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Cowboy Bebop - Session 1

Cowboy Bebop - Session 1

List Price: $29.98
Your Price: $26.98
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: This is anime even the newbie will appreciate...
Review: With its great mix of humor, action, drama, sci-fi, and music, Cowboy Bebop is anime perfect for just kicking back at the end of the day like any good prime time TV show. Episodes are stand-alone (unlike a lot of anime which will have you hanging on for the next episode), but there's a back story brewing there...

Animation is pretty good (though there are more sophisticated anime out there in terms of the animation itself). Bebop successfully mixed 3D with traditional cell animation over lush backgrounds (I'm not that fond of 3D being mixed with cels, but this one's actually cool).

But I think the most major factor in this series is its music (by the legendary Yoko Kanno), which may well be among the best in the anime genre. Cool action scenes, comic street chases and mecha action, and just about every good part of the series is aided by music ranging from harmonica blues, slick jazz ("bebop" itself is a type of jazz), and even rock opera (one very good episode to watch out for is #5 -- "Ballad of Fallen Angels"). I bought the first background music CD and will undoubtedly buy the other discs.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Much better than i ever imagined. Sheer genius.
Review: Cowboy bebop (in my opinion) is the best anime series ive ever seen - and ive seen a fair bit. Unlike evangelion, Bebop has little continuity in its plot, but that doesnt make it any less enjoyable. The animation and characterisation sets a new standard for other anime. With their superb style and personalities, the characters are as real as they come, with great english dubbing, no cheesy lines, no sillyness (well, apart from Ed - who is a kid) and great design. The 'cinematography' and artistic endevour of such episodes as 'jupiter jazz' rival film greats like kubrick. This is the most mature anime series for a long while, yet mature in a different way, not just needless sex, violence and swearing. It packs a punch in the action department too. The excellent animation, gunfights, CG, and great ship designs combine to produce many genuinely thrilling action scenes. The disc itself is great. 5 Episodes, excellent,crisp picture and good sound - the extras are a bit thin, but if you get the entire series (which you must!), youre left with a lot of bonus stuff to look at. It cost me about £120 to get the entire series, but its well worth it. I could say why its so great forever, but i'll just say that no other anime has gotten me as involved - emotionally and visually as cowboy bebop.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ...
Review: Since I'm so nice,I'll review these DVDs individually.
If you haven't heard of Cowboy Bebop,and you like anime,you must be living under a rock or something.It's just great.Awesome animation,memorable characters,awesome music,great action..Look at any of the other reviews.
Now,for the episodes.
The first episode on the disk is about spike tracking down a drug dealer.Well paced,and There's a great fight scene. 8/10
The second episode.The introduction of the greatest character ever!Ein the dog!Funny episode.The entire thing is basically just a chase.8/10.
Third episode-introduction of Faye.I hate Faye.But it's a great episode.A little confusing if you don't pay attention though.Great space-fight-thing near the end.8/10.
Fourth.I really like this episode for some reason.I can't be bothered to remember the plot.The last scene is cool.Faye's reaction to the cluster missile was hilarious.
And the final episode...Just... 10/10.
yeah.Buy.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Cowboy Bebop A Breath of Fresh Air
Review: Cowboy Bebop is the one of those anime series that you can't let go of. Period. The music and animation blend together, never divided and never separated. Each go through the series, intricately introducing complex characters, each with their own mysterious past. The "hero", or the main character is Spike Speigel, a bounty hunter with a retro sense of style. He typically is carefree, loose, and a reckless man with no worries. His partner is Jet Black, an ex-ISSP (some interstellar police force) with a cyborg arm. Jet is reminiscent of Shaft, cool but always reminding Spike to keep his mind in check. Those two both want to let go of the past, something extremely difficult to do at times. While on a bounty, they meet a woman named Faye Valentine, a beauty with a gambling streak. She also doesn't have a clue about her past (which will be introduced in "My Funny Valentine"). She hops aboard the Bebop and rides along with their galactic adventures.
This series will mostly appeal to people who don't mind a good, dirty anime that gets down to business. I've heard people referring Cowboy Bebop as the "Quentin Tarantino of Japanese animes." Though making some references to pop culture, Cowboy Bebop definitely isn't like other animes. It's characters, plot, music, and style is original. Director Watanabe does an excellent job, providing the Bebop with enough grittiness to satisfy fans of anime like Trigun. Another notable highlight is the music. Yoko Kanno composed the Tank! the opening of Cowboy Bebop. It's one word-- excellent. It's like ear candy, you can never get enough.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Best Anime Series I've Ever Seen
Review: From the opening moments, a montage of black and white images of a man with a bouquet of red roses against a backdrop of a gun fight in a cathedral, set to a slight little music-box melody, Cowboy Bebop is one of the most captivating and well-made anime series of all time.

The series is generally episodic, each 22 minute segment independent from the rest, but there are longer story arcs which span the entire series, and a good deal of relatively subtle character development that takes course over the series' 26 episodes.

The music put to very interesting use. Yoko Kanno, the composer, uses a number of different musical styles, from jazz, to hard jungle, each style fitting the on-screen situations perfectly. It's not a traditional mix, however, and you'll find soft, thoughtful ballads accompanying deadly chases through space, instead of the usual, more "exciting" music.

The harmony of the visual style, the soundtrack, and the excellent (often humorous) writing achieves a sort of synaethasia that most works of art can only hope to achieve. In Bebop, it almost seems effortless.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: By far the best animation to come out in a while
Review: There are only a few animated shows that I would call a favorite of mine; The Simpsons, Southpark, Invader Zim these all pushed the boundries of what you can do with animation as a whole. I can add to this small list in fact I can put at the top of the List Cowboy Bebop. now you may not be able to tell by my chosen shows listed earlyer but I am a devoted anime fan. But never did I find one that could speak to me like this. It is quite possibly my favorite show of all time. It has every thing that is needed to be a great show. It has comedy, violence, a genious plot, thought provoking theories, genuinly likable charachters (my favorite is the incredibly hot Faye Valentine), and some of the most in depth backstories I've ever heard. I will admit I didn't have high hopes for this series at first due to a slow first two episodes at which nothing of any relevance happens but by the third episode I felt like doubting this series was like commiting blasphemy. It tells the tale of Bounty hunter Spike, expolice officer Jet, the casino cheating feme fatal Faye, the greatest haker ever Ed, and a spunky data dog named Ein. They travel in a fishing ship converted to a space ship looking for just at least enough bounty money to eat if nothing else. This is by far one of the best series to show on American television in 5 years it should not be missed. Don't care how you watch it just make sure you do.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Prepare to be blown away
Review: Cowboy Bebop..where to start? Do I start with the gripping action scenes? The melancholy love scenes/flashbacks? The varitey of music, from soft jazz tunes to fast-paced bluegrass? I could start and tell you that this is a beautiful anime. It is definatley a masterpiece in it's time, and should be considered more than just a "mainstream anime" such as Yugioh and Pokemon. Oh, much more my friend. This anime is beyond words. I can't even describe the wonderfulness we all know as Cowboy Bebop.
Here is a breif storyline.
Spike Spiegel was a member of a famous crime syndicate called the Red Dragon. Him and his friend, Vicious, were both in love with a woman named Julia. Spike decided to leave the syndicate, sick of the death and the life he led. He asked Julia to go with him, but she refused, because she cared for herself more than him. Vicious told her that if she left with Spike, he would kill her. So now, Vicious sends Julia on a mission to Kill Spike. This story only occurs in flashbacks, but is VERY importaint to the stoyline, for SPike has encounters with his past more than once, and almost dosent make it through these encounters.
Later on, Spike sees himself as "dead." Dead to the Syndicate, killed by the woman he loved.The year is 2075, three years after he left the syndicate. He joins up with Jet Black, a former cop with the ISSP. Later on comes the Gambling Femme Fatale, Faye Valentine who has lost her memory due to cyrogenic freezing after the hyperspace gate exploded, destroying much life on earth, and forcing people to colonize on planets and moons. Also, Ein the Data dog, and everyone's favorite, Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky the 4th(She named herself). Ed is the 13-year-old girl hacker genius who is off the wall, and completley strange! Everybody loves Ed!(if not they are completley annoyed by her.)This wacky,insane bounty hunting crew is to make history, a new genre in itself which shall be called : COWBOY BEBOP

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: There are no words...
Review: To describe it's brilliance. I've tried many times, but every time my description comes up short. I've already done a review for the whole set (a great Amazon exclusive I highly recommend instead of purchasing one at a time). I'm just gonna go episode by episode. If you want Char bios, take a look at one of the other 100+ reviews here, I don't waste space.

1: Asteroid Blues: Series opening, quick glimpse into Spike's past, then normal episode. One of the finer moments is when Spike beats up a bad guy while he is on a performance enhancing drug (great first hand-to-hand combat scene). I'm trying not to ruin the episode, so just watch it.

2: Stray Dog Strut: Ein-isode, where the little data-dog is introed. Good Enter-the-Dragonish pretences and whatnot, as well as the funny comment "Seems that way", and showing that scientists may be geniuses, but are also stupid sometimes.

3: Honky Tonk Women: Faye-isode, introing the Queen of Hearts, a con artist and general scoundrel. Wonderful space-combat and pretty funny plot, letting Faye come out on top for once.

4: Gateway Shuffle: Mainly a normal episode, with little meaning and interest. I personally think it's the worst in the series (though still better than any episode of Trigun). The only thing this sets up is that Jet has connections in the ISSP (Stellar Police)

5: Ballad of Fallen Angels: Spike-isode, the first of many, showing a bit more of the coolness seen in the beginning of Asteroid Blues. It seems Spike used to be a mob hitman along side Vicious, a wicked alter ego and obvious antagonist. When you see Spike don a trenchcoat, you will be hitting one of the coolest scenes in all of cinema, especially because of tone, lighting, and music. I am currently looking into getting the soundtrack of the series just because of the end of this episode.

All together, this is probably the best of the DVDs, although I think it's solely because of Episode 5. The extras aren't wonderful, but you're getting an extra episode for your cash. While I say it's the best DVD, if the series isn't complete, it's not worth buying. I still suggest you buy the full set (you can get there via a review I did by clicking on my name above).

If you want to find out more about the 6 DVDs in this series, or how it measures up to the horrible-yet-staunchly-defended Trigun, click on my name and read my other reviews.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The beginning.
Review: Cowboy Bebop is without a doubt one of the best, if not the best Anime series out there, and this is where it all begins. It follows two bounty hunters, Spike and Jet, who search for bounties in order to keep themselves fed. This first disc contains the first five episodes and mark the first appearances of Spike, Jet, Faye, Ein and Vicious (Ed's first appearance was in episode 9 "Jamming with Edward", which is on Session 2). If you haven't checked out Cowboy Bebop yet, now would be a better time than never to do so.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Spike is a fallen angel?
Review: This is a beautiful series, the best anime I've ever seen and I've seen a lot of it. If you've never watched anime before, this is really the perfect series to start with, and disc 1 is the perfect DVD.

The first 4 episodes are good in their own right, they introduce you to the main characters, the style and feel of the series, the ubiquitous sense of humor, the sci fi futuristic back drop. These first four are not stunning and appeared to depict an episodic series which was interesting and entertaining but perhaps without much background and mythology.

Then I saw the 5th episode "Ballad of fallen angels" and I was shocked. It is such a stunningly gorgeous episode I was caught completely off guard. It was the episode that introduced elements from spikes past heretofore unknown to us. You become aware at the level of thought and depth of the series, that the characters all have intricate and detailed histories that still affect them profoundly. In fact that turns outs to be a reoccurring theme throughout the series, how none of us can truly escape our pasts. Another strange metaphor that continuously reoccurs throughout the episodes is spikes reference to life being like 'watching a dream', I'm not sure why that image is used but it could perhaps refer to eastern mysticism and Buddhism where waking up from the dream of life and seeing what is true is an often used metaphor. My sense of the show completely changed when I saw this installment, I became curious as to what all the images and references to spikes past meant.

The last scene in the episode, spikes 'fall from grace' from the spires of the beautifully drawn cathedral, is maybe the most artistic thing I've ever seen in any entertainment genre. From the dual with his nemesis Vicious to the mysterious and somehow sad images from his past flashing before his eyes to the moody piano sonata, this scene and this episode remains my favorite in the entire brilliant series.

If you watch this DVD, you'll know if the series is for you after you watch the 5th episode. If you watch the entire series prepare yourself for the saddest ending you could imagine. The ending is more tragic than the Shakespearean tragedies you might have read in high school or college. A tear dripped down my face when I had finished the series, and I'm a manly man so that speaks to how very sad it is. I really can't recommend 'Cowboy Bebop' any more highly, see it if you can... you won't soon forget its beauty.


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