Arriving at our screens in the late 90s, Cowboy Bebop took the world by storm with its very powerful and impactful storytelling. Focusing on a crew of “cowboys” who are actually just bounty hunters in the distant future, where the Earth is barely habitable due to some disaster that happened prior to the show, Cowboy Bebop managed to explore multiple facets of human nature and existentialism. The show tackled various things which affect people of all ages, and with that, it has become widely regarded as one of, if not the greatest anime ever. The fact that it was a short anime made it better, if one thinks about it. It told the story that it had to, and ended things right there. This article will go into just how powerful of a story Cowboy Bebop is.
The main attraction with Cowboy Bebop is not the action or the animation quality. It is the theme that the show covers. As stated before, the show covers existentialism very well, and that is its biggest strength. Existentialism is covered in different ways through the lens of the different characters of the main cast.
Spike
The main character of the show would obviously have been the first one. He is a character that takes it easy in life. He is a down on his luck guy who’s just trying to keep things going, having lost all sense of direction in his life since his failed getaway with the love of his life: Julia. From what we see, we can estimate that he has a severe case of depression. His main problem was losing all hope because of his inability to cope healthily with what happened to him in the past, leaving him in a state of being half alive, and oftentimes being very careless with his life. There are moments of clarity, such as when he fights Pierrot Le Fou. It is the only time we ever really see him afraid for his life, showing that deep down, he still had some sort of hope of making it through everything.
Jet
The secondary lead definitely has some issues worth resolving as well. He places himself as the captain of the ship and the leader of the crew. He is a former policeman and left after some drama ensued, feeling that he would be better off as some sort of freelancer, becoming a cowboy in the end. He seems to be the most normal one of the group. It takes a lot of insight to know that he has things going on. He tries to distance himself from everyone because of the drama he went through as a cop, but still slips up and shows that he actually cares for everyone and what they go through. It will not make him feel like stopping them from doing things that may endanger them, but he is always there for backup, and is always glad to have them back. He practices emotional distance as a means of protecting himself and putting up a false bravado in front of the others due to the trauma he suffered when he was a cop.
Faye
She is the femme fatale of the group…or at least aspires to be. She often goes on her adventures and causes mischief that the group is always forced to be a part of because they either have to rescue her or because they listened to what she had to say about it being a way to make money. She is the one who brings out Jet’s caring side to come out of his bravado the most. He is always concerned for her. Even when he says that he does not care, he is always happy to see her back and often scolds her for endangering herself, trying to show that he cares more for his ship and the possibilities of making money more than he does her life. She goes through a typical storyline in existentialism stories: she has amnesia. She does not remember who she is or where she comes from. It bothers her deeply, and when she starts to see that the others have problems as well, she starts to care more about them and gets to see them as family.
Edward
Oh, Edward was the most interesting character. This was because we had no idea what Edward actually was. It was not until the movie Knockin on Heaven’s Door that we got full confirmation that Edward was a girl. Even when she met her father, whom she calls “father-person”, her sex was not revealed, and he was seen to be just as kooky as she was. Edward was the carefree one of the group, and had little to no problems going on in her life. Her only problem was how she would not be able to fit in anywhere because of her extremely different worldview and way of doing things. She was not bad or radical. She was just weird. Her only issue was that she did not know her father, and she wanted to.
All of these characters had something to hold on to regarding their pasts, and they came back to haunt them at some point or another in the show. While they were resolved, there was only one that truly was a good ending, and that was Edward, who was always the carefree one. She left with Ein, the genius dog, to explore the world and look for her father. She knew where he was and how to find him. Even if she did not, it did not seem to bother her that much. Faye also got closure on her identity crisis, realizing that it did not matter anymore, trying to find out about her past, as it would not change anything about who she was at the moment, and what she was doing. She realized this in the end, and when she finally had accepted her place as a member of the family of the Bebop, it was too late. Spike had decided to go confront Vicious and settle the score once and for all, which would lead to his death, because he had nothing more to live for. The whole time, he lived, hoping to see Julia, and once he did, she died. Faye was too late to enjoy anything.
There is a very powerful lesson in regard to existentialism there, showing the audience that these characters held on to the past so tightly that they did not enjoy the present. The case is especially true with Faye, who did not take the time to enjoy the moments she had with her friends, and only learned to when they were about to part ways forever. The show teaches us to stay in the present, and leave the past behind, as it could slow down our progress in life. It also delves deep into guilt and responsibility, through Jet’s story. The way he went about it was being distant from everyone and caring about them in private. At least he got to enjoy his time with Spike when he had it, but it never went all the way, due to Spike fighting his own demons and Jet pretending to be distant all the time.
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