The difference between a more mature anime with those less mature is the way they portray their villains. I love the way they portray Asimov's girlfriend as a person with hope and desire to get a better life, shown simply through a short, humane conversation between her and Spike. At the same time, it shows death and violence only the most necessary: despite a lot of shootouts, you can count the casualties, even among the goons - most who survive are saved by cartoony knockouts/running away - making death has more impact when it does happen.
Other than that, this episode has slick animation especially on the action, and the plot moves tight, establishing our main characters rather quickly. The ending also defines this show right from the start: a bittersweet, tragic life of those who has to deal with the underworld.
Great pilot.
2.Stray Dog Strut (in case the order changes again)
The show alternates between dark subjects and stupidly funny situations. And so this episode is like a twin to the first one, basically following the same pattern, but on the other side of the coin.
Introducing Ein as the new crewmember.
[7.3/10] I watched this one with subtitles first before I read that the consensus is the dubbed version, so I rewatched it that way, and it was an interesting exercise! I definitely feel like I got more of the character and texture coming through with the dubbed version, and helped me to immerse myself in the world a little more. That said, there’s something about hearing the lines spoken in the native language of the author that has power too. I will probably stick with the dubbed version given the consensus, but it made for an interesting double introduction to Cowboy Bebop.
I mostly appreciate the style here. The loose jazz, the extreme character designs and alternatingly halting and fluid motion, the jarring yet poignant use of silence, the blood a neo-noir trappings, the western scène à faire mixed with a science-fiction setting. It has a sense of place and a distinctive flavor, which is a good start for any series.
I’m less enamored with the characters so far. Spike is a pretty generic rogue, a little too reckless for his own good but cunning enough to get by despite that. Jet is a fairly standard tough guy second, with a little more charm. The other hangers on here like the Indigenous fortune teller or the horny barflies are vaguely uncomfortable. And the tastefully-named, drug-using gangster, Asimov, is a pretty standard archetype.
Only the gangster’s girlfriend, Kartina, has a little more distinctive about her. Even she conforms to some standard noir tropes, with a certain sad femme fatale quality and a doomed dream. But her “pregnant belly” full of contraband, her willingness to kill her accomplice when she realizes he has no will to see their dream through, and the tragic poetic imagery of the vial spilling out from her dress like blood as she dies in space, gives her a memorable debut no one else can match.
Still, this one has potential in style alone, and hopefully there’s time to develop Spike, Jet, and what I assume will be other members of the cast better over time. Setting out a pair of bounty hunters to hop across the galaxy and encounter cases of the week is a good premise, and the jazzy rhythms of this one give enough reason to keep coming back to see who’ll they’ll trade blows and bullets with next time.
This is so fun :laughing: and great OST music. :notes:
This episode was amazing, I love the main characters and I love the action and the fight scenes and the space western style of this show.
This should be episode 1
Shopkeeper: "Hey, bro, you can buy anything here on Mars."
Man: "Hey, wait, you need to pay!"
Abdul Hakim: "I'll pay when I am rich."
Man: "You can't be serious."Spike: "I'm gonna salt you and eat you, damn it."
Chapter 1: Asteroid Blues
With a soundtrack that contrast so big with its setting i was expecting something jarring or uplifting, but instead there's a poeticism and melancholy so persistent in these characters, a love for the little gestures that they share and an exploration of how big the landscapes are in compatison to how fragile the people surrounding them are.
I was expecting so little, but right now I'm in awe.
Shout by JimmyVIP 2BlockedParent2021-10-25T22:33:59Z
Episode 2
(Episodes all out of order)