All 26 Cowboy Bebop Episodes, Ranked (original) (raw)

Cowboy Bebop - Poster - 1998-1999.

Image via Sunrise

Published Mar 18, 2024, 12:30 PM EDT

Jeremy has more than 2500 published articles on Collider to his name, and has been writing for the site since February 2022. He's an omnivore when it comes to his movie-watching diet, so will gladly watch and write about almost anything, from old Godzilla films to gangster flicks to samurai movies to classic musicals to the French New Wave to the MCU... well, maybe not the Disney+ shows.
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Even if the legendary late-1990s anime series Cowboy Bebop didn't have the lofty reputation it does, viewers tuning in for the first time might still expect something amazing and/or unique. After all, there's some (admittedly blink and you'll miss it) text in the show's iconic opening sequence that reads: "The work, which becomes a genre itself, will be called... Cowboy Bebop." And Cowboy Bebop does pretty much feel like its own genre, given how most individual episodes (or "sessions," according to the show) have distinct tones/styles/influences, with all sorts of genres homaged - and sometimes parodied - all the while the series tells something of an overarching storyline that begins and ends in a dramatic fashion.

There's complex world-building and an overall narrative to Cowboy Bebop, but many of the episodes are standalone in nature, usually revolving around the unsuccessful exploits of several bounty hunters who reside on the Bebop spaceship. It's an action/sci-fi/neo-noir/Western/comedy/drama anime series set in 2071 with a likable yet complex main cast (there's even more than meets the eye to Ein, the team dog), and plenty of one-off side characters who help make the episodes they appear in stand out. All 26 episodes of the show - most of them great, but some greater than others - are ranked below, with the 2001 movie included for good measure (as it takes place between episodes 22 and 23), and the two two-parter episodes counted as one each, given how hard the halves are to separate in both instances.

The futuristic misadventures and tragedies of an easygoing bounty hunter and his partners.

Cast

Koichi Yamadera, Unsho Ishizuka, Megumi Hayashibara, Aoi Tada, Isshin Chiba, Hiroshi Naka, Tsutomu Tareki, Miki Nagasawa, Takeshi Aono, Norio Wakamoto, Gara Takashima, Rintaro Nishi, Yurika Hino, Takehiro Koyama, Katsumi Cho, Mari Maruta, Ryuuzaburou Ootomo, Yuzuru Fujimoto, Ako Mayama, Keiji Fujiwara, Shinji Ogawa, Mari Arita, Jin Hirao, Toshihiko Nakajima, Chafurin, Naoki Makishima, Yutaka Nakano, Aruno Tahara, Masaki Aizawa

Seasons

1

25 "Wild Horses"

Episode 19 (1999)

Image via Sunrise

Cowboy Bebop - Wild Horses - 1999

The placement of “Wild Horses” does it little to no favors, given that as the 19th episode, it’s sandwiched between two of Cowboy Bebop’s very best episodes (obviously, more on episodes 18 and 20 later). Still, its worst sin when judged on its own is probably the fact it’s less memorable than your standard (very high-quality) episode of Cowboy Bebop, and it’s therefore, at worst, still pretty good.

Protagonist Spike Spiegel is off on his own for much of the episode, dealing with running out of gas on Earth, while in the meantime, fellow Bebop passengers/bounty hunters Jet and Faye go after a group of space pirates, later getting Spike’s help when he reunites with them. It’s also notable for being one of four episodes of the show that were temporarily banned on U.S. television for containing potentially sensitive content in the wake of some early 2000s events.

24 "Gateway Shuffle"

Episode 4 (1998)

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“Gateway Shuffle” is the first episode that doesn’t serve as an introduction to a main character, given viewers meet Spike Spiegel and Jet Black in the first episode, the unusually smart corgi known as Ein joins the show in the second episode, and Faye Valentine first makes an appearance in the third. It also comes one episode before a pivotal episode that introduces the main villain of the show: a fearsome criminal who has a history with Spike and literally goes by the name “Vicious.”

But “Gateway Shuffle” isn’t quite as exciting as all that. It’s one of the lesser standalone episodes of the show with its main plot revolving around the main characters running into some eco-terrorists who can turn people into apes with a biological weapon, which is perhaps a little much, even for a show like Cowboy Bebop. At least it marks the episode where Faye officially decides to stick around on the Bebop, gradually becoming one of the show’s most interesting characters once more of her past starts getting revealed.

Episode 7 (1998)

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While the Bebop crew tend to work alone and are indeed often defined by the difficulties they have fitting in with others, “Heavy Metal Queen” sees them getting a temporary ally in the form of a tough space trucker who goes by V.T. She’s an interesting character, defined by her initial dislike of Spike (he’s an acquired taste) and her past that involved being married to a bounty hunter long ago, and the episode she appears in is mostly just pretty good.

It's another Cowboy Bebop episode where the crew goes after a bounty but ends up going home empty-handed, and besides a neat one-off character in the form of V.T., there’s not a ton else to say about it. Still, the animation and music are as good as ever (qualities that can be praised when it comes to every episode), and the world of Cowboy Bebop is always an enjoyable one to spend time in, no matter the quality of the storyline being followed.

22 "Boogie Woogie Feng Shui"

Episode 21 (1999)

Cowboy Bebop - 1999 - Boogie Woogie Feng Shui

Image via Toonami

If you’re after the go-to pick for most people’s least favorite Cowboy Bebop episode, it’s probably going to be “Boogie Woogie Feng Shui.” As the title might imply, it’s among the more comedic episodes of the show (at least until the ending), and that makes it stand out a little among some of the great – and perhaps more serious – episodes that make up the final third of the whole series, with episodes 23 to 26 being particularly iconic.

Still, when approached with the right frame of mind, “Boogie Woogie Feng Shui” remains fun, being a Jet-centric episode that sees him getting into a decently enjoyable misadventure with the daughter of one of his old friends. It’s perhaps hard to passionately defend it any more than that, but it might not be quite as bad as some try to make it sound (it’s not really bad at all, to be honest).

21 "Jamming with Edward"

Episode 9 (1998)

A character holds a box over their head outside with a bright sunny sky in Cowboy Bebop, Jamming with Edward.

Image via Sunrise

All the main characters of Cowboy Bebop get progressively more interesting the longer the show goes on, and that can make character introduction episodes feel comparatively a little weaker. By the end of the show’s run, the eccentric Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV (she usually just goes by “Ed,” thankfully) is endearing and well fleshed-out as a character, but her presence can initially feel overwhelming.

She first shows up in this ninth episode of the show and is instantly weird, unusually intelligent, and perhaps a little annoying. She’s also a hacker who basically forces her way onto the Bebop, becoming its fourth and final human member (fifth, if Ein’s included, and he should be). Still, Ed ends up being an important part of Cowboy Bebop as the episodes go on, and even if she’s occasionally grating, she does bring a new level of frenzied energy to the show as a whole.

20 "Honky Tonk Woman"

Episode 3 (1998)

A character holds their hands up as many guns are pointed at them in Cowboy Bebop, Honky Tonk Woman.

Image via Sunrise

In comparison to Ed’s, Faye’s introductory episode, “Honky Tonk Women,” fares a little better, and maybe it also feels a little more natural to introduce a main character in episode 3, as opposed to episode 9. Still, like Ed, the tragic past and personal struggles that define Faye can’t fully be explored this early on, and so while she’s introduced as a perpetually unlucky femme fatale (of sorts), it’s an understatement to say there’s a lot more to her, with it being a testament to the show's expert writing that initially straightforward characters become so complex.

Spike and Jet run into her at a casino located on a space station, with the pair being there to earn some money, and Faye being there to get out of debt. None of them end up getting what they planned for, but they do all meet here and one episode later, they’re part of the same ragtag bounty-hunting team, so… maybe not a total loss?

19 "Stray Dog Strut"

Episode 2 (1998)

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The best boy of the Bebop, Ein, makes his grand entrance in the light-hearted and entertaining second episode of Cowboy Bebop, the appropriately titled “Stray Dog Strut.” He’s an extremely clever canine known as a “data dog,” and while his past isn’t as well-explored as the other main characters, it’s safe to assume some sort of experimentation led to his uncanny intelligence, especially because he’s stolen from a research facility in this episode.

There’s a bounty being offered for the capture of the individual who stole Ein, which is how the dog crosses paths with Spike and Jet. Though they fail to bring their target in, as per usual, they do end up essentially adopting Ein, and given he’s good company and can perform numerous tasks – including interacting with computers and other pieces of technology – the whole misadventure wasn’t a total failure for the ever-growing Bebop crew.

18 "Bohemian Rhapsody"

Episode 14 (1999)

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Not to be mixed up with a certain movie that came out almost 20 years after this episode aired, “Bohemian Rhapsody” is a strange and somewhat slow-paced episode of Cowboy Bebop that nevertheless leaves an impact. The target of the crew is an elusive figure who’s behind a series of outer-space robberies, with Ed eventually getting a lead on who might be behind it all through a game of virtual chess.

It's an episode that builds up to a quietly sad – and potentially bittersweet – conclusion that’s fairly effective, though not quite as memorably devastating as the series’ most iconic sad moments. Still, so long as you can get behind this episode being a little less action-packed than most, there’s definitely a solid mystery storyline at the heart of “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and the ending makes the slow-burn plot more than worth sitting through.

17 "Sympathy for the Devil"

Episode 6 (1998)

Cowboy Bebop - 1998 - Sympathy for the Devil

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Perhaps a little like “Bohemian Rhapsody,” “Sympathy for the Devil” revolves around a somewhat strange and mysterious target; someone who’s connected to a bounty Spike and Jet are initially chasing. This person ends up being someone who has the appearance of a young boy, but is actually a person who’s unable to age due to a singularity event caused by the explosion of an astral gate.

It’s dangerously close to being a little far-fetched, especially once it’s revealed this figure can only die if exposed to a certain stone; almost like he’s some kind of space vampire. And while it’s an episode that throws a lot of unexpected things at the viewer in rapid succession, it builds up to a conclusion that’s genuinely surprising and haunting, especially considering this is a standalone kind of episode (with most of Cowboy Bebop’s most devastating episodes revolving around the main characters, naturally).

16 "My Funny Valentine"

Episode 15 (1999)

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Faye’s backstory gets explored quite extensively in “My Funny Valentine,” being a key episode for the character as a result (again, it’s in the title). Much of her debt, as it turned out, came from being in cryogenic sleep for more than half a century, with her financial situation worsening after meeting a man named Whitney who supposedly died shortly after, leaving her with his own debts.

They’re reunited surprisingly when Jet captures him because of the bounty on his head, and though she considers allying herself with him again, she sides with the Bebop crew and gives up on her attempts to free him. She gets to be the center of the episode and comes to be closer to Spike and the other Bebop crew members by the end of it, though anyone who’s seen the whole series will know the most memorable episode about Faye’s past is still yet to come, at this point…