Some have unfairly accused this show of being style over substance, but even if it was - what amazing style! Great animation, cool action, nifty vehicles, and awesome music (I still listen to all the soundtracks). The characters are distinct and memorable, and the stories balance fun and melancholy to create an immersive world (or worlds, as it were), all building to a fantastic ending. Essential anime viewing.

It's just so cool, isn't it? It's that anime that people who don't like anime like. I think when I was a kid, this is the show that I watched to feel mature. I went from DBZ to this and thought, "I am so cool and sophisticated." It's not a deep show, but it doesn't have to be. The music, the characters, the animation, the writing, all of it is so on-point with only a few episodes that are merely "really good." Watch the Adult Swim previews for the series as the series lives up to them.

Much like Evangelion, it is truly unnecessary to explain why and how this show works so well. It just does and it will forever remain a classic in the genre for all of its stylistic flair, memorable characters, and dynamic soundtrack.

The best anime I have ever had the pleasure of watching. Cowboy Bebop is ambitious and well-produced. Slick and out of this world, it sports amazing characters who develop themselves under the best use of a non-arcing plot I've seen in the genre. Damn.

A singular achievement in anime, and the kind that could only have sprung up in the late 90s post-Eva anime artistry revolution. Works as a blend of animation and music far better than something like Fantasia, with astonishingly well-developed characters for its medium. The ending is justly famous, but it tends to overshadow the brilliance of every single episode. This is the show that gets people into anime, and almost anything they watch next is what invariably gets them out of it.

A sci-fi futuristic anime meets a western. Super, super cool. Jazzy, bluesy rumination on what it is to live and collect a past of antique memories. Music, animation, style, heart - all exquisite.

These animes seem to create a character with which the viewer would identify: a misunderstood, moral and shy person. But if you can't identify, it's kinda cringe.

"You're gonna carry that weight"

in my ideal world: the series would stay mostly episodic, and gone on for at least another season with all four characters in various configurations (Ed is barely even in the show as it is, despite how iconic they are) and they shouldve used the Real Folk Blues story for the film. nevertheless, insanely iconic, cool piece of 90s anime.

I generally watch entire shows before rating them, but I got ~half-way through and very much doubt I'd really get anything else out of this, tbh. Formally occasionally somewhat interesting, but narratively meaningless, ideologically confused, and aesthetically not exactly original. I guess in that one episode I was supposed to care more about the protagonists than some weird "eco-terrorist" strawwoman... because the former are "quirky" and "cool," or someshit.

Rewatched it. I was wrong. This is grand.

Watch this television show. Watch it now. Watch it again and again. The art, the storytelling, the music - all of it combines create a wonderful masterpiece of what it means to live life and, more importantly, have a past.

Unfortunately, the main story arc is completely forgettable. In fact, towards the end of the series I had to refresh my memory on a few key points in an attempt to help myself actually care about what was going on...and I still didn't care. That being said, the four major characters are likably eccentric, each with distinct personalities and mannerisms you learn to know well, and many of the stand alone episodes possess an energizing feeling of freedom and limitlessness.

I tried, but it just didn't do it for me. Boring characters, silly plots.

Boas cenas de ação, mas é intrinsecamente episódico e não vejo o charme nos personagens que os outros veem.

everything is good about this, literally not a single flaw

goated ost

I've never seen anything else like this, a set of episodic style-forward tone poems, with characters who change over time but don't really have *arcs*. It's not as impressive now as it was then, but it's still a strange, unique cornerstone of the possibilities of anime, with an absolutely delightful cast. I could watch them for hundreds of episodes. Radical Edward, especially, is amazing - neurodivergent nonbinary representation for all us weirdos!

Hard to rate. Some very cool episodes, pretty nice animation and soundtrack, but the story could be better and I wish the music and the animation synced as my nostalgia thought it did.

My first anime was Gundam Wing, then DBZ, then I finally hit Cowboy Bebop, which set me down the animation route from then on. Incredible development of the story and characters, even the filler episodes fill some purpose for the most part. Music is exceptional.

S1: 80/100

Such a fascinating art style that you won’t see anything like nowadays. While the majority of the show lacks a consistent plot, the fun excursions of the Bebop and loveable character types make it so fun to watch. And the dialogue and visuals are just so perfect in a tough bounty hunter way. “I’m not going there to die; I’m going there to see if I’m alive.”

I usually rate on how much feeling the series has left me with after watching it. This makes rating Cowboy Bebop a bit hard, as the start of the show is pretty good, the mid section not so much, not a lot of things happening here, just a Monster of the Week type stuff. And the ending, which was phenomenal. To clarify the mid section wasn't bad, just a bit slow for me, but still I loved it. And the ending was just too good.

There's nothing left to say. This is the paramount work that all episodic anime drama's will be compared to. If you're thinking of getting into anime or have already watched a bunch, do yourself a favor and watch the series that put anime on the map. Some episodes are about nothing. And other episodes are about everything. Embrace the ride and take a moment to reflect once you're done.

Iconic 90s anime. Peak quality standards from animation to even voice acting dub. Bad dog no biscuits is my favorite theme from the show.

Works in every way. Defies genre. Influenced everything in anime and sci-fi that followed. The use of music! Stellar noir voice acting. Outstanding anti-cathartic conclusions. No epiphanies. Just some odd loners who were together for a time. Like all of us, but with better style.

Right from the intro I loved the style that this show has. I do wish the side character got as firm an ending as Jet did. And that ending really caught me off guard with its straight to the point directness. There were episodes that seemed to just be there while others were so engaging that I wanted more. Even with the hype though I enjoyed it more than I thought I would… B

still good yall

Ending was a let down

Well, this is certainly a stylish show. It combines elements of western, noir, anime, and jazz (holy shit that music) and creates something very unique within the space. Outside of the style, everything else is thin on the ground as the characters are only okay and the plots are largely noir tropes. For those who are taken by the style, this is damn near masterpiece level anime but for those who want something more, this can be a bit lacking.

Yeah, keep those eyes open!

:0=

What a show! The soundtrack, the story, the action, Ein. Strong main cast and goofy side characters all make for a compelling show. I'm both glad and sad that it's only 26 episodes. It didn't drag on. It told the story it wanted to tell. There's some heartbreaker moments in there. See you space cowboy....

In the part 23 of the special episode XX Mish-Mash Blues, Spike says some blues man said, after asked for a definition "Blues is singing about some kind of trouble that can't be helped". That's probably the best way to define the series too. It's a beautiful song but it can be sort of depressing also, hopeless. It's probably one of the most original animes ever made.

Space western at its finest. It is an experience, a joy.

9/8

I loved how they set up the characters and team stuff nice. And the state of the galaxy and worlds. And a lot of the episode characters/stories were pretty good. Some were meh. But I wish they started telling longer arcs and shit around 10 episodes in. They wasted all that good set up and kept doing random lil stories. Finale with vicious wasnt enough to make up for it. I hope the movie does the set up justice

nice series

The series starts off quite dull but after a dozen episodes when the characters' backstories are introduced, gets interesting.

The crafting is amazing; best opening titles evah; the setting, the main characters and the interaction between them were great. So, why not more? because basically it was too short, not enough deep. Has all the flaws of the procedurals series: a different story every episode, often funny, but isolated they will never push to see episode after episode, and the main-story arc is weak. When i finally start to care about the characters, understand their stories, the series ended.

Rivetting sci-fi-noir-action Japanimation series, featuring consistently ingenious original music by Yoko Kanno.

x0 Need to rewatch.

"Closer to My Little Pony than to Bergman", fucking lmao this site sometimes. Rewatched this in 2021 and while it's not as amazing as stoned 19 year-old me remembers it being, there are a few episodes that are still among the best examples of the anime genre (speaking as someone who's not hugely into anime) - notably the "Jupiter Jazz" two-parter.