Customer Reviews

Cowboy Bebop: Shooting Star, Book 1

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The good thing is Cain Kuga provides great art for this series. The bad thing is Kuga, as the writer, never grasped the personality or appeal of each character. The subtlety of the anime and the balance of the various personalities aboard the Bobop is lost. The most infuriating is Spike has taken on a whole new personality of stupidity. Instead of a cleverness hidden behind his nonchalant attitude, he has become Bebop's grunt, driven by hunger and little else. There's a reason the manga is being canceled after issue 2.

This manga is the first of a two part series by Cain Kuga. Cain Kuga was approached to do a manga version of Cowboy Bebop. This was before bebop even became a phenomenon.

The stories in the manga offer a different take on how Spike, Jet, Faye, Ein, and Ed get together. The bounty hunters get involved with a mysterious syndicate with a 13 year old commander named Scorpion.

The character's personalities are more or less the same. Spike is a little more irritable than in the series. He protests hugely when the new members come aboard, even more so than he did in the cartoon. Edward is still a little off. Faye doesn't show up until the end but no notible difference was seen in her either.

The manga is well-written and on par for the bebop personalities. It reads very fast and there is alot of action. Although it is good, it isn't great. Nothing really stands out. It just offers a different story for the origin of the crew, and a different villian. Of course, bebop fans just have to check it out, out of principle.

I absolutely loved the anime of Cowboy Bebop. This book is set in the same universe with the same characters. Their stories, however, have changed. The way we meet Ed, Faye, Ein, and the history of Spike and Jet are different based on the author's take on the characters. Some might not like this, but I like the new twist on their relationships. Plus the author has added a whole new badguy! Since the TV series is over, it is also like getting all new Bebop stories. I haven't read the rest in this manga series so I don't know how they continue, but if you are dying for more Spike and don't mind the alternate reality, I highly recommend the book!

If you don't want the stories to change, consider picking up the Cowboy Bebop series by Hajime Yadate and Yutaka Nanten, ISBN#1931514917, simply called Cowboy Bebop Book 1 etc. These are more like continuing adventures that take place in between what would have been a TV episode.

It was a refreshing twist to the Bebop universe. Spike's style was made a little, um, too pushy. He cared too much for his ship. Ed is still Ed, but has a more animeish (is that a word?)look to her (him? not sure about it this time around.)Jet hasn't changed with the new artist, but Faye has turned into a snobby brat. The art is hectic in the fight scenes, but is okay as is. Is worth a look for hardcore Bebop fans, but not for newcomers. See you space cowboy.

This series is a retelling of Cowboy Bebop supposedly, except for some reason Cain Kuga destroyed the characterization of everyone. Spike is now much lazier than the original, and lacks the laid back yet serious stature he has in the anime, Ed is now a whiny little brat, and Faye is nothing but a brainless (...) The artwork is ugly to look at... no, the character designs are okay, but the action is drawn so odd that it is impossible to tell what is going on. And the stories themselves are very lacking, they do not have the Bebop feeling that the anime does, and devoid of any characterization. Listen to this review: DON'T WASTE YOUR MONEY LIKE I DID! I've goofed up so none of you will make the same mistake like me!

The 2 volume Shooting Star storyline by manga writer and artist Cain Kuga uses most of the same characters as the Cowboy Bebop anime series but places them in alternative situations and gives them slightly different origins.

This first volume introduces the entire Cowboy Bebop crew as if the previous anime and manga never existed in 5 stand-alone stories, or "shoots". In the first, Spike and and Jet are hired to find a renegade body double of an organized crime boss. In the second we are introduced to Edward. The third story brings Ein into the picture. In the fourth story the crew are sent to catch The Scorpion, a dangerous Dragon Head general who escaped from the prison planet of Pluto. The last story introduces the always ravishing Faye Valentine as she attempts to steal the Bebop.

I liked these stories. I think the idea of the series was to start afresh without being bogged down by backstory. It worked because none of the characters were scrapped really. It was the same old bebop with subtle differences. They didn't have any of the dark tragedy that to me seemed to plague some of the later Bebop sessions. If you're a fan you'll enjoy these, and if you've never read Bebop before you could start here. I have no idea why the second volume of Shooting Star is not availible here at Amazon. I would highly recommend the Sessions and movie on DVD and the previous manga trilogy that came before Shooting Star.