It just occurred to me lately that as I delve into the space opera realm, I think of my favorite Japanese anime that takes place in the space opera realm. Enter Cowboy Bebop, an anime set in the 2070s after Earth became bombarded from an "interstellar disaster." The anime features three main bounty hunters-ex-Mafioso Spike Spiegel, ex-cop Jet Black and gambler Faye Valentine-and the self-proclaimed Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV, A.K.A. Edward who is usually accompanied with Ein, a dog with unusually high intelligence who travel in the ship, the Bebop. The bounty hunters embark on adventures--or misadventures--across the solar system looking for criminals whom the police cannot capture on their own. There's action, comedy, philosophy, tragedy and animation that's better than most of the current anime lineup coming out. For those unfamiliar with anime, Cowboy Bebop is a great place to start because the series is chock full of Western pop culture references from movies to music.
How is this anime related to space opera? Aside from taking place mostly in space, the crew of the Bebop travel to the ruins of Earth, cities on Mars, and other far off places. Cowboy Bebop can be accurately classified as a "space western." The primary weapon shown in most of the episodes
is the handgun, a type of firearm featured heavily in Westerns. The theme of bounty hunters catching their bounty heads in space can also be applied for bounty hunters stalking their quarry across the desert in a Western. Space, according to "The Cold Equations," is a dangerous frontier and this theme is highly apparent in the Cowboy Bebop series.Below is the trailer for Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, a full length motion picture that features a story set within the main Cowboy Bebop storyline. The movie was the reason I got into the series in the first place. I read a few reviews of people who have never seen the twenty-six episode series but loved the movie with a passion.
- Kristopher
No comments:
Post a Comment