::07:15:08::

::: Cowboy Bebop :::

By ~ Apollo

Ever feel like you needed a break from those Animes that have plots more complex than a cell processor for the Playstation 3? Well I may have the remedy for that. Cbwboy Bebop. The name is weird, I know. The anime on the other hand, is top notch. I mean come on. Tell me a bounty hunter who knows karate, is sick with guns, and lives in a futuristic world where space travel is common, doesn't get you going. This show goes hard in terms of action and violence but there is a much lighter tone to it. I don't want to spoil anything, but this series is full of murder, suicide, and endings gone wrong at the last moment. Its very real, but its very cool and not hard to follow. It also has plenty of funny moments.

The story follows our kick ass bounty hunter named Spike. Spike and a slowly growing team of misfits and bounty hunters go through numerous assignments and hunt a bunch of targets to make ends meet. The cool thing is that each episode introduces unique characters that you become attached to over the 25 minutes of each episode. Usually you only see these characters in one episode, but their stories are so gripping and real that you will have a hard time feeling indifferent about them. The character development isn't huge for our main characters as much as it is for the random people the we are introduced to along the way. This is because three of the four of our main characters are experienced adult killers who have already formed their opinions and value sets. Having said that, we still find plenty of depth in these characters.

The visuals are smooth and are accompanied by a killer sound. Tunes like "Mushroom Samba", "The Real Folk Blues", "Jupiter Jazz", and "Tank" are just a few of the memorable tracks that you will hear throughout the series. There is a real jazzy feel to the series and it definitely worked for me. Artistically the action scenes and the space scenes were totally cool. Its not high def anime of the new school, but its still great to watch.

Cowboy Bebop is deeper than it appears. We get hints of it early but once you really get into the show, you see that we really are heading towards a great ending. The show is smooth, funny, deep, and action packed. All the things that a great anime should be.

Grade: A-