Millennial Fair – Cowboy Bebop Information Page

Funny Facts of Cowboy Bebop (taken from the European DVD special):

The name of the series, and of the spaceship “Bebop”, has a very special meaning. Bebop was the first style of modern jazz, and the word originates from the sound of this music’s characteristic double tone.
Bebop was born in the second half of the ’40ies, and, in its early days, sounded vulgar and obscene to many.
It is characterized by improvisation (during jam sessions), fast melodies and numerous chorus. Sometimes it is referred to only as Bop.
The use of the word “Cowboy” to designate bounty hunters of the future was first introduced by William Gibson, in his cultbook “Neuromancer” (1984), in which Case and other Cowboys used to virually travel around a cyber–punk world.
The producers of Cowboy Bebop wrote down a list of movies which they felt had influenced the series. Among these, we could find:
“Enter the Dragon” [Bruce Lee – 1973]
“Desperado” [Robert Rodriguez – 1995]
“A Better Tomorrow” [John Woo – 1986]
“The Crow” [Bradon Lee – 1994]
The influence is sometimes obvious, as in the first episode, where the asteroid “Tijuana” clearly shows influence from “Desperado”, or as in episode 5, where the fall through the church’s painted vitrals is clearly inspired by “The Crow”.
Yoko Kanno and her staff also released a list of works which provided them with ispiration.
Among these, the most remarkable are
“Kind of Blue” [Miles Davis – 1959]
“Let it bleed” [Rolling Stones]
“Abbey Road” [The Beatles]
and the original sound of “Chinatown” directed by Roman Polanski.
In the third episode of the series, there is a reference to Poker Alice. Poker Alice did truly exist. Her name was Alice Moffit, and she was a very popular card player in the Black Hills of South Dakota, in the last days of the 19th century.
Her life inspired a TV movie in 1987, “Poker Alice” starring Elizabeth Taylor. Strangely, in this movie, the legendary player ends up falling in love with a bounty hunter...

Voice Actors:
Japanese Version:

Spike Spiegel: Kouichi Yamadera
Jet Black: Unshou Ishizuka
Faye Valentine: Megumi Hayashibara
Ed: Aoi Tada
Vicious: Norio Wakamoto
Julia: Takashima Gara
Doohan: Takeshi Aono
Domino: Tessho Genda
VHS Maniac: Shigeru Chiba
Stella: Maaya Sakamoto
Arisa: Mika Doi
Bull: Takehiro Koyama
Asimov Solensan: Taro Nishi
Katerina: Yurika Hino
Abdul Hakin: Ryuzaburo Otomo
Twinkle Maria Murdock: Mari Arita
Whitney Hagas Matsumoto: Akio Otsuka

English Version:

Spike Spiegel: David Lucas
Jet Black: John Billingslea
Fay Valentine: Wendee Lee
Ed: Melissa Charles
Vicious: George C. Cole
Julia: Melissa Williamson
TV Cowgirl: Lia Sargent
Young Faye Valentine: Sherry Lynn

Main Staff:

Director: Shinichiro Watanabe
Screenplay: Keiko Nobumoro
Story:
Keiko Nobumoto [Eps 1 & 3]
Michiko Yokote [Eps 2 & 5]
Ryota Yamaguchi [Eps 3]
Sadayuki Murai [Eps 4]
Character Design Toshihiro Kawamoto
Music: Yoko Kanno [& the Seatbelts]
Art Director: Junichi Higashi
Mechanical DesignL Kimitoshi Yamane
Backgrounds Director: Isamu Imakake
Coloring: Shihoko Nakayama
Photography: Yoichu Ogami
Sound Director: Katsuyoshi Kobayashi
Producers:
Masashiko Minami
Kazuhiko Ikeguchi

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