“What It Means to be an Adult”
Part 3: Cowboy Bebop
I’m not going to act as if anything I say about what is arguably the most iconic anime to ever be produced by the genius Shinichiro Watanabe that is Cowboy Bebop has not already been said. But for those without the same background, I would just like to set the stage. For most Western anime fans (and I’m speaking with the bias of a Western anime fan as well as a person born in the late ‘90s) the gateway into anime was either the early afternoon blocks such as Miguzi and the early Saturday morning blocks such as 4Kids—and this would feature mainly shonen anime for children. For the more mature audiences you would look to the Saturday night anime block known as Toonami with the robotic avatar host Tom, played by the amazing Steven Jay Blum. Toonami would be the home for more adult-themed and mature anime, the most popular of which was Cowboy Bebop—a simple 25-26 episode series that beautifully floats between the genres of action, comedy, romance, and drama set in the year 2071 with a simultaneous retro and sci-fi backdrop. I would also be remise to not point out that like the title implies, “Cowboy Bebop,” while it is a futuristic sci-fi series that quite literally floats in space, the characters, plot, in some instances the music, and the overall aesthetic cements this series in the category as a Spaghetti-Western as well as a mid 20th century Film Noir.
I’m not a big fan of Spaghetti-Westerns and my Film Noir knowledge is very limited, but the point I want to draw from this series (and the movie) comes from a video by SuperEyepatchWolf that speaks to how the characters represent the topic of a mid-life crisis. I will also post the video below.
I wanted to get into on a similar FOF on “What it means to be an Adult,” talking about how “maturity” is conflated with exposure to sex, drugs, swearing, and violence. One of my opinions is that the mere introduction of these things does not inherently make something mature, but rather how it is used. That’s a slight tangent, but returning to “Cowboy Bebop” I will take note of what has been said—that the characters of Jet, Spike, and Faye are people facing crises. For Spike his crisis is dealing with his past and coming to the conclusion that he would have to fight his demons in order to be free. For Jet, his crisis is dealing with the physical affliction of his past and learning how to move on. Faye’s crisis is that she has absolutely no memory of her past, and being crippled with debt is what is holding her back from carving out a future.
SUPEREYEPATCHWOLF COWBOY BEBOP VID
Being in these crises—stuck in physical, emotional, or psychological ruts is almost indicative of “being an adult.” I’ve only been an adult for 3 years and it SUCKS! But dealing with the mundanity of merely making ends meet, even in a setting as fantastic as “Cowboy Bebop” can somehow represent adulthood. Setting aside the smoking, shooting, drinking, and gambling, the term “adult theme” comes to mind. Children, and even teenagers, typically have a harder time comprehending the themes of loss or longing in the way “Cowboy Bebop” is presented. The detail and maturity used to handle war, death, the career of being a bounty hunter, and everything that the Bebop crew struggles with ascends beyond the teenage infatuation with these topics and lack of depth apparent in FLCL, and is a far cry from the childish delusions of Chunibyo.
It’s almost sad…we continue to believe that being an adult is synonymous with going through some sort of anxiety or difficulty. At least in this context—I know there are some series or movies that depict some joy in adulthood, and even in Bebop there are light-hearted stories with less dreary resolutions, but the core of adulthood is in some form of tragedy. But that’s what it means to be an adult, is it not? To overcome tragedy. Spike, although he does die at the end, overcame the demons of his past and ended up being free. Jet does lose his arm, but he finds comfort in being partners with Spike and even having a sort of family with the Bebop crew. Faye does lose her memory, but eventually she finds a fraction of the answers and seems to come to terms with it at some point. Edward is just a kid, but she does go home to her family soon.
And if you think about it—that one theme—overcoming is a line that transcends each of these genres. Rikka overcomes her delusions and the mental block she has in Chunibyo. Naota, Hidomi, and Kana all overcome their confusion with who they are and what they want in life. Spike overcomes his past. Jet overcomes his injury. Faye overcomes her loneliness and lack of an identity—to a fault. Even in shonen anime, the theme of overcoming adversity is there. In romance—the theme of overcoming adversity is there. Now I think it may be a bit of a stretch to touch every genre and say “overcoming” is there in all of them, because growth or progression can be synonymous with “overcoming” and growth in terms of character and plot is necessary to make a good story.
“Cowboy Bebop” is a beautifully completed story about people living through experiences that seem to get them through a Rock Bottom in their lives. At least for young to maybe middle-aged adults, there is an appeal that resonates with how experiences in adulthood can shape a person. It does so in an arguably mature fashion—through visual storytelling, through witty yet entertaining dialogue, through poetic action sequences, and dynamic well-rounded characters with weaknesses, quirks, and ambitions. Chalk it up to being about adulthood, or to Shinichiro Watanabe’s great direction, but this completion in art direction mimics a completion of a stage of life going into the life experience that is adulthood.
