Cowboy Bebop

***Cowboy Bebop*** (カウボーイビバップ *Kaubōi Bibappu*?) is a 1998 Japanese anime series animated by Sunrise featuring a production team led by director Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane, and composer Yoko Kanno. The twenty-six episodes ("sessions") of the series are set in the year 2071, and follow the lives of a bounty hunter crew traveling on the *Bebop* (their spaceship). *Cowboy Bebop* explores philosophical concepts including existentialism, existential ennui, and loneliness.

The series premiered in Japan on TV Tokyo
 from April 3 until June 26, 1998, broadcasting only twelve episodes and
 a special due to its controversial adult-themed content. The entire
twenty-six episodes of the series were later broadcast on WOWOW from October 24 until April 24, 1999. The anime was adapted into two manga series which were serialized in Kadokawa Shoten's Asuka Fantasy DX. A film was later released to theaters worldwide.

The anime series was dubbed in the English language by Animaze and ZRO Limit Productions, and was licensed by Bandai Entertainment in North America and is now licensed by Funimation. In Britain, it was licensed by Beez Entertainment and is now licensed by Anime Limited. Madman Entertainment has licensed it for releases in Australia and New Zealand. In 2001, *Cowboy Bebop* became the first anime title to be broadcast on Adult Swim in the United States.
*Cowboy Bebop* became a critical and commercial success both in
Japanese and international markets (most notably in the United States),
garnered several major anime and science fiction awards
 upon its release, and received universal praise for its style,
characters, story, voice acting, animation and soundtrack. In the years
since its release, critics and reviewers, from the United States in
particular, have hailed *Cowboy Bebop* as a masterpiece and
frequently cite it as one of the greatest anime series of all time.
Credited with helping to introduce anime to a new wave of Western
viewers in the early 2000s, *Cowboy Bebop* has also been labelled a gateway series for the medium as a whole.

## Plot

In 2071, roughly sixty years after an accident with a hyperspace
gateway made the Earth uninhabitable, humanity has colonized most of the
 rocky planets and moons of the Solar System. Amid a rising crime rate,
the Inter Solar System Police (ISSP) set up a legalized contract system,
 in which registered bounty hunters (also referred to as "Cowboys")
chase criminals and bring them in alive in return for a reward.[2] The series protagonists are bounty hunters working from the spaceship *Bebop*. The original crew are Spike Spiegel, an exiled former hitman of the criminal Red Dragon Syndicate, and his partner Jet Black, a former ISSP officer. They are later joined by Faye Valentine, an amnesiac con artist; Edward Wong, an eccentric girl skilled in hacking; and Ein, a genetically-engineered Pembroke Welsh Corgi
 with human-like intelligence. Over the course of the series, the team
get involved in disastrous mishaps leaving them out of pocket, while
often confronting faces and events from their past:[3]
 these include Jet's reasons for leaving the ISSP, and Faye's past as a
young woman from Earth injured in an accident and cryogenically frozen
to save her life.

The main story arc focuses on Spike and his deadly rivalry with
Vicious, an enforcer for the Red Dragon Syndicate. Spike and Vicious
were once partners and friends, but when Spike began an affair with
Vicious' girlfriend Julia
 and resolved to leave the Syndicate with her, Vicious attempted to have
 Julia kill Spike. Julia goes into hiding to protect herself and Spike,
while Spike fakes his death to escape the Syndicate. In the present,
Julia comes out of hiding and reunites with Spike, planning to complete
their plan. Vicious, having staged a *coup d'état*
 and taken over the Syndicate, sends hitmen after the pair. Julia is
killed, leaving Spike alone. His heartbreak feeds his desire to kill
Vicious once and for all. Spike leaves the *Bebop* after saying a
final goodbye to Faye and Jet. Upon infiltrating the syndicate, he finds
 Vicious on the top floor of the building. In a final battle, Vicious is
 killed and Spike severely wounded. The series ends as Spike descends
the main staircase of the building into the rising sun. He falls to the
ground, leaving his ultimate fate ambiguous.

## Genre and themes

Watanabe created a special tagline for the series to promote it
during its original presentation, calling it "a new genre unto itself".
The line was inserted before and after commercial breaks during its
Japanese and US broadcasts. Later, Watanabe called the phrase an
"exaggeration".[4] The show is a hybrid of multiple genres, including comedy, the detective caper, action fiction and thrillers, and film noir. The musical style was emphasized in many of the episode titles.[5]:79–80[6][7] Multiple philosophical themes are explored using the characters, including existentialism, existential ennui, loneliness, and the effect of the past on the protagonists.[3][8] It draws extensively from multiple western genres, including the western and pulp fiction.[9]:113 The series also makes specific references to or pastiches multiple films, including the works of John Woo and Bruce Lee, *Midnight Run* and *Alien*.[6][10]
 The series also includes extensive references and elements from science
 fiction, bearing strong similarities to the cyberpunk fiction of William Gibson.[5]:81 Several planets and space stations in the series are made in Earth's image. The streets of celestial objects such as Ganymede resemble a modern port city, while Mars features shopping malls, theme parks, casinos and cities. *Cowboy Bebop'*s universe is filled with video players and hyperspace gates, eco-politics and fairgrounds, spaceships and Native American shamans.[10] This presentation, and the balance of ethnic groups, has been described as "one third Chinese, two thirds Western".[9]:113

###

###

## Characters

The characters were created by Watanabe and character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto. Watanabe envisioned each character as an extension of his own personality, or as an opposite person to himself.[11] Each character, from the main cast to supporting characters, were designed to be outlaws unable to fit into society.[12] Kawamoto designed the characters so they were easily distinguished from one another.[4] All the main cast are characterized by a deep sense of loneliness or resignation to their fate and past.[4] The main characters bear superficial resemblances to the main characters of anime series *Lupin III*, though they have more complex personalities and more troubled pasts.[5]:81 With one exception, none of the main characters had models in real life.[12] Their designs were intended to be distinctive.[4]

The show focuses on the character of Spike Spiegel, with the overall theme of the series being Spike's past and its karmic effect on him.[13]
 Spike was portrayed as someone who had lost his expectations for the
future, having lost the woman he loved, and so was in a near-constant
lethargy.[4]
 Spike's artificial eye was included as Watanabe wanted his characters
to have flaws. He was originally going to give Spike an eye patch, but
the producers vetoed it.[12][14]
Jet is shown as someone who lost confidence in his former life and has become cynical about the state of society.[4][15]
 Spike and Jet were designed to be opposites, with Spike being thin and
wearing smart attire, while Jet was bulky and wore more casual clothing.[12] The clothing, which was dark in color, also reflected their states of mind.[4] Faye Valentine, Edward Wong, and Ein joined the crew in later episodes.[15] Their designs were intended to contrast against Spike.[12]
 Faye was described by her voice actress as initially being an "ugly"
woman, with her defining traits being her liveliness, sensuality and
humanity.[13] To emphasize her situation when first introduced, she was compared to Poker Alice, a famous Western figure.[12] Edward was the one character to have a real-life model: her behavior was based on the antics of Yoko Kanno as observed by Watanabe when he first met her.[12]
 While generally portrayed as carefree and eccentric, she is motivated
by a sense of loneliness after being abandoned by her father.[15] Ein was based on Kawamoto's pet corgi Coline.[12]

## Production

*Cowboy Bebop* was developed by animation studio Sunrise and created by Hajime Yatate,
 the well-known pseudonym for the collective contributions of Sunrise's
animation staff. The leader of the series' creative team was director Shinichirō Watanabe, most notable at the time for directing *Macross Plus* and *Mobile Suit Gundam 0083: Stardust Memory*. Other leading members of Sunrise's creative team were screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical art designer Kimitoshi Yamane, composer Yoko Kanno,
 and producers Masahiko Minami and Yoshiyuki Takei. Most of them had
previously worked together, in addition to having credits on other
popular anime titles. Nobumoto had scripted *Macross Plus*, Kawamoto had designed the characters for *Gundam*, and Kanno had composed the music for *Macross Plus* and *The Vision of Escaflowne*. Yamane had not worked with Watanabe yet, but his credits in anime included *Bubblegum Crisis* and *The Vision of Escaflowne*. Minami joined the project as he wanted to do something different from his previous work on mecha anime.[6][13]

### Concept

*Cowboy Bebop* was Watanabe's first project as solo director, as he had been co-director in his previous works.[16] His original concept was for a movie, and during production he treated each episode as a miniature movie.[17][18] His main inspiration for *Cowboy Bebop* was *Lupin III*, a crime anime series focusing on the exploits of the series' titular character.[6]
 When developing the series' story, Watanabe began by creating the
characters first. He explained, "the first image that occurred to me was
 one of Spike, and from there I tried to build a story around him,
trying to make him cool."[19]
 While the original dialogue of the series was kept clean to avoid any
profanities, its level of sophistication was made appropriate to adults
in a criminal environment. Mature themes such as drug dealing and homosexuality were key elements of some episodes.[6] Watanabe described *Cowboy Bebop* as "80% serious story and 20% humorous touch."[20]
 The comical episodes were harder for the team to write than the serious
 ones, but though several events in them seemed random, they were
carefully planned in advance.[12]
 Watanabe conceived the series' ending early on, and each episode
involving Spike and Vicious was meant to foreshadow their final
confrontation. Some of the staff were unhappy about this approach as a
continuation of the series would be difficult. While he considered
altering the ending, he eventually settled with his original idea.[14] The reason for creating the ending was that Watanabe did not want the series to become like *Star Trek*, with him being tied to doing it for years.[12]

### Development

The project had initially originated with Bandai's
 toy division as a sponsor, with the goal of selling spacecraft toys.
Watanabe recalled his only instruction was "So long as there's a
spaceship in it, you can do whatever you want." But upon viewing early
footage, it became clear that Watanabe's vision for the series didn't
match with that of Bandai's. Believing the series would never sell toy
merchandise, Bandai pulled out of the project, leaving it in development hell until sister company Bandai Visual
 stepped in to sponsor it. Since there was no need to merchandise toys
with the property any more, Watanabe had free rein in the development of
 the series.[16]
 Watanabe wanted to design not just a space adventure series for
adolescent boys but a program that would also appeal to sophisticated
adults.[6] During the making of *Bebop*,
 Watanabe often attempted to rally the animation staff by telling them
that the show would be something memorable up to three decades later.
While some of them were doubtful of that at the time, Watanabe many
years later expressed his happiness to have been proven right in
retrospect. He joked that if Bandai Visual hadn't intervened then "you
might be seeing me working the supermarket checkout counter right now."[16]

The city locations were generally inspired by the cities of New York and Hong Kong.[21] The atmospheres of the planets and the ethnic groups in *Cowboy Bebop* mostly originated from Watanabe's ideas, with some collaboration from set designers Isamu Imakake, Shoji Kawamori, and Dai Satō.
 The animation staff established the particular planet atmospheres early
 in the production of the series before working on the ethnic groups. It
 was Watanabe who wanted to have several groups of ethnic diversity
appear in the series. Mars was the planet most often used in *Cowboy Bebop*
'​s storylines, with Satoshi Toba, the cultural and setting producer,
explaining that the other planets "were unexpectedly difficult to use."
He stated that each planet in the series had unique features, and the
producers had to take into account the characteristics of each planet in
 the story. For the final episode, Toba explained that it was not
possible for the staff to have the dramatic rooftop scene occur on Venus, so the staff "ended up normally falling back to Mars."[22]

### Music

The music for *Cowboy Bebop* was composed by Yoko Kanno.[23] Kanno formed the blues and jazz band Seatbelts to perform the music of the series.[24]
 According to Kanno, the music was one of the first aspects of the
series to begin production, before most of the characters, story or
animation had been finalized. The genres she used for its composition
were western, opera and jazz.[12]
 Watanabe noted that composer Yoko Kanno did not score the music exactly
 the way he told her to. He stated, "She gets inspired on her own,
follows up on her own imagery and comes to me saying 'this is the song
we need for *Cowboy Bebop*,' and composes something completely on her own."[25]
 Kanno herself was sometimes surprised at how pieces of her music were
used in scenes, sometimes wishing it had been used elsewhere, though she
 also felt that none of their uses were "inappropriate". She was pleased
 with the working environment, finding the team very relaxed in
comparison with other teams she had worked with.[13]

Watanabe further explained that he would take inspiration from
Kanno's music after listening to it and create new scenes for the story
from it. These new scenes in turn would inspire Kanno and give her new
ideas for the music and she would come to Watanabe with even more music.
 Watanabe cited as an example, "some songs in the second half of the
series, we didn't even ask her for those songs, she just made them and
brought them to us." He commented that while Kanno's method was normally
 "unforgivable and unacceptable," it was ultimately a "big hit" with *Cowboy Bebop*.
 Watanabe described his collaboration with Kanno as "a game of catch
between the two of us in developing the music and creating the TV series
 *Cowboy Bebop*."[25]
 Since the series' broadcast, Kanno and the Seatbelts have released
seven original soundtrack albums, two singles and extended plays, and
two compilations through label Victor Entertainment.[26]

## Distribution

### Broadcast

See also: List of Cowboy Bebop episodes

*Cowboy Bebop* almost did not appear on Japanese broadcast television due to its depictions of graphic violence. It was first sent to TV Tokyo,
 one of the main broadcasters of anime in Japan. The show had an aborted
 first run from April 3 until June 26, 1998, on TV Tokyo, broadcasting
only episodes 2, 3, 7 to 15, 18 and a special, after which it was canceled due to low ratings.[27] Later that year, the series was shown in its entirety from October 24 until April 24, 1999, on satellite network WOWOW.[28] The full series has also been broadcast across Japan by anime television network Animax, which has also aired the series via its respective networks across Southeast Asia, South Asia and East Asia.
In the United States, *Cowboy Bebop* was one of the programs shown the night Cartoon Network's late night block Adult Swim debuted on September 2, 2001, being the first anime shown on the block.[29]
 It was successful enough to be broadcast repeatedly for four years. It
has been run at least once every year since 2007, and HD remasters of
the show began broadcasting in 2015. In the United Kingdom it was first
broadcast in 2002 as one of the highlights of the "cartoon network for
adults", CNX. From November 6, 2007, it was repeated on AnimeCentral until the channel's closure in August 2008. In Australia, *Cowboy Bebop* was first broadcast on pay-TV in 2002 on Adult Swim in Australia. It was broadcast on Sci Fi Channel on Foxtel. In Australia, *Cowboy Bebop* was first broadcast on free-to-air-TV on ABC2 (the national digital public television channel) on January 2, 2007.[30] It has been repeated several times, most recently starting in 2008.[31][32] *Cowboy Bebop: The Movie* also aired again on February 23, 2009, on SBS (a hybrid-funded Australian public broadcasting television network). In Canada, *Cowboy Bebop* was first broadcast on December 24, 2006, on Razer.

In Latin America, was first broadcast on pay-TV in 2001 on Locomotion. It is retransmitted from January 9, 2016 on I.Sat (Adult Swim block).[33] [34]

### Home media

*Cowboy Bebop* has been released in three separate editions in North America.

The first release was sold in 2000 individually, and featured uncut
versions of the original 26 episodes. In 2001, these DVDs were collected
 in the special edition *Perfect Sessions* which included the first 6 DVDs, the first *Cowboy Bebop*
 soundtrack, and a collector's box. At the time of release, the art box
from the Perfect Sessions was made available for purchase on The Right
Stuff International as a solo item for collectors who already owned the
series.[35]

The second release, *The Best Sessions*, was sold in 2002 and featured what Bandai considered to be the best 6 episodes of the series remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS surround sound.[36]

The third release, *Cowboy Bebop Remix*, was also distributed on
 6 discs and included the original 26 uncut episodes, with sound
remastered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and video remastered under the
supervision of Shinichiro Watanabe. This release also included various
extras that were not present in the original release.[37] Cowboy Bebop Remix was itself collected as the Cowboy Bebop Remix DVD Collection in 2008.

A fourth release in Blu-Ray format was released on December 21, 2012 exclusively in Japan.[38][39]

In December 2012, newly founded distributor Anime Limited announced
via Facebook and Twitter that they had acquired the home video license
for the United Kingdom. Part 1 of the Blu-Ray collection was released on
 July 29, 2013, while Part 2 was released on October 14. The standard
DVD Complete Collection was originally meant to be released on September
 23, 2013 with Part 2 of the Blu-Ray release but due to mastering and
manufacturing errors, the Complete Collection was delayed until November
 27.[*citation needed*] Following the closure of Bandai Entertainment in 2012, Funimation and Sunrise had announced that they rescued *Cowboy Bebop*, along with a handful of other former Bandai Entertainment properties, for home video and digital release.[40] Funimation released the series on Blu-ray and DVD on December 16, 2014.[41][42]
 The series was released in four separate editions: standard DVD,
standard Blu-ray, an Amazon.com exclusive Blu-ray/DVD combo, and a
Funimation.com exclusive Blu-ray/DVD combo.[41][43]

## Related media

### Manga

Main article: List of Cowboy Bebop chapters

Two *Cowboy Bebop* manga series have been released, both published by Kadokawa Shoten and serialized in *Asuka Fantasy DX*.[44][45] The first manga series, titled *Cowboy Bebop: Shooting Star*
 and written and illustrated by Cain Kuga, was serialized from October
issue 1997, before the anime series' release, to July issue 1998.[44][46] It was collected into two volumes in 1998, the first one in May and the second one in September.[47][48] The second manga series, simply titled *Cowboy Bebop* and written and illustrated by Yutaka Nanten, was serialized from November issue 1998 to March issue 2000.[45][46] It was collected into three volumes, the first two in April and October 1999 and the third one in April 2000.[49][50][51] Both manga series were licensed by Tokyopop for release in North America.[52][53]

### Video games

Main articles: Cowboy Bebop (PlayStation game) and Cowboy Bebop: Tsuioku no Serenade

A *Cowboy Bebop* video game, developed and published by Bandai,[54] was released in Japan for the PlayStation on May 14, 1998.[55] A PlayStation 2 video game, *Cowboy Bebop: Tsuioku no Serenade*, was released in Japan on August 25, 2005,[56]
 and an English version had been set for release in North America.
However, in January 2007, IGN reported that the release had been likely
been cancelled, speculating that it did not survive Bandai-Namco's merger to Bandai Namco Games.[57]

### Film

An anime film titled *Cowboy Bebop: The Movie*, also known as *Cowboy Bebop the Movie: Knockin' on Heaven's Door* (劇場版 カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉 *Gekijōban Kaubōi Bibappu: Tengoku no Tobira*?, titled *Cowboy Bebop: Heaven's Door* in English), was released in Japan on September 2001 and in the United States in 2003.

On July 22, 2008, *If* published an article on its website regarding a rumor of a live-action *Cowboy Bebop* movie in development by 20th Century Fox. Producer Erwin Stoff said that the film's development was in the early stages, and that they had "just signed it".[58][59] Keanu Reeves was to play the role of Spike Spiegel.[60][61] Variety confirmed on January 15, 2009, that production company Sunrise Animation
 would be "closely involved with the development of the English language
 project". The site also confirmed Kenji Uchida, Shinichiro Watanabe,
and series writer Keiko Nobumoto as associate producers, series producer
 Masahiko Minami as a production consultant, and Peter Craig as screenwriter. This was lauded by various sources as a promising move for the potential quality of the film.[62]
 At the time it was slated to release in 2011, but problems with the
budget delayed its production. The submitted script was sent back for
rewrite to reduce the cost and little has been heard about it since an
interview with producer Joshua Long on October 15, 2010;[63] the project currently languishes in development hell. On May 31, 2013, Watanabe stated that the film is currently "underway" but the "details are a secret."[*citation needed*]
 On Oct, 25 2014 series director Watanabe was asked about the live
action film at the MCM London comicon. He stated "I'm afraid I don't
know what they're thinking in Hollywood. Apparently the project hasn't
come to a stop but I don't know how it's going to progress from here on.
 I hear that there are a lot of 'Hollywood' problems.[64]

### Other

An official side story titled *Cowboy Bebop: UT* tells the story of Ural and Victoria Terpsichore (V.T. from the episode *Heavy Metal Queen*)
 when they were bounty hunters. The story was available in its own
official site, however the site was closed and is currently available at
 the site mirror hosted by jazzmess.com.[65]

## Reception

### Critical reception

The series received universal critical acclaim. Anime News Network's
 Mike Crandol gave the series an 'A+' rating for the dubbed version, and
 an 'A' rating for the subbed version. He claimed the series was "one of
 the most popular and respected anime titles in history," before adding
that it was "a unique television show which skillfully transcends all
kinds of genres." Crandol praised its characters as "some of the most
endearing characters to ever grace an anime," and commended the voice
acting, especially the "flawless English cast," believing they "actually
 one-up the Japanese originals." He also complimented the series'
"movie-quality" animation, "sophisticated" writing, and its "incredible"
 musical score. Crandol hailed *Cowboy Bebop* as a "landmark" anime
 "that will be remembered long after many others have been forgotten",
and went on to call it "one of the greatest anime titles ever."[66] Additionally, Michael Toole of Anime News Network named *Cowboy Bebop* as one of the most important anime of the 1990s.[67]

T.H.E.M. Anime Reviews gave the entire series a perfect score of 5 out of 5 stars, with reviewer Christina Carpenter believing *Cowboy Bebop* as "one of the best [anime]" and touting it as a masterpiece that "puts most anime...and Hollywood,
 to shame." She described it as a "very stylish, beautifully crafted
series that deserves much more attention than it gets." Carpenter
praised the animation as "a rarity and a marvel to behold" and that it
was "beyond superb," and the plot and characterization as having "a
sophistication and subtlety that is practically one-of-a-kind." She also
 praised the soundtrack, and hailed the opening theme as one of the best
 intro pieces she had ever heard. Carpenter went to say that *Bebop* was a "must-have for any serious collector of Japanese animation."[68]

In his article "Asteroid Blues: The Lasting Legacy of Cowboy Bebop", *The Atlantic* writer Alex Suskind states, "On paper, *Cowboy Bebop*,
 the legendary cult anime series from Shinichirō Watanabe, reads like
something John Wayne, Elmore Leonard, and Philip K. Dick came up with
during a wild, all-night whiskey bender." He goes on to write, "The
response from critics and fans may have sounded hyperbolic—the word
'masterpiece' was thrown around a great deal—but the praise was
justified. First-time solo director Watanabe had created a gorgeous tale
 of morality, romance, and violence–a dark look at the lives of outlaws
that's shot like an independent film."[69]

In January 2015, television writer Kyle Mills awarded the series five
 stars upon review. He stated, "Regardless of the medium, be it live
action television, film, or animation, *Cowboy Bebop* is simply one
 of the finest examples of storytelling ever created." In his review, he
 describes the finale as "one of the best in television history,"
referring to it as a "widely revered" ending that "still sparks fan
conversation, resonating with viewers 15 years on." He closes by
writing, "*Cowboy Bebop* ends with a bang."[70]

### Accolades

In the 1999 Anime Grand Prix awards for the anime of 1998, *Cowboy Bebop* won two 1st place awards: Spike Spiegel was awarded the best male character; and Megumi Hayashibara was awarded the best voice actor for her role as Faye Valentine. *Cowboy Bebop* also received rankings in other categories: the series itself was awarded the 2nd best anime series; Faye Valentine and Ed were ranked the 5th and 9th best female characters respectively; "Tank!" and "The Real Folk Blues" were ranked the 3rd and 15th best songs respectively; and "Ballad of Fallen Angels", "Speak Like a Child", "Jamming with Edward" and "Mish-Mash Blues" were ranked the 2nd, 8th, 18th and 20th best episodes respectively.[71]

In the 2000 Anime Grand Prix awards for the anime of 1999, *Cowboy Bebop*
 won the same two 1st place awards again: best male character for Spike
Spiegel; and best voice actor for Megumi Hayashibara. Other rankings the
 series received are: 2nd best anime series; 6th best female character
for Faye Valentine; 7th and 12th best song for "Tank!" and "Blue"
respectively; and 3rd and 17th best episode for "The Real Folk Blues (Part 2)" and "Hard Luck Woman" respectively.[72] In the 2000 Seiun Awards, Cowboy Bebop was awarded for Best Media of the Year.[73]

A 2004 poll in *Newtype USA*, the US edition of the Japanese magazine *Newtype*, asked its readers to vote the "Top 25 Anime Titles of All Time"; *Cowboy Bebop* ranked 2nd on the list (after *Neon Genesis Evangelion*), placing it as one of the most socially relevant and influential anime series ever created.[74] In 2007, the American Anime magazine *Anime Insider* listed the "50 Best Anime Ever" by compiling lists of industry regulars and magazine staff, and ranked *Cowboy Bebop* as the #1 anime of all time.[75] In 2012, Madman Entertainment compiled the votes of fans online for "The Top 20 Madman Anime Titles" and ranked *Cowboy Bebop* at #7.[76]

*Cowboy Bebop* has been featured in several lists published by IGN. In the 2009 "Top 100 Animated TV Series" list, *Cowboy Bebop*,
 labelled as "a very original -- and arguably one of the best -- anime",
 was placed 14th, making it the second highest ranking anime on the list
 (after *Evangelion*) and one of the most influential series of the 1990s.[77] In 2011, *Bebop* was ranked 29th in the "Top 50 Sci-Fi TV Shows" list, once again being the second highest ranking anime on the list (after *Evangelion*).[78] In 2006, *Cowboy Bebop*
'​s soundtrack was ranked #1 in "Top Ten Anime Themes and Soundtracks of
 All-Time" list, with the series being commented as "one of the best
anime ever and certainly is tops when it comes to music."[79] Spike Spiegel was ranked 4th place in the "Top 25 Anime Characters of All Time" article.[80] IGN Movies also placed *Cowboy Bebop* in their list of "10 Cartoon Adaptations We'd Like to See".[81]

WatchMojo.com has also placed *Cowboy Bebop* on multiple ranking lists. In 2013, the show ranked #6 on their "Top 10 Anime Series" list.[82] They also ranked the character of Vicious as #6 on their "Top 10 Anime Villains".[83]
 In 2014 respectively, the company also ranked the show's opening theme
sequence as #9 on their "Top 10 Anime Opening Theme Songs"[84] and gave Spike Speigel an honorable mention in their "Top 10 Anime Anti-Heroes" list.[85]

The series is currently ranked #24 on IMDB's *Top 250* list of the greatest television shows ever made. It is the highest ranking anime on the list.[86]

### Analysis

The series has been subject to study and analysis since its debut,
with the main focus being on its style and mixture of genres. Miguel
Douglas, describing the series style in a review, said that "the series
distinctly establishes itself outside the realm of conventional Japanese animation and instead chooses to forge its own path. With a setting within the realm of science fiction,
 the series wisely offers a world that seems entirely realistic
considering our present time. Free from many of the elements that
accompany science fiction in general — whether that be space aliens, giant robots, or laser guns
 — the series delegates itself towards presenting a world that is quite
similar to our own albeit showcasing some technological advances.
Certainly not as pristine a future we would see in other series or
films, *Cowboy Bebop* decides to deliver a future that closely
reflects that of our own time. This aspect of familiarity does wonders
in terms of relating to the viewer, and it presents a world that
certainly resembles our very own."[87] Daryl Surat of *Otaku USA*,
 commenting on the series' appeal, said that it was "that rare breed of
science-fiction: "accessible". Unlike many anime titles, viewers weren't
 expected to have knowledge of Asian culture — character names, signs, and the like were primarily in English to begin with — or have seen any other anime series prior."[88] Michelle Onley Pirkle, in her book *Science Fiction Film, Television, and Adaptation: Across the Screens*, said that "[*Cowboy Bebop*]
 is taking a new take on genre, not by creating unique images and
sounds, but by playing "freely" with, "remixing", or adapting the images
 and sounds of other familiar genres in a dynamic way."[89]:164 Robert Baigent, writing for the *Graduate Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies*, said that the series' appeal likely stemmed from the trend in anime to emulate western fiction.[10]

## Legacy

In March 2009, the print and web editions of The Onion's *A.V. Club* called *Cowboy Bebop* "rightly a huge hit", and listed it as a gateway series to understanding the medium of anime as a whole.[1]
 Suskind said, "It was unlike anything the genre had seen before. It
even approached its music differently. The show kicked off with a
wormhole of a theme song, and the soundtrack moves so seamlessly through
 genres, from rock to country to pop to jazz to funk, it's shocking to
learn that one set of musicians is behind it all." In an interview,
producer Sean Akins also states that the series, "created a whole new
world." "It's hard for me to quantify the impact that I think it has
had. It changed anime. I think people began to think about what shows
would be cool. I think it redefined cool within animation, not only in
Japan but in the States."[69]

American film director, screenwriter, and producer Rian Johnson has cited *Cowboy Bebop* as a visual influence on his films, most notably *Brick*.[90] *Ender's Game* writer, novelist, critic, playwright, and poet Orson Scott Card
 also praised the series. He states that the series is "better than most
 sci-fi films out there." He goes on to say that he, "found this series
brilliant, but what held me was a combination of strong
relationship-based storytelling, a moody visual style that never got old
 and really smart dialogue."[69]

After the creation of the series, an interviewer asked Watanabe if he had any plans to create more *Cowboy Bebop* material. Watanabe responded by saying that he does not believe that he "should just keep on making *Cowboy Bebop*
 sequels for the sake of it". Watanabe added that ending production and
"to quit while we're ahead when people still want more" is more "in
keeping with the *Bebop* spirit".[91] In a more recent interview from 2006 with *The Daily Texan*, Watanabe was asked if there would ever be more *Cowboy Bebop*. Watanabe's answer was "someday...maybe, someday".[92]