Cowboy Bebop: Remastered Sessions-Collection 1 (Blu-ray) (1998) |
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Cowboy Bebop: Remastered Sessions-Collection 1 (Blu-ray) (1998) |
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| BUY IT |
| General | Extras | ||
| Category | Anime |
Audio Commentary-x 3 Trailer-Japanese trailers for the Box Set x 4 TV Spots-Japanese TV Spots x 7 Music Video-x 2 Booklet-40 page booklet of character drawings More…-Clean credit sequence |
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| Rating |
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| Year Of Production | 1998 | ||
| Running Time | 317:21 (Case: 325) | ||
| RSDL / Flipper |
Dual Layered Dual Disc Set |
Cast & Crew | |
| Start Up | Menu | ||
| Region Coding | 4 | Directed By | Shinichirô Watanabe |
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Studio
Distributor |
 Madman Entertainment |
Starring |
Kôichi Yamadera Unshô Ishizuka Megumi Hayashibara Aoi Tada Gara Takashima Norio Wakamoto Miki Nagasawa Tsutomu Tareki Takehiro Koyama Hitoshi Hirao Akihiko Nakajima Hiroshi Naka |
| Case | ? | ||
| RPI | ? | Music | Yôko Kanno |
| Video | Audio | ||
| Pan & Scan/Full Frame | Full Frame |
Japanese DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 English DTS HD Master Audio 5.1 |
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| Widescreen Aspect Ratio | None | ||
| 16x9 Enhancement |
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| Video Format | 1080i | ||
| Original Aspect Ratio | 1.33:1 | Miscellaneous | |
| Jacket Pictures | No | ||
| Subtitles | English | Smoking | Yes, constantly |
| Annoying Product Placement | No | ||
| Action In or After Credits | Yes | ||
Cowboy Bebop follows the adventures of a group of “space cowboys” – bounty hunters. Spike (voiced by Koichi Yamadera, Steve Blum) and Jet (Unsho Ishizuka, Beau Billingslea) travel around space in their run down ship, the Bebop, seeking bounties and a good feed. Spike is rash and impetuous, with a dark past and disappointment in love, Jet the ex-special forces cop with cybernetic parts. Along the way they acquire other crew members including the intelligent corgi Ein, the voluptuous and calculating Faye (Megumi Hayashibara, Wendee Lee) and computer super hacker Ed (Aoi Tada, Melissa Fahn).
Cowboy Bebop deserves every bit of its cult status. In this set of episodes (“sessions” in the terminology of the series), there is not really a story arc and most are stand-alone episodes. This means that some are stronger than others although all are exciting and entertaining, driven by the colourful graphics, the wonderful score and the wry humour that permeates the entire series. Influences on various sessions are very diverse and include The Matrix, Alien and 2001: A Space Odyssey as well as a huge range of popular music and the fabulous score by Yoko Kanno throws together jazz, blues, pop and most other things as well, including a catchy closing song, to create a wonderful musical environment. The titles for the “sessions” are drawn from songs, such as Honky Tonk Women, Sympathy for the Devil or Bohemian Rhapsody and it is impossible to think of the series without this music.
The first few sessions introduce the characters and their world without too much background detail although the credit sequence hints at trouble and a woman in Spike’s past. Some episodes such as Session 4 (Gateway Shuffle) about a terrorist group are less interesting, but the best episodes, such as the fabulous Session 5 (Ballard of Fallen Angels) is less about the bounty and more about the dark past of Spike, introducing his doppelgänger Vicious and hints of a blonde female. The final double episode, Session 12 / 13 (Jupiter Jazz I & II) is a wonderful powerful and multilayered end to this set of episodes, however all fans will have their favourites.
Cowboy Bebop’s visuals are stunning, rendered beautifully on Blu-ray. The colours are deep and rich, with the contrasts between the various blue, red or yellow planets and the black of space wonderful, while the colours of the landscapes on the ground often look like a watercolour painting.
I prefer to listen to non-English films in the language in which they were made as often voice dubbing is atrocious! Anime is a slightly different case and in Cowboy Bebop I listened to the Japanese and English audio basically turnabout as the English was also excellent.
Cowboy Bebop ran for 26 episodes in Japan between April 1998 and June 1999 – with an extra episode in June 1998 that summed up the first 13 episodes. This Blu-ray Cowboy Bebop: Remastered Sessions Collection 1 contains the first thirteen episodes on two discs; episodes 1-7 plus extras are on Disc 1, episodes 8-13 are on Disc 2.
Cowboy Bebop is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, the original release ratio, in 1080i.
The print looks fabulous. The lines are firm, the colours rich, with the contrasts between the various blue, red or yellow planets and the black of space wonderful. Backgrounds are gorgeous, often looking like a watercolour painting with its hand coloured frames. Blacks and shadow detail are great.
There is occasional imperfections, such as the back of the card shimmering (episode 3 at 5:47), but these are infrequent. Otherwise I did not notice any marks, dirt or similar artefacts or issues.
It is anime so lip synchronisation is approximate in either audio track.
The English subtitles are in a white font. They did not contain any spelling or grammatical errors in the sections I saw.
The HD visuals are excellent.
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Audio is a choice of Japanese or English Dolby True HD 5.1. Both share similar characteristics although the English dub is recorded at a slightly louder level.
Both the Japanese and English dialogue is clear and centred although sometimes the English is a bit hard to hear, but there are the subtitles. The sound stage is used for spacecraft engines, music and gunshots and there are directional effects such as spacecraft passing through shot and voices off camera. The sub-woofer added good depth, especially to the rumble of spacecraft engines and the music.
The original music by Yoko Kanno, as noted in the review, throws together jazz, blues, pop and most other things as well, including a catchy closing song, to create a wonderful musical environment. It is an essential part of the series and is well integrated into the mix.
The audio is very good.
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| Audio Sync | |
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A 40 page booklet of character drawings and sketches.
Four Japanese commercials for the box sets.
Seven short Japanese TV spots for various of the DVDs of the series.
Sort of an extended commercial featuring the series’ opening music.
A rather stylist remix of the opening music.
Closing credit sequence song without the text credits.
Episode 1 – The Japanese voices of Spike and Jet: Koichi Yamadera and Unshou Ishizuka: Moderated by Dai Sato, Koichi Yamadera and Unshou Ishizuka basically babble on about very little, laugh and share insider jokes. There is a bit about character, but little else to help our understanding of the series.
Episode 5 – Wendee Lee and ADR producer, Yutaka Maseba: Producer of the English language version and the voice of Faye provide a decent, if general commentary. They discuss the difference between Japanese and American animation styles, bringing Japanese anime to a western audience and voicing Faye.
Episode 10 – Wendee Lee and ADR producer, Yutaka Maseba: The producer and the voice of Faye take a while to get going but they do provide some insights into the casting and dubbing of the series. Reasonable.
There is censorship information available for this title. Click here to read it (a new window will open). WARNING: Often these entries contain MAJOR plot spoilers.
NOTE: To view non-R4 releases, your equipment needs to be multi-zone compatible and usually also NTSC compatible.
Our release of Cowboy Bebop: Remastered Sessions Collection 1 is identical to the Region B UK version. There does not seem to be an equivalent Region A US release at present, although a Region A Japanese complete set is available from YesAsia.com. However, this may not be English friendly.
Cowboy Bebop: Remastered Sessions Collection 1 has beautiful visuals, engaging characters, quirky humour and marvellous music. Cowboy Bebop: Remastered Sessions Collection 1 presents the first 13 episodes of this iconic anime on Blu-ray.
Except for Japanese trailers, there is nothing much new by way of electronic extras that were not on the previously released DVD, Cowboy Bebop: Complete Collection, and in fact some, such as the Wendee Lee interview and galleries, are not on this Blu-ray set. Maybe in Collection 2? As well, the Blu-ray only has the Japanese opening and closing credit sequence and does not offer the English titles that were available on the DVD set.
That said, the visuals and audio of the Blu-ray are a clear advance on the DVD and fans will not be disappointed. If you are an anime fan and have not, for some reason, become acquainted with the fantastic series that is Cowboy Bebop this is your chance. Bring on Collection 2!
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| Extras | |
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| Review Equipment | |
| DVD | Sony BDP-S580, using HDMI output |
| Display | LG 55inch HD LCD. This display device has not been calibrated. This display device is 16x9 capable. This display device has a maximum native resolution of 1080p. |
| Audio Decoder | NAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated. |
| Amplification | NAD T737 |
| Speakers | Studio Acoustics 5.1 |