Cowboy Bebop is easily my favorite action anime series, partly for its relatively normal premises. I still had some trepidation in approaching the movie, released a few years after the last episode (but taking place in between two late episodes, AIUI). After all, Serenity disappointed many Firefly fans. And was CB:TM made only for people who'd seen the entire show, which I haven't yet? The answer turns out to be no, and I'll fill in the rest of you shortly.
In 2071, Mars is so terraformed that you could hardly tell it from a near-future Earth. In a Martian metropolis, terrorists spread an illness unknown to doctors and seemingly impossible to trace. With no leads, the authorities post an enormous bounty on the perpetrators, calling the attention of a ragtag band of perpetually underfunded bounty hunters (some of them slangily called "Cowboys") aboard the spaceship Bebop. Yeah, they ought to care anyway, but they try not to.
Some brief introductions are in order. The most hands-on of the crew is Spike Spiegel, who fights like Bruce Lee and goes through a lot of things that would kill an ordinary man. Right behind him is gambler and half-reformed thief Faye Valentine, who looks remarkably sexy but would not make a good girlfriend. Middle-aged, cybernetic ex-cop Jet Black mostly works vehicles and doesn't get much of an active role in this story. Thirteen-year-old computer genius Edward Wong, a deceptively self-named tomboy, is far bubblier than you'd expect of a scrawny orphan, albeit unhinged enough that you never know what she'll do next. And Ein the corgi, despite enhanced intelligence and a special rapport with Ed, can offer only so much assistance.
That about covers what you need to know about the franchise in general. I'll also mention that apart from moments of comic relief, it's a tad gritty, tho not to the same extent as, say, Akira. Sometimes, especially in the movie, it gets a little slow, but it doesn't threaten to bore us like parts of Ghost in the Shell. And as the title implies, it takes pride in its music, which is no less cool for sounding fairly old-fashioned if not derivative.
I'm not sure how much to tell you about the villains. The early 2000s, even before the 9/11 attacks, had a few other stories of deliberate artificial epidemics or attempts thereat; but this time, the head of the outfit at least, himself vaccinated, isn't looking to profit from selling vaccines. He's just had such a hard time of it that he wants to eradicate humanity on Mars. Not the first insanely evil CB character, but I'd prefer one more relatable.
A guy like that could hardly have engineered the plague himself. The leaders of the company that injudiciously brought it into existence take a selfish approach to damage control: Instead of protecting the populace, they want to prevent their responsibility from becoming common knowledge, by any means necessary. This spells more trouble for our (anti)heroes. Fortunately, not everyone involved is on board with the scheme.
The Columbia/Tristar DVD menu appeared to offer only subtitles. I was content to hear the Japanese voices for a change from the show, but extras that included English audio indicated that I had missed some choicer, less minimalist dialog than was written on screen. Select dubbing if you can.
Otherwise, this is basically everything I had hoped for in a feature-length adaptation of CB. The action is smooth. The environments, while hardly whimsical, are engaging. The drama is taut, and the humor is welcome. It should appeal to present show fans and many newcomers.
No comments:
Post a Comment