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| Cowboy Bebop Remix Volume 1 |
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Genre
Anime
Length
125 minutes
Director
Shinichirô Watanabe
Major Stars
Kôichi Yamadera
Unshô Ishizuka
Megumi Hayashibara
MPAA Rating
NR
Year Released
1998
Review Posted on
7/27/2006
Rating
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Review by Andy Patrizio
In April 1998, an anime series called Cowboy Bebop made an inauspicious debut on Japanese TV. The show was edited, episodes were run out of order, and only 12 episodes aired. Fans knew what we all knew - this show was cool. Later in the year, the full 26 episodes ran.
Since then it's aired consistently on Cartoon Network and drew good ratings for years, a remarkable feat considering the DVDs have been on the market for a long time and there are only 26 episodes. It's a testament to the show's popularity.
Cowboy Bebop ranks very high on the anime scale, one of the best examples of the genre out there. But it's real legacy is that it introduced a whole generation to anime, bringing it to a mass market, particularly older fans, in a way that plotless nonsense designed to sell merchandise like Pokemon and Dragonball Z never could.
Cowboy Bebop was a perfect storm of a series. It had an intriguing storyline, memorable characters and one of the most revolutionary soundtracks in anime. Before Bebop, music wasn't as pronounced in episodic anime. Often, it was the same orchestral clips played over and over.
But Yoko Kanno, who's become a bigger celebrity in anime than most directors, changed all that. She wrote whole new songs for every episode, embracing everything from bluegrass to jazz to 70s funk to blues and, of course, bebop. Few shows, then or now, used music to greater effect.
And then there were the characters. The original two were Spike Spiegel, a former gangster, and Jet Black, a former cop with a few prosthetic limbs. Both were now making a living, if you could call it that, as cowboys, the term for bounty hunters. The year was 2071 and due to an unexplained accident, the Moon had split, shattered, and rained down huge chunks onto Earth, making it impossible to live there. Man was scattered throughout the solar system.
Their ship was called the Bebop, a former fishing trawler turned space ship. The two scrape by trying to make a living as bounty hunters, and don't do very well. Episode two saw the introduction of a genetically-enhanced Welsh Corgi named Ein, which became Jet and Spike's mascot, and episode three saw the introduction of the very hot, and very ruthless Faye Valentine. She wasn't asked to join the two on their ship, she just moved in. The fourth member would come with a later volume.
Making it all work is the voice cast. While some purists turn up their nose even at this series (anime has some fanatics who simply will not watch any series in English, no way, no how), this cast was perfect. I've knocked Steven Blum and Wendee Lee for being one-trick ponies who sound the same in every anime they appear in, but if they have one trick to offer, this was the place for it.
The first Cowboy Bebop: Remix contains five episodes, just like the original disc. The introductory episode, "Asteroid Blues," features a nod to the movie Desperado and introduces both Spike and his former life as a mobster. Episode two introduced Ein and episode three brought us Faye Valentine.
It was episode five where the series broke out. "Ballad of Fallen Angels" is probably the best episode in the series and one of the best 24 minutes in anime you'll see. Spike's past comes to the forefront in a big way. If you can't get into the show after this, then give up.
Cowboy Bebop is one of anime's greatest hits, and this reissue is long in coming. It's a worthwhile double-dip.
The Video
The series was broadcast in 4:3 full screen video. While the packaging says remastered video, and someone at Bandai told me they did get new masters from Japan, you will be hard pressed to find a difference between the new and old transfers.
The color levels are steady and solid and I was spared any major interlacing problems. But I've got a deck that compensates for those problems, so your mileage may vary. The video is<
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