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This is a review thread. What makes it slightly different and hopefully interesting is that the reviewer, me, has had almost no anime viewing history. I figured it might be cool for folks who have been into the genre for a while to join along as someone who hasn't been, is introduced to anime. Some context, if ya want: Someone had mentioned anime in another thread as a good diversion from the world. Despite knowing almost nothing about anime and having never before had an interest, the idea of a non-destructive, lol, life distraction appealed to me. So, I committed to watching. I solicited some recommendations and was given suggestions of all sorts, but one title seemed to be pretty common amongst the recommendations: Cowboy Bebop. So, during the past week, I have begun watching, starting with the series premiere. I watched episode five last night. It feels a little unique that I have managed to acquire nearly no exposure to a genre as popular as anime and am now deliberately stepping into it. So, I figured I'd share the experience and, perhaps, because of my naivety about the genre, provide a fresh perspective. I certainly have no bias, neither good or bad, toward the genre. So, here goes: Future reviews will be made episode by episode or, maybe, after every other episode. But, in this case, I'm going to provide my general reaction to the first five episodes of Cowboy Bebop, the first anime shows I have ever purposely watched. More than anything else, Cowboy Bebop was immediately to me different than what I would have guessed it would be, especially stylistically, based on what little glimpse I have had of Japanese pop culture. The colors in Cowboy Bebop are darker, the storyline a little more sullen, and the violence less chaotic than I would have imagined, had I done any imagining about it at all prior to watching. That's about the best I can summarize my initial thought in an emotionally-even way. After watching the first episode, I thought Cowboy Bebop was fun but, to be honest, I could take it or leave it. The most immediately striking aspect of the show, it's strength I'd say, was the music. The theme song is art in its own right, if you ask me. The soundtrack supplements the story well and, in episode five, The Ballad of Fallen Angels, the musical atmosphere was about as masterful as can be done at the scale of a 30-minute show. You with more experience can tell me about shows that do it better. I'd be happy to know! My only disappointment, initially, was that the dialogue, though smart, seemed a bit forced, especially during the first episode. Though it seems to have it worked itself out, there are still instances where the script works too hard to convince me of Spike's coolness. I suspect, though, that this may be a consequence of translation but, for real, I know so little about this stuff, that I don't even know for sure that the show WASN'T written for English-speaking audiences. I do feel immediately connected to the relationship between Spike and his bounty hunting partner (whose name I don't know and haven't looked up, so to keep from stumbling upon spoilers). My Dad's nickname for me when I was a kid was "Spike" so there is an anecdotal tug there that makes that character's fatherly way of looking after Spike particularly special to me. To be honest, up until the third episode, I didn't even realize that the series was canonical and that each episode built on the previous. Once the girl and the dog were introduced and then remained during subsequent episodes, I caught on that this was a continuous arc. Through episode four, my thoughts would be best stated such that I hadn't been yet blown away by Cowboy Bebop but felt like I was being set up for that to occur. And, I'll tell you what: The Ballad of the Fallen Angels was pretty close to doing it. That episode was beautiful. Spike was shown to have vulnerabilities, adding immensely to the show. The mafia violence was artfully done in such a way that it was intense without being excessive. The entire episode seemed like an Easter Egg painted with decorative Easter Eggs with so many subtle homages to other works. It was a multi-layered episode that, really, demands to be rewatched. And, now here we are. To to the totally uninitiated or, well this one at least, Cowboy Bebop started out as a good, though not necessarily overwhelming, introduction to anime. My initial feeling was that it was a show that I would happily watch but wouldn't go out of my way to do so. After episode five, however, I'm totally hooked and excited to continue the journey. I hope the storyline, its drama and intensity, and my emotional investment therein, continues upward from the heights achieved by the Ballad of the Fallen Angels. If that's the case, then anime is certainly gonna be my new addiction. Thanks for reading. Look forward to your thoughts!
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Feb 26, 2018 02:42
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if you stick with anime that's 20+ years old like Cowboy Bebop, you're gonna have a good time.
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Feb 26, 2018 02:48
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This is a cool idea for a thread and honestly pretty rare for a lot of people in 2018. Even casual watchers I know of have at least seen bits of Sailor Moon or Naruto or something. I'm excited to see what you think! Cowboy Bebop is definitely a good start and one of the higher points of the genre. Anime, honestly, isn't too much different than Western shows, though. Obviously there are different styles, but ultimately like any kind of entertainment, there's some really good stuff and some really bad stuff. It has its own tropes. There are tons of different genres. Once you think of what kind of stuff you like to watch from U.S. shows, it can be pretty easy to narrow down some good stuff you'd like in an anime equivalent, really. SatansBestBuddy posted:if you stick with anime that's 20+ years old like Cowboy Bebop, you're gonna have a good time. ok now he has to watch like 700 episodes of Dragonball. All the series. 
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Feb 26, 2018 02:55
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SatansBestBuddy posted:if you stick with anime that's 20+ years old like Cowboy Bebop, you're gonna have a good time. don't listen to this fuckin goober lol
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Feb 26, 2018 03:07
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Axel Serenity posted:This is a cool idea for a thread and honestly pretty rare for a lot of people in 2018. Even casual watchers I know of have at least seen bits of Sailor Moon or Naruto or something. I'm excited to see what you think! What's crazy is that I don't watch American shows either. And I know, I know... saying as much sounds like a morality statement. But it's just me. I like sports, but even those I tend to listen to on TuneIn. I like podcasts and waste a lot of time down Wikipedia rabbit holes, not to mention here and on Reddit. That all means that this foray into anime is totally out of character. Which I hope works to add substance to the reviews. I really appreciate the interest.
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Feb 26, 2018 03:07
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Wait I changed my mind Legend of the Overfiend came out in 89
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Feb 26, 2018 03:08
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DisDisDis posted:don't listen to this fuckin goober lol He's right
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Feb 26, 2018 03:09
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After you finish Cowboy Bebop are you gonna continue onto other anime? If so, are you going to take suggestions? Also just for curiosity: are you watching it subbed or dubbed?
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Feb 26, 2018 03:09
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Motto posted:He's right Dis is right
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Feb 26, 2018 03:12
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Couple of things: 1) I can understand the label but anime isn't really a genre, it's just animation from Japan. even in the relatively limited field of western animation, you wouldn't call family guy and up the same genre, right? And anime's a much more diverse field than western animation since there are inbetween points between adult-oriented comedies and kid-oriented adventure/comedies. Viewing things from this perspective is probably why you were somewhat surprised by Bebop's tone. 2) Samurai Champloo's a good show from the same director as Bebop so it's definitely a good thing to look into after Bebop. It's tone is more hiphop inspired than the jazz inspirations of Bebop, and that carries over to its tone - Champloo's much more inventive and off the wall than bebop's sometimes somber and contemplative tone, so it's not gonna be exactly the same, but it's definitely in the same mold as bebop. The director's most recent work, Space Dandy, is more a showcase for a variety of young talent and animators the director finds interesting, and while it's a good show he has a more hands-off approach with it so it doesn't have the same 'feel' to it as Bebop and Champloo. Hope you enjoy Bebop. I'm not the world's biggest fan of it but it's a solid show and I can definitely see why a lot of people recommend it as an entry point. Bebop was modestly popular in Japan, but it was hugely popular in the US, and it's pretty obvious why the appeal was split like that.
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Feb 26, 2018 03:14
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Droyer posted:After you finish Cowboy Bebop are you gonna continue onto other anime? If so, are you going to take suggestions? Also just for curiosity: are you watching it subbed or dubbed? Yeah, I plan to watch more. And certainly if the experience with Cowboy Bebop is positive. And it has been so far. Definitely open to suggestions. And I think I'm watching it dubbed. Assuming subbed being subtitles. I'm watching it with an English soundtrack. (And I'm not trying to play dumb. I have some idea that "subbed or dubbed" is a thing among the anime community. But I'm purposely not doing any ancillary reading about any of it, at least until I get through Bebop, so that I can maintain a totally "clean" viewing experience.)
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Feb 26, 2018 03:21
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As you mentioned, one of Cowboy Bebop's highlights is the music. Rain is a really good song from Episode 5 that you just watched, and I'm partial to the male vocals version of it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vcrb6365GsQ "But mother never danced through fire showers..." One thing that may help with understanding the show as it goes forward: a lot of the focus is on the characters and how they change and grow and relate to each other. As a kid watching it back in the 90s I thought some of the goofier, less tense episodes felt like filler, but in reality they're about expressing the characters: how they respond to situations, how they change their interactions with each other, etc. I think you'll enjoy it a lot. bogoodski posted:And I think I'm watching it dubbed. Assuming subbed being subtitles. I'm watching it with an English soundtrack. (And I'm not trying to play dumb. I have some idea that "subbed or dubbed" is a thing among the anime community. But I'm purposely not doing any ancillary reading about any of it, at least until I get through Bebop, so that I can maintain a totally "clean" viewing experience.) Yeah; subbed just means original voicework with subtitles, dubbed is when they replace the voice work with translated voice overs. Mo_Steel fucked around with this message at 03:28 on Feb 26, 2018 |
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Feb 26, 2018 03:24
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Cowboy Bebop is great when it's shenanigans and one-shots and not focusing on the throughline plot. Similar to how most of the Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex(PS: watch this after CB) episodes that are one-offs are generally more interesting than the overarching storyline. The Laughing Man was good but I liked a lot of the side stories more, like the runaway spidertank one. You should watch Legend of the Galactic Heroes since you started your anime journey in the Trump thread and I feel it's the most relevant anime to the origin of your ride here!
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Feb 26, 2018 03:24
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Captain Invictus posted:You should watch Legend of the Galactic Heroes since you started your anime journey in the Trump thread and I feel it's the most relevant anime to the origin of your ride here! good lord don't chase him off he just got here
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Feb 26, 2018 03:25
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I can't believe the LoGH meme is back after all this time.
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Feb 26, 2018 03:26
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Legend of the Galactic Heroes was literally the second anime I watched on my own, not what Dragonball or Naruto I happened to catch. My first was Baccano is that why im like this
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Feb 26, 2018 03:30
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Gatchaman CROWDS Insight is the real Trump anime. anyway this thread concept seems fun to me, i look forward to where this anime journey goes. maybe i should finally watch Bebop all the way through, instead of the bits and pieces i picked up on tv.
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Feb 26, 2018 03:35
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bogoodski posted:And I think I'm watching it dubbed. Assuming subbed being subtitles. I'm watching it with an English soundtrack. (And I'm not trying to play dumb. I have some idea that "subbed or dubbed" is a thing among the anime community. But I'm purposely not doing any ancillary reading about any of it, at least until I get through Bebop, so that I can maintain a totally "clean" viewing experience.) Yes, subbed means subtitles, and dubbed means it's been dubbed over with English voice work. And no, it's not super important, at least when you're just starting out as you're most likely getting recommendations that have good dubs, like Full Metal Alchemist, Ghost in the Shell, and Baccano. You'll probably end up watching subbed shows eventually, simply due to volume. A lot of shows don't ever get dubs. But there's enough stuff that is dubbed that you won't get there for a long while. dogsicle posted:maybe i should finally watch Bebop all the way through, instead of the bits and pieces i picked up on tv. You should, it's a good show.
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Feb 26, 2018 03:41
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If you want a very quality, but nice antithesis to Cowboy Bebop, pick up Space Dandy friend.
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Feb 26, 2018 03:47
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OP rather than trying to catch up on years of anime history I suggest you grab a free trial or guest pass for one of the various streaming services and just dive into something that looks interesting. The benefit of watching currently airing shows is that you can discuss them with your new anime pals in one of the many threads here and not feel like you're alone and floundering around in a completely new and foreign medium. Keeping up with this thread is interesting for documenting your first impressions but you don't actually have to hit all the anime highlights of the past
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Feb 26, 2018 03:56
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maybe we can just let the guy watch cowboy bebop before telling him how he should live his life one way or the other
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Feb 26, 2018 03:59
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Endorph posted:maybe we can just let the guy watch cowboy bebop before telling him how he should live his life one way or the other agreed. this wasn't started as a rec thread
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Feb 26, 2018 04:01
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Everything Burrito posted:OP rather than trying to catch up on years of anime history I suggest you grab a free trial or guest pass for one of the various streaming services and just dive into something that looks interesting. The benefit of watching currently airing shows is that you can discuss them with your new anime pals in one of the many threads here and not feel like you're alone and floundering around in a completely new and foreign medium. Keeping up with this thread is interesting for documenting your first impressions but you don't actually have to hit all the anime highlights of the past Yeah, I might only do this exercise for Bebop. I couldn't pass up the uniqueness of the situation, though. I'll stick with it through Bebop and then probably jump all in (assuming that Bebop stimulates that interest from me. I'm assuming it will. So far, so good!).
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Feb 26, 2018 04:03
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Everything Burrito posted:OP rather than trying to catch up on years of anime history I suggest you grab a free trial or guest pass for one of the various streaming services and just dive into something that looks interesting. no don't it's a trap
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Feb 26, 2018 04:04
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bogoodski posted:Yeah, I might only do this exercise for Bebop. I couldn't pass up the uniqueness of the situation, though. I'll stick with it through Bebop and then probably jump all in (assuming that Bebop stimulates that interest from me. I'm assuming it will. So far, so good!). but if you dont want recs, thats cool too
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Feb 26, 2018 04:04
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SatansBestBuddy posted:no don't it's a trap Hey, don't post stuff like this, you'll just confuse the new guy, thanks.
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Feb 26, 2018 20:47
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Check out the adtrw wiki recommendations list for classic stuff to check out.
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Feb 26, 2018 20:57
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make a myanimelist account with a different name, go to shows you've watched, check out the recommendations, try out things that dont have scores below 7 not that MAL is the end all be all or anything but it's easy for a newb
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Feb 26, 2018 20:57
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Excited to hear your thoughts as you continue to move forward. Ballad of Fallen Angels is exactly where Cowboy Bebop got it's hooks in me a few years ago and anime's never let go since. Ed: I know we're all excited, but let's try not to dogpile this poor goon with recommendations too much :iamafag: Eela6 fucked around with this message at 21:23 on Feb 26, 2018 |
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Feb 26, 2018 21:18
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This argmuent has already began so I'll throw in my poor opinion: Anime like Cowboy Bebop that is quite a bit older, to me, has a very different feel from a lot of stuff that is produced today. This is partially because I am an old man who liked stuff from when I was young, but also because anime as an industry has grown and changed in the last 30 years. I personally feel like anime used to be an outlet for creative writers and directors to tell stories they couldn't tell without animating them due to budget concerns. I fully believe Cowboy Bebop would work 100% as a live action show with an appropriate budget. I feel like a lot of anime produced today isn't made with story intent first, but with the intent of selling to the anime fandom, a demographic that didn't exist nearly as much 30 years ago. This isn't to say that their aren't fantastic shows that break this mold airing right this very moment, but it certainly feels like there is a lot more anime being produced right now and that the large majority of it is pandering to a particular fan base. I think this is why so many people like to point at older animes like Cowboy Bebop as shining beacons, they feel wholly original in a way a lot of newer stuff does not. Not to say their isn't a ton of trash from the early 90's as well. I would suggest the following guidelines when choosing what shows to watch from here on out, but honestly just do what you want: - Watch popular shows - Anime has been around for a long time and the shows that are popular tend to be popular for a reason. I feel that the further you look back the more you are going to find shows that are good and populist without necessarily being pandering to the anime demographic. - Watch genres you already have an affinity for - Like others have said, anime isn't a genre so much as it is a style which represents myriad genres. If you like comedies, or action movies, or dramas, you can find any of those things in anime, and these are the things you'll probably gravitate to. - Be willing to step away - Anime ranges such a wide spectrum of different genres that some shows being suggested to you by a lot of people on an anime forum might actually be a very niche thing you won't find entertaining. If you watch a few episodes (around three) and the show just isn't clicking, just walk away, there are tons of other shows to watch. Aside from all that stuff, I'm excited to see how you enjoy Bebop. It's a fantastic show, keep posting! CubeTheory fucked around with this message at 21:23 on Feb 26, 2018 |
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Feb 26, 2018 21:18
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Mo_Steel posted:As you mentioned, one of Cowboy Bebop's highlights is the music. Rain is a really good song from Episode 5 that you just watched, and I'm partial to the male vocals version of it: This version is one of my favorite songs to come out of any show/movie ever. Also as much as I like LOGH, Everything Burrito posted:good lord don't chase him off he just got here Also Spike's partner's name is Jet, and he's a cool dude.
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Feb 26, 2018 22:05
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Thanks for the interest. Please don't hesitate about the recommendations. If nothing else, I can use this thread as a resource to return to after completing Bebop. I watched another episode last night. I may provide a review later tonight, or wait until after watching another episode. I sense that reviews per episode may become tedious reading. Though, on the other hand, you all seem exuberant about this idea in general. So, we'll see. Btw, that exuberance is noted in the most positive way, because it serves to get me more excited about my new discovery! The passion is contagious.
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Feb 26, 2018 23:05
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bogoodski posted:Thanks for the interest. Quoting myself here just so I can eloquently and completely contradict myself by just writing the review now  Posting got me to thinking about last night's episode. So, I figure I'll write while the hamster is on the wheel. As a note, if the reviews seem kneejerk, it's because, well, this is totally an amateur pursuit but, more important, I'm not taking notes or anything. Just sorta watching as I would observe anything else without taking any special heed. And then just presenting here off-the-cuff thoughts. Episode six, Sympathy for the Devil, created for me my first sort of existential thought about the series. The development of characters is so well done in 30 minutes that it seems that the potential is there for this show to be really good at longer length. But then I wonder if the condensed duration of each episode isn't actually a factor WHY the development is so good. Hmmm. Anyway. The genesis of that thought doesn't reflect quite as positively in regards to last night's episode. The whole reason that I got to thinking about it was because (despite the character development being good generally) the pacing seemed a little forced in this specific episode. It wasn't quite a Deus Ex Machina - insomuch that I even really know what term means! - but some of the plot devices seemed a little ham-handed, if not a bit contrived. So, as far as plot goes, last night's episode wasn't the best of the series, so far. That said, the story still managed to grip me emotionally despite its flaws. And the conclusion pulled it all together with enough of a tug on the heartstrings to make me realize that I may have been more invested in the episode than I had thought. I want to say that Jet's relationship with Spike is the highlight of the show but, really, its second to the music. I really can't get over it. The music sets the show's mood perfectly. I'm no blues nor jazz aficionado but they work perfectly for the Cowboy Bebop environment. The harmonica throughout this episode was haunting, yet ... pleasing? Well done. So so impressed by the score. And, finally, this was the first episode that really made me think explicitly about the graphical art. I seriously have no idea how discussions regarding anime art go, and I have equally no idea about Bebop's placement in the hierarchy within that discussion. But what I can say is that the art in Bebop is pretty genius in its effectiveness. That is, I'm not blown away by its style to the same degree that I am by the music, but when I think about how the artists depict events like space objects colliding, traveling through warps, etc, I can't help but think that it's done really well. I'm struggling to articulate my feelings about the art. It's almost as if it's more utilitarian than cosmetic, but super effective in its utilitarian way. But that statement, alone, I think may not be giving it enough credit. Alright, thanks for reading. This is proving to be alot of fun for me!
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Feb 26, 2018 23:27
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Bebop is definitely well-regarded for its art, backgrounds, and animation. It comes from the era when traditional animation was at the top of its game, one of the last gasps before digital cel animation, CGI, etc took over. Not to imply that modern shows all look worse than Bebop, but if you look at early/mid-2000s stuff, a lot of it definitely suffers from a certain artificiality as people get used to the new tools at their disposal. It also features a lot of veteran staff who had decent careers before Bebop but would retire around that transition. Since you focused in on the background art, of the five background artists, only two had much of a career afterward, and only one is active today. The rest had been working since the 80s and retired shortly after Bebop, from what I can tell. It's definitely the product of a broadly talented staff at the top of their game who know exactly what to do to make the art shine.
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Feb 27, 2018 00:23
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Watch k-on and discover the greatest genre, slice of life
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Feb 27, 2018 00:29
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Endorph posted:Bebop is definitely well-regarded for its art, backgrounds, and animation. It comes from the era when traditional animation was at the top of its game, one of the last gasps before digital cel animation, CGI, etc took over. Not to imply that modern shows all look worse than Bebop, but if you look at early/mid-2000s stuff, a lot of it definitely suffers from a certain artificiality as people get used to the new tools at their disposal. Even if The Major changes design every single episode.
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Feb 27, 2018 00:52
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Eeee! Heh, so I think I know the thread you were being recommended in. Glad to see you dive in! This is such a fantastic idea for a thread sinceAxel Serenity posted:This is a cool idea for a thread and honestly pretty rare for a lot of people in 2018. Even casual watchers I know of have at least seen bits of Sailor Moon or Naruto or something. I'm excited to see what you think! -- this is absolutely correct. It's amazing to find someone on a nerd forum that hasn't heard of or seen Pokemon or DBZ or Sailor Moon at least. So hearing your journey of discovery post-by-post lets us re-experience our own journeys by proxy. It's fantastic to hear, and I'm glad you're coming in with an open mind and without puerile prejudgments like "Lol all anime is porn". Granted a whole lot of it is, but then again: Game of Thrones... It's also cool to see an outsider's perspective on a media genre that, to us, seems so second nature. Looking forward to following this thread!! These are good posts, too, so have a 
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Feb 27, 2018 01:03
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Seriouspost: if you don't mind a shitload of Hong Kong-style action, you should really pick up Black Lagoon. The dub's excellent, the fights are amazing, and there isn't really any overarching storyline that spans the entire series, just arcs that cover a few episodes. Things can get a little intense though, so if you're looking for something fluffier and/or introspective, it might not be for you. If you're in the mood for filthy humour, Panty And Stocking And Garterbelt is definitely the one to watch. Just keep the kiddies and your dear old parents away. Oh, and watch it dubbed; regardless of where you fall on the 'dubbed vs. subbed' debate, this is definitely one where English just makes it better.
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Feb 27, 2018 02:35
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There's no way op hasn't heard of pokemon
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Feb 27, 2018 02:37
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Namtab posted:There's no way op hasn't heard of pokemon You mean that weird cellphone game? 
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Feb 27, 2018 03:00
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