Cowboy Bebop - "Ballad of Fallen Angels" Analysis

The fifth episode of Cowboy Bebop opens with the heads of two syndicates signing a non-aggression pact. However, things take a turn for the worse when a lower member of the Red Dragon syndicate kills both heads in order to take control.

Mao Yenrai's death is hidden and a $28 Million bounty announced, presumably to lure out other major players in the syndicate, or its defectors. This includes Spike Spiegel, a former Red Dragon affiliate. The Bebop crew gets in an argument over whether or not to take the case; Faye and Spike go off to use their own methods of investigation. Faye winds up at an opera house where Red Dragon affiliates kidnap her and hold her for ransom. Spike meets up with an old friend (Annie) to stockpile ammunition.

We learn that the man who orchestrated the death of the two syndicate heads is named Vicious, that Spike used to be his partner, and that the two absolutely hate each other now. Spike heads to the abandoned church where Faye is being held. A massive gunfight breaks out, Faye escapes, and Spike is shot. Undeterred, Spike keeps going, tackling Vicious one on one. The duel ends with both being severely injured, the church being destroyed by a grenade, and Spike being returned to the Bebop to recover. We know not where Vicious escapes to.

Cowboy Bebop - "Gateway Shuffle" - Technology/Genetics Double Feature

In the fourth episode of Cowboy Bebop, Spike and Jet are at a famous space restaurant tailing a bounty when a group of eco-terrorists known as the "Space Warriors" arrives and guns down the target. Meanwhile, Faye Valentine finds a mysterious briefcase which contains a powerful genetic weapon.

This episode has a multitude of elements which can be applied to reality, from the nature of eco-terrorist groups, to the fight against consumerism, to media and law enforcement blackouts, to the need for missile defense systems. There are two elements specifically which I would like to hit on in this article.

Cowboy Bebop - "Honky Tonk Women" - On Gaming Society

In the third episode of Cowboy Bebop, we are introduced to the mysterious Faye Valentine, a woman who has a rotten addiction with gambling. As such, she spends much of her time trying to win back the money she loses, often to no avail. In this particular episode, she is tasked with transferring a microchip containing a powerful decryption program to a third party. The catch is that this microchip is disguised as a poker chip in order to throw off suspicion. In the event she completes this task, her debts will be repaid.


Gambling in general gets a terrible reputation, but honestly I fail to understand why that is. Every gambler worth their salt understands that the game is rigged in favor of the owners of the casino. In short, the House always wins. Therefore, it would make more sense that professional gamblers go into the press-your-luck arena expecting, ninety-nine times out of one hundred, to lose.

The real truth behind the popularity of gambling is that there's a sort of sportiness to it. You save up a small stash of money, take off for a hot week in the resorts, and ultimately spend only a portion of it on the actual games. The rest of your money goes to fine dining, entertainment, and of course more often than not, alcohol and cigarettes.

Perhaps what's more alarming is when you're spending large volumes of money on a virtual prize. According to the American Gambling Association, 2007 gambling revenues cashed out at $92 Billion. On the other hand, Forbes Magazine is reporting that 2013 revenue in the videogaming industry is topping out at $93 Billion, which is roughly the same amount.

It's a tad bit strange that citizens are willing to spend more on a game which offers no financial incentive or return on investment, rather than one which does (even if that return is based entirely on luck). And by that logic, it can be argued that if casino gaming is to be considered life-ruining addiction, then perhaps videogames need to be held to the same criticism.

Or perhaps we should think about this more closely and realize that neither activity is damaging when experienced in moderation. Now that we've settled that, I think it's high time to ante up.

Cowboy Bebop - "Stray Dog Strut" - On Terraforming

The second episode of Cowboy Bebop takes place in the main setting of the series: Mars. The story behind the Bebop-verse is as follows: in the advent of hyperspace travel, a massive explosion sends mechanical debris from the Hyperspace Gates on a collision course with Earth. This causes the civilizations of Earth to be all but completely destroyed.

At the same time, life on Mars sees an economic boom following its terraformation. Over time, elements of the former Earth society become completely entrenched in the new colonies of Mars, and the status quo returns to humanity. Other planets and satellites - such as Venus, Titan and Ganymede - also become colonized, though quality of life and human development in those colonies remain very third-world. (If you would like to learn more about these colonies, refer to the Cowboy Bebop Wiki under the Series Information Index).

Many of you readers are likely familiar with the real-world Curiosity rover's investigation of Mars, though fewer of you might know about the Mars One mission to send humans to Mars by 2023. Right now, that mission faces some rather extreme challenges. For one thing, Mars lacks a magnetosphere, which means there is no shielding from ionizing radiation. Colonists who live on the Red Planet may be subjected to enough radiation to shorten their life span by nearly sixty-six percent, unless something is done to simulate that biospheric layer.

In the Bebop-verse, there was also no viable option for simulating the magnetosphere, at least not on the scale of an entire planet. To fight this, individual craters were terraformed, with a flat layer coating the top like a thin-film. This layer contained all necessary elements to sustain a biosphere.

Cowboy Bebop - "Asteroid Blues" - On Stimulants

Cowboy Bebop is a series which takes place in the year 2071. A pair of bounty hunters travel through space trying to capture criminals for profit. Along the way they meet new friends and overcome many obstacles.

In the first episode, Spike Spiegel and Jet Black head to the Tijuana asteroid colony in order to hunt down a man peddling a powerful stimulant known as Bloody-Eye. This stimulant heightens the senses and reflexes of anyone who injects it into themselves. However, it is heavily taxing to the body, with the possibility of seizures and delusions. Criminal organizations pay top dollar for it, as it takes over two months to make a single dose.

Stimulants in general, even legally regulated ones, often go for a premium in the real world as well. For example, amphetamine salts, commonly referred to by the name Adderall, remain highly misused among college students during cram sessions. And cigarettes have been elevated to something of a currency within prison systems, as inmates trade goods and services for them.

Perhaps the most common stimulant of all, the lowly caffeine, is the most overused. Coffee, soft drinks, even concentrated dispersal tablets, are all used to keep people awake far longer than their bodies can handle. And yet people continue to purchase it in record amounts to satisfy their growing addictions.