Review:

There's almost a "sine qua non" of sorts in "Watanabe's" sci-fi epic, an imperative quality or basic role of character which always seems to reside in the past. Upon the anime's beautiful climax, one of the main characters states that people always seem to dwell in the past upon becoming moribund.

I don't doubt this is true for some, but the characters in "Cowboy Bebop" are beautiful people who dwell in the lands of despotism & iniquity; they stare evil and ordinance in the face, explaining to it why they tire of pursuance quests for humanity. This is the fundamental axiom that makes any kind of storyline work, it's what always drives an emotion or character to some form of retribution; and it doesn't take a genius to see it.

Characters like the one's in Cowboy Bebop acknowledge this through feeling, actions and speech. However, they're all way too smart to get caught up into something so trivial via themselves. It's science fiction after all, and it's never been meant to fall victim to ensuing restraint.

I cannot even begin to express in words just how great "Cowboy Bebop" really is. It's extremely modest in it's own disposition, but it enthralls us through risk, detail & ambition. Each character is sane, temperate; yet still unfathomable and profound.

Both the script, animation & timing are intelligent, provoking & detailed; perfectly integrated with the way the story carries itself. And not through basic acknowledgement either; it's quite literal. But simply to say this about Cowboy Bebop is not enough to do it proper justice; moreover, I cannot hope to do so.

Despite the fact of being among the list of what I feel to be the greatest animes ever made, It would not be lifting the notion to say that it was my very favorite anime. There are many clear reasons why it's so classic. I could never hope to list all of them now (Possibly ever), but I'll attempt to carry a single idea into consideration; the series' climax, and always abysmal characters & ending.

The acknowledgement for animation itself would never really end if I brought it up, it is so strikingly detailed and profound in the way it's exposition renders a series of plot differentias, much in the way episodes like "Pierrot Le Fou" & "Brain Stratch" emphasize a plot mood shifting. This carries the potentiality for spoilers & while I don't at all mind that terrain, I'll try to be considerate for the rest of you out there as I explain the show further.

There's often a conventional criticism for Cowboy Bebop emphasizing the spasmodic-like plotline, which many fans find galling because there's always this rubric about 'plot-holes'; which in my opinion does not exist. This is clearly a misconception, because it is simply a unique and almost 'strategic-like' emphasis on plot development through glimpses of character.

That for which the series is very special. There is not a single character in Cowboy Bebop that I find impolitic through plot, or unimportant in any sense; everyone from the seemingly contemptible 'villians' to the show's mains are rendered with such style and grace. You never really feel like any piece of dialouge or character is out of place.

Consider the actual dialouge of the show, Cowboy Bebop is just one of those series with unmistakably rich dialouge. I read once in a "Roger Ebert" review of the 1994 film "Pulp Fiction", that it's the sort of movie that would be good as a hearkening device; this is very true to Cowboy Bebop's emotional core, which is engulfed through verbal emotion.

Consider a scene in the episode "The Real Folk Blues", in which Jet's character suddenly wakes to discover that no one is on board the Bebop's main deck . As if a still moment in time or a bad nightmare. This would be foreshadowing a climatic dialouge scene to come, which I won't attempt to spoil here for those of you who haven't seen it. There's a distinctive sense of 'ill-bared' idiosyncrasy here, as if approaching retribution or demise.

It soon appears that each character in the show shares this common consuetude approaching the show's end. Jet talks of the Mountain as if an admonishing for Spike's contemptful decision; which would have been learned of later. This kind of dialouge in Cowboy Bebop is not only subjective through actual meaning, it's also profound in tone.

This however applies to more than one aspect of the series, as well as the plethora of character in Bebop; which if I tried to explain all of I'd be in way over my head. These sort of aspects always make the show exciting and fun to watch. Not only during the first time, but also through repeated viewings. It is amid this proccess that the potential beauty of Bebop can be truly observed, it's always there inside the characters but it moves slowly through exposition and mood.

As for the characters themselves, "Spike" is sort of like a permutation of several illustrious anime themes and characters; mostly that of "Lupan III", but he also carries mannerisms of other things. He is a deep, complicated and funny character; as much as he's arduous to comprehend. Spike is foremost true to the core of Bebop, remaining the prominent edifice for the show's main emotion.

There are such rarities in Cowboy Bebop which allow for full exploitation of the other characters. Few anime series, let alone most sci-fi animes find it possible to achieve this. A good example is the popular sci-fi series "Outlaw Star", which happens to be highly detailed, well-rounded & vibrant. However, we are never really able to see explicit emotion outside the bounds of the main character: "Gene Starwind" (This never means that the qualities of the other supporting ones are not exploited and expressed considerably, but it's not quite enough as it is in Bebop).

Moreover, it's quite inequitable to compare series like Outlaw Star to Bebop; they are completely different visions of similar ideas. The unique aspect of Bebop is that it takes huge emotional turns amid crucial moments, when most other series would ponder along the same road forthwith. Such endeavors of detail and emotion are so elegant and profound, they ensconce the void of emotion w/great characters; the fecund outlook on inner-meaning is foremost "ad rem" to everything.

It's the mold of mastery and greatness. What I love about Bebop is that it's not always a straight shot in, it takes dramatic and steming turns; it brings us a new perspective and likes to watch how we'll in turn react. The honesty and bravery of presenting the notion is key here. So even though Bebop is engulfed in convention, it's nowhere near being an edifice for faulty conventionalism.

I didn't do a very good job of expressing the feelings necessary and presenting the notions of detail, that's not the point. If that were the point I'd be preponderantly accepting the conceit of expository affronting; that's the intention of plot exploiters and critics. A true anime fan is never a critic if he accepts an admonished reality for false-conceptualism in artistic beauty.

If that were the case, you wouldn't be a fan of animation anymore. The beauty of Cowboy Bebop is that it acknowledges this fact, and throws it out the window. It may forget that you are a child, adult or an audience and it presents the emotions and renderings of imagination.

The hope for this is inevidable through a canonical ending of sorts, this involves Spike's long awaited lover "Julia". Upon her elusive arrival onto the scene, her beauty does in fact go without saying, but it is admonished through a reverie of shattered hopes and optimism; Spike's life has accepted the reality of this fact, but feared for sheer iniquity.

The characters and villians in Bebop are not good or evil, nor are they misunderstood through incorporeal reality. The true heros of the palette are the visionaries and animators. Their work is molded through clever exposition, but it's reality exists through confined walls of mastery hidden in the character and emotions of Bebop.

Director "Shinichiro Watanabe" doesn't force them upon us, rather her advocates mastery to it's intended peek; it utilizes patience and understanding to accept. It is not easy for the characters nor is it easy for the onlookers.

Cowboy Bebop is fully-rendered emotion existing through animation, it peeks amid astonishing turns; it mesmerizes us in profound beauty and vision. Never easily created, it somehow manages to "Carry it's weight".... Animes like Cowboy Bebop are the reasons why I love anime.

~This Has Been Yet Another One Of "T.A.O.'s" New Reviews Of Classic Anime Titles.~