September of 2001 was a pretty eventful month. Among other things (more important things) there was one good ray of awesome that shined through (kind of) the dreary rainclouds of America. On September 2, 2001, Adult Swim aired Cowboy Bebop, a stylish action anime, for the first time on American television. Why does this matter? Cowboy Bebop is widely recognized as one of the greatest achievements in anime history, more so in America than in Japan. Its genre can best be described as a Science Fiction, Action/Adventure, Western, Crime drama.
The show features 26 episodes and a feature film that follows the adventure of the bounty hunter Spike Spiegel an aloof yet incredibly wise young man with a mysterious past and a love for jazz. The owner of their ship, the Bebop, Jet Black (I see what they did there), an ex-cop turned cowboy after he discovered the corruption in the system. Jet's down-to-earth and not afraid to tell his crew they are acting like idiots (which they often do). Faye Valentine, a woman from another time with a gambling (and debt) problem who covers up her insecure need to belong with a vain facade of girl power. Then there's Edward, the little androgynous girl (her gender is questioned several times throughout the series) whose hacking skills and extremely eccentric nature provides the comedy relief of the series. Oh yeah... then there's Ein... a Welsh Corgi... pretty much all there is to him.
The show mashes together comedy and action flawlessly with a catchy jazz soundtrack that actually plays off the action like a Tom and Jerry cartoon. It also has what I happen to think is the best intro to any show in the history of television (next to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles of course):
Oops ran out of time... will post the second half of the blog in a bit!
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