Let’s round out the year with a review of something that’s a
classic for many. I already did a retrospective review of Akira—arguably the
title that proved the breakthrough for Japanese animation in the west of the
early 90s. But there’s another, beyond Pokemon and Dragonball, that was also
the hook for those seeking more of the medium beyond kiddie fare at the turn of
that decade. I was meaning to do a look back on this earlier, but time to make
up for that. Let’s jam with Cowboy Bebop.
Conceived by Shinichiro Watanabe, Bebop was one of those
anime that made little impact in Japan but made its mark much more firmly in
the west. The main reason for that was probably because Bebop drew from as many
things western as possible—westerns, film noir, blaxploitation, and so on. It
still gave it all something of an eastern flavor, with martial arts and
background aesthetics, and topped it all of by setting the whole thing in
space.
Set in a future solar system where mankind hurriedly rushed
out to colonize our neighboring planets after a disaster ravaged Earth, the show
follows a group of bounty hunters aboard the eponymous vessel Bebop. You’ve got
Spike, smooth and wisecracking while taking more than some inspiration from
Bruce Lee; his partner Jet, the jaded veteran ex-cop; snarky female gambler Faye
Valentine, and kooky child genius hacker Ed. In the English dub—which I and
many others by far recommend—all of them are voiced appropriately by the likes
of Steve Blum and Beau Billingslead, veterans of the voice acting game.
One of the key facets of the show was the way it slowly
built up their stories over time; each episode, or ‘session’, was mostly
self-contained, but there were several running threads that provided clues as
to the background and emotional drives of all of them (except Ed, who mostly
remains a kook). To me, this is kind of preferable to the interminable story
arcs you get in more recent shows of various stripes; it makes it easier to
just hop in whenever you want, but still rewards viewers watching it all at
once. You start to see gradually what lurks behind Spike’s flippant demeanour, why
Jet has a chip on his shoulder, and how there’s a lot more to Faye than she
lets on. And when you do, you’ll certainly look at each character different
than when they first appeared—definitely the mark of a great serialized story
for me.
The stories varied a lot in tone and subject, from goofy to
dead serious hard-boiled space noir, set among the very contemporary-looking
space colonies of the solar system. There’s definitely a wide variety of action
throughout the series—from duelling laser satellites in high orbit, to chasing
missiles through hyperspace, and good old-fashioned brawls and bloody bar
shootouts. Almost every episode likewise provided a distinctly memorable
one-off character that the main cast would rub off against—be it a lonely AI, a
family of ecoterrorists, to an invulnerable but tragic assassin. The emotional
gamut runs all the way from hilarious to poignantly tragic. Given the throwback nature of a lot of it, it does at times feel like the closest to a Tarantino-made anime--sans the more excessive violence and zooming in on Uma Thurman's toenails.
Animation wise, Bebop mostly hits the sweet spot for me—it’s
got a reasonably stylized look with enough detail that matches the used future
grit look it’s going for. Modern anime often goes for an overly clean and
digital look with that kind of contrast that comes with compter coloring, which
I’m not a big fan of—though to be fair, Bebop does on occasion have some very
dated CGI backdrops for planets and the like.
But the absolute standout of the series for me is the music—around
which the name itself and all the episode titles are themed—composed by the
ever-gifted Yoko Kanno: the first thing that’ll hit you is the jazzy and catchy
opening theme. The score through the series focuses mostly on blues, funk, and
of course bebop, but also delves into genres from all over the world, from
tribal to even heavy metal. It’d definitely be a lesser series without it, and
at its best, the tunes help drive in the critical emotional moments that leave
themselves etched into you forever. One such piece of superbly memorable melody
is ‘Space Lion’, from the two-parter ‘Jupiter Jazz’, that plays as the bittersweet
proceedings come to a close:
Bebop concluded its storyline with a well-remembered finale,
leaving with you a nice neat package that didn’t outstay its welcome. A
theatrical movie came out in 2001, and while it wasn’t bad per se, it was
essentially an extended episode with a budget increase. However, between home
releases and its repeats on cable networks, it created a fanbase that further
solidified what had been begun by Akira and others. The superbly stylish
opening titles alone were enough to grab viewer’s attention back then, and that
led to all manner of shows being imported in until the streaming boom we have
today.
Netflix is apparently producing a live-action remake, and
for now I’ll remain neutral until I see a teaser. Suffice it to say that while
many will as usual debate the casting, I want them to get that musical style
the original had down. Get Kanno back, or re-use the original score—if they were
to go with the generic forgettable soundtracks other dime a dozen space-set shows
have, I won’t bother. It may turn out fine, but for now, the original show
gives you a satisfying enough complete package.
The show may not have been completely flawless—not everyone might enjoy
the tonal shifts, between episodes or even within them. There were also some
episodes weaker than others, like the forgettable ‘Boogie Boogie Feng Shui’.
But it definitely deserves its place in anime history and animation in general,
and I’m pleased to say that it lived up to my expectations when I first watched
it all the way through.
That wraps things up for me for 2018, and I thought I’d
leave on a positive note. Just to think—only a little bit of time left until we
have the year where Neo Tokyo explodes, Roy Batty returns to LA, and Arnie does
The Running Man. Enjoy your New Year, and I’ll see you with more reviews,
retrospectives, and ever more types and varieties of media to look at. See you around…
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