Girls are warm, soft, lovely, and almost exclusively smarter than I, having never been capable of figuring out how I was wrong when I hit on their best friends, got black-out drunk, and called them all miserable psychos in need of Summer’s Eve lily pad wash.  I sometimes can’t help myself, being a man among men with electricity in my veins and raw meat in my stomach.  And sometimes I’m totally right, and being a dude is a much better state of being.  In this follow-up edition of “Dig, Dug, Damn!” titled “Sci X, Y“, I express my man-crushes on some of the strongest, most intelligent, skilled, and suave homeboys in all of science fiction / fantasy.  Women are unbelievable and to die for, but these guys are the masters of the universe (Sorry, He-Man, you didn’t make this list!)

Richard B. Riddick

If he were a real person, and I met him, the only thing I could possibly say is “I love you!”, and I’d say it all weird and animated like that Boxxy spaz.  The entire Riddick Saga (Escape from Butcher Bay, Pitch Black, Dark Fury, Chronicles, Assault on Dark Athena) is my Star Wars, as can be verified by my best friend who heard me tell him everything about the differences between the theatrical and Director’s Cut of the film when it was airing on television a few nights ago and he made the mistake of switching the channel.  First of all, he’s one of the last living members of a badass race of peoples, is the most prolific serial killer in the universe, and has energy projection skills, dexterity, intelligence, stamina, strength, battle and weapons skills, pilot skills, and can see in the dark!  Not to mention that he is an antihero in the purest sense of the term, taking care of himself and his, not giving a damn about the fate of all life in existence, wanting only to protect Imam and Jack/Kyra.  Hell, he even went so far as to have himself imprisoned on a prison planet that is covered by inferno fires for all but 20 minutes a day so he could break Kyra out.  Serious business, right?  I know he’s not one for having friends or anything even resembling them (lest you count being among his countless murder victims as having “hanged out”), but he likes to play the game “Whose A Better Killer” and that is just… just beautiful, man.  David Twohy and Vin Diesel have my eternal gratitude for creating this property.

Spike Spiegel

What can be said about the coolest anime character of all time that isn’t said by the fact that Cowboy Bebop, which is a sum of 26 30 minute broadcast episodes and a feature length film, is the most celebrated and mainstream accepted property of in the history of anime.  Sure, people are also fans of the weathered old vet  Jet Black, the sultry, hip, and madly attractive Faye Valentine, the hilarious, odd, and also attractive (if weirdly) Ed, and even Welsh Corgi data dog Ein, but it’s Spike’s battle with himself, with his past, with his future, with Vicious, his arch enemy, with Julia, the one and only love of his life, that animates the series, gives life to the characters and their missions, and is so damned cool!   Spike will chase you down with a space ship battle, pursue you on foot for miles when you crash, battle you hand-to-hand with ease and take you down while wearing a suit and smoking a Marlboro.  It’s that kind of image and performance and projected masculinity that all male children wish for in the fathers and in themselves when they come of age.  He’s such a romantic character, a life based around tragedy, loss, and everything else that makes the heart sing and weep, and it’s a very attractive existence, to be honest.  Bonus: Spike had been cut, stabbed, shot, and blown up too many times to count and survived through it all so that he could finally conclude the chapters in his life left open, dying one of the most heroic and manly deaths ever.

Angel

Just as Riddick is my Star Wars, Angel is my Star Trek.  First of all, the series Angel is better than Buffy in every capacity and disagreeing only makes you look stupid, so don’t do it (I’m looking at you, Joss Whedon).  Second, Angel the character portrayed perfectly by David Boreanaz, is the greatest vampire in all of pop culture.  His story is this: Born in Ireland and named Liam in the 1600s, he drank and whored until Darla, expertly played by the delicious Julie Benz, vamps him and names him Angelus, the demon with the face of an angel.  He eats his family, runs off with Darla and they terrorize the world together, adding Drusilla, sired by Angel, and Spike, sired by Dru, until one day he eats a Romanian girl and the gypsies curse Angelus with a soul, to make his eternal life one of torture and punishment for all the dirty, miserable things he had done.  Brilliant!  A hundred years pass and he becomes a hero and falls in love, only to discover true happiness will never be his as he loses his soul, a stipulation ensuring he suffers forever.  Yo, my boy Angel went to hell and hell spit him out, because without a soul Angelus is the worst of the worst!  His recreational activities including eating people, nailing puppies to walls, and nearly destroying the world by sending it to hell via a portal.  But with soul regained Angel learns to accept his misery only then to discover he has a destiny: The vampire with a soul will play a pivotal role in THE apocalypse, and for his role he will be rewarded the shanshu, meaning his vampire self will die so that his human self may live, but the prophecy doesn’t say what side he will come down on, good or evil, if he will be Angel or if it will be Angelus, if he is the world’s salvation, or it’s crucifier.  What an epic destiny!  And with a future ahead of him so hardcore, he is obviously one of the most powerful beings, and most conflicted and good, true men in heaven, hell, or any dimension in between.  So yeah, but the show isn’t just good for him and the rest of the equally good characters, but the show being some of the best television of all time is really what makes Angel so incredible.  The last two episodes, Power Play and Not Fade Away are the best series finale I’ve ever seen, ever.  No matter the certain death you face, never stop fighting the good fight.  Never.

In an earlier post, I mentioned that I didn’t think there was anyone else who possessed as much awesome as Kaneda to go up against him in a death battle. (Note: These aren’t actually death battles, because this blog is just not that cool.)

But then I remembered there was Spike Spiegel, who is even more awesome than Kaneda.

If not more awesome, at least equally awesome.

Hell, I don't NEED a laser gun to be awesome.

Or is he?

Only a death battle will decide!!

(Note: Seriously, this isn’t a death battle. Do I have any friends who are good with photoshop??? Or actual death battles?)

On to the (not actually a) death battle!

Physicality. You know what I hate the most about the physicality category? The way I always try to spell it psychality. I mean, what the hell is that? Why did I even make a category I can’t spell? And how can one cartoon character be hotter than another? Am I going to turn into one of those Japanese men who dates his body pillow? Do they even make Spike Spiegel body pillows? In conclusion, Kaneda is certainly awesome, but Spike Spiegel is drawn better. Plus, he’s got that lanky thing going, which is my kryptonite. Winner? Spike Spiegel. The real winner? Lokifire, if she can find a Spike Spiegel body pillow.

The action figure's just not that snuggly.

General bad-assedness. Here’s where the battle really begins. Sadly, it’s not a battle to the death because one of these characters is already dead. By the way, I appreciate my friends who try to console me by saying (spoiler alert) that Spike could just be resting at the end of the Bebop series, but he’s dead. Thanks anyway. I mean it. *sniff* Errr, moving right along. Spike Spiegel studies Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do, which was the martial art created by Bruce Lee, who is a god among action movie stars and also everyone else. He gets stabbed, tossed out a church window, exploded, bit by dogs, punched, shot, etc., etc., and doesn’t die. You know, until he does. (Personally, I think his body was just like, damn it, stop putting me in these situations! That’s it, if I’m going down, I’m taking you with me!) He goes up against more serial killers than the entire cast of Criminal Minds (that show’s about serial killers, right?)! And he always comes out OK! Until he doesn’t. But what of Kaneda? Man, Kaneda faced off against two powerful psychics with only a laser gun and some chutzpah. And if you’re like: “Powerful psychics, schmowerful schmychics,” then, 1) I’m impressed with your abillity to pronounce that; 2) Apparently, you didn’t see Tetsuo punch a hole in the godsdamned moon. Winner? I’m sorry, Spike, but we’re going on Kaneda with this one. 1) Those were some powerful psychics; and 2) he’s not dead.

Better first name? Spike’s first name is Spike. I don’t know if he was born with that name or what. Kaneda’s first name is Shotaro. There’s a couple of ways to write the kanji for Shotaro and I can’t read kanji so I don’t know for sure how Kaneda’s first name is spelled, but the traditional way is Sho = Pine and Taro = boy. So Kaneda’s first name is probably Pine Boy. Winner? Spike.

Better friends? Spike Spiegel hung out with the crew of the interstellar craft Bebop, which includes the following: 1) Jet Black, a guy with a robot arm who used to be an interstellar cop and is now a bounty hunter; 2) Faye Valentine, a con artist from who was woken from cyrogenic sleep and also wears hardly any clothing; 3) Ed, the young computer genius; and 4) Ein, the really cute data-dog who is also a genius in addition to being a Welsh Corgi.

Really, Faye, is that outfit appropriate for interstellar travel?

Kaneda hangs out with the survivors of Tokyo, who include: 1) Kei, his love interest who is a powerful conduit for psychic power and also pretty handy with a gun; 2) Chiyoko, Kei’s aunt, who is roughly the size of a water buffalo and just as deadly; 3) Kaisuke, some little short dude who was in Kaneda’s gang before Tokyo was destroyed (the second time), and is totally loyal and good in a fight; 4) The Colonel, who isn’t really Kaneda’s friend at all, but does control some sort of satellite super-beam. The winner? Holy cats! These guys have awesome friends. This is totally a draw.

Lives in a dystopia? Both Cowboy Bebop and Akira are set in futures where Tokyo has been destroyed at least once. However, in Cowboy Bebop, it’s not just Tokyo taking the brunt of the destruction, it’s the whole earth. However, people have colonized Mars and Venus and some other places, and they have interstellar space travel, so it’s cool. In Akira, though, Tokyo gets destroyed a couple more times and also, Tetsuo punches a hole in the moon. Tetsuo’s a bit of a prick. Winner? Um, I guess Kaneda, if the winner of this category is the one who lives in the worst future/society. If not, then it’s Spike, because he has a spaceship.

Ran with a gang? Kaneda and Tetsuo used to be juvenile delinquents in some sort of motorcycle gang. Before Tokyo was destroyed (for the second time). Spike used to be in the interstellar Mafia. Why, yes, I do enjoy using the word “interstellar.” How did you know? Winner? Spike, because “Interstellar Mafia” sounds waaaay more badass than “Motorcycle gang.”

Cooler vehicle? They’re both red. They’re both fast. But between Kaneda’s motorcycle and Spike’s Swordfish, only one is up for interstellar travel. (It’s the Swordfish.) Winner? Spike “Interstellar Traveler” Spiegel.

Also? It shoots lasers!

 

I don't need a vehicle that shoots lasers. I've got a gun that does that.

Gets the girl? Kaneda and Kei end up being the rulers of Neo-Tokyo (which has been destroyed three times at this point, so good luck with that, kids). Spike dies. Also, he was mean to Faye up until the end, when they! would! have! made! such! a! cute! couple!! Winner? Kaneda. (Gods, Spike, you should’ve just hooked up with Faye already.)

Lives to fight another day? Winner? Kanedaaaaaa!

Overall winner? Spike Spiegel. But only barely. Mostly because of his spaceship.

Hey! It’s a top ten list about how bad Keanu Reeves sucks and how awesome Cowboy Bebop’s Spike Spiegel is! It’s like taking two things I love (saying how bad Keanu Reeves sucks and Cowboy Bebop) and mashing them together into one giant gooey mashed-up potato cake or something.

Gods, Hollywood, can't you see what a bad idea this is?

Mmmmm, potato cakes.

So what could portray Spike Spiegel better than Keanu Reeves could ever possibly hope? Let’s find out! (Note: not all things on this list are animate objects.)

1. A life-size Spike Spiegel cardboard cutout. The advantage this has over Keanu Reeves is that it already looks like Spike Spiegel. Also, the acting.

2. A mynah bird. A mynah bird is nature’s tape recorder. Just let the thing watch a few episodes of Cowboy Bebop, and you have got yourself someone who can replicate more of Spike Spiegel’s mannerisms than, say, I don’t know, Keanu Reeves. Because the only mannerism of Spike Spiegel Keanu Reeves could replicate is the part at the end (spoiler alert!), where he is lying there dead. And he’d probably screw that up by goddamn breathing or something.

I could've been a contender! SQUAWK! (Note: I don't actually know if Mynah birds say "Squawk.")

3. Speaking of dead (belated spoiler alert!), a corpse. A corpse has the advantage of having once possessed the ability to convincingly portray basic human emotion, something Keanu Reeves is sadly, sadly lacking.

4. That guy who dressed up like Spike Spiegel at Comic-Con. Any of them. All of them. Hell, you could shoot a different Spike Spiegel cosplayer for each different scene, and it would still be better than Keanu Reeves.

Bonus! This guy's kind of cute, too!

5. An Elvis impersonator. I’m not sure if this would actually be better than Keanu Reeves, but it certainly couldn’t be any worse.

Sure, I could add ... what's his name? ... Spike Spiegel? ... to my repertoire.

6. A CGI character. Sure, it’s a “live-action” movie. Hey, the Star Wars prequels were “live-action” “movies.” So was the Lord of the Rings trilogy! We could totally replace Keanu Reeves with a computer replica of Spike Spiegel, and no one would be the wiser, except for, you know, the acting.

I feel a little bit wrong about using an image of Gollum, but you've got to admit: he's got dramatic range!

7. A collectible Cowboy Bebop piece of memorabilia, like a lighter or something. Again, has the advantage of looking like Spike Spiegel. Again, ACTING!

8. A raccoon. I know, I know. Spike Spiegel doesn’t seem much like a raccoon, right? But when you think about it, with those little masks, raccoons are totally the bandits of the animal world. And Spike Spiegel was a bandit … aw, crap, he was a bounty hunter. What’s the bounty hunter of the animal world? People? Shit, this totally fell apart on me. Well, anyway, a raccoon would still be a better choice to play Spike Spiegel than Keanu Reeves.

The raccoon thinks you suck too, Keanu Reeves.

9. A wooden spoon. Why the wooden spoon? BECAUSE IT’S LESS WOODEN THAN KEANU REEVES, THAT’S WHY!

ACTING!!!!!!

10. An actual, real actor. Frak you, Hollywood, why does Keanu Reeves have a career anyway? I hate you so much.

Since that's a pretty teeny representation, it says: "Blank: his entire emotional range in one word." I can do no better than that. Replace me with a damn mynah!

Keanu Reeves ha dicho en reciente entrevista  sobre la película de Cowboy Bebop que aún siguen los planes para esta adaptación “Hay un borrador del guión, el escritor hizo un gran trabajo, pero para hacer la película basada en ese guión necesitaríamos medio Billón de dólares”

Dicho escritor es Peter Craig, quien antes habló sobre este guion diciendo que “Es extremadamente fiel” al anime original, Craig se reunió con  los productores del anime en diciembre y volvió a casa  con datos detallados sobre la adaptación.

“El estudio dijo: Esta película es fantástica y costaría  medio millón de dólares” rie Reeves “así que se esta reescribiendo”

Aún sin decir si aparecería en el film, Reeves dió una pista  sobre los personajes, diciendo que desde Spike hasta Ein son un factor en la historia de la película “todos están ahí” dice Reeves

Après les dames, les messieurs. Le choix fut plus facile, bien que j’ai eu quelques hésitations sur la fin. Il n’y aura pas de grandes surprises pour les principaux et certains seront aussi évidents que la présence d’Arcueid chez les femmes.

Là encore, ils ont tous à peu près le même profil. Il m’est également impossible de faire un classement car je les apprécie tous. Je dirai tout de même que cette liste a quand même bien moins de chance d’évoluer que celle des femmes car beaucoup de héros sont pauvres et peu charismatiques.

Sans plus attendre, voici ma liste

- Kuchiki Byakuya (Bleach): pas vraiment une surprise pour ceux qui me connaissent un peu .

- Ulquiorra (Beach): j’aime pas mettre 2 personnages d’un même anime mais je ne pouvais pas choisir.

- Guts (Berserk): un héros noir. J’adore son épée ^^

- Kiba (Wolf’s Rain): mystérieux et froid. Le solitaire dans l’âme.

- Spike Spiegel (Cowboy Bebop): je ne pouvais pas l’oublier Cool attitude power.

- Kurei (Flame of Recca): l’un des mes méchants préférés. Très complexe dans le manga.

- Sephiroth ( Final Fantasy: Advent Children): mon méchant préféré. La classe international.

- Van (Gun X Sword): l’anti-héros par excellence, mélange de Guts et de Spike.

- Sebastian (Kuroshitsuji): le plus récent de la liste mais pas le plus mauvais. Mystérieux, on ne sait jamais le fond de sa pensée, qu’il cache derrière son sourire machiavélique.

- Hagi (Blood+): ce n’est pas le personnage principal mais j’adore son style. très proche de Kuchiki Byakuya, le violoncelle en plus.

J’aurai pu mettre aussi avec Alucard (Hellsing) et Abel Nightlord (Trinity Blood), très classe quand il se transforme en Kresnik, mais les 10 d’avant représentent vraiment ceux qui m’ont le plus plu.

Cowboy Bepbop (The Movie): Watched this film for the umpteenth time to test a 5.1 surround sound and it definitely does the trick! Could easily be considered as a demo disc for a multi-speaker set up. The story’s ace, animation’s quite good and all of the jazz / blues music is immense. Not as good as the series but definitely worth a looky!

Score: 7/10

Em meados de início de 2008, seguindo o estouro dos anúncios de Akira e Ghost in the Shell, foram ouvidos rumores sobre um live action de Cowboy Bebop, rumores estes confirmados no ínicio deste ano quando o ator antes cogitado Keanu Reeves confirmou mesmo o envolvimento com a produção do longa, em entrevista cedida à MTV:

“Sim, nós estamos tentando fazer esse filme. Ele tem uma qualidade de faroeste, meio noir, meio ficção científica tecnológica. Tem muito estilo, que é parte do apelo. Um filme desse é o sonho de qualquer desenhista de produção. Então acho que a questão é achar um bom desenhista de produção. Nós já temos os direitos de adaptação e temos um roteirista, que está organizando as cenas.”

Ele diz também ser um apreciador do anime e que está bastante empolgado com o filme. O eterno Neo será Spike Spiegel, o inveterado caçador de recompensas marciano. Quanto à Faye Valentine, que é o que interessa, parece ainda não haver rumores de atriz para o papel. Quem nunca assistiu o anime, vale a pena conferir.

Postado por: Victor C.

The “Cowboy Bebop” camp has been awfully quiet lately. Following initial reports that Fox had acquired the multi-faceted space western for a live-action release starring Keanu Reeves as Spike Spiegel, new details have been sparse.

Fortunately for fans, screenwriter Peter Craig broke Internet silence this week, reassuring Beboppers that the project is progressing — and will be faithful to the source material. (Source)
This one getting its own American remake as well? Damn, I’m missing out on some things. Anyway, if they really want to do this, no one to stop them. But please consider someone else than Keanu Reeves. Or do you just want to let it fail even before its actual release?

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Dubbed the greatest anime of all time Cowboy Bebop has something for everyone.  The story mostly takes place on the “bebop”, a run down space ship and revolves around a ramshackle crew of bounty hunters, “cowboys”.  Spike Speigel, the protagonist, has left “the Syndicate” an organized crime outfit and linked up with Jet Black, the owner/captain of the Bebop.   The two of them are wandering through the solar system picking up bounty heads when they start to pick up other crew members: Radical Edward, a androgynous child hacker, Faye Valentine, a mysterious hard luck woman, and Ein, a data dog/Welsh Corgi.

The anime’s charm lies in the “cool” motif that runs through the show from the jazzy funk opening to the beautifully choreographed battle scenes.  Every character, minor and Major, has quirks that beg to be explored and Watanabe does a splendid job fleshing them out.  Spaghetti western, space opera, epic, sci-fi, thriller, horror, romance, and adventure are the different story genres that mesh together to make Bebop one of the most memorable Anime ever.  Told in 26 episodes the action explodes from the first scene and hardly lets up through out.  If you missed this one go and get it, immediately!

Transcurre el año 2071. La tripulación del Bebop, inicialmente compuesta por Spike Spiegel y Jet Black viaja por todo el Sistema Solar en busca de recompensas. A lo largo de sus aventuras se incorporan tres nuevos personajes a su tripulación: Faye Valentine, Ed y, la mascota, Ein. Durante sus aventuras se desvela la tortuosa relación entre el protagonista, Spike y su viejo camarada Vicious lo que conduce al desenlace de la serie. La relación de Spike con los demás coprotagonistas, y sus trasfondos, se dejan entrever en los capítulos intermedios de la serie.

The year is 2071 AD. With the systematic collapse of the old nation-states, a mixed jumble of races and peoples were driven out of their terrestrial Eden and spread to the stars, taking with them the now confused concepts of justice, freedom, violence, and love. New rules were established, and a new generation of bounty hunters came into being. People referred to these bounty hunters as “cowboys.”

Meet Spike and Jet, a drifter and a retired cyborg cop who have started a bounty hunting partnership. In the converted ship The Bebop, Spike and Jet search the galaxy for criminals with bounties on their heads. They meet a lot of interesting characters, including the unusually intelligent dog Ein, the bizarre hacker child prodigy Ed, and the voluptuous and vexing femme fatale, Faye Valentine.

Ballad of Fallen Angels: This was the episode that got me into the series. My sister told me it was her favorite, showed it to me, and I’ve wanted to catch the rest of the series ever since. This episode has a lot of opera going on, which lends an interesting atmosphere to the episode. This is the first session that really deals with Spike or Jet’s past. Spike has to return to a planet he knows all too well, to face off with a man named Vicious, who ended a mob truce about three seconds after it was agreed upon. Dude is a killer, and uses a sword as his primary tool of destruction.

This episode had tons of action, and features Spike getting shot for the first time in the series. I guess he’s not invincible after all. The whole church scene may well be the best scene I’ve ever witnessed in a cartoon, and I’ve seen tons of cartoons, so that’s saying a lot I think. Everything from Spike popping a guy in the dome for holding Faye hostage, to a close range stand off between Spike and Vicious, where Spike has him at gun point, but Vicious has spike at sword point. An interesting change on the age old dynamic of two characters holding each other at gun point.

I have a feeling that’s not the last I’ll be seeing Vicious in this series, despite possibly being blown up.

Sympathy For the Devil: Another great episode, and one heavy on mythology. What seems to be a normal bounty, ends up becoming a battle against an immortal child. I love the gun play in this show, and the way that little kid looked when he was trying to shoot Spike was crazy/cool. I think I saw a baby or something firing a gun in Trigun, but that was only in passing, so perhaps not, but that’s the only time I can even think of a little kid having a gun fight.

Kid can jam…

I loved the blues theme of the episode. Have I mentioned that I love the music for this show? I’m sure the graphic novels/manga for this aren’t bad, but I can’t imagine enjoying the stories as much without the soundtrack. I feel like music is the key to the show, and sets the tone in everyone of these stories. I loved how they needed to forge a special bullet to help the boy back into a (rapid) aging process. Spike wasn’t going to waste his one and only shot, and him standing there taking fire without moving was pretty intense. Dude is a bad ass.

The Heavy Metal Queen herself, and her cat Zeroes

Heavy Metal Queen: Spike and Faye team up for the first time to try and bring in a bounty named “Decker.” Though the main character of this episode isn’t one of the Bebop’s crew, but instead a space trucker known only as V.T., who carries around fat stack of money, which she will pay to whoever can guess what her initials stand for. She’s the “Heavy Metal Queen,” and she was a pretty bad ass minor character.

Decker is a scrawny little dude, who has a bunch of high powered explosives, and very little else of interest. As usual, the crew doesn’t round up the bounty on the dude due to his death, but that’s just the luck of Spike and Co. In an effort to save V.T. from a mining satellite, which was a pretty crazy setting, Spike eventually goes into zero gravity/oxygen to jump from his ship to V.T.’s. He almost missed V.T., and is nearly lost into the vacuum of space, but he pulls his gun out, fires, and changes his momentum. The way he used his gun to reverse his direction was bad ass, probably my favorite part of the episode.

Spike eventually guess V.T.’s name, but doesn’t take the stack of cash. Instead Spike just takes on of the bills off her, and let’s her keep the rest for her dead husband.

Waltz For Venus: This episode features a strange character named Roco Bonnaro. The guy is a little goofy, and keeps asking Spike to teach him how to fight. Eventually he tricks Spike into teaching him a little something, but as soon as their training gets underway, a gang of dudes chase Roco away from Spike, but not before they arrange another meeting for the next day. Roco also gives Spike something to hold, which is a rare flower only found on Venus.

Roco sits behind Spike at the beginning of the Session

Turns out Roco is a part of a gang, who are all wanted men, and those were the ones chasing him away from Spike. The Bebop crew decides to try and round up Roco’s whole crew, but first Spike goes off to meet Roco’s blind sister, who he ends up befriending. Later Spike goes to meet up with Roco, but it’s a set up, and a gun fight breaks out. Faye shows up in her ship, and helps round up all the bad guys. At one point Roco dodge an attacker using the fluid movements that Spike taught him earlier, but then gets shot in the back a moment after. Roco drops the plant, destroying it, and then dies after a conversation with Spike.

Spike has to go tell Roco’s sister the bad news. She’s in the hospital preparing for surgery to correct her site, so she can see her brother for the first time, but instead finds out of his death. A great episode, and shows Spike isn’t the emotionless bad ass he pretends to be.

Jamming with Edward: Probably the weakest episode in the series so far. There’s an Earth hacker named Radical Edward who has been following the exploits of the Bebop for sometime, and excitedly awaits contact with them. The crew comes to Earth to collect a bounty on a hacker who has been drawing crop circles with satellites stationed around Earth. They come into contact with Edward, who tells them it’s a satellite doing the drawings, and (s)he tells them what they must do to collect their bounty.

Radical Edward

Spike and Faye go into a large pile of satellites, have to fight them all off, and in the end they don’t even get to keep their bounty due to computers not being considered living organisms. Screwed on a technicality, the Bebop crew can’t catch a break. By the end of the episode Edward joins the crew on the Bebop,and Spike angrily questions Jet about their new crew members. I guess Edward is going to be a main character now, which I’m not exactly enthused about, but perhaps the character will grow on me…

“See you Space Cowboy…”

Cowboy Bebop has to be my favorite anime series.  I’m no anime guru, but this show is so well written.

Spike Spiegel: He’s the main character, a mysterious bounty hunter whose past continues to haunt him. He was a member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate.

Jet Black: Former Inter-Solar System Poice (ISSP) officer, he is also a bounty hunter who works with Spike.  He has a cybernetic arm.

Faye Valentine: She has amnesia, and so can’t remember her past at all.  Her past is unraveled throughout the story, and it’s quite twisted.  She’s never lost a poker game except the one she played against Spike when she’s introduced into the story.

Ed: Ed is a brilliant hacker, and is only a child.  She (yes, she) ran away from an orphanage and gave herself the name Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV.  She spends most of her time with Ein.

Ein: Ein is a Welsh Corgi who appears to have an enhanced intelligence.  However, usually, the crew of Cowboy Bebop just ignore him, even if he’s trying to help.

Vicious: Spike’s arch-enemy.  They were partners in the Syndicate, but a fallout happens and now they hate each other.  Their relationship is never fully explained.

I also like the jazz and 50’s rock they use on the show.  Most of the music is performed by the group The Seat Belts (http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=390226782).  The intro song (Tank!) very catchy and recognizable, I sing it all the time.  Even if you don’t normally like anime, you should check this out.  http://www.adultswim.com/shows/cowboybebop/indexpage.html#episodes