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Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop (1998) is a Japanese anime series, motion picture, and manga. It follows the adventures of a group of bounty hunters travelling on a spaceship, the Bebop, in the year 2071.
Cowboy Bebop was a commercial success in the United States and has featured on Cartoon Network's late-night Adult Swim programming block. Sony Pictures released the Cowboy Bebop movie, Knockin' on Heaven's Door to movie theaters in the United States and followed that up with a DVD release. The series has also been broadcast by the anime television network, Animax, across Japan, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Latin America, and other regions, Two Cowboy Bebop manga series were created based on the TV series; as well as video games for both the Play Station and Play Station 2 consoles.
Cowboy Bebop is strongly influenced by American culture, especially the jazz movements of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Nearly all of its action sequences, from space battles to hand-to-hand martial arts combat, are set and timed to music. Music is a driving force within the series. Episodes are called Sessions (in reference to musicians playing a "jam session"), and titles are either borrowed from an album's or a song's name (Sympathy for the Devil), or make use of a genre name (Mushroom Samba), that will influence the whole episode action and musical theme.
Background
In the year 2021, a series of ring-shaped hyperspace gateways were constructed across the solar system, allowing for easy interplanetary travel. Unfortunately, the gate network contained a fatal instability that was ignored by the contractors who built the system. The instability grew until a gateway near Earth exploded, releasing a powerful burst of energy that cracked the Moon. In a cataclysmic disaster referred to as "The Gate Incident", meteoric debris from the devastated Moon rained down on the planet, destroying much of Earth's surface. The death toll was cataclysmic; around 4.7 billion lives were lost. People mostly live underground, as debris continues to rain down on the planet daily, although a sizeable number of people refuse to leave or simply can't afford to. Most, however, left Earth after the Gate Incident and spread out across the solar system, living in colonies on Venus, Mars, some habitable asteroids, the moons of Saturn and the Galilean moons of Jupiter as well as many space stations.
Many of Mars' impact craters were domed and transformed into thriving metropolitan areas for those who can afford it. With the planet of Venus being terraformed, its aftereffects left many oxygen-providing plants floating around in the atmosphere. The spores of these plants ultimately cause “Venus Sickness” for some people. Not only do poor people live on Venus, but the unlucky that catch this sickness may eventually go blind or even die as a result. Many moons of Jupiter like Callisto, Io, and Ganymede have been terraformed and colonized, though some more than others. Rough Callisto is a dreary, hostile, and poverty-ridden cold moon (with the city of Blue Crow having an all-male population); Io is a toxic, volcanic, arid ball of sand, while Ganymede is almost completely surrounded by water and known for its fishing industry. Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is a barren desert world which has been at war since the 2060s (Titan War II in 2068 which was survived by veterans such as Vincent Volaju, Gren, and Vicious). There is even a Solar System Penitentiary on Pluto. Lastly, some asteroids have been colonized for their minerals and other natural resources.
Most importantly to the general plot of the series, sometime after the advent of space travel, the bounty system of the Old West was reinstated by the government to help curb growing crime levels. Bounty hunters are encouraged to capture criminals and return them (alive and relatively unharmed) to the authorities for a large reward. In addition, ruthless crime syndicates still have much influence in the Solar System, including bribery, murder, extortion, drug dealing, money laundering and other criminal offences. At some point between the present day and the events of Cowboy Bebop, the Woolong was established as a universal currency. Paper money is becoming less frequent as most people carry convenient money cards and rely on digital transfers.
The technology in the world of Cowboy Bebop has undergone advancements to accommodate 21st century life in the Solar System. In order to make travel between hyperspace gates faster and more efficient, a variety of spaceships are used. Most are designed to simply accommodate a single-pod cockpit that can be ejected and navigated independently of the ship itself. The system of operation for a majority of these spaceships is known as the “Machine Operation Navigation of Outer Space,” or simply, “MONO.” Medical advancements such as artificial organs and cryogenic freezing have been mastered and are in full use. Devices called “Alpha Catch” capture images and movies onto a monitor from the brain of a person that it is hooked up to. Virtual reality gaming is the standard and analog hardware such as videocassettes (VHS or beta) is obsolete. Finally, the Internet, once known as the World Wide Web, has evolved into a massive Solar System Web (SSW).
History of Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop almost did not make it on Japanese broadcast television due to its depictions of violence. It was first sent to TV Tokyo, one of the main broadcasters of anime in Japan. However, at the time it was cracking down on violence and sexuality in animes after the notoriously controversial broadcast of Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1995. The show had an aborted first run beginning on April 3, 1998 and running until June 19, 1998 on TV Tokyo, broadcasting only episodes 2, 3, 7-15 and 18. Some blame this on TV Tokyo, however, there is evidence to suggest the time slot after April 23rd was already booked. In fact, the episode XX is said to be protest by staff for the treatment of the show. Later that year, the series was shown in its entirety beginning on October 23 and running until April 23, 1999 on the satellite network WOWOW. With this broadcast slot fiasco, the whole production schedule was completely shot enough that the last episode was in fact turned over to WOWOW on the day of broadcast. The full series has also been broadcast across Japan by the anime television network, Animax, who have also aired the series via its respective networks across Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, Latin America and other regions. Cowboy Bebop was popular enough that a movie, Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira (Knockin' on Heaven's Door), was commissioned and released in Japan in 2001 and later released in the United States as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie in 2003.
In 2001, Cowboy Bebop became the first anime title to be shown as part of the U.S. Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block. It has been successful enough that it continues to be broadcast regularly until present. The success of Cowboy Bebop paved the way for Adult Swim's showing of mature anime, including InuYasha, Lupin the Third, Trigun, Blue Gender, Fullmetal Alchemist, FLCL, Witch Hunter Robin, Samurai Champloo, and Wolf's Rain.
* In the United Kingdom, Cowboy Bebop was first broadcast in 2003 as one of the highlights of the ill-fated 'cartoon network for adults', CNX.
* In France Cowboy Bebop was broadcast during summer 2000 on Canal+.
* In Germany Cowboy Bebop was broadcast during 2003-2004 on MTV.
* In Poland, Cowboy Bebop was broadcast several times by Hyper and TVP Kultura.
* In Israel, Cowboy Bebop was broadcast during 2001-2002 on Bip's late-night anime block.
* In Spain, Cowboy Bebop was broadcast during the summer of 2006 on Cuatro's late-night show Cuatroesfera.
Bandai released a Cowboy Bebop shoot 'em up video game in Japan for the PlayStation in 1998. A PlayStation 2 Cowboy Bebop video game has been released in Japan, and the English version had been set for release in North America during the first quarter of 2006; however, as of June 2006, there has been no release date set for the American release. [1]
In 2005, seven years after its original Japanese broadcast, Bebop was finally licensed and released in the European market by Beez, an extension of Bandai Entertainment.
Plot
In the year 2071, the crew of the spaceship Bebop travel the solar system trying to apprehend bounties. In the slang of the era, "Cowboys" are bounty hunters. Most episodes revolve around a bounty; however the overall focus of the show concerns the deep pasts of each character and of more general past events, which unravel and connect as the series progresses.
The primary storyline focuses on Spike Spiegel, a former member of the Red Dragon crime syndicate who is haunted by a past love triangle between his former syndicate partner, Vicious, and a mysterious woman named Julia.
A secondary storyline revolves around Faye Valentine, an indebted gambler awakened from cryogenic slumber, whose past is a mystery even to herself.
Other Bebop crew members also have their stories explored. These include Jet Black, a former ISSP officer and the owner of the ship; Edward, a wacky but genius female computer hacker, and Ein, a former lab animal "data dog" who was enhanced with super intelligence, but who usually pretends to be just a regular dog.
Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop (1998) is a Japanese anime series, motion picture, and manga. It follows the adventures of a group of bounty hunters travelling on a spaceship, the Bebop, in the year 2071.
Cowboy Bebop was a commercial success in the United States and has featured on Cartoon Network's late-night Adult Swim programming block. Sony Pictures released the Cowboy Bebop movie, Knockin' on Heaven's Door to movie theaters in the United States and followed that up with a DVD release. The series has also been broadcast by the anime television network, Animax, across Japan, East Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Latin America, and other regions, Two Cowboy Bebop manga series were created based on the TV series; as well as video games for both the Play Station and Play Station 2 consoles.
Cowboy Bebop is strongly influenced by American culture, especially the jazz movements of the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. Nearly all of its action sequences, from space battles to hand-to-hand martial arts combat, are set and timed to music. Music is a driving force within the series. Episodes are called Sessions (in reference to musicians playing a "jam session"), and titles are either borrowed from an album's or a song's name (Sympathy for the Devil), or make use of a genre name (Mushroom Samba), that will influence the whole episode action and musical theme.
Background
In the year 2021, a series of ring-shaped hyperspace gateways were constructed across the solar system, allowing for easy interplanetary travel. Unfortunately, the gate network contained a fatal instability that was ignored by the contractors who built the system. The instability grew until a gateway near Earth exploded, releasing a powerful burst of energy that cracked the Moon. In a cataclysmic disaster referred to as "The Gate Incident", meteoric debris from the devastated Moon rained down on the planet, destroying much of Earth's surface. The death toll was cataclysmic; around 4.7 billion lives were lost. People mostly live underground, as debris continues to rain down on the planet daily, although a sizeable number of people refuse to leave or simply can't afford to. Most, however, left Earth after the Gate Incident and spread out across the solar system, living in colonies on Venus, Mars, some habitable asteroids, the moons of Saturn and the Galilean moons of Jupiter as well as many space stations.
Many of Mars' impact craters were domed and transformed into thriving metropolitan areas for those who can afford it. With the planet of Venus being terraformed, its aftereffects left many oxygen-providing plants floating around in the atmosphere. The spores of these plants ultimately cause “Venus Sickness” for some people. Not only do poor people live on Venus, but the unlucky that catch this sickness may eventually go blind or even die as a result. Many moons of Jupiter like Callisto, Io, and Ganymede have been terraformed and colonized, though some more than others. Rough Callisto is a dreary, hostile, and poverty-ridden cold moon (with the city of Blue Crow having an all-male population); Io is a toxic, volcanic, arid ball of sand, while Ganymede is almost completely surrounded by water and known for its fishing industry. Titan, Saturn's largest moon, is a barren desert world which has been at war since the 2060s (Titan War II in 2068 which was survived by veterans such as Vincent Volaju, Gren, and Vicious). There is even a Solar System Penitentiary on Pluto. Lastly, some asteroids have been colonized for their minerals and other natural resources.
Most importantly to the general plot of the series, sometime after the advent of space travel, the bounty system of the Old West was reinstated by the government to help curb growing crime levels. Bounty hunters are encouraged to capture criminals and return them (alive and relatively unharmed) to the authorities for a large reward. In addition, ruthless crime syndicates still have much influence in the Solar System, including bribery, murder, extortion, drug dealing, money laundering and other criminal offences. At some point between the present day and the events of Cowboy Bebop, the Woolong was established as a universal currency. Paper money is becoming less frequent as most people carry convenient money cards and rely on digital transfers.
The technology in the world of Cowboy Bebop has undergone advancements to accommodate 21st century life in the Solar System. In order to make travel between hyperspace gates faster and more efficient, a variety of spaceships are used. Most are designed to simply accommodate a single-pod cockpit that can be ejected and navigated independently of the ship itself. The system of operation for a majority of these spaceships is known as the “Machine Operation Navigation of Outer Space,” or simply, “MONO.” Medical advancements such as artificial organs and cryogenic freezing have been mastered and are in full use. Devices called “Alpha Catch” capture images and movies onto a monitor from the brain of a person that it is hooked up to. Virtual reality gaming is the standard and analog hardware such as videocassettes (VHS or beta) is obsolete. Finally, the Internet, once known as the World Wide Web, has evolved into a massive Solar System Web (SSW).
History of Cowboy Bebop
Cowboy Bebop almost did not make it on Japanese broadcast television due to its depictions of violence. It was first sent to TV Tokyo, one of the main broadcasters of anime in Japan. However, at the time it was cracking down on violence and sexuality in animes after the notoriously controversial broadcast of Neon Genesis Evangelion in 1995. The show had an aborted first run beginning on April 3, 1998 and running until June 19, 1998 on TV Tokyo, broadcasting only episodes 2, 3, 7-15 and 18. Some blame this on TV Tokyo, however, there is evidence to suggest the time slot after April 23rd was already booked. In fact, the episode XX is said to be protest by staff for the treatment of the show. Later that year, the series was shown in its entirety beginning on October 23 and running until April 23, 1999 on the satellite network WOWOW. With this broadcast slot fiasco, the whole production schedule was completely shot enough that the last episode was in fact turned over to WOWOW on the day of broadcast. The full series has also been broadcast across Japan by the anime television network, Animax, who have also aired the series via its respective networks across Southeast Asia, South Asia, East Asia, Latin America and other regions. Cowboy Bebop was popular enough that a movie, Cowboy Bebop: Tengoku no Tobira (Knockin' on Heaven's Door), was commissioned and released in Japan in 2001 and later released in the United States as Cowboy Bebop: The Movie in 2003.
In 2001, Cowboy Bebop became the first anime title to be shown as part of the U.S. Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block. It has been successful enough that it continues to be broadcast regularly until present. The success of Cowboy Bebop paved the way for Adult Swim's showing of mature anime, including InuYasha, Lupin the Third, Trigun, Blue Gender, Fullmetal Alchemist, FLCL, Witch Hunter Robin, Samurai Champloo, and Wolf's Rain.
* In the United Kingdom, Cowboy Bebop was first broadcast in 2003 as one of the highlights of the ill-fated 'cartoon network for adults', CNX.
* In France Cowboy Bebop was broadcast during summer 2000 on Canal+.
* In Germany Cowboy Bebop was broadcast during 2003-2004 on MTV.
* In Poland, Cowboy Bebop was broadcast several times by Hyper and TVP Kultura.
* In Israel, Cowboy Bebop was broadcast during 2001-2002 on Bip's late-night anime block.
* In Spain, Cowboy Bebop was broadcast during the summer of 2006 on Cuatro's late-night show Cuatroesfera.
Bandai released a Cowboy Bebop shoot 'em up video game in Japan for the PlayStation in 1998. A PlayStation 2 Cowboy Bebop video game has been released in Japan, and the English version had been set for release in North America during the first quarter of 2006; however, as of June 2006, there has been no release date set for the American release. [1]
In 2005, seven years after its original Japanese broadcast, Bebop was finally licensed and released in the European market by Beez, an extension of Bandai Entertainment.
Plot
In the year 2071, the crew of the spaceship Bebop travel the solar system trying to apprehend bounties. In the slang of the era, "Cowboys" are bounty hunters. Most episodes revolve around a bounty; however the overall focus of the show concerns the deep pasts of each character and of more general past events, which unravel and connect as the series progresses.
The primary storyline focuses on Spike Spiegel, a former member of the Red Dragon crime syndicate who is haunted by a past love triangle between his former syndicate partner, Vicious, and a mysterious woman named Julia.
A secondary storyline revolves around Faye Valentine, an indebted gambler awakened from cryogenic slumber, whose past is a mystery even to herself.
Other Bebop crew members also have their stories explored. These include Jet Black, a former ISSP officer and the owner of the ship; Edward, a wacky but genius female computer hacker, and Ein, a former lab animal "data dog" who was enhanced with super intelligence, but who usually pretends to be just a regular dog.
