Product Details

• Actors: Kôichi Yamadera, Unshô Ishizuka, Megumi Hayashibara, Steve Blum, Beau Billingslea
• Writers: Akihiko Inari, Dai Sato, Hajime Yatate, Marc Handler, Michiko Yokote
• Producers: Charles McCarter
• Format: Animated, Color, NTSC
• Language: English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Tagalog
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Bandai
• VHS Release Date: September 14, 1999
• Run Time: 50 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00000JSIK
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #65,252 in Video (See Bestsellers in Video)

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential video

Each of these two snazzy 20-minute installments is a self-contained and satisfying adventure tale about a futuristic hipster bounty hunter, from the most popular Japanese animated TV series of 1998. This is elegant action-comedy anime, with smoothly integrated CGI space-flight elements, gorgeous graphics, blues harmonica and sax riffs on the soundtrack, and a no-sweat post-Tarantino attitude. Despite occasional eruptions of gun-fu Asian-action violence, and some intimations of heavy-duty drug use (one especially noxious narcotic is administered as an aerosol spray, straight onto the user's eyeballs), the tone is surprisingly convivial. None of the generic tough elements are grim or mean-spirited. Lanky antihero Spike Spiegel is a planet-hopping freelance cop with a cyborg sidekick and a genetically enhanced Welsh Corgi assistant, and as many wisecracks as punches get thrown. The emphasis is on clever twists of plot in an episodic short-story format. This is the first of five projected English-language videos, 10 episodes in all. --David Chute

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most original Anime in a long time., July 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Cowboy Bebop - Asteroid Blues (Vol. 1) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

I was fortunate enough to attend the US premier of Cowboy Bebop at an anime convention recently and I, along with the rest of the audience, was completly spellbound. Great art, great direction and wonderful , un-anime style, music from Yoko Kanno. Each episode is different. The first is like an action film, the second a comedy.

The story revolves around Spike Spiegel and Jet Black, bounty hunters and owners of the spacecraft "Bebop." Spike considers himself to be a futuristic cowboy, hence the series title.

This is one series I have been recomending to everyone. It is for adults but not pornographic, just smart. If you would like to see some anime beyond giant robots and magical schoolgirls please get Cowboy Bebop!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best series ever!, September 6, 2000

By	Loy Teik Inn "teikinn" (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

For those of you familiar with traditional anime now is the time to be amazed. Not only does Bebop set up excellent episodes, it has also redefined the what Japanese cartoons represent.

Produced by the same people who created "The Vision of Escaflowne" (Bones), Cowboy Bebop brings a slightly more Western feel, with a more subtle sense of humour and as I hinted above, excellent writing. In my opinion Bebop is an excellent choice for anybody interested in Japanese anime, whether an avid fan or just a inquisitive fool (such as myself), on par with such great titles as "The Vision of Escaflowne", "Nadesico", and "Rurouni Kenshin". This title has given the industry a much needed injection of creativity into what I saw as an industry that was beginning to get stale and formulaic.

If I have enticed you into purchasing this video, please read on. Do not buy the videotape if you own, or think that you will be purchasing a DVD player (or like me, waiting for PS2 to arrive in October). Two very simple reasons. First and most commonly the case is quality. Picture quality is sharper and there is the option of watching both the subtitled and dubbed version. I like this option as I like to see how badly they botch the dubbed version. The second and more important reason is that buying the DVD is actually cheaper. Yes, I understand that this may seem counter-intuitive but it is true. The DVD version has 5 episodes on one disc at about $26, while the VCR version only has 2 episodes for a whopping $21 (subtitled of course). This is weird but do take advantage of it. In fact the savings could be sufficient for you to purchase a player!

Hence I hope to see Cowboy Bebop as a top ten DVD seller in months to come.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yee-haw!, August 9, 2000

By	"nogana_naishi" (Calgary, Alberta Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cowboy Bebop - Asteroid Blues (Vol. 1) [VHS] (VHS Tape)

It truly is a rare event, indeed, when an anime comes long that doesn't get boring and starts loosing quality after the first two episodes, much less the first 12. Cowboy Bebop is such a spectacular event in anime history that it will go down forever as THE anime of the '90s.

Cowboy Bebop has no giant robots, and no laser blades or fire-ball-slinging, spiky-haired heros either, for that matter. So, what does it have? Two bounty hunters, Spike and Jet, cleaning up space from the worst scum in the galaxy-- And/or just trying to make a buck. The basic plot has been done before already, but the genre hasn't. Cowboy Bebop truly is in a genre of its own. One that makes all the little anime clichs look cute and cool. One where jazzy and unbefitting music is the most appropriate type at the very same time.

Maybe it's the music by the goddess that is Yoko Kanno that makes Cowboy Bebop stand out. Yoko Kanno is a genius. Buy the soundtracks, the remix CDs, anything. It's all amazing.

Maybe it's the sound, animation and story direction. I don't know, nor do I care, because this is an anime that anyone can simply watch and enjoy. One that I can't possibly make sarcastic comments about, because there are none to make. (Except maybe about Faye's shorts, which seem to get smaller in length every episode...)