Cowboy BeBop and the story so far

last update after viewing session 16: Black Dog Serenade

Session 15: My Funny Valentine

This episode is to delve into the mystery that is Faye's past. Turns out that her story starts over 50 years ago when she was the victim of a great accident and was cryogenically frozen until she could be cured. When she awoke she accumulated her enormous dept. of 300,000,000 mulongs. Shortly after she was betrayed by her newfound love and she fell into even more dept. Turns out now that they just picked up a bounty head, the lowest of the low. The guy that Faye fell in love with so long ago. Faye goes searching for answers and doesn't really get anything. In the end, it turns out the guy was worth only 1908 mulongs. The lowest of the low.

Session 16: Black Dog Serenade

A prison ship is over thrown by it's prisoners and on it is the man responsible for Jet's arm. Jet returns with his old partner form those days to settle the score with this well trained syndicate assassin. Things become unclear in the battle and everything seems to fall apart. After a close call with the man he learns the truth behind the loss of his arm and the truth behind his partners motivation for coming here. Jet was a threat to the syndicates and his partner was on the payroll. He was only there to shut him up for good. In the end, Jet lays this old dog to rest and the ISSP comes in to pick up the broken parts. Oh yeah, Jet left Ed in charge of his bonsai trees.......big mistake.

Session 13: Jupiter Jazz, Part 2

Everything is revolving around Vicious as Spike searches for Julia. Spike is ok physically, but he knows he is being mocked. Spike wakes up and finds it was a tranquilizer bullet Len shot him with. After confronting Gren, Faye learns all his secrets, including his connection to Vicious as an old war buddy. Turns out that Gren was betrayed by Vicious after the war and the drug he was put on in prison caused him to grow boobs. Jet eventually finds, what seems like, a very sedated Faye. Gren confronts Vicious in a dealing of Bloody Eye and Len falls in the process. Spike, who gets there just in time to watch his own Len die, engages Vicious in a heated dogfight that ends with Gren in serious condition. Half way through, Jet offers Spike the opportunity to get back on the BeBop if he brings in Gren as a bounty head.

Vicious gets away. Spike helps Gren fulfill his dying wish (to return to triton). Faye returns to the BeBop. Len dies. Julia is nowhere to be seen. In the end, Spike returns to the BeBop, without bringing in Gren. Nothing went the way it was supposed to and things are still unresolved. Even the image of Julia gets more skewed and her mysterious role in events gets in no way clearer.

Session 14: Bohemian Rhapsody

Toll booths at the interstellar travel gates have become the scene of high-tech robberies. There is a large bounty for the culprit, but over 20 perpetrators are arrested. The crew pools it's information and tries to crack the case when the biggest clue comes from a chess piece designed for the playing of e-chess. Later, Jet finds the name of their mastermind, Chess-Master Hex. When Ed is asked to track him down, her reply is that she is playing chess against him as they speak. The crew uses this info to track him to a space junkyard where they discover the truth behind the crime. A crime planned out over 50 years ago by a genius working for the gate company. He had doubts and he was fired, as revenge, he planned this scheme, but now he's just an old senile man, looking for a game of chess. Oh yeah, after a week strait of playing, Hex beats Ed. Oh well.

Session 11: Toys in the Attic

For the first time, the BeBop is infiltrated by a deadly enemy. One of the most intense episodes so far is also one of the most comical. It all starts with a few life lessons given by the crew and ends with a BeBop who's artificial gravity has been shutdown and is on an automatic course for Mars. What they thought was just a rat turns out to be a deadly result of some old food Spike left in the fridge something like a year ago. The final lesson? Don't leave things in the fridge. Oh yeah, it all ends when Ed, barehanded, mistakes the Ganymede Rock Lobster for pudding and eats it on the spot. Yum.

Session 12: Jupiter Jazz, Part 1

Things are a mess on he BeBop. Faye has gone and even taken everything the ship had in eh bank. It also seems that in the hunt for her whereabouts, Ed falls upon the name Julia and Spike hits the roof. Spike heads for the surface of Jupiter, in spite of Jet's threat to kick him out if he does. Meanwhile, in the womanless town of Blue Crow, Faye finds the company of an individual named Gren. What follows will link Spike to Jupiter, Jupiter to Julia, Julia to Gren and Gren to Vicious. Gren fought beside Vicious in the war on Triton (one of Jupiter's moons). On top of that, Gren has boobs.

This is the greatest episode since #5, Ballad of Fallen Angels and even shows more so how much a badass Spike is. However, this is part one and it ends with Spike laying face up in the snow with a bullet wound at his heart, a bullet fired by his own disciple, Len. Looking forward to Part 2, this is an episode worth watching over and over, even if Ballad of Fallen Angels has a better flashback scene.

Session 9: Jamming with Edward

It seems now that the BeBop has again picked up a rag tag straggler (how poetic). Ed is a young girl who's hacking expertise is unmatched. Too bad she can't put it to practical use, oh well. Ed assists the BeBop's crew in the apprehension of a renegade satellite computer from the days before the gate catastrophe. Empu, as Ed named the computer, is actually just a bit lonely and a copy is downloaded to Ed's computer for safe keeping, something tells me we'll see more of Empu in the future.

Anyway, as payment, Faye agrees to take the kid on board as a member of the BeBop. A promise she never intended on keeping. Well, Ed decides to force the BeBop to land and joins our crew on their crusade across the stars. Enter-Cowgirl Ed (Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky 4th)

Session 10: Ganymede Elegy

On return to Ganymede, Jet's Home Satellite (that means rotating object about another big object), the crew of the Bebop, or at least Jet, faces a dilemma in their next bounty head. Jet manages to track down his former sweetheart who's new boyfriend turns out to be a recent criminal. Now, Jet is faced with potentially ruining the life of his lost love or betray what he has stood for for his entire life. Jet, sticking to his principals, turns the guy in. The guy, however, is just a small fry and is speculated to get off on self-defense.

Session 7: Heavy Metal Queen

Yet to be released

Session 8: Waltz for Venus

Yet to be released

Session 5: Ballad of Fallen Angels

Spike has a past unlike most others and now it's come back to haunt him. Spike goes after a member of a syndicate. However, the bounty isn't as normal as it seems. In fact, it's a setup. Faye however gets a might bit too greedy and decides to go after the bounty herself. Too bad she gets caught and further used as bait in a sick scheme to destroy Spike and with Jet refusing to participate in the hunt, spike finds himself alone.

It what ensues comes the greatest gunfight yet in the series and what is the most dramatic flashback scene I have ever witnessed in cinema. A flashback so dramatic I often watch the tape again, for the sole purpose of watching it's beautiful execution in 2 tone color while spike falls from the great window of a cathedral in slow-motion with the sigh of relief upon his face. This is the scene that will keep watching BeBop till a conclusion and then all over again.

Session 6: Sympathy for the Devil

While pursuing another bounty, Spike and Jet fall upon a small musical genius named Wen. Plays a harmonica like a pro, using a technique that takes years to perfect, funny the kid looks no older then 12. If that's not strange enough, the man they were hunting handed spike a strange stone with his last dying action.

Further investigation of the circumstances reveals that the kid is ancient, his life dating back almost to the gate crash on earth. The child has ceased to age. In a final effort to kill this extremely dangerous foe, Jet and Spike manage to find the use for the crystal and later shoot it directly into Wen which causes his final death, as well as some very impressive fireworks.

Session 3: Honkey Tonk Women

It's true, Spike is too sharp. However this time it's gained him more then bad looks from bad people. This time he's gotten the attention of Faye Valentine as well as the owner of an asteroid belt casino owner. Spike is the victim of mistaken identity when Faye, playing as a poker dealer, caries out a plan that would wipe away her enormous dept. Well, Spike plays along as though he knows what is happening, that is until the very last part is fouled up and Faye runs after him in hopes of finishing the deal.

The following events result in Faye stealing a 30 million prize for a poker chip, the destruction of a moon size ship with the casino owner and his entire corporation on board. However, I know that we will be seeing this Romany in later episodes. Enter-Cowgirl Faye.

Session 4: Gateway Shuffle

God I like Monkeys, I really do. However, this is downright weird. A bunch of animal rights activists with machine guns and holo-grenades roam the asteroid belt protecting all the little critters from extinction. Or at least they obsess about a little not so tasty animal called the Ganymede Sea Rat. These are the 'Space Warriors'.

Spike and Jet just happen to capture their leader though, who has a substantial reward on her head. Too bad they drop the reward as soon as she is caught but not before they pick up the stranded Faye who stole their reward. She looks pretty good in hand cuffs (hehe). So they are forced to give her back when her 'boys' threaten Ganymede with a virus that turns humans back into Monkeys, appropriately named 'Monkey Business'. All seems normal (I suppose) until Ganymede posts the bounty again when the space warriors launch the missile containing the virus. After some half-luck and a breathtaking race through a gate, spike and Faye manage to escape being enclosed in hyperspace along with the virus and the Space warriors. Say hello to Faye, a new member of the BeBop.

Session 1: Asteroid Blues

Welcome to a new beginning. The time, the year 2071. Somewhere in space...This rugged group of bounty hunters gathered on the spaceship BeBop, are freely playing their own tune, not afraid to risk. They broke away from style and will probably make a new drama, a new picture. And this new style of art will probably be called "Cowboy BeBop".

After being introduced to our 2 favorite bounty hunters and their situation we get right down to the action, no dead time involved. Spike and Jet begin a hunt on a bounty head who has stolen a large sum of a drug called Red Eye, that induces berserk rages and enhances every physical aspect of ones being. After a small drama and an investigation, nobody comes out on top with no bounty and a death of a very pretty chick. All this leading into what will be known as one of the greatest Anime titles to date.

Session 2: Stray Dog Strut

My grandmother once had a Welsh Corgi. The things are small and won't shut up. They are, however, the size of footballs and perfect for punting (I would imagine).

In the second Session, Spike and Jet go after a pet thief who has stolen a 'Data Dog'. Hakim (as he is known) gets a little more then he can deal with when he runs into Spike and a bunch of nerds in a van. After several chases and close calls and some pretty intense flights, Hakim is arrested and the only thing the BeBop has to show for it is a football size dog. Oh well, see you space cowboy.