The anime series Cowboy Bebop is a classic in the genre and often considered one of the best ways to get people into the trend. If you haven’t seen it before, you are most certainly missing out. The futuristic sci-fi series was about a group of bounty hunters, also called Cowboys, and their strange adventures in space, attempting to catch various criminals. In the U.S., the show primarily aired in the early '00s on Adult Swim and helped to shape what would later be a huge wave of fandom for anime. The series often had very adult-themed content in it and may have been a huge game changer in how people saw adult-themed cartoons in general. We’ve seen a lot of sci-fi series, animated or not, but this was definitely a new and fresh perspective that any fan will tell you is worth your time.

We love everything about this show -- from the art style to the stories to the music, almost everything to come out of this show was iconic in its own way. Needless to say, there are dozens of fans that adore Cowboy Bebop. Whether it was your first time or you’ve just recently rewatched it for the 20th time, you'll no doubt find something that will resonate long after it's over. But no matter what kind of fan you are, one thing’s for certain: you can’t know everything. Luckily for you, we’ve compiled a list of some fun facts and hidden shout outs that have been seen in the series. If you love Cowboy Bebop, this list is for you!

15 EIN WAS A CORGI FOR A SPECIFIC REASON

Everyone remembers and loves Ein, the data dog of the crew who’s supposedly of higher intelligence. We often see the little corgi following Edward around, but not much is known about his past. While it’s clear through his interactions that his intelligence has definitely been modified, we’re not exactly sure what was done to him. The furry team member certainly lent a helping paw in solving various mysterious and was definitely an icon.

What you might not have known is that Ein was specifically made a corgi because one of the scenario writers had specifically asked for it. While Ein could have been any kind of dog, it seems this writer had a real love for the short legged breed and said that no other would do for this series.

14 THE JOURNEY STARTS AT THE SAME TIME FOR EVERYONE

Everything starts exactly three years before they all met up to create the wonderful story we know today. Three years ago, Spike and Jet teamed up, Faye woke up and Ed ran away. We know that their lives hadn’t been easy up until that point, and it certainly wasn’t even after they boarded the Bebop, but at least they now had each other!

From what we can deduce, these events all happened around the same time but exactly three years before they actually get together. Already, the actual production process was precise but it looks like that just might be the entire Cowboy Bebop universe in general.

13 SOME OF THE WEAPONS ARE FROM THE REAL WORLD

A lot of Cowboy Bebop may seem absurd and out of this world, but there’s a lot more fact than fiction when it comes to some of the weaponry we see in the series. It’s not uncommon for sci-fi or futuristic series to have basic models on the items of today as a blueprint for what they might look like tomorrow, but there’s a long list of weaponry that states explicitly what the series used for inspiration.

For example, our main character Spike has his signature weapon, an IMI Jericho 941 R chambered in 9x19mm. Weapons enthusiasts will know he’s packing real-world heat.

12 IT WAS THE FIRST ANIME ON ADULT SWIM

Everyone knows about some of the most popular programs to air on Cartoon Network, but Adult Swim has always been exceptionally popular. The programming block airs content that would otherwise be unsuitable for their daytime identity as a children’s cartoon station. We know that later down the road, programming specifically made for anime would come into play, hence Toonami, but before that Cowboy Bebop would be the first anime to air on it.

The cool thing about this is that it’s often credited for getting Western viewers into anime in the first place. You don’t get called one of the greatest anime series for no reason -- people also often consider this a great first anime to introduce to first timers.

11 FAYE’S CRYOGENIC CAPSULE IS A STAR TREK REFERENCE

We know that Faye was put in a frozen state for 54 years, in hopes there would one day be a cure for her injury, but you wouldn’t guess that her capsule was actually a Star Trek reference. From one great sci-fi to the next, Cowboy Bebop had a lot of references to different shows, with many coming from the revered Star Trek.

In regards to Faye’s cryogenic capsule, the serial number was NCC-1701-B, which is also the serial number for the USS Enterprise from the original Star Trek series. In addition to this, there are plenty of other dialogue references that we often see in the original sci-fi series you’ll see at random.

10 THE COMMERCIAL BREAK WAS A TRIBUTE TO FLASH GORDON

Speaking of references, there were plenty of other series that Cowboy Bebop gave shout outs too. After all, if you’re going to make a show good, you may want to reference other, equally cool shows. One such instance was during a commercial break when the iconic logo would pop up. Doesn’t it look a little familiar? It should!

This logo was definitely referencing the Flash Gordon movie logo. You can tell by the font, the lightning bolt that’s in the center of the logo’s sphere and even the way it’s curved. The movie may have not been that popular, but it certainly had a small cult following, which is probably why it was worth being referenced in the first place.

9 THE BEBOP IS A FISHING TRAWLER

The Bebop seems perfect for adventuring from what we’ve seen it do in the series. After all, a perfect crew needs a perfect ship right? However, the Bebop was not made with these intentions at all. In fact, the Bebop is actually a fishing trawler.

Firstly, “bebop” is actually a type of jazz, which makes sense considering a lot of the music and entire feel of the show. The Bebop as a ship, however, was made to catch fish in the oceans of Ganymede. Thankfully, there have been a few modifications to it since Jet got his hands on it. Larger engines were installed and a newer, more effective communication system was also put in place.

8 IT WAS HEAVILY CENSORED IN JAPAN

There’s always the stereotype that anime is just “violent cartoons for kids”, but you’d prove someone wrong if you showed them Cowboy Bebop. The show has a lot of adult themes in it that definitely make it hard to be a show specifically targeted towards children. Because of this, a lot of content was censored in Japan with only 12 episodes officially released. Eventually, it would be taken off the air for a while.

Part of this was also that its ratings weren’t doing that well just yet and so, with the justification that this was clearly not suitable for children, Japan let it drop. The broadcasting company WOWOW would eventually pick it up and release the entire 26 episodes.

7 THE ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK HAD A STORIED COMPOSER

There’s a reason that the music for Cowboy Bebop is so memorable. The anime series was so well done that it even required a storied composer to do the original soundtrack for the series. The music was one of the first things to go into production, even before a lot of characters and story had been finalized.

You can thank Yoko Kanno for all of the music done. In interviews, Watanabe stated that Kanno would often find her own inspiration to go off of and even bring music to him that wasn’t asked for. Her unconventional method of music writing may have been challenging at first, but it ultimately became a big hit when the series finally came out.

6 ED HAD A CHARACTER DESIGN CHANGE

Toshihiro Kawamoto was the character designer who originally made concept art for Ed to be both darker skinned and a boy. However, Ed would later be changed drastically into the well-known design that would be used in the official anime. You can see the original design for this character in an episode, Session 5, but other than that it was almost completely scrapped.

The new and official design was actually heavily influenced by the music creator, Yoko Kanno. Because she was rather unorthodox in the way she created the music, they felt that Ed was a lot more like her -- strange geniuses with amazing results.

5 ED IS ALSO NON-BINARY

According to an IGN article, Ed may not actually be either a boy or girl! There are a few fans that certainly believed Edward was a boy, but many times we see them being referred to as a girl. In said interview with IGN, however, Watanabe clearly stated that Ed’s gender was essentially meaningless.

“I wanted to create a character that surpasses humanity.” Watanabe stated. He then proceeded to explain that Ed may not even be human to begin with. We know Ed is an orphan, but we don’t really know much beyond that. Perhaps they are just your average person from outer space.

4 THE SHOW WAS ORIGINALLY MADE TO SELL TOYS

It can come off a little hurtful when you find out that a lot of your childhood series were made with the sole purpose of selling the younger you a toy or two. Many popular cartoon series have been made with the intent of a franchised toy brand in mind and, unfortunately, Cowboy Bebop was no different. The show was originally sponsored by Bandai’s toy division in hopes that it would sell more spacecraft toys.

However, the toy division would later drop their deal after looking at a rough cut of the series. Because Watanabe was given creative control, the series didn’t exactly fit the idea that Bandai was originally going for. To them, this wouldn’t sell.

3 THE EPISODES WERE TREATED LIKE INDIVIDUAL SHORT FILMS

Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop can be watched in two different ways: either you watch it in order or you can watch most of the episodes as they come. That’s because the episodes were often treated like their own standalone short films. This not only cost a lot of energy and careful planning, but it also achieved the desired result. After learning about the crew, you can basically watch the show however suits your fancy.

Each story came with the art, story and music carefully crafted to make it a one of a kind in the series on its own. We definitely appreciate that effort because if you were watching this on Adult Swim, there was a good chance that you were probably catching episodes out of order.

2 A COWBOY BEBOP CAFÉ EXISTS

We see a lot of awesome themed cafés that come out of Japan, so naturally, a café inspired by Cowboy Bebop would come as no surprise, right? But before you get your hopes up to ever see it, the café was only a limited time collaboration to celebrate the anime’s 20th anniversary.

The café took place in both Tokyo & Osaka at the Animate Café locations. While the entire café was themed around the show, perhaps the best thing to come out of it was the themed food, which included Spike’s favorite stir fry. The event happened in May of 2018, but who knows, it may just come back for the next anniversary!

1 SPIKE WAS THE FIRST THING TO BE MADE

When Watanabe began thinking of the show, his first creation was none other than the main character, Spike. His primary appearance was designed after the main protagonist of the series Tantei Monogatari, played by Yusaku Matsuda. Often times, the way Spike dresses portrays the way he’s mentally feeling that day.

Once Watanabe created this character, he began to build the world and story around him. This show was exceptionally unique in the way it held so many hidden meanings; everything from the intro to the music was carefully created. To know that this all stemmed from one character is exceptional and nothing short of amazing.