Perhaps the Greatest Mash-up of all Time.

Zach Goodier

A Guardians of the Galaxy/ Cowboy Bebop mash-up? Oh.... yeah!  This trailer mixes up the audio from the Guardians trailer with clips from one of the greatest animes of all time, so give it a watch, and prepare to have a huge nerdgasm.

Meet the Staff: Zach Goodier

Well,  let's see.... the name's Zach, go ahead and wear it out if you want.  I'm here because, well I'm a nerd.  I like anime, video games, movies, the whole lot.  I'm not the founder of Scully Nerd Reviews, but I am running the site at the moment.   I have a decent collection of anime, movies, and games.  I was practically raised by Toonami, and that's what I rushed my chores in order to sit down and watch it growing up.  I collect anime, games, and movies, I also have a few books laying around too.  I just love good stories with compelling characters, so all of these genres fill that gap quite well for me.  Some of my favorite anime shows include: Bleach, Cowboy Bebop, Darker than Black, Ghost in the Shell, Ao no Exorcist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, and Code Geass. Games include titles such as: DMC 3: Dante's Awakening, Knights of the Old Republic (I AND II), The Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy (with some I like more than others), and many more.

Just in Case any of you had a problem with my taste in entertainment.

I'm here because Scully asked me to help him with the site.  At first, it was simply writing a couple reviews every now and again about the shows I was watching.  As I'm sure all of you can attest to; we only have so many hours in our day, and keeping up with all of our responsibilities and keeping the site going everyday can be a challenge without a little help.  But that isn't to say I don't enjoy working on this site.  I get to share the things I love with the people that appreciate it, hopefully.  We started this site hoping to spread a little love for anime primarily, or at least I did.  However, we've started branching out, hoping to appeal to a broader audience.  Due to extenuating circumstances, Scully will be stepping down from the site very soon, but he has left you all in my semi-competent hands ("semi-competent" is a generous assessment, but please bear with me).

Anime has had such an impact on me, but it's difficult to describe it.  Still, I'll give it a go.  Anime is such a brilliant medium, especially for those younger audiences.  If you find the right show, it can hit you in ways you can't entirely understand.  Growing up, I used to stay up all night just to watch DBZ and Gundam Wing: Endless Waltz on Toonami.  Why? because of the action and the energy? Well... duh.  However, it also appealed to that deeper part of me.  Scenes like Gohan and his transformation during his fight with Cell in DBZ really had those deeper emotional and philosophical elements to it.  Learning that sometimes you have to just let go of what holds you down in order to move forward, even if it's somewhere you don't want to go; these themes drove that scene home.  Tom from Toonami had motivational videos about how learning to accept and control your inner darkness could make you stronger, but losing control made you weak.  These types of themes are what make anime so compelling for me.  In a world that tells you to bend over backwards to accommodate others, these themes helped reinforce that you should accept who you really are and stand up for yourself.

OK, so maybe it's not so profound now; but I was 12 when I first saw this, and ya gotta start somewhere, right?

Scenes like this still get me every time.

I don't believe I'm understating this when I say that Toonami, in many ways, showed me how to live.  In a society that embraces reality television shows about pregnant teenagers and uneducated people from New Jersey, this meant a lot to me.  I realized that good storytelling, with well imagined characters and strong themes, could be a great benefit for anyone.  People say you can only get that from books, but I disagree.  Any story can help us grow, and this is where these genres of entertainment fill an important gap.  A picture can be worth a thousand words, and I don't mind reading a thousand words, but a picture sure does save a lot of time, doesn't it? 

"Believe in yourself, and create your own destiny. Don't fear failure."

I hope to continue to find an interest in these genres and help them grow, and I hope that all of you that read this will continue to support our site.  With the recent return of Toonami, I hope we can all get behind it and support anime in general.  Video games are standing fairly well on their own, but let's all give them their well-earned love, too.  I hope that an appreciation for deeper themes within the narratives of these stories helps keep these elements of the genres alive.   Let's all work together to keep these stories, and all of their wisdom, alive so that they can continue to help us grow and learn, even it's only learning how to be ourselves.

"Stay Gold."

-Zach Goodier

P.S.- Questions? Comments? Stuff you want to see on the site? Just think I'm an awesome guy?  Give a shout out to the new personal email I'm setting up just for you guys:  Z.Goodier01@gmail.com

Cowboy Bebop Opening

Classic opening to a classic anime.  "Tank" has a prominent Jazz influence behind it that does a great job of getting your toes tapping.  The music is accompanied by some video that mainly serves as teaser for the rest of the show.  One issue that could be noted is that the opening does very little to hint at the actual content in the series.

Anime: Cowboy Bebop

Song: "Tank"

Artist: Yoko Kanno

Scully Rating: 9.5 out of 10

Cowboy Bebop: The Movie

The adventure is continued for the crew of the Bebop in this feature-length installment that takes place during the main story and sets the crew on a new mission.  After chasing down a bounty on a young hacker, the plot takes a twist when there's an explosion on a major highway.  A new bounty comes up for the culprit to stop him and his plot to release more of an unknown nano-weapon on Mars during the Halloween celebration.  This results in a race to stop him between Spike's group and the pharmaceutical company responsible for creating the illegal weapon being used.  The chase heats up as Halloween draws near and the story unfolds surrounding the mysterious Vincent and the past that he has apparently lost.  As the story unfolds you'll enjoy more of the same humor, action, and depth that defined the series.

This movie was probably one of the most well-executed feature-length anime features I have ever seen done.  Instead of feeling like an afterthought or some way to continue to cash in on the franchise, it actually added to the story and although many of the characters you see outside of the crew don't come from the series, they feel visceral enough and carry enough weight and depth to where they don't feel like they were just tossed in to start a new story.  Vincent comes off as your typical "silent but deadly" type of guy, but throughout the story he'll talk about how "Halloween is the only night a soul stuck in purgatory can get into heaven," and the like.  These all offer brief peeks at what exactly is compelling this man to do the things he's doing without completely lifting the veil and removing the element of mystery that draws you to keep a close eye on him.  Like the series, the greatest moments of the movie don't fully show themselves until it comes up on the climax, resulting in fast-paced, EXTREMELY well animated action, and more of those scenes that'll leave you pondering the true depth of what was being said.  Another strong point for the movie was the music. The original series had phenomenal music, and the movie is just as good.  The upbeat, heart-pounding music for the chases and action scenes; along with slower, more thought-provoking songs for when the scene calls for it.

All-in-all, "Cowboy Bebop: the movie" serves as a fitting feature film to complement one of the greatest anime series of all time.  With more of what you love, the series shouldn't disappoint anyone who enjoyed the original series, and if you didn't watch the original series, and are looking for a more condensed peek at what "Cowboy Bebop" is all about, then this should serve as a good way to find out what you're missing.

The Good:

-More laughs, more heart-pumping action, and more charm.

-Same depth of character and story that made the original series great

-A fitting addition to the franchise with great new characters that felt like they had a place in the story

The Bad:

-Well if you didn't like the original series, I suppose you won't appreciate the movie.  If that's the case I'd have to say that you're no fun at all.  See? look what you made me say.  I don't enjoy saying mean things but when you don't like the things I like it makes me feel bad.  It's ok, viewer, let's just agree to disagree.... and that you have no taste.

Scully Rating: 10 out of 10 

Watch "Cowboy Bebop: The Movie" at: http://www.justdubs.net/article/Episodes/1460

 

Cowboy Bebop

"Cowboy Bebop" is a 26 episode anime that follows the adventures of a group of bounty hunters (or "cowboys" as they are commonly called) as they travel aboard the spaceship "Bebop."  The main characters in the show are Spike (who used to work for a crime syndicate), Jet (a former cop), Faye (a woman from the past who lost her memory and is swimming in debt), Ed (A whiz hacker), and their pet dog Ein.  While it takes a few episodes to get the characters all together, they all have stories to bring forward and contributions to make throughout the series.  The central conflict is introduced early in the series but isn't a continuous plotline is the conflict between Spike and a former partner in the crime syndicate named Vicious; and caught between the two is Spike's love interest, Julia.   However, all the characters will have episodes devoted to resolving personal conflicts that they have to deal with.

To start with, this is a very difficult show to rate, just because it's so good, but as a matter of principle, I try to avoid just handing out a perfect score... However, if there were an anime that deserved to have such a score, "Cowboy Bebop" would arguably be that show.  Very rarely does a show deliver that combination of action, humor, depth, and the characters to pull all these elements together, but that's exactly what you get with this show.  Characters are funny when they're relaxed between jobs, tough when there's a fight to be had, and like cowboys out of old westerns they have wisdom that can only come from living a life always on the move, trying to find the next job to pay for the next meal.  Normally I'd bash a show for seeming so disjointed by only doing an episode or two related to the main plot at a time, but "Bebop" made it work amazingly well.  Every episode almost feels like a fable, with a lesson or two you can take away from it.  These episodes would normally be labeled as "filler" but the term simply doesn't apply here: Each of these episodes were completely intentional and serve to show the personality and depth of the characters, as well as to help explore the world they live in with thought-provoking stories.  The part that will hit hardest is during the last 3 episodes: Characters leave, return, and Spike will have to find a way to deal with the past that he can't seem to leave behind him.  The climax of the series will have you on the edge of your seat and wishing the journey could have kept going onward, but you will still appreciate everything "Cowboy Bebop" has to offer. 

All in all, I honestly can't find fault with this show.  It excites you with intense, visceral action sequences.  It humors you with witty, intelligent comedy. But more than anything, it touches you with a deep, powerful story that by the end of the series will have you saying, "See you space cowboy..." And the show goes out with a unique "Bang" that only "Cowboy Bebop" can provide you. "Cowboy Bebop" is a must for any fan of an amazing story with strong, real characters and action that you will enjoy watching over and over.

Good:

- Rich, deep, original story with great characters that you feel you can grow alongside as they move forward

- A lot of thought-provoking dialogue/scenes that touch you……in a good way

- Solid, realistic action that while exciting, doesn't lead to thinking the main characters are bulletproof in the least, making the action even more visceral and gripping

Bad:

- That you're still reading this review instead of watching the show like I've been basically telling you.... GO. WATCH. NOW.

Scully Rating: 10 out of 10

Watch "Cowboy Bebop" at: http://www.justdubs.net/list/series/52/Cowboy%20Bebop