Tag Archives: Cowboy Bebop

Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode 53

Sunday, December 2, 2007 – 11:09 pm

Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode 53Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode #53 is now online! In this podcast, I review the the anime movie Cowboy Bebop: The Movie.

This week’s Podcast Stats:

Time: 16:13
Download Size: 11.1 MB

Opening theme:
“Action!” by Maaya Sakamoto
Theme to CLAMP in Wonderland 2

Ending theme:
“Gotta Knock a Little Harder” by Mai Yamane
Ending theme to Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

You can listen to my podcasts in the following ways:

Flash Player:

Directly: http://www.joshsanimeblog.com/podcast/JABPEpisode53.mp3

You can also download or add my podcast-only RSS feed to your favorite reader or add my podcast using iTunes.

Enjoy!

By Josh | Posted in Podcasts | Tagged | Comments (1)

Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode 40

Saturday, September 1, 2007 – 12:00 pm

Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode 40Josh’s Anime Blog Podcast Episode #40 is now online! In this podcast, I review the anime series Cowboy Bebop.

This week’s Podcast Stats:
Time: 19:28
Download Size: 13.4 MB

Opening theme:
“ForeverZankoku yo kibou to nare” by Aira Yuki
Second opening theme to Idolmaster Xenoglossia

Eending theme:
“The Real Folk Blues” by the Seatbelts featuring Mai Yamane
First ending theme to Cowboy Bebop

You can listen to my podcasts in the following ways:

Flash Player:

Directly: http://www.joshsanimeblog.com/podcast/JABPEpisode40.mp3

You can also download or add my podcast-only RSS feed to your favorite reader or add my podcast using iTunes.

Enjoy!

By Josh | Posted in Podcasts | Tagged | Comments (0)

Studio BONES

Sunday, April 22, 2007 – 2:17 am

BONES is well known to have many quality anime productions come out of it’s offices, many of them I’ve seen, and many of them I plan on seeing. This is just kind of a “I wanted to find out about this” post, but here is a list of anime series they’ve produced (not just did animation production, but the actual production as well), and the scores I gave them If I’ve reviewed them:

Escaflowne: The Movie (June 2000)
Clockwork Fighters Hiwou’s War (October 2000 - May 2001)
Angelic Layer (April - September 2001) - 91%
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (September 2001) - 85.6%
RahXephon (January - September 2002)
Wolf’s Rain (January - July 2003)
RahXeopon: The Movie (April 2003)
Scrapped Princess (April - October 2003) - Watched but haven’t reviewed
Fullmetal Alchemist (October 2003 - October 2004) - 90.5%
Mars Daybreak (April - September 2004)
Kurau: Phantom Memory (June - December 2004)
Fafner (July - December 2004)
Ouran High School Host Club (April - September 2006)
Ayakashi Ayashi (October 2006 - March 2007)
The Skullman (April 2007 - )

So I’ve watched 4, and reviewed 3 with an average score of 89%, with at least one more on my imminent watch list. BONES has almost become to anime like CLAMP has become to manga - I almost get attracted to a series based solely on who creates it and not necessarily what I’ve read about it. So far, that’s worked out reasonably well.

By Josh | Posted in Various | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Anime Credits: Cowboy Bebop Opening

Friday, April 13, 2007 – 9:00 am

By Josh | Posted in Anime Credits | Tagged | Comments (0)

Anime Review: Cowboy Bebop: The Movie - 85.6%

Wednesday, March 21, 2007 – 2:05 pm

The Essentials

Cowboy Bebop: The MovieName: Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Genre: Adventure, Action, Sci-Fi, Detective
Episodes:N/A
Released: September 1, 2001
Based On: Cowboy Bebop TV Series
Director: Shinichiro Watanabe
Produced By: Sunrise, Bandai Visual, BONES
US Distribution By: Columbia-TriStar/Sony

Major Japanese Cast

Spike Spiegel: Kouichi Yamadera
Jet Black: Unshou Ishizuka
Faye Valentine: Megumi Hayashibara
Edward: Aoi Tada
Electra: Ai Kobayashi
Vincent Volaju: Tsutomu Isobe
Bob: Yutaka Nakano
Rasheed: Mickey Curtis
Lee Sampson: Yuji Ueda

Major English Cast

Spike Spiegel: Steven Jay Blum
Jet Black: John Billingslea
Faye Valentine: Wendee Lee
Edward: Melissa Charles
Electra: Jennifer Hale
Vincent Volaju: Daran Norris
Bob: John Synder
Rasheed: Nicholas Guest
Lee Sampson: Dave Wittenberg

Scores

Animation: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Story: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: N/A
English Dubs: 10/10 (x 1 = 10 pts)
Gut Score: 8/10 (x 5 = 40 pts)

Total: 154/180 (85.6%)

Review

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie is a movie in which the bounty hunter crew of the Bebop attempt to collect the extraordinarily huge bounty of 300 million on a terrorist suspect after Faye witnesses the terrorist attack and thinks she can identify the man. What follows is a story which is a bit different from the average Bebop episode from the TV series. While most episodes in the TV series were largely action packed or comedy-centered pieces, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie has more of a feel of a detective movie.

The movie does have it’s action scenes as well, and plenty of them, as well as suspense and some hints of romance. However, a good portion of the movie deals with each of the four crew members of the Bebop’s investigation into different aspects of the mystery - from what agent the terrorist used to kill his victims in the terrorist attack, to who the terrorist actually is, why he is doing what he is doing, and what he plans to do next.

I rather felt that the type of stories told in most of the Cowboy Bebop TV series would lend itself better to a movie format, and in my opinion I think I ended up being correct. This movie, if it were watered down into 23 minutes, wouldn’t necessarily be misplaced in the TV series, but it works much better as a movie.

The animation didn’t seem to be all that much improved over the TV series, though there was some improvements. However, I thought the improvements could have been greater considering the movie was released nearly 3 years after the TV series. The music was unexpected in the movie, though still good, with a mix of instrumental pieces and mostly English language vocal songs. Like the TV series, the dub on the movie was excellent.

Overall I would say that the movie is one of the better examples of what Cowboy Bebop could be if given the screen time and writing needed to explore the story instead of being stuck within the continuity and coherence expectations of a TV series. If you enjoyed the TV series, or were intrigued by some of the concepts in the TV series, there’s a good change you’ll like this movie.

First Watched: February 2007
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes

By Josh | Posted in Anime Reviews | Tagged | Comments (0)

Anime Review: Cowboy Bebop - 81.5%

Thursday, March 1, 2007 – 12:00 pm

The Essentials

Cowboy BebopName: Cowboy Bebop,
Genre: Adventure, Action, Sci-Fi
Episodes: 26
Released: April 3, 1998 - June 19, 1998 (first 12 episodes only); October 23, 1998 - April 23, 1999 (first full run)
Based On: N/A
Director: Shinichiro Watanabe
Produced By: Sunrise, Bandai Visual
US Distribution By: Bandai Entertainment

Major Japanese Cast

Spike Spiegel: Kouichi Yamadera
Jet Black: Unshou Ishizuka
Faye Valentine: Megumi Hayashibara
Edward: Aoi Tada
Vicious:: Norio Wakamoto
Julia: Gara Takashima
Gren: Kenyū Horiuchi
Lin: Hikaru Midorikawa
Old Man Bull: Takehiro Koyama
Punch: Tsutomu Taruki
Judy: Miki Nagasawa
Antonio: Hitoshi Hirao
Carlos: Toshihiko Nakajima
Jobim: Hiroshi Naka

Major English Cast

Spike Spiegel: Steven Jay Blum
Jet Black: John Billingslea
Faye Valentine: Wendee Lee
Edward: Melissa Charles
Vicious:: Henry Douglas Grey
Julia: Melissa Williamson
Gren: Michael Gregory
Lin: David Umansky
Old Man Bull: Mike D’Gard
Punch: Bull Whizins
Judy: Lia Sargent
Antonio: Steve Kramer
Carlos: Richard Cansino
Jobim: Paul St. Peter

Scores

Animation: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Story: 8/10 (x 4 = 32 pts)
Music: 9/10 (x 4 = 36 pts)
Coherence/Story Arc: 7/10 (x2 = 14 pts)
English Dubs: 10/10 (x 1 = 10 pts)
Gut Score: 7/10 (x 5 = 35 pts)

Total: 163/200 (81.5%)

Review

Cowboy Bebop is a series about a foursome of bounty hunters traveling around the solar system, well, trying to pick up bounties. The four, who are usually broke, take on varying cases, trying to track down and capture wanted criminals, and often get themselves in trouble and getting into some big adventures along the way.

Bebop is largely a collection of unconnected episodes, though a back story, mainly dealing with Spike’s, the leader of the bounty hunters, past, does run through many of the episodes, and comes to a for, especially in two episodes in the middle of the series as well as the two concluding episodes. There are also episodes mixed in that deal with the past of the other member of Spike’s bounty hunter group: Faye, Jet, and Edward.

Probably the biggest complaint I have about Cowboy Bebop is the before mentioned fact that there is no clear sequence to the episodes, and the fact that a good half of the episodes in the series could be cut, and not very much would be lost. While individual episodes may be entertaining, I feel that the series loses some of it’s promise due to the lack of any central story beyond the fact that the group constantly needs to catch new criminals in order to pay the bills. Luckily for Bebop, the action and adventure that makes each individual episode exciting is good enough to still make the series an overall interesting watch, despite the lack of coherence.

The series does score well on technical aspects - the animation is pretty good considering when it was released, and the music is pretty unique to an anime series, being a mix of several different genres, though Jazz seems to be the predominant genre. The English dubs are also one of the best I’ve heard of any anime series.

Cowboy Bebop is, in a way, the “summer blockbuster” of anime: There is some background plot which may or may not make up the bulk of the story, but which ultimately gets resolved. But there is, of course, ample fighting, action, and cleavage (even if most of it is Faye’s). I generally see Bebop the same way - it’s sold a lot of DVDs, it’s really popular with fans, it’s not too bad of a series, but is strewn with weaknesses that hurt the overall quality.

First Watched: October 2005 - February 2007
Do I Own: No
Do I Recommend: Yes, if for no other reason than it’s considered a classic

By Josh | Posted in Anime Reviews | Tagged | Comments (0)

Ebay package 2 of 3 has arrived!

Monday, March 13, 2006 – 11:40 am

Alright, now we’re talking. The other package may be small enough to fit in my mailbox, which I haven’t checked yet, but I did get the other package at my door this morning (usually the mail doesn’t come until after I leave for work. They must have been eager to get it to me today).

This package included the thinpack Last Exile collection as well as The World of Narue collection which, while it’s not a thinpack, is still packaged to save space.

So thats complete series #6 and #7 in my anime collection.

I’m also going for a set of 5 Ai Yori Aoshi DVDs which are on ebay for pretty cheap. Now they’re set up, the shipping will end up being a little much (it’s full price for first item, and 50% off other items, which means if I get all five, shipping will still be around $20), but given how cheap it looks like the actual DVDs will go for (2 already had bids, but the other three I got with Buy It Now for $4.95 each). Unless bidding on the other two DVDs go insane, I should still save more money than most auctions over the 5 discs together.

I also got Neon Genesis Evangelion Platinum volume 4 and Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventures volume 3 from blockbuster over the weekend. Why Volumes 4 of NGE had only 3 episodes, I’m not sure, but I suppose there is a logical reason somewhere.

That means I now only have 2 volumes of NGE left and 1 volume of Dual! left. Neon Genesis Evangelion #5 was sent out by Blockbuster Thursday, so I should get it in another day. Blockbuster should send the next movie on the list to me next, which should be Dual! Volume 4, which will finish that series up.

Some other notes:
I was (finally) able to find an (English) subbed version of I”s Pure episode 2 (thank you c1anime!). They said episode 3 should be out soon, so, hopefully they’re right about that.

I haven’t really decided what anime to start watching after Dual! and NGE. After the last volume of Dual! is shipped, then the last volume of NGE will ship. Other than Volume 3 of Cowboy Bebop, which has been sitting in the #1 slot of my queue with an availability of “Long Wait” for months, I need to select 2 or 3 more series to watch.

One already on the list (just stuck below NGE and Dual!) is Cardcaptor Sakura, since it’s CLAMP. The biggest problem with this series is that it’s 16 volumes long, which means that it’ll probably take something like 4 months to start watching it.

Other series on my short list to add to the top of the queue include: Fushigi Yugi, His and Her Circumstances, Ah! My Goddess! the TV series, and Kaleido Star.

Another option that I’m thinking is to re-rent some anime which I’ve already seen but haven’t heard the English dub to (either because I didn’t listen to it when I rented before, or I downloaded a fansub which didn’t have English on it). This list would include, out of anime I’ve finished, Dears, and anime I haven’t finished, Girls Bravo.

The only thing left to say is that there is no anime review today (duh!) and tomorrow is Tuesday, thus it is the big anime DVD/manga release date of the week, so I’ll list the major releases for that. The next review may come on the 15th.

By Josh | Posted in General Blather, Various | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Anime I am currently watching

Sunday, March 5, 2006 – 2:37 am

If you’re wondering, there are several series which I am currently in the middle of watching:

Cowboy Beebop: 2 volumes (I’ve been on this one since October. shows how often blockbuster has it in to send it to me)
Neon Genesis Evangelion: 2 volumes
Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure: 2 volumes
Girls Bravo: 1 season
I”s Pure: 1 episode*

Two notes about I”s Pure. First, this series just started in december, and I’ve tried to watch it as soon as the torrents have shown up for them. However, it’s now been 5 weeks since episode 2 came out and no english subbed torrents have come out on it. I have watched a non-english subbed (it was actually chinese subbed) version of episode 2, which I of course couldn’t understand. I did somewhat know what was going on, though since I have read the manga through where the episode finished.

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