Creator: Shinichiro Watanabe
Network: TV Tokyo, Cartoon Network(USA), GMA Network(Phillipines)
Story:
In the year 2071, the crew of the ship, Bebop, travels around the solar system trying to catch "bounty-heads." In the slang of the era, "cowboys" are bounty hunters, hence the name of the series. Each member of the Bebop crew contribute their own unique ablilities to help catch bounty heads. Most episodes revolve around a bounty, however the real focus of the show concerns the pasts of each character, which unravel and connect as the series progresses.
The main plot line focuses on Spike Spiegel, whose syndicate past begins to catch up with him three years after he left. The secondary plot deals with Faye Valentine, a woman whose past is a mystery to even herself. She too, must deal with her past, as well as her debt-ridden present.
The story of Spike's partner Jet Black is also told, and it mirrors the story of Spike's former partner Vicious. The story of hacker Edward also mirrors Faye's story, though it's only really explored in one episode.
Storyline: 8/10
Cowboy Bebop is one of those series that takes a relatively tired concept and manages to breathe new life into it. In this case, the formula is a small band of bounty hunters, tooling around in their quirky space ship, headed up by a slick gunslinger with a mysterious past. I think just about every anime fan has seen at least something like that, but must also like it as well. A mix of offbeat humor and drama, and a whole lot of very cool music, Cowboy Bebop manages to be both good classic space-adventure and refreshingly original.
Characters: 9/10
Gotta love the characters here. Spike, the sly, slick and smooth gun slinger. Faye, deadly beauty, don't mess with the gal. Jet Black, good friend of Spike, gotta watch out with those mechanic arms. Ein, he's the cool, cute and smart dog or "mascot" of the Bebop crew. Lastly, my all time favourite Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, very long name, no? Let's just stick with Ed. She's the childish, strange young girl who is a genius behind the computer, Bebop's hacker. She's also the only character who understands what Ein says. Possibly a secret animal translation device too?
Animation: 8.5/10
Not like the new style of animation nower days, but it still is awesome. The character designs are distinctive and varied, the character art is very sharp, and the backgrounds are pretty, appropriately creative for a good sci-fi series.
Music/Soundtrack: 9/10
One of the most remarkable elements of Cowboy Bebop is its music, mostly performed by Yoko Kanno and her band, The Seatbelts. The many blues and jazz styled tunes that are incorporated in the series have an incredible strength which often completely changes the mood of the scene or defines it completely. My favourite song from the CD has to be Call Me Call Me. Pretty soft and calm compared to the anime itself.
English DUB: 10/10
This dynamic is fueled by the acting, and this is one series where both languages are top notch. The casting is dead-on and the match-up between the originals and the dubbed versions is impressive. And, in both cases, all the characters have an effective emotional range all the way from silly to serious.
OVERALL SCORE: 9/10
Overall this anime gets a 9. Its creative, interesting and has very solidly built series. It has space chicks, and gunslingers..and did I mention space chicks? Also a hacking genius who gets fried everytime. We all need some action and funny stuff in an anime, right?. It may be old, but you guys have to watch it.