Set less than a century into the future, Cowboy Bebop follows the day-to-day lives of Spike and Jet. These two have
formed a working partnership as bounty hunters despite the differences in their backgrounds. Jet, a former cop, and
Spike, a former chinese mafia member, speed about the galaxy in search of bounties.
At first glance, this series may seem shallow and rather simple, but as it grows and develops you begin to grasp that a
much larger tale of loss, heartbreak, and sacrifice is afoot. The outrageous support characters and amazing depth instilled
in the main players can only truly be seen once you've sat back following the completion of the series. However, this
first volume is a great warm-up to the series, and features some of the great action, pacing, and music that the series is
known for.
One amazing thing about this series is the wonderful job of voice-acting that was pulled off for the english dub.
I know that anime 'purists' would rather read the subtitles while the authentic asian voices play, but to those of us that
are 'pure' fans of anime, a good dub allows us to fully engross ourselves in a work. To that end, Cowboy Bebop has,
by far, one of the best english dubs I have ever heard, though I can't speak to how well it was translated.
Though you will have to wait till later volumes to meet some of the more colorful characters like Ed, this volume does
give a glimpse into the background of Spike and introduces Faye Valentine to the Bebop crew. If you've never seen this
series then I highly recommend giving it a try. It has a huge fan following, and I'm sure you'll find out exactly why
after giving this a shot.
