COWBOY BEBOP SESSION 0 ( available only in JAPAN )
A preview tape containing extras such as an unbroadcast story digest,
staff and cast interview, and the opening theme “Tank!”
remixed by DJ Food. Dispersed among the extras on the U.S. DVD releases
1-6.
12 episodes of the original series (plus one omnibus edition) were
broadcast on TV Tokyo, beginning in April 1998. From October in the
same year, the entire 26-episode run was broadcast on the Japanese
satellite network WOWOW. Cowboy Bebop was critically acclaimed in
the anime press, and sales in all three formats (VHS, LD and DVD)
were commercial hits. It was also voted Best Anime of 1999 in Kadokawa
Shoten’s Newtype magazine. Three releases made it into Oricon’s
top ten anime sales chart for the year, while the soundtracks and
remix album were hits in the CD charts – Cowboy Bebop OST #1
received the 1998 Nihon Gold Award for best-selling domsetic soundtrack
album
Cowboy Bebop owes much of its success to the love it inspires in
its fans – without recourse to cynical marketing gimmicks or
media manipulation. Director Shinichiro Watanabe combines high production
values with a genuine sense of fun, while lead writer Keiko Nobumoto
brings a fresh viewpoint and solid, believeable themes. Composer
Yoko Kanno matches them with superb professionalism and an unfailingly
playful score, while Toshihiro Kawamoto brings beautiful artistry
to the character designs. The final result is a true ensemble piece,
reflecting the individuality and styles of all the cast and crew.
Cowboy Bebop is more than just another cartoon, it is animation
with soul.
The year is 2071… fifty years after the human race began its
mass exodus from the disaster-stricken planet Earth. Following the
introduction of a sanctioned bounty-hunting system (also known as
the “Cowboy” system), many freelance operatives fight
a bitter war against criminal syndicates. Spike, Jet, Faye, Ed and
Ein the dog are wandering cowboys, using a second-hand space trawler
called the Bebop as their base of operations.
The text on this website can only serve as the most inadequate
of introductions… nothing can prepare the viewer for the full
range of attractions on offer in the series itself – from dynamic
animation to toe-tapping music, from outstanding voice work to fast-paced
plotting. If you truly want to understand what made this series
so popular, there is only one way to find out. Like any other masterpiece,
it has to be seen to be believed.
