Cowboy Bebop Session 6

Session 6 - Sympathy for the Devil
Spooky name for a spooky episode.  This session starts out in a hospital, where someone is being operated on-- wait... is that Spike?  And why are there a bunch of organs in jars?  And why is there all this eye-related imagery?  Well, later on there's this thing about Spike's eyes being different colors, but we're a long way from that just yet.  Intrigue!  Anyway, it turns out to be just a nightmare and Spike himself wakes up in a bar, where a little kid is playing harmonica.  This would be the devil (but we're not supposed to know that yet).  About 3 and a half minutes in, Spike catches sight of the next bounty, a guy called Giraffe and invents the word 'hipster' , all in the same breath.  Giraffe seems to be chasing the kid and what looks to be his father, who is in a wheelchair.  He finally catches them in their apartment.... theeeeeennn gets thrown out the window.  Now we're talkin'!  In his dying breath, Giraffe warns Spike not to underestimate... someone... based on how they look.  There's some great red herring work here, where we're introduced to all these shady characters and the kid of all people turns out to be totally evil and sadistic (it's because he's actually an incredibly old man in a kid's body, but let's not cloud the issue with facts).  This one's an enjoyable watch and kind of reminds me of a lesser version of "Pierrot Le Fou", which also had an unsettling, child-like near-immortal villian and the Bebop crew puzzling out just how to stop him.
Up next, Heavy Metal Queen...

Cowboy Bebop Sessions 4-5

Session 4 - Gateway Shuffle
Okay, this one's kinda meh in my opinion.  This is the episode, for me, where the show teeters on the edge of "Bounty of the Week" territory, so to speak.  There's nothing wrong with it, but considering what we get the very next episode, it's hard not to disregard this one a bit.  Hey, at least it's not "Boogie Woogie Feng Shui"...
The premise this episode is that Spike and Jet are after a bounty, but before they can nab him he's offed by a, ummm... family of eco-terrorists, so they go chasing the bounty on them instead.  Memorable quote: "Jet, how's our guy?"  "Uhhh... he's all fulla holes..." Faye comes back in this episode, becoming a full-fledged member of the Bebop crew before it's all over.  You could call this a case of First Season Weirdness, and like I said, it borders on the formulaic, but one episode later that formula would be totally shattered.  Now whereas I can't find much to say about this episode, I have way too much to say about the next one..

Session 5 - Ballad of Fallen Angels
Man ohhh man, what to say about "Ballad of Fallen Angels"?  SO much is set up in this one episode, from backstory to underlying themes to character chemistry, and sonofabitch, it leaves you wanting more.  For one thing, this episode introduces Vicious, Spike's one-time partner as we come to learn, now a bitter enemy.  It's the first in a series of three Sessions that address Spike's tragic past as well as one of three Sessions to feature Vicious, Julia, and various other players in this dream Spike can't seem awaken from.  Or is his present the dream?  Which does Spike want to wake up to?  A big theme for Spike is sorting his two lives, and deciding which one he really wants.  Another theme is the unexpected.  In my humble opinion, anyone who dislikes the lack of buildup to any of the trilogy of 'Vicious' episodes doesn't get this (or they do get it and don't care :P).  The whole idea is how abruptly Spike's other life intrudes on the present, and what a rude awakening life can give you; then before you know it, it's all over.  And Spike is more than ready to face this possibility, which is what makes him such a downright awesome character.

Speaking of a complete change of gears, I still haven't gotten to the plot.  It's actually not that sensationally unique, but it's all in the execution here.  It's made clear that Spike and Vicious were once partners in the Syndicate, Spike being more-or-less the one who kept the more, well vicious Vicious in line.  They had some sort of altercation over morals, or betrayal, or a woman named Julia, and now they hate each other.  You'd have to be brain dead not to have questions following the 'Green Bird sequence' (AKA the-part-where-he-falls-out-a-window).  Who's Julia?  Who betrayed who, and whose side was this woman on?  Why does Faye of all people also know this mysterious melody that Julia was seen humming?  And I've gotta talk about the music.  From the brooding opera house, to Spike's approach on the cathedral, to 'Green Bird' as he's thrown back out of it, the scoring on this episode is just a thing of beauty, and needs to be heard for itself along with the rest of the episode.  This isn't one for feelz (for lack of a better term), nor are the other two Sessions rooted in Spike's past.  They just sort of inevitably happen, and that's life.  Sad, aint it?  Okay, this one went for way too long, but whatever, I said all I felt like saying.

Cowboy Bebop Sessions 2-3

Awwwww...

Session 2 - Stray Dog Strut
This one starts off with Abdul Hakim in a bathroom stall with a mysterious, growling briefcase.  Several guys with guns burst in and are quickly taken out, then Hakim exits.  This one's a good old-fashioned Everyone's Chasing The Thing All Over The Place, the thing being Ein the friggin' adorable Welsh Corgi.  Great moments include Spike instinctively pickpocketing people he runs into, the moment you realize that IS a live turtle on the pet shop lady's head, and of course, there's Ein's big reveal.  He does go on to save at least Jet's life, to my recollection (in "Brain Scratch").  Then there's Spike repeatedly passing right by Hakim without knowing it's him, and the ridiculous bit where Hakim is chasing the dog, and Spike is chasing the dog, and the SCIENTISTS are chasing the dog, funny just for seeing how the three groups pass by the obstacles in their own way.  And Spike's rationalization for getting in this mess? "Nothin' but a giggle,"  Oh yeah.  That's where I fell in love with this character.  No reference ever made to what a "data dog" is, ever again; so no, we don't even get the goddamn dog's backstory.

Session 3 - Honky Tonk Women
Enter Faye Valentine, the main female character, and admittedly my least favorite.  It's not that I don't like her, it's just... well, I don't like her.  She's just kind of blah when put up against someone as badass as Spike, or as gruff as Jet, or as... special (read: batshit insane) as Edward.  Aside from that, the backstory she gets in this episode is either a lie on Faye's part or just plain retconned later on in "Speak Like A Child" (or both).  Still, I can't deny the Bebop crew would be totally incomplete without her as a female presence (Ed doesn't count).  Highlights of the episode are Jet worrying Spike will get in trouble for gambling TOO well, and the tense trade-off on the surface of a ship that leads to another one of those great frantic multi-faction battles. This actually seems like it got toned down after this, maybe because the show got a little more serious after "that" episode.  Yyyyou know the one.

Cowboy Bebop Session 1

Session 1 - Asteroid Blues
The very first scene of the very first episode is a flashback.  A skinny guy with fuzzy hair drops a rose on the ground, then there's scenes of a shootout.  There seems to be a gun firing from inside a bouquet of roses, and the fuzzy-haired guy's face is lit up by the flash of his gun.  Then BOOM, without a chance to question a thing, that's over with and we're listening to one of the greatest themes in anime.  Du DUN duh DUN duh DUN du-duuuuuh... the moment I heard that it was burned into my mind and still hasn't faded.  On the subject of the music, if you don't know already, it's all very jazz and blues sounding, even bordering on country.  At first, this seemed a weird fit to me, but by the second or third episode, it felt so natural.  And the whole thing feels so damn natural, so effortless, so real, so confident in the universe it's contained in.  Without saying too much, we're introduced to Spike Spiegel, the fuzzy-haired guy from before, and his partner, Jet.  Let me tell you right now, if you've never seen this show and are expecting to learn all about Spike's (or any character's, for that matter) mysterious past by the end, stop it.  I'll go into the specifics as we get to them, but just know that all the answers aren't right there spelled out for you.  Which is something I was upset with immediately after watching an episode, but came to respect as time passed.  Basically, Spike and Jet, whatever they were before, are now bounty hunters.  The plot is pretty standard for this episode, but then it would have to be, this is only the first episode (and standard by no means means "not good").  Again, the look of this world surprised me.  I like how not very much has even changed from the then-present-day of 1998.  Yes, we've got spaceships, and holograms, and souls that  can be uploaded, and hyperspace gates, but that doesn't mean everything else suddenly becomes shiny and high-tech.  It's one of the most realistic interpretations of the future I've seen (which is funny, because nothing here is realistic, this IS a cartoon).  Ummm, wow, then without saying too much more, there's lots of great moments with creepy bad guy hopped-up on Red Eye, intrigue with Spike's past, tons of great badassery and an exhilarating fight, promising plenty of excellence to come.

Cowboy Bebop: Holy Hell This Is Good

Imma start out with this anime for a few reasons: one, it's the most recent anime I finished (yesterday, actually), two, it's one of those series you have to watch to even be called a fan of anime, and three, it really is friggin' incredible.  The characters are (mostly) lovable, the plot is clever, deep and not entirely on the surface, the animation is simply beautiful, the music is eargasmic (yes, eargasmic), UGGGGHHH I can't give it enough praise.  On top of all this (or more likely as a result of it), I already feel like re-watching it.  Go figure :P

So how I'm go do this is session-by-session (that is, episode-by-episode); maybe not just one episode per post, but I'll just say a few things about the episode, how much I liked it, what struck me, what didn't, Fridge Realizations I have in hindsight during the re-watch process, and yeah, that'll be next post.

And So It Begins

I really shouldn't be starting a blog of all things at this point in my social/academic life, but what the hell, it's something I know I'll enjoy doing, especially considering just what this blog is gonna be about.
Every hardcore anime fan has that point in their Epic Journey of Otaku-ness where they feel like they're not enough of an otaku, like they can't name many anime outside of Dragon Ball Z, Naruto, Bleach, something else shonen, etc, like they need MORE.
I'm at that point currently.
And I've got a loooong list.
So for the foreseeable future, this will be a blog where I talk about whatever anime I'm watching or manga I'm reading, completely blind and after reading/watching whatever it is for the first time.  Maybe I'll also write about stuff I've already seen or read, but we'll see how I feel.
And so the legendary quest began.