What Anime are you Currently Watching?/Anime Recommendations

[Czernobog]

^I would like to second Exhuminator's recommendation of Black Lagoon, especially the English dub. It's one of the best action anime I've ever seen. It's also more influenced by Western culture than some other anime, not unlike Cowboy Bebop. It does have some moments that some would find uncomfortable

twins

, but it is a hell of a ride, and can be pretty funny.

[CRTGAMER]

I have been wanting to buy the Japanese Cowboy Bebop Laser Disc version when it first came out. Too expensive back then and forgotten about the series over the years.

Aw yeah, laserdisc! Everything is better on a Laserdisc!

Actually the DVDs have a higher resolution with 480p. BluRay of course is even better, but I am content with the latest edition DVDs, looking forward when they arrive. The Laser Disc only real advantage is the Jog Shuttle; the solid slow motion and pause screen.

I love Cowboy Bebop. I bought the individual DVDs sometime around 2004~ish. The tops of the DVDs are decorated to look like Vinyl albums. That really keeps in line with the musical aspect of the series.

I want to upgrade to the Cowboy Bebop Dolby 5.1 Remix sometime in the future.

I normally like playing a game (Shenmue) or watching any film in the native language. Cowboy Bebop just has so much more impact with the English voice actors.

[Nemoide]

But laserdisc also has the advantage of being COMPLETELY AWESOME AND GIGANTIC! (I have a dumb obsessive love for the format even though I know it's technically inferior to anything that exists currently.)

[SonicGamer74]

I find it hilarious, that this entire thread blew up today, because I mentioned Cowboy Bebop 2 weeks ago.

I'm still under the impression that the only people who don't like Cowboy Bebop have either never seen it, or are just hipsters that hate stuff that's popular.

[marurun]

Naw, the hipsters are the ones who say they loved Yoko Kano way back from Macross Plus and already knew she was awesome going into Cowboy Bebop.

Which, I think, makes me a hipster...

[Exhuminator]

I'm still under the impression that the only people who don't like Cowboy Bebop have either never seen it, or are just hipsters that hate stuff that's popular.

I enjoyed Cowboy Bebop, but I do believe it's overrated.

The reason I say that, is because that show is the perfect gateway anime, but not the perfect anime. It was excellent at getting people to watch anime who normally wouldn't be interested in it, because Cowboy Bebop doesn't delve much into the more WTF Japanese cultural aspects at all. Rather Cowboy Bebop is much more western oriented in its themes and situations. However, once you move beyond Cowboy Bebop and start really watching a lot of anime series, eventually you start to find shows that do what Cowboy Bebop did, but do it much better. At that point you gain a new frame of reference and realize that while Cowboy Bebop was fun, it's not the be all end all anime series you once thought it was.

[marurun]

I'm still under the impression that the only people who don't like Cowboy Bebop have either never seen it, or are just hipsters that hate stuff that's popular.

I enjoyed Cowboy Bebop, but I do believe it's overrated.

The reason I say that, is because that show is the perfect gateway anime, but not the perfect anime. It was excellent at getting people to watch anime who normally wouldn't be interested in it, because Cowboy Bebop doesn't delve much into the more WTF Japanese cultural aspects at all. Rather Cowboy Bebop is much more western oriented in its themes and situations. However, once you move beyond Cowboy Bebop and start really watching a lot of anime series, eventually you start to find shows that do what Cowboy Bebop did, but do it much better. At that point you gain a new frame of reference and realize that while Cowboy Bebop was fun, it's not the be all end all anime series you once thought it was.

I agree with you a little, but not a lot. If the series is over-rated, it is just barely over-rated. Yes, it is an excellent gateway dru... anime due to the excellent dub and western-friendly atmosphere. However, it also had an excellent budget. The animation is, on the whole, among some of the best found among television productions. The music is among the best for anything, movie or television, with lots of variety even as it sticks close to bebop and jazz. Kano at her best. The character designs and personalities are very distinct and easy to distinguish. The mechanical designs are visually interesting and make decent sense. Also, the stories were pretty straight-forward, without too many off-putting twists or crazy surprises. Reveals made sense and weren't loaded with pseudo-philosophy and spiritual nonsense (anime creators are like actors in the US, they love going into psycho-babble). The religious undertones weren't so heavy-handed as to distract from the story. And the series wrapped up pretty nicely within its run, with no real loose ends and a story arc that ultimately made sense. At the end of the series I wasn't left wondering how the hell I got here and why this, that, and the other thing didn't make any sense.

tl:dr
Cowboy Bebop really is an exceptional example of the genre and is among the highest quality examples in the genre along almost any axis of comparison, be it animation, design, dubbing, music, story cohesion, etc...

[Exhuminator]

Cowboy Bebop really is an exceptional example of the genre and is among the highest quality examples in the genre along almost any axis of comparison, be it animation, design, dubbing, music, story cohesion, etc...

For its time, sure I agree with you. Greater series in both aesthetics and writing have come since 1998 though.

[samsonlonghair]

Cowboy Bebop really is an exceptional example of the genre and is among the highest quality examples in the genre along almost any axis of comparison, be it animation, design, dubbing, music, story cohesion, etc...

For its time, sure I agree with you. Greater series in both aesthetics and writing have come since 1998 though.

Would you care to give examples? If you can name several anime superior to Cowboy Bebop, I want to watch them.

[SonicGamer74]

I enjoyed Cowboy Bebop, but I do believe it's overrated.