Cowboy Bebop/YMMV

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


  • Alas, Poor Villain: The series does this quite a lot (there's a reason one episode is entitled "Sympathy for the Devil" besides the music reference), but Tongpu (Pierrot le Fou), Dr. Londes (Brain Scratch), and Vincent (The Movie) arguably hit the hardest.
  • Awesome Art: Especially for its time.
  • Complete Monster: Vicious, no question about it. Probably best exemplified by his Sadistic Choice given to Julia: kill herself, or Spike. Plus, it's unclear if Spike's words "Julia is dead" affected him in any way, and given that he likely counted on Julia getting killed in a crossfire with his men and Spike, they probably didn't.
    • Udai Taxim from "Black Dog Serenade" was exceptionally vile and murderous as well.
  • Crazy Awesome: Some of Spike's plans are pretty eccentric, and a few of them are suicidal.
    • Mad Pierrot is crazy and dangerous? Nah, he is dangerous because he is crazy!
      • Doohan the mechanic coming to save Spike in the Columbia Space Shuttle!? Hell, the very first shot of Doohan is him walking into frame apparently not caring that he's on fire.
  • Creepy Awesome: Vincent Volaju in the movie.
  • Crowning Moment of Awesome: Pretty much the entirety of "The Real Folk Blues (Part 2)", the final episode of the series. Quite possibly the best final episode in anime history.
  • Crowning Moment of Funny: In "Mushroom Samba," when Spike appears outside the tent clutching the bag of mushrooms. The whole episode, really.
  • Crowning Music of Awesome: Many. The opening and closing themes (Tank! and The Real Folk Blues, respectively) are obvious candidates. Let's just point out that the soundtrack was written and composed by Yoko Freakin'-Anime-Music-Genius Kanno and leave it at that. One could think of this series as "Crowning Music of Awesome: The Anime."
  • Die for Our Ship: Julia, according to Spike/Faye fans. Even though she, y'know, already dies.
  • Ensemble Darkhorse: Mad Pierrot.
  • Fan-Preferred Couple: Spike/Faye, at least some people think so. Their exchange (and her subsequent reaction) before he heads off to his final fight in the last episode just hammers it home.
  • Gateway Series: The show is structured more like stand-alone live action films than typical anime with Continuity Lock Out or Mind Screw. The show is more comparable to the western Blade Runner or Escape from New York then Dragonball Z or Akira.
  • Genius Bonus: In The Movie when all the classic war planes are taking off one of the planes is piloted by the three old guys. As they're taking off one of them asks the others where they're going and gets the (incorrect) response that they're "going to sink the Bismarck". The plane they are flying in is the same model of plane that delivered the crippling torpedo shot to the Bismark. In a further bonus the name of that model of plane is Swordfish.
    • All the written Chinese (no, it's not Japanese, despite the origin of the show) and other languages.
    • The chess game between Ed and the Chessmaster.
  • Harsher in Hindsight:
    • The episode "Wild Horses" has an old old Space Shuttle being brought out for one last mission. The shuttle? Columbia. Cartoon Network actually pulled this one off the air for a while after the Columbia was destroyed during re-entry.
    • Cartoon Network also pulled "Cowboy Funk" from it's first run in September 2001 for it's depiction of a pair of identical skyscrapers being destroyed by a terrorist.
    • In "Jamming With Edward", Jet making fun of Faye's age provides some really depressing Foreshadowing.
  • Ho Yay: Gren admits to Faye that "women aren't [his] style," and much of his interaction with Vicious could be read as jilted former lovers. At the very least, it's very much in Vicious' character to be aware of Gren's affections and manipulating him through them.
    • Ed rubbing her head against Faye's thigh in "Ganymede Elegy".
  • Hype Backlash: The fact most anime critics in the West (who are based in America, where the show has a strong nostalgic fan base) make out the anime to be one of the best has seen some backlash. Its "character of the week" format certainly doesn't help.
    • The English dub is practically revered with godlike status in the States. Overseas fans (especially non-native English speakers) who got introduced to the series by American fans will point out that the Japanese cast isn't to be underestimated either.
  • I Am Not Shazam: Tongpu, the Acrofatic Monster Clown, is often mistakenly called "Pierrot", after his alias "Mad Pierrot" and the episode's title "Pierrot le Fou", which literally means "Pierrot the Madman".
  • It Was His Sled: Those to whom the ending isn't spoiled are a rare breed.
  • Leave the Plot Threads Hanging: The ending never really shows the fate of any of the characters. The last we see them, Ed and Ein have left to find her father, Spike is dying in the Red Dragon's headquarters, and Jet and Faye are still aboard the Bebop.
  • Magnificent Bastard: The Scorpion in the Shooting Star manga spinoff.
  • Memetic Mutation: SPIKE DIES.
    • Related to the spoiler above and much more common nowadays: "Bang," or "You're gonna carry that weight."
    • Generally, within three posts of SPIKE DIES there will be a MAYBE
  • Memetic Sex God: Faye, Julia and Judy.
  • Narm Charm: "Don't lose! Don't lose! Me, me, me!" (Oh, god...)
  • Nightmare Fuel: "Toys in the Attic" and "Pierrot Le Fou" are the two obviously scary episodes.
    • The way Tongpu is always smiling, the red eyes, the eerie way he floats...not to mention his invincibility. He can not be hurt. He will always be there, following you. And when he catches you, he will brutally murder you.
    • And the manic laughter. The audio for preview short for the episode is just Tongpu madly cackling for 30 seconds.
    • Toys in the Attic's two scary moments are when Spike picks up Ein in the dark crawl space with the glob approaching, and when Spike opens the refrigerator. The brief peek of what was inside and Spike's reaction to seeing it haunted This Troper for days afterward.
    • Episode 6 has plenty of Body Horror (remember the Rapid Aging?).
  • Signature Line: "Bang."
    • "See you, space cowboy."
  • Signature Scene: Julia getting shot, then falling to the ground in excruciating slow-mo is one of the most iconic moments in all of anime, not to mention a major Tear Jerker.
    • Spike's final moments on the stairs at the end of the series.
    • Spike's fall from the cathedral to the music of "Ballad of Fallen Angels".
  • Superlative Dubbing: One of the most well-known examples. In fact, the series is very often used as THE example of what an English dub can/should be.
  • Tear Jerker: The ending easily beats them all, but it's far from the only example.
    • Try to watch the end of "Hard Luck Woman" and not break down into pitiful sobs towards the end. Just. Freaking. Try.
      • The end? Hell, right before the commercial break, Faye meets someone she knew as a teenager -- she's obviously a very old woman now. Rather then explain the situation with a child in earshot, Faye tells her friend's granddaughter that she's a ghost and then leaves as "Wo Qui Non Coin", a song about searching for a lost puppy, plays.
      • Also "Speak Like a Child" for similar reasons. Imagine being a cynical amnesiac who has spent all of her conscious life struggling to find a place for herself and doing a moderately poor job seeing a happier version of herself in a happy life she can't remember, almost like another life. That there's a real floodgate opener.
        • Let's not forget the painful irony of her cheers: "Don't you lose! Don't you lose! Me me me!"
    • Chessmaster Hex's apparent death is a heartwarming and sad one at the same time.
    • The ending of "Pierrot le Fou" also qualifies. How can a psychotic superpowered villain be so huggable ?
    • The ending of The Movie also qualifies. Vincent allows himself to be killed by Electra, telling her that in his world of hallucinations the only thing he remembered to be true was her love for him.
  • They Changed It, Now It Sucks: This series is held in such a high regard that the simple announcement of a live action movie in the works has cries of this. Well, there's another reason, too...
  • Viewer Gender Confusion: Ed. Lampshaded at the end of the episode.

Faye: "Wait, you're a girl?!"

    • V.T. from "Heavy Metal Queen" comes across as more of a Butch Lesbian than anything, but she mentions having a husband, so there.
    • Gren's gender confuses even the show's characters, until it's revealed he's transgendered.
  • The Woobie: Gren.
Retrieved from "https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Cowboy_Bebop/YMMV?oldid=2000117"