The legend of Cowboy Bebop will live on for as long as anime exists — and probably remain in collective memory long after that. It didn't as much redefine the genre as reconstruct it from scratch (and it is one of the few series to have a half-decent dub associated with it.)
The influence of Cowboy Bebop, its legacy, is indisputable. The show has charmed critics and audiences with equal fervor, to the point that a live-action adaptation is presently in the works. Still, there were a few things that didn't quite help its image, even detracting from the overall artistry of the anime series.
10 Fell Short: Cigarettes As A Cool Factor
There was a time when it was definitely cool to be a smoker, more so if one was on TV. Cigarettes placed at casual angles, half-sliding down the lower lip, the gentle puffs of smoke– all these features were meant to enhance the attractiveness of the person involved. Cowboy Bebop was a part of this trend, especially considering that both Spike and Faye are chain smokers.
Although cyberpunk is technically futuristic, having smokers in a semi-dystopian setting adds to the despondency of the atmosphere, so while it works as a prop, the message it sends out is not positive.
9 Best: Genre Cocktail
The narrative is concentrated on the concept of space bounty hunters, which in itself is a combination of sci-fi and Western themes (as evidenced by the country-themed in-series program, Big Shot.)
The score is jazz/blues at its core, a counterintuitive choice that somehow ends up working in favor of the story. Further, elements of film noir make up the majority of scenes with Spike and Jet, a careful cultivation of Hollywood's hard-boiled detective genre popular during the 1930s and 1940s.
8 Fell Short: Blaxploitation
The argument that Cowboy Bebop's mistakes should be forgiven because of its time of creation are not strong enough to refute the racism strongly suggested in the anime. There are several homages to Blaxploitation cinema, chiefly appearing in the episode "Mushroom Samba", that would never fly today.
The entire concept is a complicated minefield, as a lot of African-Americans managed to find some form of power through these films, but others have condemned them for their ridiculous caricatures of race and criminal behavior.
7 Best: Homages To Pop Culture
Excluding the problematic references (like the ones above), the series is rather respectful of most other works of art, for instance the cute little AI, MPU, whose experiences of ennui reflect those of the main antagonist of 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), Hal 9000.
Other allusions can be found to the films of Bruce Lee, Akira Kurosawa, Martin Scorsese, not to mention that several episode titles are literally named after iconic rock songs. The latter includes "Sympathy for the Devil", "Honky Tonk Women" and "Wild Horses" by The Rolling Stones, as well as Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen.
6 Fell Short: Transphobia
The case of Grencia Mars can be debated without end — on the one hand, his bodily changes are an inadvertent effect of military-grade drugs, while on the other, implying that a man "becoming" a woman is a matter of great suffering is an affront against trans folk. Cowboy Bebop struggles to handle the situation as tactfully as it could, which can in turn make modern viewings particularly uncomfortable.
5 Best: Edward
Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV is the best thing to happen to Cowboy Bebop, and not just because she is a superintelligent programmer. The fact that Ed is female is of no concern to the Bebop crew, let alone herself (considering she is the one who opts to change her name from Françoise.)
She answers to nobody but herself, putting no stock in silly human concepts like decorum and poise; instead, Ed walks on all fours, wears no footwear, speaks in labyrinthine riddles, and goes on joy rides whenever the fancy takes her.
4 Fell Short: Misogyny
Faye's sexualiazation is not the actual issue, because she makes it quite evident that her appearance is her choice. However, the men don't look at her as an independent woman who can take on the world single-handed, but rather a "dangerous" one who uses her gender to get what she wants.
In Cowboy Bebop: Knockin' on Heaven's Door (2001), Faye is nearly assaulted by Vincent Volaju, the villain, after he drugs her senseless and uses a knife to tear her clothes open.
3 Best: Highly Intricate Narrative
Structurally, the series works as a discontinuous grouping of episodes, each of which follow an unrelated plot. Take for instance the elderly child, the hallucinogenic mushrooms, the eco-terrorists, and so on.
Many of them have unique side-characters that rarely, if ever, appear in other episodes but are crucial to plot development all the same. This is because all these mini-arcs come together seamlessly to form the overarching storyline — Spike's final showdown with his buddy-turned-nemesis, Vicious.
2 Fell Short: The Future
Cowboy Bebop failed to accurately gauge the distance humanity would reach half a century after its creation, assuming that we'd have hyperspace portals, extraplanetary civilizations, or even hover cars by 2030.
Of course, none of this is going to happen: terraforming takes centuries and scientists still have no clue if the speed of light can be broken (or bypassed.) It's also worth mentioning that the idea of data-storage animals, like Ein, are pure fantasy. There is no reason for anyone to breed innocent house pets into supercomputers, but more importantly, it's completely impossible.
1 Best: Yoko Kanno's Musical Menagerie
The implausible brilliance of Yoko Kanno's scoring is one of the biggest reasons for the show's popularity, to the point that several box sets and vinyl records have been released to meet fan demands.
The aura offered by the music, as related earlier, is at odds with the visual themes in the show, but that doesn't stop it from melding in flawlessly. Interestingly, Kanno and her band, the Seatbelts, arranged the composition long before the design, narrative, or even the characters in the series were finalized.