List of Cowboy Bebop episodes
The Japanese anime series Cowboy Bebop consists of 26 episodes, referred to as "sessions". Most episodes are named after a musical concept of some sort, usually either a broad genre (e.g. "Gateway Shuffle") or a specific song (e.g. "Honky Tonk Women" and "Bohemian Rhapsody"). The show's first run, from April 3, 1998, until June 26, 1998, on TV Tokyo, included only episodes 2, 3, 7 to 15, 18 and a special. Later that year, the series was shown in its entirety from October 24 until April 24, 1999, on the satellite network Wowow.
In the United States, the series was aired repeatedly after late 2001 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block.[1] In its original run on Adult Swim, episodes 6, 8, and 22 were skipped due to their violent themes in wake of the September 11 attacks. By the third run of the series, all these episodes had premiered for the first time.
The show takes place in 2071 and follows a group of bounty hunters who hunt criminals on their ship, the Bebop. The main characters include Spike Spiegel, a laid-back former member of the Red Dragon Syndicate (a criminal organization) and hotshot ace pilot; Jet Black, a retired cop and the owner of the Bebop; Faye Valentine, a gambling-addicted amnesiac who always finds herself in financial debts; Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV (nicknamed "Ed"), an eccentric computer hacking prodigy from Earth; and Ein, a "data dog" as the group's pet.
A movie was released in 2001, titled Cowboy Bebop: The Movie. The movie takes place between episodes 22 and 23.[2]
Episodes[]
Season 1 (1998–99)[]
| No. in season | No. overall | Title | Storyboard by | Directed by | Written by | Original air date (TV Tokyo) |
Original air date (Wowow) |
English air date (Adult Swim) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Asteroid Blues" Transcription: "Asuteroido Burūsu" (Japanese: アステロイド・ブルース) | Shin'ichirō Watanabe | Yoshiyuki Takei | Keiko Nobumoto | - | October 24, 1998 | September 3, 2001 | |
| Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter, and his partner Jet Black head to the Tijuana asteroid colony on their ship, the Bebop, to track down a bounty-head named Asimov Solensan. Asimov is wanted for killing members of his own crime syndicate and stealing a cache of a dangerous combat drug known as Bloody-Eye. On the colony, Asimov and his girlfriend, Katerina, are ambushed at a bar by his former syndicate while attempting to sell a vial of Bloody-Eye, but Asimov fights his way out by using the drug himself. Spike later encounters Katerina and reveals to her that he is a bounty hunter searching for Asimov; Spike is assaulted by Asimov and nearly killed before Katerina intervenes. In the confusion, Spike steals Asimov's Bloody-Eye vial before the two leave. Spike later confronts Asimov at a staged drug deal with the stolen vial. Asimov escapes with Katerina in a ship when the two are interrupted by an attack from the syndicate. With Spike giving chase in his own ship, Asimov takes another dose of Bloody-Eye as they rush towards a police blockade. Katerina, realizing they will never escape, shoots Asimov as Spike nears their ship. As Spike approaches Asimov's ship, it is destroyed by attacking police cruisers, forcing Spike to pull away. | |||||||||
| 2 | 2 | "Stray Dog Strut" Transcription: "Norainu no Sutoratto" (Japanese: 野良犬のストラット) | Shin'ichirō Watanabe | Ikurō Satō | Michiko Yokote | April 3, 1998 | October 31, 1998 | September 3, 2001 | |
| A bounty takes Spike and Jet to Mars, where their target, Abdul Hakim, is wanted for stealing a valuable lab animal. To avoid capture, Hakim has had plastic surgery to change his appearance. At a bar, Hakim's briefcase containing the animal is stolen. Spike discovers the thief attempting to sell the animal at a pet store and, assuming him to be Hakim, holds him at gunpoint. The case contains a Welsh corgi. As Spike leaves the store, Hakim attempts to take the dog back, but it escapes, prompting Hakim, Spike, and the group of scientists who had illegally experimented on the dog to give chase. Spike loses Hakim but gains possession of the dog. Jet puts a collar with a tracking device on the dog so he can pinpoint Hakim's location once he steals the dog back. Spike takes the dog for a walk in order to flush out Hakim. The scientists activate a dog whistle to find their "data dog", resulting in the corgi escaping from Spike. All the dogs in the city, including the corgi, chase after the scientists' truck, attracting Hakim's notice. Hakim steals a car, pursues, and grabs the dog, while Spike and the scientists pursue him. The dog is able to manipulate the car door and jumps out. Spike reluctantly lets Hakim go in order to save the dog by catching it with his ship. The scientists use a harpoon on the truck to shoot Hakim's vehicle, causing both to lose control and crash over the side rails of a bridge and onto a police station, where they are apprehended. The bounty hunter show "Big Shot" announces that Hakim has turned himself in and provide more information on the "data dog," which has a genetically enhanced intellect. Jet decides to bring the dog, which he names Ein, to live on the Bebop, much to Spike's chagrin. | |||||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Honky Tonk Women" Transcription: "Honkī Tonku Wimen" (Japanese: ホンキィ・トンク・ウィメン) | Kazuki Akane | Kunihiro Mori | Ryōta Yamaguchi Keiko Nobumoto | April 10, 1998 | November 7, 1998 | September 10, 2001 | |
| With Ein as a new companion, the crew of the Bebop cross paths with Faye Valentine, a wanted fugitive drowning in debt, who is forced to act as a middle-woman for an illegal transaction at a space station casino. | |||||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Gateway Shuffle" Transcription: "Geitowei Shaffuru" (Japanese: ゲイトウェイ・シャッフル) | Yoshiyuki Takei | Yoshiyuki Takei | Sadayuki Murai | - | November 14, 1998 | September 10, 2001 | |
| After gambling away all the money she obtained, Faye finds a mysterious suitcase aboard a derelict spaceship. Meanwhile, Spike and Jet bump into Twinkle Maria Murdoch, leader of the Space Warriors, a group of eco-terrorists armed with a biological weapon that can transform humans into apes. Faced with the threat by Murdoch's followers to release the virus on heavily-populated Ganymede if she isn't released, the Ganymede government cancels the bounty and forces the Bebop crew to let her go. When Murdoch and her men renege on the deal and launch the virus anyway, Spike and Faye pursue her through the hyperspace gateway. They destroy two of the three virus-laden missiles, but miss the third, prompting the Ganymede government to shut down the spacegate, stopping the missile by trapping it in hyperspace. Spike and Faye narrowly escape the gate before it closes, but Murdoch and her followers are trapped. A container of the virus that Faye recovered from the suitcase and was subsequently slipped into Murdoch's pocket by Spike shatters, turning her and all her sons into monkeys. With the bounty lost, Faye decides to stay on the Bebop with Spike and Jet. | |||||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Ballad of Fallen Angels" Transcription: "Datenshi-tachi no Baraddo" (Japanese: 堕天使たちのバラッド) | Shin'ichirō Watanabe | Tetsuya Watanabe | Michiko Yokote | - | November 21, 1998 | September 24, 2001[a] | |
| While pursuing the bounty on an executive of the Red Dragon crime syndicate, Spike confronts Vicious, an old enemy. | |||||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Sympathy for the Devil" Transcription: "Akuma o Awaremu Uta" (Japanese: 悪魔を憐れむ歌) | Tensai Okamura | Ikurō Satō | Keiko Nobumoto | - | November 28, 1998 | December 17, 2001[b] | |
| Spike and Jet chase a dangerous enemy who, despite having the appearance of a little boy, is actually more than eighty years old. | |||||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Heavy Metal Queen" Transcription: "Hevi Metaru Kuīn" (Japanese: ヘヴィ・メタル・クイーン) | Tensai Okamura | Kunihiro Mori | Michiko Yokote | April 17, 1998 | December 5, 1998 | September 24, 2001 | |
| The crew of the Bebop chase a bounty named Decker, who is running a load of high explosives. While nursing a hangover at a diner, Spike meets a cargo hauler pilot named V.T., who hates bounty hunters, but ends up lending him a hand. | |||||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Waltz for Venus" Transcription: "Warutsu fō Vīnasu" (Japanese: ワルツ・フォー・ヴィーナス) | Yoshiyuki Takei | Yoshiyuki Takei | Michiko Yokote | April 24, 1998 | December 12, 1998 | December 24, 2001[c] | |
| While the crew hunts down a Venusian mob, Spike meets Rocco Bonnaro, who is on the run from the same mob the crew is tracking for stealing a very rare and valuable plant, which he plans to sell to pay for surgery to restore his sister's eyesight. | |||||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Jamming with Edward" Transcription: "Jamingu Wizu Edowādo" (Japanese: ジャミング・ウィズ・エドワード) | Shin'ichirō Watanabe | Ikurō Satō | Dai Satō | May 1, 1998 | December 19, 1998 | October 1, 2001 | |
| The crew enlists the help of an elite computer hacker nicknamed "Radical Edward" to help them track down a bounty-head who has been vandalizing Earth's surface with hacked laser satellites. | |||||||||
| 10 | 10 | "Ganymede Elegy" Transcription: "Ganimede Bojō" (Japanese: ガニメデ慕情) | Yūji Yamaguchi | Hirokazu Yamada | Akihiko Inari | May 8, 1998 | December 26, 1998 | October 1, 2001 | |
| Jet is even more taciturn than usual as the Bebop lands on Ganymede, his last post before leaving the ISSP and the home of his ex-girlfriend, Alisa, whom he never quite got over. An old friend tips Jet off that there is a bounty on Rhint Celonias, Alisa's new boyfriend. | |||||||||
| 11 | 11 | "Toys in the Attic" ("Heavy Rock of the Dark Night") Transcription: "Yamiyo no Hevi Rokku" (Japanese: 闇夜のヘヴィ・ロック) | Kunihiro Mori | Kunihiro Mori | Michiko Yokote | May 15, 1998 | January 2, 1999 | October 8, 2001 | |
| A blob with a venomous bite infiltrates the Bebop and incapacitates Jet, Faye and Ein, leaving it up to Spike and Ed to destroy the creature and find out where it came from. | |||||||||
| 12 | 12 | "Jupiter Jazz (Part 1)" Transcription: "Jupitā Jazu (Zenpen)" (Japanese: ジュピター・ジャズ(前編)) | Tensai Okamura | Yoshiyuki Takei | Keiko Nobumoto | May 22, 1998 | January 9, 1999 | October 8, 2001 | |
| Faye cleans out the crew's safe and leaves the Bebop for Callisto. While Jet chases after her, Spike follows up on some clues about the location of his old girlfriend Julia, which leads him to another confrontation with Vicious. | |||||||||
| 13 | 13 | "Jupiter Jazz (Part 2)" Transcription: "Jupitā Jazu (Kōhen)" (Japanese: ジュピター・ジャズ(後編)) | Tensai Okamura | Ikurō Satō | Keiko Nobumoto | May 29, 1998 | January 16, 1999 | October 15, 2001 | |
| Faye is helped by Gren, a man who holds a grudge against Vicious. After explaining his story to Faye, he chases after Vicious, and when he and Spike reach him at the same time, a three-way battle takes place. Gren's memory of past battles and fight sequences in Jupiter Jazz 1 and 2 are stylistically influenced by the Hayao Miyazaki 1984 film Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. | |||||||||
| 14 | 14 | "Bohemian Rhapsody" Transcription: "Bohemian Rapusodi" (Japanese: ボヘミアン・ラプソディ) | Toshiyuki Tsuru | Hirokazu Yamada | Dai Satō | June 5, 1998 | January 23, 1999 | October 15, 2001 | |
| The Bebop crew hunts for Chessmaster Hex, the rumored mastermind behind a series of robberies at hyperspace gate tollbooths. While trying to dig up dirt on their target, they unearth some valuable data regarding the gate accident that devastated Earth fifty years earlier. | |||||||||
| 15 | 15 | "My Funny Valentine" Transcription: "Mai Fanī Varentain" (Japanese: マイ・ファニー・ヴァレンタイン) | Tensai Okamura | Kunihiro Mori | Keiko Nobumoto | June 12, 1998 | January 30, 1999 | October 22, 2001 | |
| Faye meets an important man from her past, and the source of her massive debt is revealed. | |||||||||
| 16 | 16 | "Black Dog Serenade" Transcription: "Burakku Doggu Serenāde" (Japanese: ブラック・ドッグ・セレナーデ) | Shigeyasu Yamauchi | Ikurō Satō | Michiko Yokote | - | February 13, 1999 | October 22, 2001 | |
| An ISSP prison ship suffers a mechanical malfunction and is taken over by the inmates, led by Udai Taxim, the Syndicate assassin who took Jet's arm. Jet's former partner, Fad, enlists him for the retrieval operation. | |||||||||
| 17 | 17 | "Mushroom Samba" Transcription: "Masshurūmu Sanba" (Japanese: マッシュルーム・サンバ) | Shin'ichirō Watanabe | Kunihiro Mori | Michiko Yokote Shin'ichirō Watanabe | - | February 20, 1999 | October 29, 2001 | |
| The Bebop, out of food and fuel, is sideswiped in a hit-and-run off of Europa and crash-lands on Io. Ed, with Ein by her side, is sent out to procure food, and runs across Domino Walker, a bounty-head who is smuggling hallucinogenic mushrooms. | |||||||||
| 18 | 18 | "Speak Like a Child" Transcription: "Supīku Raiku A Chairudo" (Japanese: スピーク・ライク・ア・チャイルド) | Jun'ichi Satō | Yoshiyuki Takei | Akihiko Inari | June 19, 1998 | February 27, 1999 | October 29, 2001 | |
| While Faye wastes money betting on horse racing, a package addressed to her arrives on the Bebop containing an old Betamax tape, prompting Spike and Jet to look for an appropriate device to view its contents. The tape proves to be a time capsule recording made by a teenage Faye, but Faye finds her pre-amnesia self unrecognizable. | |||||||||
| 19 | 19 | "Wild Horses" Transcription: "Wairudo Hōsesu" (Japanese: ワイルド・ホーセス) | Umanosuke Iida | Hirokazu Yamada | Akihiko Inari | - | March 6, 1999 | November 5, 2001 | |
| While Spike takes his mono-racer in for maintenance, Jet and Faye take on a group of pirates who use computer viruses to terrorize cargo ships. | |||||||||
| 20 | 20 | "Pierrot le Fou" ("Requiem for a Clown") Transcription: "Dōkeshi no Chinkonka" (Japanese: 道化師の鎮魂歌) | Yoshiyuki Takei | Yoshiyuki Takei | Sadayuki Murai | - | March 13, 1999 | November 5, 2001 | |
| Spike is targeted by an insane, seemingly indestructible assassin named Mad Pierrot after accidentally witnessing the killer in action. | |||||||||
| 21 | 21 | "Boogie Woogie Feng Shui" Transcription: "Bugi Ugi Funshei" (Japanese: ブギ・ウギ・フンシェイ) | Ranta Ushio | Ikurō Satō | Sadayuki Murai Shin'ichirō Watanabe | - | March 20, 1999 | November 12, 2001 | |
| Jet, spurred on by a cryptic e-mail, tries to find an old acquaintance but discovers only his grave—he disappeared under mysterious circumstances. His daughter, Mei-Fa, an expert in feng shui, asks for his help finding a "sun stone" that can lead them to her father's location. | |||||||||
| 22 | 22 | "Cowboy Funk" Transcription: "Kaubōi Fanku" (Japanese: カウボーイ・ファンク) | Tensai Okamura | Kunihiro Mori | Keiko Nobumoto | - | March 27, 1999 | February 15, 2002[d] | |
| A terrorist known as the "Teddy Bomber" has been using explosives hidden in teddy bears to bring down high-rise buildings in protest of humanity's excesses. Spike attempts to stop him, but constantly runs afoul of "Cowboy Andy", a fellow bounty hunter who is far more similar to Spike than either would care to admit. | |||||||||
| 23 | 23 | "Brain Scratch" Transcription: "Burein Sukuratchi" (Japanese: ブレイン・スクラッチ) | Yoshiyuki Takei | Yoshiyuki Takei | Keiko Nobumoto | - | April 3, 1999 | November 12, 2001 | |
| Unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, Faye goes undercover to infiltrate SCRATCH, a cult that believes in achieving eternal life by digitizing the soul and uploading it into the Internet, in order to collect the bounty on the cult's leader, Dr. Londes. While Spike goes looking for her, Jet and Ed try to track down Londes themselves. | |||||||||
| 24 | 24 | "Hard Luck Woman" Transcription: "Hādo Rakku Ūman" (Japanese: ハード・ラック・ウーマン) | Tensai Okamura | Hirokazu Yamada | Michiko Yokote | - | April 10, 1999 | November 19, 2001 | |
| En route to Mars, the Bebop is forced to make an unscheduled stop on Earth. After arriving, Faye travels to the landmarks she saw in the video recorded by her teenage self, taking Ed along. She and Ed find an orphanage where Ed once lived. The nun in charge gives Ed a picture of her father, who came looking for her there several months ago. Faye and Ed find one of the locations in the video, whereupon Faye is surprised by an old schoolmate. Jet and Spike receive information on a bounty which looks to have a lucrative payoff. After returning to the Bebop and dwelling on what has happened, Faye leaves again. Jet and Spike track down their bounty, but Ed interrupts, revealing that Siniz Hesap Luften Appledehi, the eccentric bounty head, is her father, and she placed the bounty herself in order to find him. Ed's father asks if she wants to stay with him, but before Ed can answer, he and his assistant see another meteorite strike the Earth's surface in the distance and speed off, leaving Ed behind, dumbfounded. Faye finds only ruins where her home used to be. Ed leaves the Bebop, and Ein goes with her. | |||||||||
| 25 | 25 | "The Real Folk Blues (Part 1)" Transcription: "Za Riaru Fōku Burūsu (Zenpen)" (Japanese: ザ・リアル・フォークブルース(前編)) | Shin'ichirō Watanabe | Ikurō Satō | Keiko Nobumoto | - | April 17, 1999 | November 19, 2001 | |
| Left alone by the rest of the crew, Spike and Jet are ambushed by members of the Red Dragon Syndicate. They are saved by Shin, brother of Spike's former subordinate Lin, who explains that after Vicious unsuccessfully tried to seize control of the organization, everyone connected to him is now being hunted down. Faye has a chance meeting with Julia and passes on a message from her to Spike. Spike rushes to rendezvous with Julia. Vicious escapes his execution and kills the leaders of the syndicate. | |||||||||
| 26 | 26 | "The Real Folk Blues (Part 2)" Transcription: "Za Riaru Fōku Burūsu (Kōhen)" (Japanese: ザ・リアル・フォークブルース(後編)) | Shin'ichirō Watanabe | Yoshiyuki Takei | Keiko Nobumoto | - | April 24, 1999 | November 26, 2001 | |
| Reunited, Spike and Julia pick up where they left off, planning to escape the Red Dragon Syndicate, but Julia is shot and killed. Spike returns to the Bebop for a last meal with Jet, then storms the Red Dragon's headquarters to confront Vicious. Shin helps him, but is killed. Spike fights his way to the top floor of the Syndicate skyscraper, but is badly wounded. Spike shoots Vicious in the chest, killing him. As Spike stumbles down a set of stairs and faces Syndicate members who rushed to the scene, he holds up his fingers in a gun shape and says "bang" before collapsing. | |||||||||
| XX | XX | "Mish-Mash Blues" Transcription: "Yoseatsume Burūsu" (Japanese: よせあつめブルース) | - | Shin'ichirō Watanabe | Keiko Nobumoto Shin'ichirō Watanabe | June 26, 1998 | - | - | |
| The characters provide a philosophical commentary and it ends with the words: "This Is Not The End. You Will See The Real 'Cowboy Bebop' Someday!"[citation needed] | |||||||||
Movie (2001)[]
| No. in season | No. overall | Title | Directed By | Written by | Premiere | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 27 | "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie" Transcription: "Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Japanese: カウボーイビバップ 天国の扉) | Shinichirō Watanabe | Keiko Nobumoto | September 1, 2001 | |
| Set between episodes 22 and 23 of the original series, the plot centers on a mysterious terrorist planning to destroy the human population on Mars using an unknown pathogen. The bounty hunter crew of the spaceship Bebop work to find the terrorist and discover the source of the pathogen before the attack can take place. | ||||||
Notes[]
- ^ In wake of the September 11 attacks, Cowboy Bebop did not air on Adult Swim on the night of September 16–17, 2001.
- ^ Episode 6 was originally going to air on September 17, 2001 in the United States, but it was pulled from broadcast in wake of the September 11 attacks.
- ^ Episode 8 was originally going to air on September 24, 2001 in the United States, but it was pulled from broadcast in wake of the September 11 attacks.
- ^ Episode 22 was originally going to air on November 12, 2001 in the United States, but it was pulled from broadcast in wake of the September 11 attacks. The episode was also originally scheduled to air on February 11, 2002, but network programmers had misplaced the episode tape and was forced to rebroadcast another episode at last minute.
References[]
- ^ "Cowboy Bebop - TV Guide". TVGuide.com.
- ^ "Cowboy Bebop - Heaven's Door - About the Movie". CowboyBebop.org. Archived from the original on November 17, 2002. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
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