Cowboy Bebop Remix: volume 2

Reviewed By: Carla Land

Bandai DVD

Review based on 1 disk (episodes 6-10)

Rating 13+

What it’s (basically) all about: The crew of the Bebop is back, and this time they might just catch a few bounties. Spike, Jet, Ein and Faye are joined by Ed, a young girl hacker from Earth, on their quest to make the big bucks reeling in the scum of the universe. It’s business as usual for the rag tag bunch- which means Ein might not be the only one eating dog food.

Nitty Gritty: Disk two is pretty on par with the first disk. The violence isn’t as extreme this time around, but there are some pretty disturbing sequences (in episode 6 the “bad guy” is a man who, through a freak radiation accident several hundred years ago when he was still a child, cannot age. Spike shoots him in square in the forehead with a special bullet, causing him to age very rapidly. Not for the faint of heart.)

Language actually gets a little tamer as the disk progresses, but the first three episodes use “sh*t” pretty frequently in both the subbed and dubbed versions. In episode 10 the subbed version refers to someone as a “gigolo” rather than the dubbed “boyfriend.” Other than that, it’s not much worse than a prime time cop show.

Faye is, again, dressing on the fan service side of things. There are several shots of her rear, and in episode 10 she wears a bikini that leaves little to the imagination. There is no nudity, though Faye does flirt a little to try and get a bounty a couple of times. At one point she also walks in on two men who are in bed together, but they are covered by a sheet.

Extras include DVD credits; episode 10 commentary with Wendee Lee (Faye) and the director; and Bandai previews for Mars Daybreak, Planetes, and Scrapped Princess, all of which are PG rated previews.

Survey says: Adult collections, definitely. Given its popularity on Adult Swim and the fact that the Remix versions have been cleaned up really nicely, I’d say that this a good buy, but the violence is certainly more than a teen collection should have.

Personal Ad: I really like the Cowboy Bebop series. You get to learn a little more about Jet’s past this time around, and the music, again, is awesome. (In fact, if you buy the series for your library, you might want to consider buying the soundtrack as well.)