From 2104f9be9175c2031500bda9f5e2913b8348e5ee Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: dakkar Date: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 12:20:31 +0000 Subject: review: cowboy bebop --- src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/.gitignore | 2 + src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/document.en.rest.txt | 90 ++++++++++++++++++++++ src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/du2html.xsl | 1 + 3 files changed, 93 insertions(+) create mode 100644 src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/.gitignore create mode 100644 src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/document.en.rest.txt create mode 120000 src/anime/review/cowboy-bebop/du2html.xsl 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 -- cgit v1.2.3