Series: Cowboy Bebop
Episodes: 1 to 13
Premise: A bounty hunter crew featuring a former syndicate member, Spike Spiegel; a con artist, Faye Valentine; a retired police detective who pilots a ship named Bebop, Jet Black; a genius child hacker, Ed; and a genius dog, Ein, travels around space in the year 2071 in search of their next bounty that will put the food on the table. They also have their own agendas and pasts that come back to haunt them or help them during the course of their travels.
Is it worth watching?: If you consider the fact that Cowboy Bebop is near-universally considered in the top five anime series ever created, the answer is yes. There’s drama, action, perfect voice acting and a history that makes you want to delve deeper into the mysteries of every character in the show. Oh, and the animation is awesome and the soundtrack is amazing.
Breakout character: By the midpoint of the series, nearly every character is considered a breakout character. But if we had to choose, we’d say Ed. She stands out, not because it’s a mystery as to who Ed is, but more about why Ed is even involved. She’s weird but there’s reasons for the madness.
Funniest episode: Episode 11, “Toys in the Attic.” The entire episode revolves around the majority of the crew being bitten by a venomous blob creature. The crew are stalked and taken out one by one, leading to hilarity when Ed and Spike attempt to tackle the mystery of what exactly the blob is and how it got on the ship in the first place.
Where it’s going?: Every episode up to 13 is a build up of the characters and their reasons for coming together on the Bebop. How everyone’s stories intersect and conclude is the basis for the next 13 episodes. Background stories are more fleshed out and characters’ motivations from their pasts are the catalysts for character development.
