Sometimes a little style can go a long way, and in this case a film noir urban cowboy feel highlights a futuristic action series with lots of style that amounts to plenty of substance. Add onto this a blazing score by Kanno Youko that's over half swing, which is headed by an opening reminiscent of The Avengers, James Bond, and a host of other old action series.

What really sells this tale of futuristic bounty hunters is the way it's 80% comedy, but gets really serious when it's not. And the stories- even though a good many of them are conventional detective stories- are never stale. The way the narrative tells the stories is always fresh and alive, where surprises abound in both the style and plot. They know how to milk drama and suspense from a comedic bullet fest.

I shouldn't fail to mention this is done with excellent animation that seamlessly mixes CG and cel paint. All in all, this show may be modern animation's best offering in futuristic grit.

Cowboy Bebop, 26 episodes, is commercially available in the US. As such, and with its due popularity, it has many dedicated web sites. Here's two informative ones:

Here's some info sites, as of Aug. 27, 2001: