Cowboy Bebop by Yoko Kanno - Essay Example

Cowboy Be-bop Order No. 298667 No. of pages: 5 6530 ‘Cowboy Bebop’ produced by Yoko Kanno is an anime series television show that literally transports its audience to a world pitted against the backdrop of seedy- looking pick- pockets and bounty- hunters in an atmosphere that is filled with cigarette – smoke and strong scotch in addition to the deafening sounds of heavy metal music. Cowboy Bebop seems to be a balanced mixture of both the past and the future combined. ‘Cowboy Bebop’ is one of those animated, science fiction series where the creativity of the production team leaves one gasping for breath at the ‘avant-garde style… snazzy visuals… snappy stories to the enthusiastic, upbeat score.”(Tasha Robinson) Anime, made in Japan is well-suited to global audiences because of its adherence to using traditional storylines but with a western flavor, and it makes it even more adaptable for “Global Web-based communities.”(Nicholas, Kyle) Western audiences are lured to the world of anime because of its unique identifying feature which is according to Horn “colorful, exciting, strange and Japanese.” (Horn 1999, p.13-31) Dating back to the 1920’s musical and film- noir style, Cowboy Bebop, O.S.T draws heavily from its musical themes. The majority of the soundtrack that was created mostly by the ‘Seatbelts’ contained a variety of elements such as pulsating techno beats, morose jazz, ofjump blues and yes, Bebop indeed without a doubt. The majority of the tracks on O.S.T 1 was a mixture of Jazz and blues. Songs such as ‘Digging My Potato’ and “Spokey Dokey” which is perhaps the most vivid song, though sounding seemingly ridiculous actually had maturity of the use of pause and space between the lyrics that is rarely found in the recordings of modern or contemporary jazz. (Sean McCarthy, 1998) Speaking of the band “Seatbelts” who were the primary musicians for almost the whole of the Bebop series are greatly hyped as one of the most progressive and futuristic bands who had gained wide popularity during 2048. The Seatbelts prided themselves in taking a whole lot of creative liberties in making use of contradictory themes such as ‘hard and soft’ and ‘peace and anarchy.’ The soundtrack of Cowboy Bebop also has two other discs titled ‘No Disc’ and the other called ‘Blue O.S.T-1 which is considered to be the prime of the lot that helped a great deal in introducing both Blues and Jazz to its audience who otherwise would not have been attracted to this particular genre. The sound created by the ‘Seatbelts’ are as addictive as they are authentic and has served to lay a stamp of their kind of music. The theme track “Tank” kicks off the soundtrack and this is played at almost all the Cowboy Bebop sessions. The theme music of “Tank” is considered to be one of the Top 10 memorable themes of a television show. It has horns that go with a syncopated beat and lyrics that say…OK 3…2…1 let’s jam. Jazz seems to be the most predominant genre right through O.S.T 1 that is used in almost all the songs. The story of Cowboy Bebop is set in the future, and features a group of bounty hunters, whose exploits are played out in outer space. The show garnered a sizeable audience on account of its sophisticated plots which heighten the action and the musical score of Yoko Kanno, referred to as “wildly diverse” (Tasha Robinson) which lends the anime venture a unique feel. Kyle Nicholas, in the study entitled “The Work Which Becomes a New Genre Itself”: Textual Networks in the World of Cowboy Bebop" dwells upon Japanese and their relationship with jazz music, which it calls “twisted.” The music is so integral to the series that it determines the speed at which the episode moves forward the action in the session as also the story of each particular episode. (Murphy, Ryan.C) Importance is placed on the characterization rather than on the story, with the characters being added even while the episodes proceeds so that by the ninth episode the whole motley crew is assembled together. This anime can also be seen as a tribute to some of the greatest musical genres and songs, with each episode, called the session, generally being named after the genre or a song. Episode 18, titled, “Speak Like a Child” refers to the famous song by Herbie Hancock. In this episode a package is delivered to Faye, the “notorious gambler and bounty hunting sexpot,” (Tasha Robinson) who refuses to take delivery of this C.O.D package. When Spike opens the package he finds that it contains a Beta tape, which can be played only on a player which will be difficult to come by in the year 2071 A.D., the period in which the series is set. This session is all about Spike and Jet’s quest to find out what the tape contains. After they have raided a museum on earth, so that they could watch the video cassette, they find they have picked up a wrong set, and only when a package which has an appropriate player is delivered to them, do they find out what the tape contains. It is a recording done by Faye herself, addressed to her own self and it is from this that the viewer as well as her companions come to know a few things about her past, because in her present, she is shown to be a compulsive gambler, always on the lookout for making a quick buck. The scenes of her childhood gives the impression that she may have lived in Singapore on earth, because very often, whenever scenes from her childhood are shown, the Merlion of Singapore can be seen in them. Also the film from her childhood shows a large mansion, in which she lives, and this could mean that she was the daughter of wealthy parents. The name Valentine too is not her own but was given to her by one of the doctors who attended to her. An important thing about the Cowboy Bebop series is that the plot is made to “move along mostly on interaction rather than exposition or narration” (Tasha Robinson) so that it involves the viewer into the action wholly. Since the characters have not been completely rounded, there is scope to improvise as the episodes move along, although most of them are troubled by their past and paucity of funds, the reason for their bounty hunting. (Murphy, Ryan. C) The Cowboy bebop series has been described as a “shining anime” (http://www.moviecritic2000.blogspot.com/2007/12/cowboy-bebop.html) and its popularity continues unparalleled in the field of animation films. It owes its success to its stylish execution, as well as the masterful mix of science fiction and human imagination. References Cowboy Bebop- O.S.T. 1 Mason City www.articles.directorym.com/Cowboy_Bebop_O_S_T_1_Mason_City_IA-r928947-Mason_City_IA.html Review by Tasha Robinson http://www.scifi.com/sfw/issue179/anime.html Nicholas, Kyle. "“The Work Which Becomes a New Genre Itself”: Textual Networks in the World of Cowboy Bebop" Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Communication Association, Dresden International Congress Centre, Dresden, Germany, Jun 16, 2006 . 2009-02-05 http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p90930_index.html Sean McCarthy. Cowboy Bebop- O.S.T. 1 Soundtrack ‘Ever Anime, 1998. “The Work Which Becomes a New Genre Itself”: Textual Networks in ... http://www.allacademic.com//meta/p_mla_apa_research_citation/0/9/0/9/3/pages90930/p90930-12.php Marin Mandir. (2007) Movie Critic. Cowboy Bebop. A Film Review Site. http://www.moviecritic2000.blogspot.com/2007/12/cowboy-bebop.html List of Cowboy Episodes. http://www.bookrags.com/wiki/List_of_Cowboy_Bebop_episodes Read More