Cowboy Bebop is one of the best anime series based on manga ever made, according to fans and critics. A space-Western at its core, Cowboy Bebop follows the adventures of Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine, Jet Black, Ed (Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV), and Ein, the dog. They're a ragtag crew of bounty hunters, all of whom are on the run from their colorful, past demons.
Cowboy Beebop is an action-packed jazz and blues romp featuring beautiful animation, action, a nostalgia-laden soundtrack, and loads of action and adventure as the crew of the Bebop track down the solar system's most dangerous criminals. The series is not only praised for its originality, but it's also one of the best anime series to start with for those who want to get into the ever-expanding world of anime.
Updated on July 3rd, 2021, by Kristy Ambrose: The popularity of Cowboy Bebop continues to endure decades after its initial release, inspiring even more anime that use the same humor, drama, music, and animation style. Streaming services have also caught the anime and manga adaptation bug, and the niche genre that Cowboy Bebop represents isn't so niche anymore. There's a better selection to choose from these days for those looking to add to their space-cowboy film-noir-themed library.
13 Trigun
Trigun is about bounty hunters overall, but it's also a Western genre-bending story and has loads of comedy. The series tells the story of Vash, a man with a $60 million bounty on his head. Vash is the kind of person that enjoys flattening entire cities for fun, which makes it notably difficult for him to visit any place without being chased, or worse, being shot at.
Trigun is similar in many ways to Cowboy Bebop, but it is different in that it takes the Western theme further, featuring the classic cowboy look and bounty hunters in the form of two insurance agents who are hot the main character's heels.
12 Space Dandy
One sure-fire way to describe this zany anime show is to call it a vastly lighthearted version of Cowboy Bebop. Space Dandy is packed with adventure, fast-paced action, and bucket loads of laughs.
Space Dandy is set in the far future and tells the tales of Dandy, the space hunter. Dandy's freelance job is to search for undiscovered alien lifeforms. This means Dandy visits the furthest corners of the universe in search of unknown life-capable planets in his efforts to document new alien species.
11 Bungo Stray Dogs
Bungo Stary Dogs is a series that has a lot of the film-noir feel that fans like in Cowboy Bebop. There's more comedy involved, but the plot focuses on individual characters and their personal stories, which is another key feature of the genre.
It's also told in a one-and-done style, like Cowboy Bebop, which means viewers don't have the watch the episodes of Bungo Stray Dogs in any particular order.
10 Samurai Champloo
Set during an alternate version of the Edo period, Samurai Champloo follows the journey of three strange individuals, Fuu, Mugen, and Jin. After Fuu, a young girl saves the other two from certain death by execution, she convinces Jin and Mugen to help locate a mysterious samurai "who smells of sunflowers." Samurai Champloo is directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, who also directed Cowboy Bebop, and the characters and the subtle undercurrent that follows the characters through both plots are similar.
Much like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo is also a character-driven story, with each episode revealing more about each. Another notable aspect that both shows share is the sound-track-driven action, and style which is carried through the music. Cowboy Bebop features jazz and blues while Champloo is on point with its hip-hop and lo-fi sound. The characters in both shows are driven by a constant need for money and food.
9 Outlaw Star
Outlaw Star is another anime featuring bounty hunters, Gene Starwind and Jim Hawking. The two bounty hunters spend their days performing all sorts of odd jobs on their planet of Sentinel III. All this changes however when a mysterious woman named Hilda recruits the two as bodyguards.
As is often the case in these kinds of comedic-adventure anime, in no time the pair are in a world of trouble, including being wanted by the cops, pirates, angry aliens, other bounty hunters, and a mysterious assassin. The only thing they do have going for them in this world of trouble is their ship, the Outlaw Star, the galaxy's most advanced spacecraft.
8 Black Lagoon
What makes Cowboy Bebop unique and praised is that the story behind each of its characters commonly revolves around a dark personal tragedy. This has an emotional effect on the audience after learning about each of these characters.
The same careful, considered character development and an underlying feeling of darkness are to be found in Black Lagoon. The series boasts an equally interesting and dark story. It's about Rokurou, an average businessman who gets captured by pirates. He decides to join the crew after a negotiation goes awry, as he's curious to live the harsh yet adventurously eventful life the other pirates lead.
7 Shaman King
A whole franchise that started in 1998 with a serialized manga, the anime adaptation of Shaman King dates from 2001 and a reboot of the same series debuted in 2021. The main character, Yoh Asakura, has to walk a fine line between the living and the dead in order to embrace his destiny and become the Shaman King.
It has the same playful and comedic style as Cowboy Bebop and uses a mix of Japanese aesthetics along with the modern science fiction angle from Cowboy Beebop. It has a strong mystical flair for those that like occult anime similar to Soul Eater or Bleach, also popular manga to anime adaptations.
6 Baccano!
Those who enjoyed the jazz-laded and uber-stylish fight scenes in Cowboy Bebop need not look further than Baccano! Much like Bebop, this anime is jam-packed with action scenes galore. The show is also set in 1930s Chicago, so be assured that your ears will be treated to a really good score.
It tells the stories of the adventures of Szilard and his aide Ennis who are on the hunt for missing bottles that contain the elixir for immortality. The main story arc isn't all there is, however with many side plots including mafia turf wars.
5 Psycho-Pass
One of the most appealing factors to Cowboy Bebop is that its main protagonist is so well-written, likable, and fleshed out. Viewers learn much about his past, and throughout the show, Spike is shown to be somewhat of an anti-hero. Psycho-Pass also features an extremely, well-written protagonist. Moreover, the show's setting is familiar, in that it's both futuristic and has a distinct noir feel to it.
Psycho-Pass's plot, in a nutshell, is about a new police force that determines the state of mind of citizens before they even commit a crime. Of course, much like Minority Report, this sort of system does not come without its faults.
4 Coyote Ragtime Show
Many fans of Cowboy Bebop praise it for its often over-the-top, yet visually appealing and entertaining, action and adventure. If you're into it for that side of it, then Coyote Ragtime Show would be a great addition to your watchlist.
The anime show follows a coyote, which in this case is a space-hopping criminal simply named Mister, who spent almost a year in prison. A mere ten days before he would have been released, his partners Bishop and Katana break him out. The show features lost treasure, federal investigators, a criminal guild, and android assassins.
3 Kekkai Sensen
Hellsalem's Lot formerly known as New York City, before a portal opened up in it, trapping every human there along with supernatural entities. Kekkai Sensen features secret organizations, monsters, gods, and plenty of hijinks-filled adventures.
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Kekkai Sensen also another anime that boasts a fantastic soundtrack, similar to Cowboy Bebop with many a jazz tune thrown in. Much like Cowboy Bebop, this anime show pays particularly careful attention to its well-produced, and dynamic fight sequences.
2 Death Parade
For those that like a series that leans more on the dark aesthetic of the film noir genre, there's Death Parade. Part of this is due to the setting, which is the Afterlife, and the central focus of the plot, in which souls are used as betting currency in a game. The tower of the afterlife is filled with cars, apparently, and when someone dies they are given to the bartenders to eventually either ascend into eternity or face banishment in the void.
Death Parade was adapted from a short film called Death Billiards instead of a manga, which makes it unique from the other entries on this list.
1 Gun X Sword
This outstanding, Western-genre-bending anime packs much of the same punches in terms of themes as Cowboy Bebop does, but in a very different fashion. Van, an extremely aloof anti-hero is hellbent on getting revenge.
While the plot of revenge has been done to death in both classic Westerns and anime Westerns, Gun X Sword nails it, while retaining the stylistic aspects of anime and Westerns which fans love about both genres. Oh, and there are giant robots too.
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July 04, 2021 at 12:38AM
