Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		4.5
Overall		4.5

Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie Review

A masterpiece: the best anime series of all time.

Cowboy Bebop is the greatest anime series ever made. Based on the original manga created by Hajime Yatate, the series is a dynamite anime that has withstood the test of time. A production of Bandai Visual (Gundam, Slayers) and Sunrise (InuYasha, Gundam), Cowboy Bebop became famous in North America due to its massively popular run on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim action-anime block. The anime blended together cell based animation and cutting edge CG effects and wowed audiences with the super-slick stylized action and jazz-infused soundtrack by Yoko Kanno (Escaflowne). No fan of the medium should go without seeing Cowboy Bebop.

Cowboy Bebop defies genre definition as a futuristic cowboy-western science-fiction bonanza that explores the epic adventures (and mis-adventures) of the gun-slingin' bounty hunter Spike Spiegel and his companions Faye Valentine, Jet Back, Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV (or Ed for short), and genius-doggy Ein. As each episode explores the characters journeys (past to present), Cowboy Bebop is the coolest, grooviest, and most fun anime series the world has ever seen: a masterpiece of the medium which is essential viewing.

There are so many badass elements to Cowboy Bebop: the character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto (Wolf's Rain, Mobile Suit Gundam: The 08^th MS Team) are some of the best in the entire history of anime. The art direction by Junichi Higashi (Escaflowne: The Movie, Mobile Suit Zeta Gundam) explored the outer-space environment through the prism of an old-school Western. The style is mindblowing in its intricacies and vision.

Then there's the music. The score composed by Yoko Kanno (Wolf's Rain, Escaflowne, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex) and The Seatbelts is the best soundtrack to any anime series. Every episode is brimming with energetic music and evocative jazz-infused rhythm. The opening theme, “Tank” is a musical masterpiece. It hooks viewers from the opening frame. And the entire ride lives up to the beginning without ever missing a beat.

Keiko Nobumoto (Wolf's Rain, Tokyo Godfathers, Cowboy Bebop: The Movie) served as the head screenwriter on the series. Nobumoto is one of the best screenwriters in anime (having been involved on many great series) and the efforts here are nothing short of brilliant. Every character has a purpose and place in the story. The entire experience builds to an epic conclusion and the pieces in the jigsaw puzzle perfectly fit by the time the series is done. Brilliance.

Shinchiro Watanabe (Samurai Champloo, Kids on the Slope) deserves every accolade that was received for directing Cowboy Bebop. Not only was the series a brilliant written one, the entire run of episodes manages to build visually and artistically with Watanabe's style creating a new definition of cool that transcends ordinary meaning. Cowboy Bebop is the coolest anime series and there's no doubt that it is going to continue to inspire future generations of anime fans to fall in love with the medium. 3, 2, 1... let's jam!

3, 2, 1... let's jam!

For more information on Cowboy Bebop please refer to the original review by my colleague Jeffrey Kauffman.

Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

For more information on the video-quality please refer to the review by my colleague Jeffrey Kauffman.

Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For more information on the audio-quality please refer to the review by my colleague Jeffrey Kauffman.

Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

NEW to the edition: collectible steelbook packaging. The release is the first stateside steelbook of the legendary Cowboy Bebop anime. While the series received a handsome box-set of steelbooks from Korea several years prior, the long out- of-print set wasn't English friendly and is now impossible to find. Funimation has provided the series with a steelbook that showcases Spike and Jet on the front art. Looking at the back of the steelbook, the art work displays Faye, Ed, and Ein. While the art isn't the worst art Funimation could have chosen, it is also a far cry from being definitive. The artwork doesn't showcase the characters in the style seen during the series (and resembles fan-art on some level). The print quality of the steelbook is also underwhelming.

Unlike the qualityYu Yu Hakusho steelbooks released by Funimation, Cowboy Bebop was printed on low-quality matte and the finish seems to show some paint streaking and feels cheap in hand. The steelbook could have been much better and it isn't as impressive as desired. Here's hoping Funimation will eventually revisit the series with a 4K steelbook collection. Until then, there's always the rare Cowboy Bebop: Bounty Hunters Steel collection (though it is technically a MetalPack edition and extremely rare).

The set also advertises the Cowboy Bebop 20^th Anniversary: Interview with Koichi Yamadera that was previously exclusive to the Cowboy Bebop: Bounty Hunter's Steel box set as an inclusion on the new release. Unfortunately, the discs do not actually include it. If Funimation ever rights this false-advertising with a replacement-disc program for the bonus disc the review will be updated.

For more information on previously released bonus features please refer to the review by my colleague Jeffrey Kauffman.

Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Cowboy Bebop is the best anime series ever made and nothing will ever change my mind. The anime exudes cool in every scene, every frame, and every drop of ink. The characters are some of the best ever seen in the medium. The art style is visually outstanding. The music score by Yoko Kanno is beautiful and complex. There has never been another anime just as perfect as this masterpiece by Shinchiro Watanabe.

Newcomers to Cowboy Bebop are encouraged to pick-up the series and dive in. As for long time fans, the steelbook re-release is a harder sell. The steelbook design is average-at-best and the manufacturing resulted in a low-quality matte print that is less impressive in hand than it is in the stock photographs. The re-release is also missing a bonus feature advertised as being included on the release. If you own an earlier edition, this one is far from essential. However, steelbook collectors will undoubtedly be tempted even if the end results are underwhelming. Choose accordingly.

See you later, space cowboy.

(Hopefully in 4K.)