Cowboy Bebop Collection Box 1

By Bryan Morton     January 31, 2006
Release Date: November 14, 2005



What They Say
Meet Spike and Jet, a drifter and retired cyborg cop who have formed a partnership in a bounty hunting enterprise. In a converted fishing ship the Bebop, with the help of the intelligent data dog, Ein, and the voluptuous and vexing femme fatale, Faye Valentine, Spike and Jet scour the galaxy in search of wanted criminals. They're going to clean up space, one bounty at a time!

The Review!
Cowboy Bebop gets another outing, with the first of two 3-disc boxsets. The discs contained in this set are the same as for the individual releases, so check the original reviews (linked at the end of this review) for full details on each disc.

The box itself is a sturdy chipboard container, with a great image of Spike and Vicious going at each other on the front. The back has another nice piece of artwork, this time of Faye, gun in hand. There’s also an information panel containing the set’s technical information. The spine is quite plain, with only the series logo on it.

Content: (please note that content portions of a review will contain spoilers)
This box covers episodes 1 through to 14 of the series, which introduces the various characters (including series “bad guy” Vicious) before moving on to the more standalone episodes that Cowboy Bebop excels at. For full details on each disc, check the individual disc reviews linked below. The highlights in this set include Jupiter Jazz, a two-part episode that takes a look at the relationship between Vicious, Spike and Spike’s old flame Julia; Toys in the Attic, a genuinely funny homage to Alien, and Ganymede Elegy, another character piece that brings Jet’s former romantic interest back to him – although now she’s with their latest bounty target.

There are some episodes here that aren’t that great, to be honest, but when Bebop’s at its best it’s one of those series that you just have to watch, as the combination of great characters, setting and music works to create a show that genuinely lives up to its hype.

This box contains:
Volume One
Volume Two
Volume Three

In Summary:
Bebop has been on many fans’ “essential” lists for a while now, and this reduced-price set (essentially three discs for the price of two) means there’s now one less excuse for anyone who hasn’t picked the series up yet. One of those rare shows that everyone should see.

Features
Japanese Language 2.0,English Language 2.0,English Subtitles

Review Equipment
Panasonic TX-W28R30P 28" widescreen TV; Pioneer DV-626D player; Acoustic Solutions DS-222 5.1 speaker system.