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PLEASE NOTE: Michael D's is currently in READ ONLY MODE. Anything submitted will simply not be written to the database.
Lots of stuff is still broken, but at least reviews can now be looked up and read.
Cowboy Bebop: Remastered Sessions-Collection 2 (Blu-ray) (1998)

Cowboy Bebop: Remastered Sessions-Collection 2 (Blu-ray) (1998)

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Released 19-Feb-2014

Cover Art

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Details At A Glance

General Extras
Category Anime Audio Commentary-x 2
Featurette-Ein's Summer Holiday
Booklet-40 page booklet of vehicle design drawings
Rating Rated MA
Year Of Production 1998
Running Time 319:25 (Case: 325)
RSDL / Flipper Dual Layered
Dual Disc Set
Cast & Crew
Start Up Menu
Region Coding 4 Directed By Shinichirô Watanabe
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
Widescreen Aspect Ratio None
16x9 Enhancement
16x9 Enhanced
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 No

NOTE: The Profanity Filter is ON. Turn it off here.

Plot Synopsis

     Cowboy Bebop: Remastered Sessions Collection 2 continues the adventures of a group of “space cowboys” (bounty hunters) as they travel around the universe in their run down ship, the Bebop, seeking bounties and a good feed. We meet again the rash and impetuous Spike (voiced by Koichi Yamadera, Steve Blum), the ex-special forces cop with cybernetic parts Jet (Unsho Ishizuka, Beau Billingslea), intelligent corgi Ein, the voluptuous and calculating Faye (Megumi Hayashibara, Wendee Lee) and female 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 and I think that the series loses some momentum when Spike takes a back seat and the series is less about bounties and more about ecological issues or societal values. We also learn more about the backgrounds of Faye and Jet, and even Ed and Ein get to star in an episode. But there are still strong, dark episodes such as Black Dog Serenade and the closing episodes are simply fabulous with Hard Luck Woman about memory, loss and belonging and the stupendous final double episode, (The Real Blues Pt I & Pt II) which resolves the questions about the dark past of Spike, his doppelgänger Vicious and the blonde female who Spike loved.

     Each episode is also driven by the colourful graphics, the wonderful score and the wry humour that permeates the entire series. Cowboy Bebop’s visuals are beautifully rendered 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. Some of the detail of ships in space and asteroids almost looks 3D with the depth of detail, while the colours of the landscapes on the ground often look like a watercolour painting. It is also impossible to think of the series without the music of Yoko Kanno which throws together jazz, blues, pop and most other things as well, including a catchy closing song, to create a wonderful musical environment.

     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 2 contains the final thirteen episodes on two discs; episodes 14-20 are on Disc 1, episodes 21-26 are on Disc 2.

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Transfer Quality

Video

     Cowboy Bebop is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1, the original release ratio, in 1080i.

     The print looks fabulous. Detail is exceptional, almost 3D in its depth of field while the lines are firm, the colours deep and rich. Backgrounds are gorgeous, often looking like a watercolour painting with its hand coloured frames. Blacks and shadow detail are great.

     There are occasional imperfections, such as the odd shimmer, but these are infrequent. Otherwise I did not notice any marks, dirt or similar artefacts.

     It is anime so lip synchronisation is very approximate in either audio track.

     The English subtitles are in US English in a clear white font. They did not contain any spelling or grammatical errors in the sections I saw.

     The HD visuals are excellent.

Video Ratings Summary
Sharpness
Shadow Detail
Colour
Grain/Pixelization
Film-To-Video Artefacts
Film Artefacts
Overall

Audio

     Audio is a choice of Japanese or English DTS-HD 5.1. Both share similar characteristics although the English dub is recorded at a louder level by about 3 stops. The audio (and subtitles) cannot be changed on the go with the remote – you need to go back to the pop up menu.

     I prefer to listen to non-English films in the language in which they were made although the English dub of Cowboy Bebop is quite good. Both the Japanese and English dialogue is clear and centred. The sound stage is used for spacecraft engines, music, gunshots and weather effects 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, explosions and the music.

     As noted in the review, the original music 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. It is an essential part of the series and is well integrated into the mix.

    The audio is very good.

Audio Ratings Summary
Dialogue
Audio Sync
Clicks/Pops/Dropouts
Surround Channel Use
Subwoofer
Overall

Extras

Booklet: The Vehicles of Cowboy Bebop

     A 40 page booklet of design drawings and sketches of the vehicles in Cowboy Bebop.

Cowboy Bebop Postcards

     Four postcards.

Disc 1

Episode 17 Audio Commentary

     Director Shinchiro Watanabe and composer Yoko Kanno join Dai Sato, who worked on the set and the script. They laugh, giggle, talk over each other and say very little about the episode, except to name a few influences such as the film Shaft and actress Pam Grier. Sadly there is nothing about the fabulous music either. Half way through someone says “hopefully our talk in the second half will have more substance”: sadly it doesn’t. A major disappointment from two of the major creative influences on this series. In Japanese with white English subtitles.

Disc 2

Episode 24 Commentary

     This time Dai Sato is joined by Megumi Hayashibara (the voice of Faye) and Aoi Tada (Ed). This is a slightly better commentary in that they laugh less and do talk about the episode, their characters and working on the series, but it is still information light. In Japanese with white English subtitles.

Censorship

    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.

R4 vs R1

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 2 is identical to the Region B UK version which is there called Cowboy Bebop: Collector’s Edition Part 2. There does not seem to be an equivalent Region A US release at present, although a Region A Japanese complete set is available which is not, however, English friendly.

Summary

     Cowboy Bebop is an anime classic. It has beautiful visuals, engaging characters, quirky humour and marvellous music. Cowboy Bebop: Remastered Sessions Collection 2 presents the final 13 episodes of this iconic anime on Blu-ray.

     The various extras that were on previous DVD releases of Cowboy Bebop: Complete Collection including a number of interviews are not on this Blu-ray set. 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 of the anime 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.

Ratings (out of 5)

Video
Audio
Extras
Plot
Overall

© Ray Nyland (the bio is the thing)
Monday, April 07, 2014
Review Equipment
DVDSony BDP-S580, using HDMI output
DisplayLG 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 DecoderNAD T737. This audio decoder/receiver has not been calibrated.
AmplificationNAD T737
SpeakersStudio Acoustics 5.1

Other Reviews NONE