Three Two One Let's Jam! - The Unofficial Cowboy Bebop Guide

Written by Ross Locksley on 01 Oct 2024

Cowboy Bebop is a series that has, quite rightly, elicited a lot of love and devotion from not just anime fans, but in a rare case of cultural cross-contamination, fans of other genres too, be it music, Sci Fi or drama. Rarely does an anime that isn't a generation-spanning franchise (like Gundam or Dragon Ball) create such a deep wake, but Cowboy Bebop is such a show. It's a perfect one-off series that retains both its freshness and appeal, a perfect piece of storytelling with a beginning, middle and end that satisfies and infatuates those who fall into its charms.

Satoru Stevenson is clearly such an individual. This exhaustive book is written with a forensic level of detail that would make Columbo blush, every statement sourced from interviews, liner notes, articles and more. The book takes an essay format, which seems appropriate from someone citing Helen McCarthy and Jonathan Clements as advisors, but thanks to either the intense focus or the clear enthusiasm, I find it much less dry and academic than books by Stevenson's peers. A good example of this is how the book chapters are presented like a playlist, a fun approach that also makes it easy to dip in and out of - each episode is given a thorough checkup by Stevenson, every minor detail examined and turned over for little insights into the minds of those who created the show and their motivations, passions and drive. Furthermore, to break down the text into manageable chunks, the insights for each episode are bulleted. This is a smart choice as it allows each nugget of information to stand alone as delightful little insights or asides that are the perfect accompaniment to a rewatch of the series, should you feel so inclined. 

At over 500 pages, the book clearly has much to say (though it is very heavy with citations that take the strain off a bit) but it's the human elements of what informed the decisions within the making of Cowboy Bebop that make it so interesting; Shinichiro Watanabe's frustration with Shoji Kawamori after working on Macross Plus explains his drive to produce something creatively unfettered by a superior, or how one actor's slight cold allowed his voice to match Spike's own rough health in Sessions #12 and #13. Many of these revelations are conscious decisions, but peppered by fortuitous happenstance or a little creative flair (such as extra motion added by animators missing from the keyframes) that seem to have conspired to bless Cowboy Bebop with its innate appeal.

Beyond the series the book also covers many spin-off projects, from the film, Knockin' on Heaven's Door, to the PS1/PS2 games and even the difficulties of adapting the series into live action (and we all know how that turned out). The book branches out but keeps itself reigned in enough to avoid endless rabbit holes that might otherwise border on irrelevant. The discipline to stay on a tight leash is admirable.

This isn't just a book to inform fans of the series, its an insight into the distinct Japanese style of creativity that extends beyond Bebop and across the medium at large. Taking in all aspects of production from visuals, animation, voice-acting and direction, it's not only a useful inspiration for would-be-creatives, but also a way to understand the practical and business elements of an anime series that you may not have previously even considered. As such, Stevenson deserves much credit for creating a book that showcases his own passion while laying out the facts impassively. It's a skilful dichotomy that preserves the book's academic value without being too dry and scholastic to appreciate as nothing more than a simple fan.

An almost Jazz like approach that suits the material perfectly.

3, 2,1 Let's Jam! is available from Telos Publishing and Amazon.

Though a PDF review copy was provided, a physical edition was ordered and paid for.

The book contains a number of revelations, here's a special video to share the inspiration for Spike Spiegel!