Cowboy Bebop question

[entity]

Recently, while looking at some anime magizine, I spotted an ad for what I believe was the complete series of Cowboy Bebop coming to DVD. While I had not previously followed the series, I had always had just alittle constant curiosity about it. Most of my taste in anime had a superhero element to it, and I mostly hate old fashoned settings, for example westerns. With news of the series on DVD and a live action film in the works, I can't stop thinking now is the perfect time to give it a chance. The first episode I saw could have been better. It focused on Ed, while the others were comicly sick from eating mushrooms.

Basicly, I want someone to tell me that most of the series isn't just these small and goofy stories. I'm looking for action stories in a modern setting, not just an old movie with spaceships added.

[Inkthinker]

"Mushroom Samba" is hardly representative of the series as a whole. Cowboy Bebop as a whole is more of a darkly comic action series with a heavy emphasis on music and a good dose of philosophy. There's plenty of times when Spike, Jet and Faye kick ass and take names in their roles as bounty hunters, but this episode isn't one of them.

The series has aired several time in its entirety on Adult Swim, and you can usually catch a couple episodes on adultswim.com's video section if you want to try something other than the Ed-centric mushroom fest. I saw that it had come back on the channel this past weekend, but why they started with "Mushroom Samba" (episode 17 of 26, with a movie that takes place between episodes 22 and 23), is beyond me. It's a little annoying for new viewers, I'm sure.

[LordEd1976]

Try to find these episodes, they're more representative of the show.

Asteroid Blues
Ballad of the Fallen Angels
Pierrot le Fou
Waltz for Venus

"Mushroon Samba" is the exception rather than the rule.

[The Xenos]

Yet.. such a wondeful exception. It has the whole crew tripping out on drugs. That's kinda a homage to various drug films. Plus there's the nods to the blacksplotation genre. Plus it centers on Ed. A favorite episode even if it is comedy. Toys in the Attic was another fun one. The first one I saw actually. Plus Wild Horses is another favorite, possibly because it showed that Red.. er.. Blue Sox fans are still masochistically optimistic in the face of doom even in the future.

A friend of mine or someone complained that Bebop was too episodic. They said there was too much filler. I disagreed. I thought it was a credit to the show. Just because it's not a continuous story like many anime, I don't see what's so bad about it. I found the different episodes and occasional comedy ones quite amazing.

As for the western theme, it's a space western. Plus some gangster. Like the commercial break jumps say, it's a mish mash of genre that shall become its own genre. It's Bebop. It's cool, man.

[entity]

Just the kind of input I wanted to hear, It is very obviously a good time to try the series. If I like it, it looks like I'll be able to get my hands on DVDs of the whole series fast. That is something I can't usually do when I first like a series. I'm waiting on DVDs of some of my favorites.

[The Xenos]

Just be careful where you buy them and that it's not bootleg. There's a faq at the top of the board for helping to spot them.

[entity]

After seeing 4 episodes, I have to say I think I won't be watching any more. I was curious, but what I've seen was almost entirly uninteresting. It had nothing that series I enjoy usually have to get me interested. I would need a good reason to watch another. Usually the things I like involve superheroes. I knew this was different and I hoped I'd like it, but it was a disappointment.

[Lester C.]

Just be careful where you buy them and that it's not bootleg. There's a faq at the top of the board for helping to spot them.

The real problem with Bootleg is that the technology has gotten to the point that you can't tell the real video from the fake. A lot of people who buy it don't know it's bootleg until years later when they learn what to look for.

[Inkthinker]

Usually the things I like involve superheroes.

Ooooh... yeah, it's NOT a superhero series. In fact, one of the things that many people find appealing about it is that it's grounded in some fair approximations of hard science (low-G to no-G environments on spaceships, terraforming, satellite colonies, slug-throwers over energy weapons, physically vulnerable characters).

And you'd probably hate the ending, too. It is not, one might say, exactly uplifting.

Hey, if it's not working for you, c'est la vie. Not everything is for everybody, and neither should it be.

[HeckBoy]

After seeing 4 episodes, I have to say I think I won't be watching any more. I was curious, but what I've seen was almost entirly uninteresting. It had nothing that series I enjoy usually have to get me interested. I would need a good reason to watch another. Usually the things I like involve superheroes. I knew this was different and I hoped I'd like it, but it was a disappointment.

Yeah, then this series probably wasn't for you from the get go. It certainly doesn't have that "classic" good guy beats the villain and saves the girl theme anyway.