As one of the seminal anime series of the 1990s, Cowboy Bebop’s influence is insurmountable. The '90s were a golden age for anime’s growth into the mainstream and helped bring the medium to new audiences tired of the same old animated shows. Cowboy Bebop helped bridge the gap and the celebrated dub of the show continues to introduce fans to the world of anime to this day.
The space odyssey story, the bopping jazz soundtrack, and the iconic characters and plot lines are still as fresh as they were in 1998. It should come as no surprise that the show has been named as an influence for countless creative projects since its release, not only Netflix's live-action adaptation.
7 Samurai Champloo
This one might seem obvious considering it was also created by Shinichirō Watanabe (the genius behind Cowboy Bebop), but its style still heavily draws from Bebop. The dub of Samurai Champloo even features the vocal abilities of Steve Blum, who was the voice of Spike. Blum voices Mugen who is a counterpart of Spike in many ways, especially in terms of fighting techniques.
The soundtrack also takes clear influence from Cowboy Bebop, replacing the hyper jazz soundtrack with a chill hip hop vibe. Episodes follow a similar format, with the characters getting pulled into crazy situations as they progress on their journeys, although the setting moves from outer space to Edo period Japan.
6 Victor And Valentino
This Cartoon Network show might not have the stylized space adventures that Cowboy Bebop is known for, but series creator, Diego Molano, has stated that the anime was a tremendous influence on the show.
The show follows two half-brothers misadventures in the world of supernatural occurrences, but the series takes cues from the emotional depth of Bebop as well as its visual colorfulness.
5 Firefly
As far as space-westerns go, Firefly and Cowboy Bebop are the crème de la crème. Firefly has a lot of similarities with Bebop, both largely taking place on spaceships, involving criminals and shadowy organizations, and featuring a colorful cast of characters that tie the show’s writing together.
In a lot of ways, these two series are brothers from another mother, albeit Firefly is not animated. If there was ever an animated Firefly series, it would likely look and feel a lot like Cowboy Bebop.
4 Darker Than Black
This anime series feels like a Cowboy Bebop episode, and for a very good reason: one of the artists behind Bebop created it! Tensai Okamura took a lot of creative influence from the show he helped animate, and not only in terms of animation style.
The story follows agents trying to discover the mystery of a surreal “Hell’s Gate” portal which opened up in Tokyo. The structure of the episodes have a similar feel to Cowboy Bebop, and Darker than Black buffs may recognize the soundtrack as the work of Yoko Kanno, the legendary composer behind Bebop’s stellar soundtrack.
3 Brick
The noir aspect of Cowboy Bebop is sometimes overshadowed by its space-western tag, but it certainly carries a lot of neo-noir elements throughout each episode. Brick, directed by Rian Johnson, took some strong influences from this area of the anime, crafting a visually compelling story of crime in a California suburb.
Time and time again, the stylized visuals of the characters and set pieces of Cowboy Bebop have influenced different forms of media across all formats since 1998.
2 Guardians Of The Galaxy
The concept of a ragtag gang of space travelers may not have been invented by Cowboy Bebop, but it was certainly perfected by the anime. It usually starts with one or two companions in a lone spaceship, but as the story progresses and new planets are traversed, more and more oddballs join the crew and form a tight-knit family.
Guardians of the Galaxy features similar spaceship humor to Cowboy Bebop, taking the formula behind the show’s episodic structure and reformatting it into a feature film format. If Marvel ever decided to make its flagship outer space heroes into a more mature mold, comparisons to Cowboy Bebop would be widespread.
1 Avatar: The Last Airbender
Emotion, adventure, and discovery are the building blocks of Cowboy Bebop’s characters and episodic structure. In many ways, Avatar follows a similar style of storytelling as Cowboy Bebop does – following a small party of heroic travelers and the many wacky characters they meet along the way.
A few characters in the show even seem to take influence from Cowboy Bebop, from the charismatic Jet (also a name in Cowboy Bebop) to the lovable flying Appa (not unlike the equally lovable corgi, Ein). The Cabbage Merchant was also inspired by Cowboy Bebop.
Cowboy’s Bebop’s influence can be seen in countless shows, movies, and forms of pop culture. It is truly an anime that continues to capture its audience’s minds and hearts.