You’re Gonna Carry That Weight: The Philosophy of “Cowboy Bebop”
Or, why you shouldn’t leave things in the fridge.
“I think it’s time we blow this scene
Get everybody and the stuff together
Okay, three, two, one, let’s jam!”
— SEATBELTS, Tank!
Since its release in 1997, Sunrise’s Cowboy Bebop has been widely hailed as one of the best anime of all time. It has gained cult status both in Japan and worldwide, and even today, you could be sure that someone, somewhere is still watching the show, lengthening its ever-growing list of fans.
I, myself, have only watched it in 2021, more than two decades after the show came out — and I’m not gonna lie, at first I found it kinda boring.
I mean, I really love the aesthetic art style and catchy soundtrack, but the story didn’t hit me as hard as I expected it would. I thought, “Am I just too uncultured to understand this masterpiece?”
Initially, I dismissed it as yet another esoteric classic, along the lines of Pulp Fiction or The Shawshank Redemption in Western cinema. You know, films that are revolutionary in their time, and remained a great film in their own regard…
