DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME ActionCowboy Bebop

REVIEWS

• 

  Etyo

  75/100
  [Non Spoiler] Cowboy Bebop the Alternative ending - or is it?

  Cowboy Bebop's transposed ending

  Many people consider Cowboy Bebop a classic, some think it is an over rated show others claim it to be genius. What ever your mould you can't say that there is no effort put into this show. It defies the laziness of majority of exposition in Anime these days and even back then. To really grasp this understanding you need to watch Cowboy Bebop Session XX: Mish-Mash Blues.

  The problem with reviewing this, is purely that it's one episode long it isn't directly apart of the original series but it has the same goal in thought and style. It is accompanied by a small cast of people talking over scenes in the first half of Cowboy Bebop. But it's not to try and sound smart or to expound some amazing truth, yet there is a lot of great lines in the episode it is unique in experience. If you call yourself a Cowboy Bebop fan and you haven't seen this episode, I question your loyalty. If you have never heard of it I know for a fact you will do everything you can to track it down. Because it is a nugget of gold within the mind of Cain Kuga (the writer of Cowboy Bebop). It was originally used as an alternative ending to the series to support the battle against violence in Japan, they aired the episode to call for hiatus on the series and gives you a glimpse into the future of the series. In the end of the episode it cries out for the completion of the series by ending on the words of "This Is Not The End. You Will See The Real "Cowboy Bebop" Someday!"

  The problem with this episode is that it is extremely difficult to come by, since it was not released on any form it only aired on TV in 1998. But it is certainly not impossible to come by, you just have to search enough. Someone once told me that if you really care about something you would be able to do what you need to grasp at everything and anything that would show how much you care. Nothing is impossible to find if you really want to find it.

  The episode itself is just a compilation of previous episodes which requires you to have watched those episodes, I recommend watching this episode after episode 12 as it is when it is set to fit into the fandom of Cowboy Bebop. This episode is quite low on my list because of its structure and to rate it is pretty much just for exposure. Yet for the uniqueness of the episode it deserves some recognition in regards to it's efforts to support a social problem and also not forgetting the fans of Cowboy Bebop in those efforts.

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• 

  NyoDesu

  85/100
  Cowboy Bebop: Yoseatsume Blues: A Short & Sugary Sweet Special

  The Story/Narrative & Characters:

  Given that this episode is just interpersonal monologues of the Bebop Crew using the first thirteen episodes of the series for footage, there's not too much to say. The life lessons from each character are very fitting and are valuable lessons, like not upsetting yourself over the small things in life with Spike, embracing yourself despite what others may think of you for Faye, and you not being able to get everything you want in life but appreciating the things that you have with Ed are all very nice things. It's nothing to write home about, but I like the connections each lesson has to each character, and some of them are nice food for thought.

  The only characters that have any commentary are of course the Bebop crew and while it would've been interesting to see what some of the antagonists like Gren or Vicious would've had to say, I suppose with only so much footage to go off of and the fact this was more of a 'We want to leave something for people to remember us by' sort of episode, I suppose they wanted to keep it simple and to the point.

  Not much else to say other than that.

  The Visual & Sound Design:

  Well, given that everything here is just footage of everything up to episode thirteen of the series, it's wonderful! I won't go too deep into it yet, as to save my praises for it in the main review after I've finished the series in full, but everything here is simple, top-notch.

  Oh, and that music...woo mama. It's up there with Evangelion for me as some of the best anime soundtracks of the era. The different lessons using their own tracks to set the tones for each in this episode, specifically, was a nice touch. There's no other sound really used other than the ones that are briefly featured in the clips and the characters voicing their thoughts, so there's nothing to say there. However, I will say as someone who's been watching the series in Dub since I was told at how iconic, accurate, and solid it is, the Japanese Subs are also quite great, especially Kouichi Yamadera as Spike (I mean for crying out loud, he's been in everything, Shun Akiyama from the Yakuza/Like a Dragon franchise is his most recognizable role for me though and I caught it immediately upon hearing him.) They went all out as much as they could with this episode, like it was their last. Guess you could say they succeeded there.

  The Verdict:

  All in all, it's a solid little episode that does its best to try and cap off the series at a time where everyone had no idea what was gonna happen to the series. Thankfully, the series was brought back and went on for another thirteen episodes, cause it would've been an absolute bummer to me if it ended off like this.

  Only watch this if you're a superfan who wants to hear the characters speak their minds a little more (which I don't mind, cause I'm very into character-driven works in general) or you're like me and want to experience everything the franchise has to offer. It's just a single episode, and I think you'll get some value out of it otherwise.

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