Second of 12 entries for this year’s “Twelve Moments in Anime” project.
Before this year, all I had watched of Cowboy Bebop were four middle-of-the-series episodes from a used DVD volume, another I caught on cable one night, and the first part of the movie. After buying the Anime Legends collection set in July and finishing it earlier this month, I now understand why this is such a beloved show – the characters, the chemistry between them, the fluidly-animated action, and the themes. There were a few moments I could chosen to highlight (the end of episode 1, for example) but I knew one in particular would make this year-end retrospective right after I had experienced it.
The bounty target for the Bebop crew in episode 7 is an explosives-smuggler named Decker – the only problem is that no one knows what he looks like except that he has a dragon-shaped tattoo. Faye thinks that she’s found him in a diner so she sidles up to a well-built man and uses some sensuality before holding a gun to his chin. The real Decker, a guy with Woody Allen-glasses sitting in the next booth, becomes frightened and sneaks out of his booth but not before Faye tells him to call the police. Once she see the dragon tat on his arm as he’s leaving, she tears off the front of the buff man’s shirt to discover an eight-eyed eel. (Oh, by the way, the diner is named Woody’s.)
This sort of “not what it seems” humor surfaces throughout the series and I found the comedy, action, and thoughtful moments were well-blended together to make a show that I won’t mind going returning sometime next year. I watched it all the way through with Japanese voicing since I hadn’t heard those voices before; my rewatch will use the English dub because I don’t remember much of it.
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