• Photo Courtesy Of Sunrise
• 3. 2. 1. LET'S JAM! Set in the year 2071, Cowboy Bebop (1998) follows a crew of bounty hunters aboard a spaceship, led by Spike Spiegel, a former hitman exiled from a mysterious crime syndicate.

What's it rated? TV-MA

When? 1998

Where's it showing? Netflix

If you were ever planning on giving Netflix's new live-action iteration of Cowboy Bebop a whirl, why not rewatch or, if it's your first time, dip your toes into the original anime beforehand? Conveniently, both shows are currently available through the streaming service, which reportedly canceled the live-action series only a month after its first season's release, due to disappointing reviews.

I cannot vouch for nor denounce the ill-fated series, as I haven't finished it myself yet. But its release got me in the mood to jump back into the atmospheric world of its source material, the neo-noir anime I loved watching as a teenager on Cartoon Network's Toonami (almost as near to my heart as the less heavy, far cheesier, but beautifully operatic classic that is Dragon Ball Z).

Set in the year 2071, Cowboy Bebop follows a crew of bounty hunters aboard a spaceship led by Spike Spiegel, a former hitman exiled from a mysterious crime syndicate. We slowly learn more and more about Spike's somber past as the show progresses between the crew's various escapades, which range from apprehending a fugitive inside of a space casino to ingesting hallucinogenic mushrooms while stranded on one of Jupiter's moons.

Don't feel the need to reciprocate the latter, though, Cowboy Bebop's visual prowess and catchy soundtrack will leave you high on life. (one season, 26 episodes, 25-min. each). Δ