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SUMMARY

In the mid 21st century, an experimental hypergate explodes on the moon. The resulting cataclysm causes debris to surround the Earth. Almost daily, the pieces of the moon rain death on the surface. Forced to migrate, humanity has moved out to the moons of Jupiter, and have turned them in to new Earth’s. In this new frontier, bounty hunting has become the fastest growing profession.

Spike Spiegel and Jet Black are bounty hunters who travel from planet to planet in their renovated fishing starship, The Bebop. Both men have forsaken their past to start a new life in the stars. However, this new life does not pay well, and if they don't stop getting in trouble while trying to make a fast buck, they are going to get themselves killed.

During their travels, they meet Faye Valentine, (a gambler with no heart and serious money trouble) and Ein (a top secret data dog). They also encounter a vast assortment of fugitives, gangsters, and an evil from Spike's past, hell bent on killing him and everything he loves.

Will the universe be able to survive the danger that follows these space age cowboys?

DVD VISION TEST

VIDEO: The DVD quality is excellent. Having seen this series on video, the DVD is a vast improvement. It's colors are sharp, and the motion is fluid.

AUDIO: Plenty of bang for your buck on the English track. The sound is crisp and rich. The Japanese track has some interesting surround sound elements, but since it was a satellite TV series, it never was designed for true surround sound. Most of the action came from the front speakers of our Sony stereo, with background noise and music mostly from the speakers on our Gateway.
You do get better music from the Japanese track.

EDITS: The only edits that have been made was replacing the Japanese credits with English ones for both the opening and ending segments.

EXTRAS: More than Bandai's usual stash. On this and Session 2, they have dissected some sections of the "Session 0" DVD on sale here in Japan. On Session 1, they have the "Tank!" music video and the character intros.

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: One of the better written series out there. Credit is due largely to senior script editor Keiko Nobumoto (who also wrote some of the episodes and the movie) and her group of script writers (most of who are women). The scripts are aimed squarely at adults, and they pull no punches. From emotional highs, to spirit crushing lows, this series can manipulate your buttons quite nicely. Ballad of Fallen Angels is the best example on this disc.

ACTING: Unlike the voice work for Gundam Wing (which we find a little flat), the English language cast does a great job. Each voice matches the character, and their inflection. You almost think that the series was American.

The Japanese language seems to follow the recent tradition of low key voice acting. When they are yelling, their voices never get above a dull roar.

FAN SERVICE: Not a lot of fanservice in this series. Mostly short skirts and bouncing breasts.

CONCLUSION

Cowboy Bebop will forever be known as a classic. With it's strong writing, "Tarentino-esqe" dialogue, and a fantastic score by Yoko Kanno, Bebop is one of the few anime that can cross the boundaries of all Sci-fi genres. Conceptually, it is one of the best realized"space westerns" series ever made. Drawing on every genre, from "Star Trek" to "Alien" to "Blacksploitation" films, never has a fusion anime done so well at drawing in new viewers.

Session one introduces us to the Bebop universe. It is an international community, where ethnic and religious boundaries blur. Spike and Jet are two of the worse bounty hunters. Constantly causing accidents, leveling city blocks, and almost never getting their man, their only competition for city wide destruction is the "Dirty Pair". Yet, you can't help but love them. Despite their short commings, they only want to do the right thing, and live by the code of the old west.

Faye is a different story. Vain, self centered, and down right annoying, its hard to feel sympathy for her. The situations she gets herself in do nothing but get the Bebop crew in trouble. In episode 5, Spike nearly dies because of her. Ein is pretty useless, except to provide some light entertainment.

Storywise, "Ballad of Fallen Angels" is the most dramatic. "Gateway Shuffle" has perhaps the most intense"race against time" episode I have ever seen in anime. The rest are still good, but don't stand out as much.

While the animation is not ground breaking, it is solid. There are not a lot of noticeable CG elements, and the ones that you do notice blend pretty good with the regular animation. Bebop would be too expensive to do live, so this is a perfect example of why animation is a valid way to tell a story.

Perhaps the shining point of this series is Yoko Kanno's musical score. Combining jazz, country and western, hip-hop , classical, and even some heavy metal, her music is the soul of the series. It has the ability to take you exactly to the emotional state of the characters, and keep you there until it's over. Make sure that you get the soundtracks, so you can truly appreciate what a talent she is.

Kudos to Bandai for a excellent transfer, superb voice talent, and some decent extras. Also, a hearty thanks to Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programmers, for their wisdom in airing this wonderful series.

This series should be the linchpins of your anime collection. Cowboy Bebop is a perfect example of anime done right! With great stories, good animation, and catchy music, your collection will not be complete.

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