Customer Reviews

Cowboy Bebop - Best Sessions

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This Best Sessions collection of Cowboy Bebop contains 6 episodes of the series, with remastered video and a new remixed soundtrack. Most people will not feel justified in buying this set when there really is nothing new besides the soundtrack quality. For me though, I want everything Bebop I can get my greedy hands on, so when I saw it for 12 bucks I grabbed it. Yes, I have these episodes already on DVD, but to hear these great episodes on surround takes it up a notch. I feel like Bebop fans that have a good system should get this. The sound is the only reason though, as there is nothing here we haven't seen before on the other Bebop releases. The episodes contained here are "arguably" the best sessions, but each of them are still great. In my opinion "Ballad of Fallen Angels" is the best session there is, and to hear the great music to it in a remixed soundtrack is amazing. But I will only recommend this collection to die-hard Bebop fans that are as obsessive as I am about watching these episodes in the best possible audio/visual quality. For those who pass on this release don't worry, you aren't missing anything new.

This set is excellent. I haven't watched all 6 eps yet, but I am really digging it. Love that opening music!

I disagree with a previous reviewer saying how the eps lose coherence when not seen in relation to each other, I am having no problem getting into it, and I had only seen a part of 1 episode prior to getting this set.

Needless to say I am hooked and found this a great way to introduce myself to the Bebop universe.

Highly recommended to all freshman to this class of Bebop!

This is my favorite anime series of all time. It is a combination of many genres. Sure, you could say it was sci-fi because it all takes place in space; but all of the episodes have different themes. The characters are very real and very human, the story is emotional, and even the dubbed voices are excellent (almost a rarity in dubbed anime).

The only real point of this DVD collection was to put out a little extra something for the die-hard fans (such as myself) and re-master the sound. If you have a Dolby system, it is actually quite amazing. In fact, in an interview with director Shinichiro Watanabe, he said that he chose the episodes on the first disc for the sound.

"If my selection was based solely on personal taste, I probably would have selected bizarre stories such as episode 20 ("Pierrotm Le Fou") and episode 6 ("Sympathy for the Devil"). But since my emphasis was on the sound, I chose episode 1 with its gun sequences and human interactions; episode 5 for the music being played; and episode 19 for its mecha action. I handled the storyboard for two of them, so I'm sure my color shows up the most in them."

The episodes on the first disc are still some of the best in the series (though I'd rank episodes 6 and 20 above 19, personally), regardless of what influenced his decision.

The episodes on the second disc (chosen by the fans) are also the best, exactly what I would have chosen. It starts with episode 8, Waltz for Venus (featuring the voice of Maaya Sakamoto as Stella), which is my personal favorite. Then it goes to episode 17, Mushroom Samba, probably the funniest of the series, followed up with episode 24, Hard Luck Woman, one of the more emotion-provoking episodes.

If you are a fan of the series (suppose you saw it on Cartoon Network, or something) but do not have the [$$$] for the Perfect Sessions, this is an excellent alternative. If you want to get a friend of yours into the series, this is a good place to start, and if you just want some good episodes with better sound (and some awesome trailers on the second disc) then this is for you. However, it doesn't really have any extras (beyond the trailers) and if you plan on getting the whole series anyway, there's no point, which is why it's got three stars from me instead of five. It's really not for everyone. The case sure looks cool, though.

First of all, the DVD case is very cool and is based off of the tape that Faye Valentine watches in "Hard Luck Woman." The case that has the DVDs in it fits in to a very nice slipcase.

Now, for the DVDs themselves. The first three episodes on the first disk were picked by the director just for having the best sound. "Asteroid Blues" for the gun sequences and human interactions, "Ballad of Fallen Angels" for the music and "Wild Horses" for the spaceship action. The first two are classics, but "Wild Horses" suffers from a confusing plot and a really annoying character.

The second disk includes 3 episodes that the fans in Japan (Not U.S. fans) voted for. They include the heartfelt "Waltz for Venus", "Mushroom Samba" the one where the crew trips on shrooms and "Hard Luck Woman" which has Faye and Ed finding out their pasts.

EXTRAS: None, except for some trailers on the second disk, woo-hoo.(*sarcasm*)
SOUND: Amazing, especially if you have a super cool home theater like me.
Should you buy this as your first Bebop DVD?: I'd say no. You should get Cowboy Bebop - Sesson 1 to get a better understanding of the series, besides it's cheaper.

So when should I buy this DVD?:
-When you have an awesome home theater
-When you don't want to spend $ on Sessions 2 and 4 just for "Waltz" and for "Samba"
-When you're already familiar with Cowboy Bebop and don't want to buy Session 1 just for "Asteroid" and "Ballad".
-When you're an obsessed Bebop fan!!!

If it were up to me, I would have added such episodes as "Pierrot Le Fou" or "Cowboy Funk" instead of "Wild Horses" and "Hard Luck Woman" I think this deserves 4.5 stars, so I'm going to give it five to balance out the total score.

Let me start by saying that you probably only want to buy this DVD if
A. You are a huge Bebop fan
B. You have a kickass sound system
C. You want something to keep you occupied till the movie comes out
D. Combinations or all of the above

This DVD is awesome and Bebop rocks but I dont think that it has enough to earn 5 stars. The DTS is really cool but if only it had more special features! Maybe director interviews or cast interviews or something more. Or even a trailer for the American version of the movie!

If you didn't/ couldn't/ can't watch all 26 episodes of Shinichiro Watanabe's amazing Cowboy Bebop on Cartoon Network, or afford the complete, out-of-print "perfect" set, here's the next best thing. It's six hand-picked episodes with Dolby sound for less than the DVD of the Cowboy Bebop movie.

The Best Sessions may not be the best, but they are the best introduction to the epic anime series for those who don't like anime, and whatever one thinks of the film, most of the elements that make the show so dazzling are missing from it. The Best Sessions is a bargain priced introduction to an incredible animation triumph, from the opening titles montage blending Jonny Quest and Peter Gunn to the enchanting closing with "The Real Folk Blues". Not to mention the strong story lines, careful, yet jaunty animation style, witty manga dialogues, and the most realized characters in Anime. The effect is as if a graphic novel had come to life, not taken itself too seriously (the bane of most GNs), and brought a first-person perspective to an entirely alien world. Mostly it's the experience of bounty hunter- drifter Spike, sometimes his (space)shipmate Jet, later acquaintance Valentine or computer wiz-kid Edward. Regardless, the effect is dazzling. Cartoon Network again scored with this one. Hard to believe it's from 1998. But for twenty bones, here's your chance to catch the buzz with the Best Sessions.

Even though I'm a huge fan or the series, I would only recommened this dvd to most die hard bebop fans. It seems almost not worth buying but just to have it becasue the words "cowboy bebop" are written on it. Although the sound is amazing, it doesn't make up for the price. There are no extras at all, it seems like it was made just to milk the series as long as possible. I would save your money until the movie comes out, that would be worth buying.

After reading some of these reviews its funny how people ignore the name of the movie. Best Sessions, 6 of the best episodes from the series redone in 5.1 digital surround sound. Yesh if you arent a die hard CB fan then you won't want this, but if you are then this is a dvd that you want to pick up if you have a 5.1 system which is what this is aimed at.

I gave this a three-star rating because it is excellent, but not the best Cowboy Bebop dvd deal you can get. Look into "Cowboy Bebop: The Perfect Sessions" before you buy this. That dvd, which costs maybe 5-10 dollars more, has the entire 26-episode series rather than just these selected episodes. Just throwing in this warning, as I bought The Best Sessions shortly before discovering The Perfect Sessions and don't want anyone else to have to waste money if they don't have to. And besides, The Best Sessions will just leave you wanting more Bebop anyway.

This series is amazing in visuals, sound, story, characters and action. All the episode are top noch...espiecially Ballad of Fallen Angels, which has an awsome gun fight at the end.