Cowboy Bebop Remix: Complete Collection (6 Discs)

Great series - one for lovers of jazz and sci-fi alike, this really captures the feel of jazz in the form of an anime series. Each episode (about 25 minutes each) is like a vignette with a blues/jazz/sci-fi theme, with the first few episodes building up the cast, and the series really hits its stride around episode 8. The first episodes have aged a little, but the rest holds up remarkably well, and it quickly develops into a rollicking set with surprising subtlety as themes carry over from episode to episode.

There's so much about this series which is perfect - the right characters which fit into a perfect ensemble, the right music, good voice acting, the right mix of action and relationship, the 'special' episodes dropped into the flow which focus more on suspense or a particular theme like romance, the right level of maturity in the writing, the main-story two-parters, the right level of violence (not too much) - that it's churlish to pick on the places where the pacing is… more »

Great series - one for lovers of jazz and sci-fi alike, this really captures the feel of jazz in the form of an anime series. Each episode (about 25 minutes each) is like a vignette with a blues/jazz/sci-fi theme, with the first few episodes building up the cast, and the series really hits its stride around episode 8. The first episodes have aged a little, but the rest holds up remarkably well, and it quickly develops into a rollicking set with surprising subtlety as themes carry over from episode to episode.

There's so much about this series which is perfect - the right characters which fit into a perfect ensemble, the right music, good voice acting, the right mix of action and relationship, the 'special' episodes dropped into the flow which focus more on suspense or a particular theme like romance, the right level of maturity in the writing, the main-story two-parters, the right level of violence (not too much) - that it's churlish to pick on the places where the pacing is not as tight as it could be.

It sits with pride in my (very small) anime collection alongside Ghost in the Shell, Akira, everything by Hayao Miyazaki, and of course the Bebop movie (also highly recommended).