10 Hidden Details Everyone Missed In Cowboy Bebop

10 Hidden Details Everyone Missed In Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop had a lot of going on. Here’s what you might have missed.

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There are few anime as widely praised as Shinichiro Watanabe’s Cowboy Bebop. Other series are certainly better known, but they lack universal acclaim. The show was actually well-received during its original release. Having only one season is what likely kept the series from being as popular as Dragon Ball Z, though.

This space neo-noir is celebrated for its stellar writing and striking characters. The anime is rife with talent and innovation. And now with Netflix’s live-action adaptation on the horizon, this is a great time to revisit the original series. So, here are some hidden details fans might have missed.

10 Forefather of bebop

Jet shares a dream he had with Spike in Session #3. In it, a man named Charlie Parker told Jet, “Only hands can wash hands.” Charlie Parker — whose nicknames included “Yardbird” or simply “Bird” — was in fact a real person. Parker was an American jazz composer and saxophonist who is considered influential in bebop’s creation. He shirked tradition and developed a groundbreaking style characterized by intricate chord progressions, diverse key changes, and improvisation.

In spite of its name, Cowboy Bebop’s soundtracks aren’t bebop sounding at all. The use of “bebop” in the title actually refers to the anime’s storytelling style.

9 Gren’s no Brad Pitt, but…

Grencia Mars Elijah Guo Eckener (or just Gren) is an unforgettable one-time character in Cowboy Bebop. Gren served in the Titan War with Spike’s nemesis Vicious. After being tried as a spy, however, Gren was sentenced to prison. An overwhelming animosity towards Vicious — who may have testified against Gren — urged the prison to sedate him. The medication, though, had a distinct, physical side effect on Gren that Faye couldn’t help but notice in Session 12.

The series’ character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto originally modeled Gren after Brad Pitt, but he changed his mind later for spoiler-y reasons.

8 Faye Valentine’s age

Session #15 is an important episode for Faye Valentine. First, an easter egg — on Faye’s cryo-container is the serial number NCC-1701-B. Star Trek fans will recognize this as the same serial number for the USS Enterprise. This ship was first seen in the 1984 film Star Trek III: The Search For Spock.

This episode most importantly also reveals Faye’s age. Her cryo-container was last opened on November 23, 2019, which presumably is when Faye entered it. The events of Cowboy Bebop happen in 2071, and Faye was born in 1994. So in order of time, Faye would be 77-years old.

7 Lupin III’s car

In Session #15, William Haggis Matsumoto and Faye pass a familiar Fiat 500 on the road. This is no doubt a reference to Arsène Lupin III’s iconic yellow car. Lupin III is a classic manga and anime series created and illustrated by Monkey Punch. The original Fiat 500 car was manufactured and sold between 1957 and 1975. The compact city vehicle was less than 10 feet long; one model was powered by a 479 cc two-cylinder engine. From the characterizations to the themes, the Lupin III franchise is believed to be a major source of inspiration for Cowboy Bebop.

6 Classic video game consoles

Faye goes undercover in a cult called SCRATCH so she can collect a bounty on the leader. This cult believes eternal life can be achieved by uploading our digitized souls to the Internet. In a commercial for SCRATCH, people throw away their classic video game consoles in favor of a new system called Brain Dream. The consoles in the commercial are the Sega Genesis (or Sega Mega Drive), the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System or Famicom), the SNES (Super Nintendo Entertainment System or Super Famicom), and the first Sony PlayStation (or PS1). The controllers’ buttons and d-pads are switched around, though.

5 Aliens references

Spike and his crew are under attack by an alien lifeform in Session #11. In the episode, a blob-like alien with a nasty bite targets everyone aboard the Bebop. This story is similar to Ridley Scott’s 1979 film Alien where the titular monster disposes of the USCSS Nostromo crew one by one. Scenes in the episode also reference the sequel Aliens. For instance, Spike arms himself with a gun and a flamethrower like Ripley did. In addition, he uses a handheld motion tracker. Lastly, the blob creature is defeated the same way as the Xenomorph: it’s expelled through an airlock.

4 Coffee and Shaft

When the Bebop crashes on Jupiter’s moon Io in Session #17, Ed and Ein meet a bounty hunter named Coffee. The episode is an homage to “blaxploitation” crime movies of the 1970s. Coffee herself is a reference to the namesake of the 1973 movie Coffy. In the film, Pam Grier plays a disgruntled nurse who wages a war on drugs. She avenges her addict sister by killing anyone who sells or pushes drugs. Coffee is styled like Grier’s character. The same episode has a character named Shaft, who is indeed modeled after the eponymous character in the 1971 film Shaft.

3 Babe Ruth

In Session #19, “Wild Horses”, Jet and Faye pursue a trio of techno pirates. This band of terrorists — whose M.O. is using computer viruses to attack ships — is comprised of three men named George, Herman, and Ruth. The full name of famous baseball player Babe Ruth is George Herman Ruth, Jr. His career in Major League Baseball lasted a whopping twenty-two seasons. Miles — a minor character in the episode who’s modeled after Geordi La Forge from Star Trek: The Next Generation — is a big Blue Sox fan. This is a reference to one of Ruth’s teams, the Boston Red Sox.

2 9021… Oh

In Session #18, Jet and Spike receive a Beta tape in the mail. In case you’re unfamiliar with what Betamax even is, it’s an older video cassette format. Anyway, in the episode “Speak Like a Child”, Jet and Spike visit a shop in hopes of finding a Betamax player. The shopkeeper is watching what looks and sounds like a taped copy of Beverly Hills, 90210. The depicted characters are fraternal twins from Minnesota, and “Jason Prestory” and “Shanan D’Har-“-something are the show’s executive producers. The names are clearly a reference to Beverly Hills 90210 stars Jason Priestly and Shannen Doherty.

1 Enter the Spike

Martial artist and actor Bruce Lee inspired many characters in film and television. In Cowboy Bebop, Bruce Lee’s influence can be seen in Spike Spiegel and his fighting style. Spike practices jeet kune do, a special technique developed by Bruce Lee. When he engages in physical combat with opponents, Spike uses jeet kune do with varied results. The style — whose Cantonese name translates to “The Way of the Intercepting Fist” — combines aspects of boxing, fencing, and obviously kung fu. Spike’s fight with villain Abdul Hakim is Session #2 references Lee’s match with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the film Game of Death.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/cowboy-bebop-hidden-details/

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