review: cowboy bebop

3 files changed, 93 insertions, 0 deletions

diff --git a/src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/.gitignore b/src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..08d33d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+/document.en.du.xml
+/document.it.du.xml
diff --git a/src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/document.en.rest.txt b/src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/document.en.rest.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..186f2cb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/document.en.rest.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+==============
+ Cowboy Bebop
+==============
+:CreationDate: 2014-03-19 12:04:04
+:Id: anime/review/cowboy-bebop
+:tags: - anime
+       - review
+:rating: 4.5
+:original: http://www.easternkicks.com/reviews/cowboy-bebop-complete
+
+Space: the final frontier. Even if Roddenberry's emphasis was on
+exploration, the term still evokes stories of cowboys and "Indians",
+of outlaws and vigilantes and bounty hunters, mostly due to the
+"western" movies, which depicted a particularly skewed version of the
+American West. Nonetheless, the frontier as a lawless place is a
+firmly established trope, so of course Japanese authors have
+incorporated it in their narratives: first in the classical American
+setting, for example with Kouya no Shounen Isamu (荒野の少年イサム,
+Isamu of the wild lands, 1973), then in the futuristic settings of the final
+frontier: Sei Juushi Bismarck (星銃士 ビスマルク, literally "star
+gunmen Bismark", better known as Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs, 1984)
+was exactly like a western story of roaming outlaws and courageous
+sheriffs, but in space and with a giant robot; more recently, Outlaw
+Star (星方武侠アウトロースター, 1998) moved the focus more toward the
+bounty hunters, and away from the sheriffs, and lost some of the
+paraphernalia of the classic setting.
+
+Just three months after Outlaw Star was first aired, Cowbop Beboy
+started. Here, too, we bounty hunters in space, but the tone and the
+details are very different and original. Spike Spiegel, man with a
+messy past, survives on the occasional bounty, together with Jet
+Black, retired cop, on their old ship Bebop. The dynamic between the
+two is a bit "the odd couple", a bit Lupin and Jigen: they work
+together for mutual interest, but they don't really like each
+other. To liven up the atmosphere, three more characters take
+residence on the Bebop: Ein (a dog), Faye Valentine, and Ed (Edward
+Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV).
+
+Ein has too little time on screen, and only Ed seems to notice his
+potential. Ed is a tomboyish thirteen-year-old girl who, in more than
+one occasion, saves the day thanks to her ability with computer
+systems (we'll forgive her that time with the mushrooms…), and I could
+watch an entire series about just her and Ein.
+
+Faye could have been the "token woman", there just for show, but she's
+a rather complex character with a tragic story that gets revealed
+during several episodes. Yes, she's shaped and dressed like a pin-up,
+but she's a resolute person who can take care of herself and does not
+need anyone else.
+
+Spike and Jet also have their own histories, woven of crime,
+corruption, betrayals and deaths. Spike's story is technically the
+main plot arc of the series, but it's well balanced against the other
+characters' stories, producing a harmony of ensemble narrative.
+
+Of course, talking about western in space, and having used the term
+"ensemble", I now can not avoid mentioning Joss Whedon's Firefly,
+which came out four years after Bebop. There are similarities and
+differences: the crew of the Serenity is hunted, the crew of the Bebop
+is hunting; Firefly has a more classic western aesthetic; the
+backstories of Bebop's characters are more convoluted. I have found,
+in any case, that there can be a significant overlap between the fans
+of the two shows: if you liked one of them, try the other one, and let
+me know.
+
+I also described the narrative as a "harmony": music is an important
+component of this series. From the titles of the episodes, referencing
+various musical styles and famous songs, through the way the story is
+arranged, with themes and variations and refrains, to the actual
+soundtrack, masterfully written and executed by KANNO Yōko (菅野よう子)
+and the her band The Seatbelts. Kanno is justly famous for her work on
+this and many other anime series: Macross Plus, Escaflowne, Ghost in
+the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Wolf's Rain. She wrote all the songs
+in the Bebop's soundtrack, providing a very diverse musical background
+to the story, ranging across many different genres but still
+maintaining some subtle coherence that helps keep us immersed in the
+series's world.
+
+Kanno is not the only famous name in the production team: the author
+of the story is YATATE Hajime (矢立 肇), who worked on Daitarn 3,
+several Gundam series, Trider G7, Votoms, and many other SF stories
+(including, not very surprisingly, Outlaw Star!); the directory is
+WATANABE Shin'ichirō (渡辺 信一郎), who directed Macross Plus, two
+pieces of the Animatrix, Samurai Champloo, Michiko & Hatchin.
+
+Cowboy Bebop could very well be a "gateway series" for the SF fans who
+don't think they can like anime, in addition to being an awesome story
+in its own right. This new Blu-Ray edition delivers a very good HD
+transfer, with a full DTS 5.1 audio stream, perfect to appreciate both
+the animation and the music.
diff --git a/src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/du2html.xsl b/src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/du2html.xsl
new file mode 120000
index 0000000..371d03d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/du2html.xsl
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../../../../templates/du2html-review.xsl
\ No newline at end of file