Cowboy Bebop

This article is about the anime series. For the live-action series adaptation, see Cowboy Bebop (2021 TV series). For other uses, see Cowboy Bebop (disambiguation).

Cowboy Bebop
Key visual of the series, featuring the entire Bebop crew
カウボーイビバップ
(Kaubōi Bibappuu)
Genre
Created byHajime Yatate
Manga
Cowboy Bebop: Shooting Star
Illustrated byCain Kuga
Published byKadokawa Shoten
English publisher
MagazineMonthly Asuka Fantasy DX
DemographicShōjo
Original runSeptember 18, 1997 – June 18, 1998
Volumes2 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed byShinichirō Watanabe
Produced by
Written byKeiko Nobumoto
Music byYoko Kanno
StudioSunrise
Licensed byCrunchyroll LLC[c]
Original networkTXN (TV Tokyo), Wowow
English network
Original run TV Tokyo broadcast
April 3, 1998 – June 26, 1998
Wowow broadcast
October 23, 1998 – April 24, 1999
Episodes26 (List of episodes)
Manga
Illustrated byYutaka Nanten
Published byKadokawa Shoten
English publisher
  • NA: Tokyopop
MagazineMonthly Asuka Fantasy DX
DemographicShōjo
Original runOctober 18, 1998 – February 18, 2000
Volumes3 (List of volumes)
Anime film
Live-action television series
icon Anime and manga portal

Cowboy Bebop (Japanese: カウボーイビバップ, Hepburn: Kaubōi Bibappu) is a 1998 Japanese neo-noir space Western[12] anime television series that aired on TV Tokyo and Wowow from 1998 to 1999. It was created and animated by Sunrise, led by a production team of director Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane, and composer Yoko Kanno, who are collectively billed as Hajime Yatate.

The series, which ran for twenty-six episodes (dubbed "sessions"), is set in the year 2071, and follows the lives of a traveling bounty-hunting crew aboard a spaceship, the Bebop. Although it incorporates a wide variety of genres, the series draws most heavily from science fiction, Western, and noir films. Its most prominent themes are existential boredom, loneliness, and the inability to escape one's past.

The series was dubbed into English by Animaze and ZRO Limit Productions, and was originally licensed in North America by Bandai Entertainment (and is now licensed by Crunchyroll) and in Britain by Beez Entertainment (now by Anime Limited); Madman Entertainment owns the license in Australia and New Zealand. In 2001, it became the first anime title to be broadcast on Adult Swim.

Cowboy Bebop has been hailed as one of the best animated television series of all time. It was a critical and commercial success both in Japanese and international markets, most notably in the United States. It garnered several major anime and science-fiction awards upon its release, and received acclaim from critics and audiences for its style, characters, story, voice acting, animation, and soundtrack. The English dub was particularly lauded and is regarded as one of the best anime English dubs.[13] Credited with helping to introduce anime to a new wave of Western viewers in the early 2000s, Cowboy Bebop has also been called a gateway series.[14]

  1. ^ a b Heyde, Adam (April 23, 2016). "Retro Romp: Cowboy Bebop Review". AnimeLab. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  2. ^ Jeffries, L.B. (January 18, 2010). "The Film Noir Roots of Cowboy Bebop". PopMatters. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  3. ^ Chapman, Jacob (December 16, 2014). "Cowboy Bebop Complete Series Blu-ray - Review". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  4. ^ The Anime News Network Editorial Team (March 3, 2016). "What's The Best (And Worst) Anime Ending You've Ever Seen?". Anime News Network. Archived from the original on October 19, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  5. ^ Egan, Toussaint (June 11, 2017). "The Live-Action Cowboy Bebop Series Has Potential, but Can It Deliver?". Paste. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference AlltheAnimeReview was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Funimation (October 10, 2014). "Cowboy Bebop Premium Editions Revealed – See Bebop at Its Best!". Funimation. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  8. ^ Hulu (December 18, 2014). "Cowboy Bebop Comes to Hulu December 18" (Press release). Anime News Network. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  9. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 6, 2017). "'Cowboy Bebop' Cult Anime TV Series Gets US Live-Action Remake". Deadline Hollywood. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  10. ^ Oh, Ashley (June 6, 2017). "Cowboy Bebop live-action series riles up the internet". Polygon. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  11. ^ Mufson, Beckett (June 10, 2017). "Bang, Cowboy Bebop Is Getting Turned into a Live-Action Hollywood Movie". Vice. Archived from the original on November 7, 2017. Retrieved October 31, 2017.
  12. ^ Mahon, Christopher (September 10, 2018). "How Sci-fi Anime Like Cowboy Bebop Bridges the Gap Between Science and Fiction". Syfy Wire. Archived from the original on April 1, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2019.
  13. ^ "13 Anime That Are Better Dubbed (And 13 Better Subbed)". Archived from the original on February 3, 2019.
  14. ^ Robinson, Tasha (March 5, 2009). "Gateways To Geekery: Anime". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Archived from the original on March 9, 2009. Retrieved March 10, 2009.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).