Cowboy Bebop Anime: How Does The Original Anime End? Here Everything Explained?

Cowboy Bebop is one of the cult of Japanese animation Broadcast in 1998, the anime created by Hajime Yatate and directed by Shin’ichirō Watanabe, is a science fiction western that follows the exploits of a group of bounty hunters traveling the solar system. A masterpiece of animation made in Japan, Cowboy Bebop is much more than a simple adventure story: over the course of the episodes, the protagonists (Spike, Jet and Faye) rethink the unresolved issues of the past, which regularly returns to haunt them, exploring topics like existentialism and loneliness.

Cowboy Bebop Anime: The Plot

In 2021, most of the world’s population was exterminated following the accidental explosion of an experimental gate, a device that would have allowed inter-space travel, and which instead caused a swarm of asteroids to collide with Earth. The survivors then leave the now inhospitable planet to colonize other places in the solar system.

Fifty years later, Mars has become the main place for the development of humanity; and it is here that the new crime (the most influential being the Red Dragon ) organized itself with its cartels, exercising their power within the government and police forces, the Inter Solar System Police (ISSP) . With limited authorities, bounty hunters (also called cowboys, because they follow a system similar to that of the old far west) are the only solution to try to reduce crime. Among the bounty hunters is Spike Spiegel a former Red Dragon affiliate, and his partner Jet Black , a former detective.

How Does Cowboy Bebop End?

To understand the anime’s ending, you need to step back and go back to Spike’s past. When he was part of the Red Dragon, he had fallen in love, reciprocated, with Julia, the companion of his partner Vicious. The two decided to escape together, and this caused a rift between the two friends, which led to the girl going into hiding and Spike to leave the criminal organization.

Years later, the protagonist is a bounty hunter and has completely changed his attitude: he is a nihilist, refuses to bond with people, and seems to live in an unconscious state between life, dream and death. Obviously over the course of the anime he will make a strong friendship with his fellow adventurers – Jet, Faye, Ed, Ein – and this seems to bring him back to an optimistic state.

Then Vicious returns takes control of the Red Dragon and orders his men to hunt down our heroic cowboy. For a series of events, Spike and Julia reunite and hope for a life together lights up for them. Happiness is fleeting as Julia dies in a shootout against Vicious’ henchmen, and it is the beginning of the end. Having nothing left to fight for, Spike realizes that the only way out is to let go of his own destiny. He then decides to avenge his beloved (and lost again) woman in one final confrontation with Vicious.

Despite his traveling companions trying to dissuade him from the enterprise, Spike is now convinced of his choice and gives them his last farewell words. Faye knows she will never see her friend again, just now that she has found a real family in the Bebop crew.

The final minutes are adrenaline-pumping: Spike arrives at an old abandoned church where he first confronts his ex-partner’s men, getting injured, then fights him. Spike manages to shoot him in the chest just as Vicious plunges the katana blade into his abdomen. At that point, the last thing Spike sees is Julia, right before his death:

Spike takes the last few steps forward, towards the Red Dragon men (who watch in shock) and with two fingers raised he imitates the firing of a gun. He then falls to the ground presumably dead.

Spike Spiegel Dies?

Spike’s last thought is turned towards Julia: she was his only reason for living, the only chance to escape from a nihilistic and meaningless life. With the death of the woman, all dreams vanish: the cowboy succumbs to his fate and indulges in what appears to be a slow sleep. After all, life is only “a bad dream”, from which we cannot wake up.

Interestingly, the next scene shifts to show the sky, where we see a star (i.e Spike) go out. From this we can deduce that the protagonist is dead, or in any case is about to be. The ending is in line with the anime, which inevitably would have brought Spike and Vicious into confrontation. Even if the bounty hunter manages to survive, it would be impossible for him to find the happiness he hoped for with Julia, as the woman he loved is dead. So Spike would still carry the weight and wounds of his past within him.

[sc_fs_multi_faq headline-0=”h2″ question-0=”How Many Episodes of Cowboy Bebop Anime Are There?” answer-0=”The Cowboy Bebop anime consists of 26 episodes.” image-0=”” headline-1=”h2″ question-1=”When Does the Cowboy Bebop Series come out?” answer-1=”The live-action series is available from November 19 on Netflix.” image-1=”” headline-2=”h2″ question-2=”Where to See The Cowboy Bebop Anime?” answer-2=”The entire anime is available on Netflix.” image-2=”” count=”3″ html=”true” css_class=””]