Cowboy Bebop - The Perfect Sessions (Limited Edition Complete Series Boxed Set)

Rating:
Summary: If you don't like this...
Review: Cowboy Bebop proves itself as a stand-alone anime every single time I watch it! I have yet to see another anime as good! And I know there are some buffs out there that'll challenge that, but I'm no buff. I've ordered a few other animes, but I'm mainly a novice in this area. However, time and time again, anime after anime, everything falls short to the Bebop. Prolly cause Spike shot em... anyways.

The Japanese version is actually pretty pathetic. If you want the class act (literally) then you need to watch the English dubbed version. Precise, thought-out, and superbly done acting by the voices of everyone. Even the "extras," if you will, have talent and show it.

There is no real "fan service," as it's put, in Bebop. You don't need it. Instead, they focus on doing a great job. Panties are literally the least of your concerns... well... Fay does make your mind wander every now and then.

But if what you're looking for is something actually interesting to watch, with real emotion, great animation, superb acting, action a-plenty, explosions, comedy, and just EVERYTHING! then you need to check out this show!

If you don't agree that it's the best... then you will agree, at least, that it was NOT a waist of money!

Rating:
Summary: Perfect, Amazing
Review: I started watching anime in about the 9th grade with DBZ, and I started watching Cowboy Bebop my sophomore year of college. Now I'm in my 5th year (yeah, taking it slow) and this is still, without a doubt, my favorite anime. Other good ones, like, Full Metal Alchemist, Outlaw Star, and Fruits Basket are absolutely great, and sometimes they touch really deep, but I just keep going back to Bebop and realize no matter how good those other's are, they can compare to, but can't beat Cowboy Bebop. If you're worried about price, check out EBay, you can pick up the Official Perfect Sessions for under $200 now. That's where I got mine, and I've watched it through at least 3 times on the DVD's, once or twice on TV, and no telling how many times I've watched individual episodes, like "Ballad of Fallen Angels", "Jupiter Jazz 1 & 2" and "Real Folk Blues", among some other of the best sessions. The end of the series, despite how good the rest of it is, just totally brings the whole thing into perspective. Don't forget to get the movie "Knocking on Heaven's Door" (although it isn't called that on the american release, its just Cowboy Bebop: The Movie). It comes, most likely, after Session 22, "Cowboy Funk". Hope you enjoy arguably the best anime ever.

Rating:
Summary: BEAUTIFUL
Review: I bought my bootleg from Ebay, for about $17.95. It totaled to $27 with shipping. LEt me tell you, it is worth it! I was a little worried because you can tell that the dvd box is printed, and its a bootleg. But the quality is amazing. The visuals are just as stunning as the original dvds. Its not fuzzy at ALL! I was surprised, and I loved it. If you have never seen Cowboy Bebop, well then you are missing out on an incredible series. I don't know any anime. In fact I only started watching Bebop through Adult Swim on Cartoon Network, when they aired it every night. Then I really got into it! IT's stunning! I find it hard to call it a meer "cartoon" . It is unlike anything I have ever seen before. It has amazing visuals of space, very artistic and detailed. The characters are very human, and likeable. They each have a complex past, which comes into play occasionally throughout the series. The setting is about 66 years from now. The year 2071. The creators of this show have made a VERY realistic future. You feel like it could happen. It is a perfect series, it has some episodes that don't really have plot, but are just made to be hilarious! Like "Mushroom Samba" that one is the funniest in my opinion. The music is also FANTASTIC! I just watch the opening credits to listen to the song!lol ...The last three episodes are sad, but beautiful. All in all, it is up to you....

See you Space Cowboy...

Rating:
Summary: BUY THIS PRODUCT FROM DVD MEDIA SOURCE
Review: THIS IS THE BEST DVD COLLECTION EVER I THOUGHT WROTE A BAD REVIEW ABOUT THE WRONG PERSON. DVD MEDIA SOURCE IS THE BEST THING THATS HAPPENED. I WILL GLADLY DO BUSINESS WITH HIM THANX VERY MUCH FOR THE BEST DVD COLLECTION OF COWBOY BEBOP. BUY THIS PRODUCT FROM DVD MEDIA SOURCE.

Rating:
Summary: 'Unofficial Version' vs. 'Official Version'
Review: I just got the so called 'bootlegged' version of Cowboy Bebop- The Perfect Sessions (3 DVD set) and it plays perfectly fine. The price is obviously appealing ($30-$60) and just about worth every penny. There are a few minor problems with the unofficial's version, such as colors altering for a few seconds, and it blurs slightly sometimes. Other then that, you could probably live with it.

The official version is a 6 DVD collection including the origianl sound track. It is extremely rare right now because it came out in 2000 I think. Its been 5 years since they stopped production of it. The only way you can get it is by finding a person who still has it and is willing to sell theirs. Unless you want to cough up $300 and up for the official version of it, I'll suggest get the unofficial version.

Rating:
Summary: Almost Perfect!
Review: This is a really good Sci Fi series that I found to be a breath of fresh air. It never falls into the predictable rut like many anime series. I was afraid of this after hearing it was about bounty hunters, but my worries quickly went away after seeing the dark, sort of depressing first episode. Something different happens in every episode like crazy animal right's activists trying to mutate every human on earth. Most of them are not cliche. Only a couple are but they're still good.

The characters are great. None of them become annoying as the series went on. Their differing personalities compliment each other- one crazy, one sassy, one serious, and a little cocky one to finish up the gang.

I would have given this series five stars if it wasn't so short. I was so disappointed when it ended all of a sudden. I wanted a lot more, like 26 more episodes. I would have loved to had the main dilema of the story greatly expanded on, not cut short.

If you're not a fan of depressing, dark shows then you might not want to buy this DVD. But if you are, you shouldn't miss this great series. It's worth the money.

Rating:
Summary: Why are you wasting time reading the reviews?
Review: This is one of the greatest anime series ever created. Cowboy Bebop is an important mile stone in the history of anime and its popularity in the U.S. Stop wasting time and order it. You knucklehead.

Rating:
Summary: See You Space Cowboy
Review: Let me start by illustrating how impressed I was by this series.
My first 15 episodes were sent to me via internet by a friend who thought might like them by the time I got through "Jupiter Jazz Part II" I was so completely hooked that I set out to buy the perfect sessions along with the movie and the sound tracks, and that's where I'll start the gushing.
The music for this anime is a treat all by itself, it runs the gamut of Jazz, Blues, Rock, Country and even a bit of techno pop, it complements the animation so well that just hearing a song can instantly remind you of that exact moment in the series.
The style of animation is so perfectly suited to the story line and characters that I honestly couldn't see it any other way, neo-jazz anime at it's best.
That leaves us with the story line and from the other reviews here I don't think I need to say much, but I will say that they will almost always leave you wanting to see the next episode.
From comedy to drama and plenty of action the pace changes just enough to keep the stories from becoming stale and rarely if ever will an episode be predictable.

In short this is a fantastic anime endeavor and should be a part of everyones movie collection.


Rating:
Summary: this is in regards to the bootleg...
Review: The bootleg i got is great... and it was only $25.... Is it as good as owning a set of the legits? No, but being that the legits are out of print, one must get them somehow, eh?

Face it.. the "print life" of a title is a lot less than the lifespan of a title's fandom these days, and the people's rights for their wants to be granted when it comes to DVD's in particular are finding every little loophole for whatever movie to be seen by whoever wants to see it somehow, and usually a hell of a lot more affordably. That's a great thing!!!
(Sorry, ya'll, if you want to see flicks like "Message From Space, InfraMan, El Topo, even Orgazmo on DVD, your choices are either sit around and wait for their DVD releases, or buy a "bootleg"... *Hint: all of the titles in that list are at least 10 years old and _still_ without an "official" release date...

Anyways, you should be able to pick up a good set fairly cheaply as a bootleg/legally imported foreign-made disc... IF YOU DO THE RESEARCH, FIRST.



Rating:
Summary: What's most popular isn't often the best
Review: Unfortunately, I have neither Cartoon Network nor a decent (non-bootleg) version of this to go on, but I will rate on the merits of the episodes alone.

I really wanted to like Cowboy Bebop, being the most popular anime series in both Japan and the United States. I've been looking for a great anime series that has as deep an impact as Neon Genesis Evangelion, but I've yet to find it. I'm not an anime fan, per se, but a fan of great storytelling. Anime is just a style of animation. Great stories transcend all styles in books, film, traditional animation, CG and yes, anime.

Cowboy Bebop is not a great story.

It's not a bad show, but I can't use any words nicer than 'okay'. The voice acting is great, the English dub even better than the original Japanese at times (sometimes I couldn't tell the Japanese Spike and Jet apart, they sounded so similar). The music is great, the animation always looks splendid, with beautiful CG blended in nicely, and of note are several shots that look like hand-held camera in some action scenes. But I can't get past the story that the show doesn't seem to want to tell.

For major complaints, the character of Ed is appalling. Her presence is pointless and completely irritating. The show would've been so much better with a better fourth character that wasn't always making stupid noises or singing every line of dialogue, or even no fourth character at all. The dynamic of just Spike, Jet and Faye was fine.

Another complaint is that the show completely loses its credibility at least once in the show. While I never complain about hearing sound in space when in reality, you can't hear anything in a vacuum, a laughable occurance in one episode where Spike takes a DEEP BREATH and hurls himself into space! If you need a lesson in physics, if you tried that, the vacuum would suck the air out from your nostrils, the muscles in your lips wouldn't be able to stay shut from the pressure, it'd even get sucked out of your pores.

Back to the story, though. The most interesting parts of the show is when they focus on character development, which is few and far between. After it was all over, I wanted to know more about these people (except Ed, of course). Why did Spike throw everything away? Why is Viscious the way he is? If Julia was looking for Spike, why didn't she go with him in the first place? What else happened in the three years since Faye rose from her coma? When and why did Jet team up with Spike? You find yourself asking these questions and more and you'll never find an answer outside of fan-fiction.

Most episodes, unfortunately, need absolutely no exposition and wrap themselves up neatly (or slightly untidy) by the episode's end. You can take several of the stories out between the first and last two episodes and you wouldn't know that you missed anything. Don't get me wrong, a lot of them are pretty good, but they're often too interchangeable and too generic to be distinguishable from other shows. Bebop simply fails to take advantage of being a series. A great show is able to have both long-term story arcs as well as an individual story to each episode. It's a delicate balance that I feel the writers of the show never even tried to maintain.

The tone of the show is also very inconsistent. It can be dark, deep, funny or silly. Most of the time it's just silly. If the show focused more on being more serious, I would've liked it a lot more. The show can be all of it, but again, it lacks balance. Masters like Joss Whedon know how to do this right without making funny or silly moments off-putting.

The show is definitely worth watching, but maybe not worth owning. By the end of the show, I was left wondering what the point of it all was. When I think of Cowboy Bebop, I think of a show that could've been so much better than it was.

If you haven't done so already, if you want a great anime show with a great story, watch both the Neon Genesis Evangelion series and movies. Just be prepared for an ending you may not like, and even if you like the ending like I do, it's still not the ending you may have wanted. If you want a great sci-fi/fantasy show about a group of space vagabonds, watch Firefly.