Summary
Cowboy Bebopis an iconic anime series, and its seemingly nonsensical title perfectly captures the tone of the anime. However, that almost wasn’t the title at all, and the original title never would’ve conveyed the gritty, often dark and moody atmosphere of the series.
Cowboy Bebop’s current titlecomes from the occupation of the main characters, bounty hunters who are referred to as “Cowboys,” and the name of the ship that they all live on, theBebop. The name also has a musical connotation from “Bebop” which fits well with the series' reliance on jazzy music for atmosphere and impact. At the other end of the spectrum is the “Cowboy” part, which calls to mind images of loner cowboys off on a mission, accurately reflecting the series' premise.
While the title might come across as nonsense like those of many other anime, it’s actually a pretty fitting title, unlike its predecessor title.
Cowboy Bebop Was Almost Called “Shooting Star Bebop”
“Shooting Star Bebop” Would’ve Tied In to the Series' Ending
According toan interview with Shinichiro Watanabe, the series' creator, hosted on Forbes, “In the original plan, it was calledNagareboshi Bebop, or ‘shooting star’Bebop, but we ended up unable to use that namedue to a trademark issue. So we tried the English version ofShooting Star Bebop, and again we got another trademark conflict. So we thought about the story and its focus on bounty hunters, who could be known as ‘cowboys,’ which is how we ended up with the nameCowboy Bebop.”
The idea of the series being calledShooting Star Bebopis an interesting one, as it references a theme seen at various points in the series of the death of warriors being reflected by shooting stars falling from the sky. This likely would’ve hinted at Spike’s ultimate fate in the series, asCowboy Bebop’s endingleaves it ambiguous as to whether Spike is alive or dead. Putting “shooting star” in the title would seem to indicate that the series is about Spike’s death, removing a degree of ambiguity. However, despite this tie-in to the themes of the series, theShooting Star Beboptitle is a bit too unwieldy,and certainly doesn’t have the flow thatCowboy Bebophas to it.
Shooting Star Bebopalso has something of a whimsical sound to it, and doesn’t convey the tone of the series anywhere near as well as the final title does. It may well have been a stroke of luck that the title wasn’t available due to trademark issues, as it prompted Watanabe and his staff to finally come up with the idea of referring to the bounty hunters as cowboys, and thus the final title.Cowboy Bebopmay even owe some of its success to having such a short and memorable title, as one isn’t likely to forget the title once they’ve heard it.Cowboy Bebopstrikes the perfect balance of meaningful and catchy when it comes to titles, and that’s something its original title never had.
Cowboy Bebop
Cast
Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 animated series set in 2071, where humanity has colonized the Solar System following a catastrophic event. As crime surges, bounty hunters known as “Cowboys” are employed by the Inter Solar System Police to capture criminals in exchange for rewards.
