elements as well as Cowboy Bebop does, and even fewer can actually get every single solitary aspect of themselves to such a high degree of excellence. Everything in this anime falls into place with such perfection that makes it all organic and real and following to the extent that they do. From the full gamut of emotions to the roughs and roughnecks of the Bebop, to the masterful soundtrack that gives life to many of the episodes themselves, to the art that so perfectly conveys the mood and atmosphere of the entire work. Cowboy Bebop is not an anime to be missed, and not to be forgotten." T.H.E.M Anime Reviews rated the series five stars and said the series has "sophistication and subtlety that is practically one-of-a-kind", touting it as a masterpiece that "puts most anime...and Hollywood, to shame." On May 16, 2006, IGN listed Cowboy Bebop in its article "Top Ten Anime Themes and Soundtracks of All-Time", as the number one soundtrack: "Yoko Kanno strikes again. From beginning to end this may be one of the best anime ever and certainly is tops when it comes to music. Kanno's brilliant songwriting is on display from the beginning to the end of this soundtrack." In March 2009, the print and web editions of The Onion's A.V. Club called Cowboy Bebop "rightly a huge hit", and listed it as a gateway series to understanding the medium of anime as a whole. A review published by industry regular Mike Crandol states, "Like the best works of film, it has a universal appeal that transcends cultures and personal tastes. It is an anime that will be remembered long after many others have been forgotten." He goes on to refer to the series as, "simply one of the greatest anime titles ever, showcasing brilliant characterization, animation, and music", giving the series an overall A+ rating. Video release DVD name Ep # Release date Additional information Session One 1–5 April 4, 2000 Session Two 6–10 May 2, 2000 Session Three 11–14 July 13, 2000 Session Four 15–18 April 4, 2001 Session Five 19–22 May 2, 2001 Session Six 23–26 July 13, 2001 Best Sessions Various Nov 19, 2002 The Perfect Sessions 1–26 November 6, 2001 Cowboy Bebop OST 1 Collectors Art Box Cowboy Bebop has been released in three separate editions in North America. The first release was sold in 2000 individually, and featured uncut versions of the original 26 episodes. In 2001, these DVDs were collected in the special edition Perfect Sessions which included the first 6 DVDs, the first Cowboy Bebop soundtrack, and a collector's box. At the time of release, the art box from the Perfect Sessions was made available for purchase on The Right Stuff International as a solo item for collectors who already owned the series. The second release, The Best Sessions, was sold in 2002 and featured what Bandai considered to be the best 6 episodes of the series remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS surround sound. The third release, Cowboy Bebop Remix, was also distributed on 6 discs and included the original 26 episodes uncut, with sound remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and video remastered under the supervision of Shinichiro Watanabe. This release also included various extras that were not present in the original release. Cowboy Bebop Remix was itself collected as the Cowboy Bebop Remix DVD Collection in 2008. A fourth release in Blu-Ray format is slated for distribution on December 21, 2012. Other media An official side story to Cowboy Bebop was released on the original website called Cowboy Bebop: UT. Taking place long before the series started, it features Ural and Victoria Terpsichore (V.T. from the episode "Heavy Metal Queen") when they were bounty hunters. The story is available at the site mirror hosted by jazzmess.com. Bandai released a Cowboy Bebop video game in Japan for the PlayStation in 1998. A PlayStation 2 video game, Cowboy Bebop: Tsuioku no Serenade, was released in Japan, and the English version had been set for release in North America during the first quarter of 2006. However, in November 2007, GameSpot reported that the North American release had been canceled, likely due to the Bandai-Namco merger. Two short manga series based on the Cowboy Bebop property were released in the US by Tokyopop. Live-action film On July 22, 2008, IF Magazine published an article on its website regarding a rumor of a live-action Cowboy Bebop movie in development by 20th Century Fox. Producer Erwin Stoff said that the film's development was in the early stages, and that they had "just signed it". Keanu Reeves had been confirmed as playing the role of Spike Spiegel. Variety confirmed on January 15, 2009, that the production company Sunrise Animation would be "closely involved with the development of the English language project." The site also confirmed Kenji Uchida, Shinichiro Watanabe, and series writer Keiko Nobumoto as associate producers, series producer Masahiko Minami as a production consultant, and Peter Craig as screenwriter. This has been lauded by various sources as a promising move for the potential quality of the film At the time it was slated to release in 2011, but problems with the budget delayed its production. The submitted script was sent back for rewrite to reduce the cost and little has been heard about it since an interview with producer Joshua Long on October 15, 2010; the project currently languishes in "development hell". Continuation rumors After the creation of the series, an interviewer asked Watanabe if he had any plans to create more Cowboy Bebop material. Watanabe responded by saying that he does not believe that he "should just keep on making Cowboy Bebop sequels for the sake of it." Watanabe added that ending production and "to quit while we're ahead when people still want more" is more "in keeping with the Bebop spirit". In a more recent interview from 2006 with The Daily Texan Watanabe was asked if there would ever be more Cowboy Bebop. Watanabe's answer was "someday...maybe, someday." References General Sunrise (October 23, 1998 – April 23, 1999). Cowboy Bebop. Episode 1–26. WOWOW.{{cite episode}}: CS1 maint: date format (link) Cowboy Bebop Complete Anime Guide. Vol. 1. Tokyopop. February 26, 2002. ISBN 1-931514-84-4. Cowboy Bebop Complete Anime Guide. Vol. 2. Tokyopop. March 26, 2002. ISBN 1-931514-85-2. Cowboy Bebop Complete Anime Guide. Vol. 3. Tokyopop. April 23, 2002. ISBN 1-931514-86-0. Cowboy Bebop Complete Anime Guide. Vol. 4. Tokyopop. May 21, 2002. ISBN 1-931514-08-9. Cowboy Bebop Complete Anime Guide. Vol. 5. Tokyopop. June 18, 2002. ISBN 1-59182-022-7. Cowboy Bebop Complete Anime Guide. Vol. 6. Tokyopop. July 23, 2002. ISBN 1-59182-023-5. Specific External links Official website (Japanese) & Official website (English) U.T. (Japanese) & U.T. (English) Big Shot (Japanese) YMCA (Japanese) Cowboy Bebop (anime) at Anime News Network's encyclopedia Cowboy Bebop at IMDb Cowboy Bebop at AllMovie Template:Tv.com Adult Swim – Official Adult Swim Cowboy Bebop Entry in Encyclopedia of Science Fiction