The ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Ending, Explained

Even some of the best anime can have a disappointing ending. Sure, it comes down to perspective—but when I watched Cowboy Bebop’s series finale for the first time, I was very disappointed. Though probably not as disappointed as folks who watched the Netflix live-action adaptation.

Cowboy Bebop is a beloved late ‘90s anime set in 2071 that follows the lives of a bounty-hunting crew on the spaceship Bebop. It borrows from a lot of genres and explores heavy topics like the inability to escape one’s past, boredom, and loneliness. And manages to capture all of those topics in impactful ways. The humdrum and misery—which can be rampant in life—are perfectly depicted in this series. Spike (voiced by Steve Blum)’s story, in particular, has a tragic ending. And it’s all because he couldn’t move on from his past. He simply couldn’t leave well enough alone.

What happens to Spike? 

Spike being a former member of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate leads to his end. Not only that but his fixation on the very boring Julia (Mary Elizabeth McGlynn) also plays a part. Rather than sticking with his chosen family and moving on with his life—he reunites with Julia. And finds out his former partner, Vicious (Skip Stellrecht), is looking to cause some chaos. 

Ultimately, Julia dies in a shootout with the Syndicate, and that’s when Spike throws his life out the window. (Over a woman who definitely wasn’t worth dying for.) After his final moments with his oddball chosen family, it’s obvious he has no intentions of returning to Jet (Beau Billingslea) and Faye (Wendee Lee). And so he goes to fight Vicious, to the death, because that’s what nihilistic people do. The fight does lead to both of them dying and it’s…not satisfying at all. Not that it needs to be but if I felt that Julia were worthwhile, then I would slightly understand. But I’m still scratching my head. Ugh.

What does the ending mean exactly? 

People that get stuck in the past, and allow things or people that don’t belong in their future, don’t always have happy endings. Getting caught up in what’s not meant for you is disastrous. Jet and Faye are able to somewhat move on with their lives. They confront events from their past, even though it’s painful. Whereas Spike never truly moves on from the situation with Julia and Vicious. He never properly healed enough to make the decision to not chase her or try to stop Vicious. And the end result is Spike losing his life because he thought he’d never feel alive again. The series hits the nail on the head about the tragedies of life. How we can become tragic figures in our own lives. We sometimes choose the worst options because it’s easier.

It would have been more interesting to see Spike take a moment and realize it’s not worth it. But maybe the ending is meant to be disappointing in that way. 

(featured image: Sunrise)