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Cowboy bebop rewatch completed (1998-1999) ( Strong 9/10)
I have recently decided to go through all of Watanabeâs work starting of course with the most iconic classic of them all cowboy bebop. The last time I remembered watching cowboy bebop was when I was stil a monkey brained
I have recently decided to go through all of Watanabeâs work starting of course with the most iconic classic of them all cowboy bebop. The last time I remembered watching cowboy bebop was when I was stil a monkey brained
elitist at times who would refuse to give anything appraised the slightest bit of praise. I gave it a 7/10 simply stating âOh its a good episodic action showâ But my friends it is far more then just that because in reality Cowboy Bebop is a masterclass anime. Besides being able
to have way better quality then most of the stuff coming out during the lost decade of Japan. It is also able to be subtle, stylish, well written and well directed. I have no clue how long this thought dump wil be but thank you for coming on this ride of reading this.
1. Story
The story of cowboy bebop is fairly simple to grasp, It follows the bounty hunter Spike Spiegel and Jet black making a living by collecting bounties and living day by day. Of course not every day is the same and their normal daily life is thrown off course by the new
The story of cowboy bebop is fairly simple to grasp, It follows the bounty hunter Spike Spiegel and Jet black making a living by collecting bounties and living day by day. Of course not every day is the same and their normal daily life is thrown off course by the new
members to the crew they travel with. Faye valentine, Ein the dog and of course Edward.
Over the course of this journey or adventure we find new things about the partners and their dark pasts are slowly revealed to us.
Over the course of this journey or adventure we find new things about the partners and their dark pasts are slowly revealed to us.
(All of these will be examined and my thoughts wil be shown about them)
2. Production
The production in cowboy bebop is of course like no other, It is a fact that the production value of cowboy bebop is far above any other production in the lost decade of Japan but it is as well incredible that bebop is able to hold stand for the past 2 decades
The production in cowboy bebop is of course like no other, It is a fact that the production value of cowboy bebop is far above any other production in the lost decade of Japan but it is as well incredible that bebop is able to hold stand for the past 2 decades
without ever feeling like its outdated in its production. How does bebop do this? How does a show that is 2 decades old now stil remain so incredibly fresh? My friends this is of course through Watanabeâs incredible directing , scripting and storyboarding work. This is of course
because of its incredibly fluid animation and camera angling. This is of course because of its incredible use of color palleting that more anime need to take example to, this is because of its incredible wide and diverse situational soundtrack which is able to mix in so fluidly
with the medium of animation that it feels as if your watching something incomparable. Mixing, animation, audio, subtle world building, color pallets directing is all sorts of things id like to talk about when I think about my bebop rewatch.
3. Animation & audio
The way Cowboy bebop is able to use music so well into its anime is incredible. The way the music flows with the situation and is so amazingly written and chosen is fantastic. Dogfights in space feel full of life and energy by how it almost sounds as while
The way Cowboy bebop is able to use music so well into its anime is incredible. The way the music flows with the situation and is so amazingly written and chosen is fantastic. Dogfights in space feel full of life and energy by how it almost sounds as while
Watanabe was creating the storyboards he was listing to the soundtracks and imagining how to get as much power out of every single frame and movement, calming moments at a bar feel like the mellow moments as you pour away your drink into absolute depravity the music used feels
just right. A mix of feelings are felt as you listen to the audio and as you look at the show is near incomparable to anything other into the medium. Cowboy bebop holds something so special that has surprised me immensely. Have other directors ever used music like that? yes but
For me what Watanabe has been able to create with cowboy bebop is such an incredible surprise to me and such an incredible experience. Its like kind of truly seeing a beautiful artwork in real life unfold. Woah.
4. Character
The characters of cowboy bebop are absolutely out of this league in multiple ways. Their grounded to real life and yet somehow feel bigger than real life. Their so human their so multi-sided that makes them feel so incredibly human, all having a soul and a will
The characters of cowboy bebop are absolutely out of this league in multiple ways. Their grounded to real life and yet somehow feel bigger than real life. Their so human their so multi-sided that makes them feel so incredibly human, all having a soul and a will
of their own. All being able to star as some main character being so well made and with so much precision. Im going to go over every single main cast character and try give you my thoughts about them now. and why they fit so well in this story and are so incredible.
Im going to do spike as last though as I probably have the most thoughts about him!
Faye Valentine
Faye Valentine has one of the strongest entrances and one of my personal favourite character introductions in this medium. The way it shows you her from different camera angles before showing you her completely is such a strong way to build up-
Faye Valentine has one of the strongest entrances and one of my personal favourite character introductions in this medium. The way it shows you her from different camera angles before showing you her completely is such a strong way to build up-
The mystery and nearly quiet visuall with only the stepping over her heels being heard over the stone floor of the drugstore is such a delicate and clever detail as the sound we hear is this reflection of her cool nature. As well as her sunglasses id say.
After the introduction we see her travel with the crew and sometimes leaving and coming back. We find out through the episodes that faye is actually somebody who was in cryonic sleep for 50 years and has no memories anymore of the past she feels that she needs to know who she is
who she was first in the past and the conflict ensues.
they find a tape-recording by faye from nearly 50 years ago where she recorded a message for herself, faye watches this videotape as well although she doesn't admit she cares she in reality cares very much.
they find a tape-recording by faye from nearly 50 years ago where she recorded a message for herself, faye watches this videotape as well although she doesn't admit she cares she in reality cares very much.
The thing recorded message is a message of hope and happiness towards older faye and hoping she is stil searching for a true happy life. A saddening and depressing message if you think about it because instead of looking for new happiness she is simply gazing into the past.
Faye at appoint regains her memories of the past only to realise that regaining her memories from the past does not satisfy her at all. Instead, it hurts her immensely and makes her anxious as to where she must go to where does she belong.
The beauty of faye and the reason she is so great is not just because she is one of the hottest woman in fiction. But because she is also very well written having many sides to her. she is a femme fatale but she has an incredibly soft side as well being in this future
and having this conflict on her shoulders of not belonging anywhere in this new modern world is so well expressed. Not simply but because she said it at some point but because it was already so clear. Spending all her money away aimlessly flying around the galaxy.
Not staying in one place at a time, subtle scenes of her sitting depressivly at a bar looking into the distance of nothingness. Faye's subtle and very well written character and every scene of her on-screen says a different things about her. Every single moment was thought about-
by Watanabe to make sure the complete character of faye was able to come over so well on the big screen and was able to impress all of us viewers. the absolute beauty of faye is how immensely human and lost she is in ways in such a subtle way.
Faye valentine. Not only the hottest woman in fiction but also one of the most well written once <3
Jet Black
We are simply introduced to jack as well the owner of this ship and the partner of spike spiegel. But there is more to the black dog who never lets go after he bites on.
We are simply introduced to jack as well the owner of this ship and the partner of spike spiegel. But there is more to the black dog who never lets go after he bites on.
Jet black is a 36 year old retired cop who became a bounty hunter. Jet is also the parallel to spike as he is buff strong-willed and orderly and also a very hard working man. and spike is a skinny tall man with a head of hair who acts uninterested in most things.
Jet black is carrying weight. the weight of the past that is. Besides being sold out by his fellow men as a cop and because of that losing his arm. he also had a broken relationship where his wife left him and his heart went numb and time stopped for him just like that watch.
When that watch ended his old life stopped as well and decided to leave everything behind to start a new and to rebirth almost. Later on, he comes to the planet where his gf resided to search her out and he found her. They talk about the past like adults they talk what happened
One of the beauties of Jet is that he was able to move on. He was able to evolve as a person and finally being able to let it go by trowing away the past and finally moving some of that weight of his shoulders. So he can keep moving forward.
Once again a character with multiple sides to him. The reason why I love Jet is that he is able to evolve he's able to set the past behind himself and to evolve in to the person he is today. He's raw. He's real and he's charismatic like no other. Jet black incredible.
Edward. The timeless free child spirit and this dark world. We are introduced to Edward as this fun and jumpy active character. Charming. Innocent. and jumpy would be all kinds of words I would be used to describe her.
The way she talks, the way she hacks. But what I also really enjoyed is the way she met up with the crew. She was found by the crew because of a bounty hunt they had to do on a satellite who was making inscriptions on the earth because the satellite was lonely. I feel the
Satellite reflected in a way that also Ed had at that time, a need for friends to surround himself with. And that is exactly what he got a group of friends to surround himself with.
The thing I find so great about Ed's character is that she always is simply a cheerful girl! nothing more nothing less. There is nothing immaculately complex behind edward she is simply a child enjoying the ride of life and captures the free nature of a child oh so nicely!
Ein! Ein the dog! Yes a dog! Ein is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi made in a lab. Ein is a data dog of sorts. Even though Ein is a dog, and is usually seen as a mascot of the series I feel that he is also a great little character on his own and is always able to lighten up the mood!
Even though i don't have a lot to say about him I love him. And I love the companionship he holds with ed as well :) as Ed truly understands how clever Ein is.
Spike Spiegel. A former member of the Red dragon crime syndicate who left the group by faking his death and then went on to become a bounty hunter. He is a lazy uninterest who is usually seen lounging back doing absolutely nothing when not in action. Simply taking life as comes.
A man full of torment of his past life or of the life he has lived before somebody who is carrying an unbearable amount of weight. Always seen smoking away pain and always seen very exhausted. He is a tired man. Spike has gone through a lot and you can see it all over him.
One of the things we also find out is that one of his eyes is not actually real and is a slighter lighter then his other real eye. He says his real eye says the real world. The present. the now. His right fake eye sees the past. A past he can because of the not rid himself of.
In a way its tragic isn't it, We see the main cast all work through the past troubles to heal. To let the past be blown off their shoulders so they can move on. Yet spike is stil being held back by all this weight unable to move on and nearly immobilized his growth.
the end for spike was in a way not a tragedy but in reality a release as spike is in his last moments everybody holding a gun stops and looks at him. all he says is "bang". Lets look at this scene though. As you can see his fake eye has been closed by a wound and because he can't
see through this eye anymore he can only see through his true real eye and is finally released from the past he was holding onto so long. Now that his past has disappeared and the weight is lifted he can finally move again he can finally rest.
And the star of spike spiegel goes out like his last words quietly and softly. This moment was of course for shadowed by the laughing bull. "That is not an ordinary star, my son. That star is the tear of a warrior." and of course.
" A lost soul who has finished his battles somewhere on this place" Finally Spike can rest he has finished his battles and has closed the doors on the past after all this struggling and living.
For now, I'm done talking about the characters, maybe more threads about them in the future?
I'd like to talk next about the color pallets of cowboy bebop and how they were so well used! And how most of the anime industry can actually learn a lot from what cowboy bebop was able to accomplish with its rich amount of moods and beautiful character to background ratio.
The thing cowboy bebop does which many other anime forget is to shade their characters according to situation. With that I mean is that the character model isn't always in the same color making the animation a lot better to look at. By using different colors in your backgrounds
together with your characters youre able to make something besides just a good story but also very visually appealing. Besides that it also helps a lot with setting a certain tone for a certain moment. Bright happy colors for a theme park, Orange colors for a setting sun
Very bleached colours for a dark and grim impression of this abandoned building. A darker tone for depressing times, A mellow red with lots of dark tones for a very bitter expression. Black and white tones for a memory from far ago.
Cowboy bebop knows how to use colors extremely well in its anime and should be a leading example of how to use colors. Use colors to express certain emotions or use colors to grip the viewer. Its something i have very much missed in modern anime :(.
Cowboy bebop rewatch was such an incredible ride and I can't wait to rewatch again and again into the future so I can experience this incredible work of art many times over so I can talk about the small details I have missed and the concept i had not seen. Amazing anime.
with an amazing message. thanks for reading
