The action-packed science fiction anime classic, Cowboy Bebop, has many standout episodes. Which ones are the best of the best?
Cowboy Bebop (1998 - 1999) is one of the greatest anime of all time, meaning it's difficult to pick the best episodes. Created by Shinichiro Watanabe of Samurai Champloo, Space Dandy, and The Animatrix fame, the show is a masterful mix of the Western, noir, and science fiction genres. Its vision of a future in which humanity has advanced technologically but reverted to societal norms of olden times inspired many future TV shows and movies of its kind.
The show doesn't waste a second of its 26 episodes, telling a complete story with rich characters and complex themes. While there are many excellent anime like Cowboy Bebop, it truly is unique in its style and storytelling, with many standout episodes in the Bebop crew's many adventures. The best of the best episodes tell tight, compelling stories, evoke strong emotional reactions, and tie into the show's main theme of troubled people doing their best to make their way through ruined lives.Starting the classic series off with a bang is Asteroid Blues Bounty hunters Spike Spiegel and Jet Black make a meager living chasing down criminals, most recently wanted traffickers in the drug Red Eye. When they clash on the asteroid Tijuana, it’s a perfect introduction to the fast-paced action that will propel the rest of the show.
This episode features one of the best villain couples in anime in Asimov and Katerina Solensan, drug dealers whose plans to retire after one last job are threatened by their deteriorating relationship and Asimov’s addiction to Red Eye. It’s not only a compelling and tragic story on its own, but it’s clever foreshadowing of Spike’s own ultimate failure to move on from his past. Overall, Asteroid Blues sets the tone for both the story and the show’s atmosphere as a whole perfectly.Despite Jet and Spike’s disdain for “dogs, kids, and women with attitude,” they wind up bounty hunting with all three over the course of the show. The first one to come on board the Bebop is Ein, a “data dog” escaped from a lab. Spike gets tangled up with the lab’s scientists and a fearsome rival bounty hunter as all parties go after the four-legged genius.
Ein, one of the best canines in anime, becomes an iconic character outside the show and a vital member of the Bebop crew within it. This episode is a perfect introduction to both Ein’s smarts and his other role as comic relief. Corgis in and of themselves are adorable and goofy to look at, and watching Ein happily bounce away from his furious, desperate pursuers all over the planet is especially entertaining.
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