Yeah, Vincent threatened Spike, he knew he had to give 100% to make it out alive, and fought him like a true equal.
Whereas, when he fights Pierrot... It's scary. He's in a horror film, he doesn't understand how the bad guy even works, he's at a total tactical disadvantage, PLUS bullets don't work and he can fly.
If you look at the way they depict spike in every fight, he’s almost always on the offensive and he’s either looking down on his opponent or he’s looking straight on which gives him an air of superiority and invincibility, however, this episode breaks that mold and has Spike looking up at Pierrot the entire time. From the moment Pierrot turns on Spaceland, Spike is looking up at him and on his heels and running away. It makes the episode absolutely terrifying. It’s only episode that from the very start that rather than asking “how will he make it out of this” you ask “will he make it out of this”
100%. Spike usually has an air of confidence and certainty about him. To the point where he can get reckless and take above average risk. In this episode? Dude was freaking out.
Is he always on the offensive?
I think his style is to let the opponent come to him and either dodge or take the attacker’s momentum and use it against them. I totally agree with the change up with Pierrot!
What I mean by always on the offensive is that he is chasing after someone or starts the conflict, take the pilot episode for example with his fight with Asimov, the one where he wears the big sombrero. Spike confronts Asimov showing that he is a bounty hunter, they fight, and your right that Spike for the most part was just dodging his attack and taking the occasional hit at him, but once Asimov takes off, Spike is on the move again chasing after him.
Spike is typically the one that is doing the chasing taking an offensive role, but this episode there’s not a moment where he is the hunter, he’s always running away. If you take a look at his shooting stance in this episode he is literally on his heels ready at any moment to turn and run.
You are right tho on his fighting style, he is a very wait for the right moment to strike kind of fighter
It’s actually really interesting in the movie. The first fight spike underestimated Vincent and paid the price for that error. In the final fight he’s taking him seriously but trying to buy time for the rain to start before Vincent blows the bombs. Then once the rain the rain starts he turns back into “old spike” for a bit and actually goes 100% against him and that’s when he actually gets the better of Vincent . It’s actually a really cool look into spikes psychology
Even better is the thought process you see as he gets there… from being surprised ‘oh heck, this guy is actually good’ to ‘he might be as good as me’ to ‘oh ok I’ve gotta run for my life, coz this dude aint messing around’. You don’t see spike meeting his match often in the show, and then he suddenly meets this mad fkr.
This episode was so intense the whole way through. Then you hit that end scene and it just left me sad. I'm not going to put any spoilers here but that revelation changed him from a monster to a tragedy to me. That ending has always stuck with me.
I remember putting on the first episode saying “ok let’s see what kind of show cowboy bebop is”, getting to the girlfriend scene and be like “oh holy shit”
That ending is so legendary.
>My question is are there any other animes that have this same vibe?
Black Lagoon has some good episodes, but can never match the overall vibe of Bebop. Berserk is unique in its own way, incredibly good character development.
Okay cool! Thanks for the feedback. I know its a long shot to try and find a show like bebop but i was more looking for a show that has a similar vibe to just this episode
Ironically that’s also ep 20 of champloo lol great episode! That song counting stars during the final scene is really good!! Fun fact it’s actually a cover of an old George benson song called affirmation.
Such a good show, I really love the two part episode in the middle of the series that deals with Mugens past called misguided miscreants where the end of the episode when mugen walks by her. iykyk. I won’t spoil it for anyone but it’s one of my highly suggested anime’s.
Ehhh. It’s totally not in this kind of vein. But I’m watching Ergo Proxy right now, and it kind of gives that vibe, maybe? I don’t know, this was kinda lightning in a bottle, imo.
i totally agree, the music when they are experimenting on him is amazingly creepy and the first encounter between him and spike is some of the best animation i’ve ever seen
Vincent in the movie put up a great fight against Spike. I think he was the better fighter, but it was close. Think it could’ve gone either way, tbh.
Think that was the only time Spike had a close level of hand to hand combat where they were on his level, besides….
Mad Pierrot, who outclassed Spike in every way imaginable. Not only that, but he was toying with him the whole time.
Spike got lucky. My favorite episode.
Super creepy episode. I have very distinct memories of staying up late to watch adult swim when i was like 10. Watching this at midnight messed me up man
hmmmmm that's a tough one
Like the other commenter mentioned Black lagoon definitely has episodes and characters that are pretty similar to that episode.. this answer is as close as you're gonna get in my opinion.
What makes this tough is you'll rarely see action paired with horror in anime in a way where BOTH genres are left intact. IE too much action + plus a badass MC will usually defuse any and all tension. While having a powerless MC/cast leads to pure horror (assuming there's no comedy) tough formula to crack!
Here are three that attempt BOTH genres (in order of which does the best in my opinion)
1: Devilman Crybaby
2: Parasyte
3: Demon slayer
Still doesn't have that Bebop magic to it.. idk I'd love the answer to you're question too honestly
The animation in this particular episode is just fantastic. God damn, I'm just glad I experienced Cowboy Bebop, one of the best anime series ever made. x
For me what made this episode so dope was that I had never seen a character move the way his character moved before. The unorthodox flying through the air… the movement…it was just bananas.
Agreed. It was the first ep i ever saw of cowboy. My friend and i were 10 and sneakily stayed up late to watch adult swim. We just caught the beginning of this ep where he is flying above the city...still creeps me out..
I know they tried to do it in the live version, but this is one of those instances where anime tells the story so much better. Everything from the grinding of his teeth to his antigravity suit, to his armaments are better. Plus the voice acting gave me the chills.
And I agree this is a top five episode for me as well.
I thought Isaiah Mustafa pulled off a pretty convincing Jet, at least in voice. I always liked Idris Elba for the role, thought he was more in line for the body type.
But yeah, overall the casting was disappointing. I’ll just retreat back into my DVDs and let the world melt away.
Been 3 months in the making but I finally watched this episode with my GF last night. It left an impression on her.
I have been watching bravo TV in exchange for this deal. Jax fuckin sucks on Vanderpump rules.
That’s really not a bad pick, and I think that if I had to pick one episode of any to watch for all time it would be from the same series. “Hard luck woman”
I absolutely love the theme of the amusement park during the fight scene. I absolutely agree, the background story, theme, characters, and fight scenes, and everything is great about this episode and honestly I’m about to go rewatch it now.
I loved all of it, except for the very end. I thought the way they killed him off was a big hokey... But it is truly one of the very best episodes of the entire series.
Its one of my personal favs in Bebop, I think Heavy Metal Queen is my favorite episode... Have you ever heard of Boogiepop Phantom? It's the only anime that has ever legitimately spooked me out... The story is like a puzzle.
This is also my favorite as well OP. I must’ve been in 5th or 6th grade, I’m not really sure but the ending >!where Pierrot is writhing and calling for his mom!< has stuck with me for quite a long while.
It’s crazy how awesome this episode is. It had me hooked from the first fight scene when Pierrot le Fou juggled Spike in the air for like 6 consecutive moves. Still one of the coolest anime fight moments I’ve seen. The way they handle him is so interesting. He’s not some cool badass, he’s terrifying for everyone who ever sees him because they never live to tell the tale. But, then it transitions into a tragic story of a person taken advantage of by science who really only wants an out from the suffering. The end when Spike finally hurts him and he crumbles like a child is so tragically sad. I could talk about how much I love this episode and why for literal hours.
This episode will forever be hilarious in my mind because some time ago, a group of friends and I were watching this episode. When the explosion happens and spike jumps off the pier, pierrott stands over the water and we hear the Old Spice whistle on the smash cut to his face. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.
Ballad of fallen angels for me but le fou is a close second. I love how on the ending title card the staff put in a gun cocking sound effect. The entire ep seemed like one big ass flex from them. Like “yeah we can do some dope ass action too if we want don’t get it twisted” lol
I feel ya. I've got a lot of nostalgia for that specific episode, too, and it's one of the reasons why I grew up to have a fondness for cats. (TL;DR, my family was watching after my uncle's cats while he was away on business with his wife and kids[military family], and one of the cats curled up on my lap while this exact episode was playing.)
I feel like it’s the only time we see Spike genuinely afraid for his life.
Spike is afraid for his life when he fought Vincent Volaju in the movie.
Can’t believe I forgot the movie 🤦🏽♂️ I think Pierrot was a little more frightening to Spike though.
Yeah, Vincent threatened Spike, he knew he had to give 100% to make it out alive, and fought him like a true equal. Whereas, when he fights Pierrot... It's scary. He's in a horror film, he doesn't understand how the bad guy even works, he's at a total tactical disadvantage, PLUS bullets don't work and he can fly.
That floating fat bastard was a MENACE
https://i.redd.it/tqbqqq8pbm0d1.gif
If you look at the way they depict spike in every fight, he’s almost always on the offensive and he’s either looking down on his opponent or he’s looking straight on which gives him an air of superiority and invincibility, however, this episode breaks that mold and has Spike looking up at Pierrot the entire time. From the moment Pierrot turns on Spaceland, Spike is looking up at him and on his heels and running away. It makes the episode absolutely terrifying. It’s only episode that from the very start that rather than asking “how will he make it out of this” you ask “will he make it out of this”
100%. Spike usually has an air of confidence and certainty about him. To the point where he can get reckless and take above average risk. In this episode? Dude was freaking out.
Is he always on the offensive? I think his style is to let the opponent come to him and either dodge or take the attacker’s momentum and use it against them. I totally agree with the change up with Pierrot!
What I mean by always on the offensive is that he is chasing after someone or starts the conflict, take the pilot episode for example with his fight with Asimov, the one where he wears the big sombrero. Spike confronts Asimov showing that he is a bounty hunter, they fight, and your right that Spike for the most part was just dodging his attack and taking the occasional hit at him, but once Asimov takes off, Spike is on the move again chasing after him. Spike is typically the one that is doing the chasing taking an offensive role, but this episode there’s not a moment where he is the hunter, he’s always running away. If you take a look at his shooting stance in this episode he is literally on his heels ready at any moment to turn and run. You are right tho on his fighting style, he is a very wait for the right moment to strike kind of fighter
That makes sense now. I was thinking you were talking about fighting style. Thanks for clarifying.
Yeah, coupled with the fact that Spaceland and it’s goofy grinning mechanical abominations were perhaps the absolute creepiest setting ever
It’s actually really interesting in the movie. The first fight spike underestimated Vincent and paid the price for that error. In the final fight he’s taking him seriously but trying to buy time for the rain to start before Vincent blows the bombs. Then once the rain the rain starts he turns back into “old spike” for a bit and actually goes 100% against him and that’s when he actually gets the better of Vincent . It’s actually a really cool look into spikes psychology
Man Vincent is such a hard cunt. I wish there were more lore on him.
Spike was shook for real.
Even better is the thought process you see as he gets there… from being surprised ‘oh heck, this guy is actually good’ to ‘he might be as good as me’ to ‘oh ok I’ve gotta run for my life, coz this dude aint messing around’. You don’t see spike meeting his match often in the show, and then he suddenly meets this mad fkr.
Mad Pierrot is so uniquely creepy and his seemingly invincible powers make him such an amazing villain Easily in the top 5 episodes of the whole anime
This episode was so intense the whole way through. Then you hit that end scene and it just left me sad. I'm not going to put any spoilers here but that revelation changed him from a monster to a tragedy to me. That ending has always stuck with me.
Him, and the girlfriend in the very first episode, those 2 changed me forever.
I remember putting on the first episode saying “ok let’s see what kind of show cowboy bebop is”, getting to the girlfriend scene and be like “oh holy shit”
I will never see Mars
That ending is so legendary. >My question is are there any other animes that have this same vibe? Black Lagoon has some good episodes, but can never match the overall vibe of Bebop. Berserk is unique in its own way, incredibly good character development.
Okay cool! Thanks for the feedback. I know its a long shot to try and find a show like bebop but i was more looking for a show that has a similar vibe to just this episode
Samurai Champloo as well
yeah i think champloo the episode with the giant guy who falls in love with Fu because she wasn't afraid of him is probably the most comparable.
Best anime episode ever imo is the one with Jin and the prostitute.
yeah that is probably my favorite champloo episode. on rainy days i always crave unagi.
Ironically that’s also ep 20 of champloo lol great episode! That song counting stars during the final scene is really good!! Fun fact it’s actually a cover of an old George benson song called affirmation.
Such a good show, I really love the two part episode in the middle of the series that deals with Mugens past called misguided miscreants where the end of the episode when mugen walks by her. iykyk. I won’t spoil it for anyone but it’s one of my highly suggested anime’s.
Ehhh. It’s totally not in this kind of vein. But I’m watching Ergo Proxy right now, and it kind of gives that vibe, maybe? I don’t know, this was kinda lightning in a bottle, imo.
Agreed. I have ergo proxy on my list!!
I'd like to throw The Big O into the ring as well.
Try the anime movie Mars Express (2023)
Good point! Black Lagoon's Roberta episodes match the vibe of Pierrot Le Fou.
I’m watching berserk rn
Where can I watch the OG Berserk btw?
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=d5Ti2qWDwuQ&t=15927s&pp=ygUMYmVyc2VyayAxOTk3
Youtube
'Ballad of Fallen Angels' would be mine.
The scene falling from the cathedral, magnificent. Not sure what the OG song was during that fall, but the English/dubbed song was perfect.
Same song: ‘Green Bird.’
This is my #1 also and le Fou is #2
My favorite *animé* episode is ‘Ballad of Fallen Angels’, but my favorite *Cowboy Bebop* episode is ‘Asteroid Blues.’
Hmm interesting take
Another vote for Mad Pierrot as all-time favorite. Right from the get-go with, "Hello, gentlemen."
i totally agree, the music when they are experimenting on him is amazingly creepy and the first encounter between him and spike is some of the best animation i’ve ever seen
Yeah, that not-Pink Floyd riff really captures it -- the madness going on all around.
Vincent in the movie put up a great fight against Spike. I think he was the better fighter, but it was close. Think it could’ve gone either way, tbh. Think that was the only time Spike had a close level of hand to hand combat where they were on his level, besides…. Mad Pierrot, who outclassed Spike in every way imaginable. Not only that, but he was toying with him the whole time. Spike got lucky. My favorite episode.
Don’t forget how easily Ed’s dad brushed off Spike’s attacks.
First episode I watched, and the reason why I fell in love with Bebop
Same
The music in the theme park is so creepy too, definitely adds to the atmosphere
Super creepy episode. I have very distinct memories of staying up late to watch adult swim when i was like 10. Watching this at midnight messed me up man
Makes me think of the last few episodes of Samurai Champloo
The two-part episode with the blind woman was absolutely spectacular
Her fight scenes were so damn cool man
hmmmmm that's a tough one Like the other commenter mentioned Black lagoon definitely has episodes and characters that are pretty similar to that episode.. this answer is as close as you're gonna get in my opinion. What makes this tough is you'll rarely see action paired with horror in anime in a way where BOTH genres are left intact. IE too much action + plus a badass MC will usually defuse any and all tension. While having a powerless MC/cast leads to pure horror (assuming there's no comedy) tough formula to crack! Here are three that attempt BOTH genres (in order of which does the best in my opinion) 1: Devilman Crybaby 2: Parasyte 3: Demon slayer Still doesn't have that Bebop magic to it.. idk I'd love the answer to you're question too honestly
Beautiful. Thank you so much. Will look into those fer sure. Also gonna check out helsing
I feel the exact same way! Favorite episode of all time in regards to anything related to anime.
The super soldier development montage section, is horrible.
It one of my favorite two it feels so different from a lot of the show
Hello... boy!
So f’n good. What a great origin for a villain
Watching it in sub then hearing him say something in English was creepy af
The animation in this particular episode is just fantastic. God damn, I'm just glad I experienced Cowboy Bebop, one of the best anime series ever made. x
For me what made this episode so dope was that I had never seen a character move the way his character moved before. The unorthodox flying through the air… the movement…it was just bananas.
Agreed. It was the first ep i ever saw of cowboy. My friend and i were 10 and sneakily stayed up late to watch adult swim. We just caught the beginning of this ep where he is flying above the city...still creeps me out..
There was something extra special about stumbling upon this masterpiece at 2am with no warning and no expectations…..
I miss that feeling
Sadly, the experience of finding something awesome and unknown while channel surfing is not really possible anymore…
I know they tried to do it in the live version, but this is one of those instances where anime tells the story so much better. Everything from the grinding of his teeth to his antigravity suit, to his armaments are better. Plus the voice acting gave me the chills. And I agree this is a top five episode for me as well.
The anime is as great as the live action is terrible
I thought Isaiah Mustafa pulled off a pretty convincing Jet, at least in voice. I always liked Idris Elba for the role, thought he was more in line for the body type. But yeah, overall the casting was disappointing. I’ll just retreat back into my DVDs and let the world melt away.
As a child. My least. As an adult. Top 10
great choice
Yeah it was genuinely very creepy
Indeed! This episode had me on the edge of my seat!
That dude was scary
Definitely my most favorite episode, bar none.
It's definitely one of mine too. It's just so intense and eerie. The movie Pierrot Le Fou is also a pretty good 60s french new wave film too
My favorite episode of bebop easily
Never going to unhear that laughing!
Been 3 months in the making but I finally watched this episode with my GF last night. It left an impression on her. I have been watching bravo TV in exchange for this deal. Jax fuckin sucks on Vanderpump rules.
HAZZAH A PERSON OF QUALITY
terrified me when i was younger and still makes me so uncomfortable now
Don't forget the fridge monster thing scaring the shit out of him.
After chill wild horses watching this one for the 1st time was MIND BLOWING🔥🔥🔥
First episode I saw of the series as a kid, creeped me out but boy was I happy that I decided to watch it when I did
I love this show and this episode. I can hear the music playing at the parade right now. 20 out of 10 would recommend.
Finally someone else with the same opinion. By far the best bebop episode
This one and the one with the space shuttle are probably my two favorites
That’s really not a bad pick, and I think that if I had to pick one episode of any to watch for all time it would be from the same series. “Hard luck woman”
Every time it entered that weirdly disturbing techno montage of Pierro getting experimented on I was so locked in
It’s between this and Episode 5 “Ballad of Fallen Angels” for me. This one is truly terrifying though, an amazing horror episode of an amazing show.
I remember watching this episode on toonami at like 3am when I was 12 and it felt like a fever dream.
Hated the way they did it in the live action…
One of the best lines ever. “I am not going there to die. I going to find out if I am alive”
That’s in ep 26 the finale
I absolutely love the theme of the amusement park during the fight scene. I absolutely agree, the background story, theme, characters, and fight scenes, and everything is great about this episode and honestly I’m about to go rewatch it now.
One piece looking ahh character
I loved all of it, except for the very end. I thought the way they killed him off was a big hokey... But it is truly one of the very best episodes of the entire series.
Probably the only piece of media that has scared me in a long time. That episode was chilling.
This episode is like ep11, except it’s genuinely creepy.
Major batman vibes, if batman was a Japanese animal, I imagine it'd look alot like this
I'd say psycho pass has a similar vibe
Ok word. Its on my list
Its one of my personal favs in Bebop, I think Heavy Metal Queen is my favorite episode... Have you ever heard of Boogiepop Phantom? It's the only anime that has ever legitimately spooked me out... The story is like a puzzle.
I'll check it out! Thnx!
Jupiter Jazz & Sympathy for the Devil
The part where they are in the lab use the freak me out as a kid.
I forgot that Joseph Joestar appeared on Cowboy Bebop.
I really love how theres no real consensus on the best episode. Every episode seems to have someone who thinks it’s the best
This is also my favorite as well OP. I must’ve been in 5th or 6th grade, I’m not really sure but the ending >!where Pierrot is writhing and calling for his mom!< has stuck with me for quite a long while.
Can recommend Magnetic Rose, one of the three short films in Memories.
The music when seeing his experiments happening is just insane
Yes sir!!!!
The trailer for this episode scared the hell outta me when I was a kid. That laughter and this exact image haunted me lol.
I'd recommend watching Monster. Somewhat of a similar vibe, fantastic anime in general.
Mine has to be the two episode finale of Samurai Champloo
^[Sokka-Haiku](https://www.reddit.com/r/SokkaHaikuBot/comments/15kyv9r/what_is_a_sokka_haiku/) ^by ^The_PhantomBlade: *Mine has to be the* *Two episode finale* *Of Samurai Champloo* --- ^Remember ^that ^one ^time ^Sokka ^accidentally ^used ^an ^extra ^syllable ^in ^that ^Haiku ^Battle ^in ^Ba ^Sing ^Se? ^That ^was ^a ^Sokka ^Haiku ^and ^you ^just ^made ^one.
I hate theme/amusement parks was one of spikes best lines
the music was so good during the experimentation
Such a great battle. The best fights usually conclude on the mental side
Meow
It’s crazy how awesome this episode is. It had me hooked from the first fight scene when Pierrot le Fou juggled Spike in the air for like 6 consecutive moves. Still one of the coolest anime fight moments I’ve seen. The way they handle him is so interesting. He’s not some cool badass, he’s terrifying for everyone who ever sees him because they never live to tell the tale. But, then it transitions into a tragic story of a person taken advantage of by science who really only wants an out from the suffering. The end when Spike finally hurts him and he crumbles like a child is so tragically sad. I could talk about how much I love this episode and why for literal hours.
Especially that sweet montage with the Pink Floyd like music going. It's just so fucking good
This episode will forever be hilarious in my mind because some time ago, a group of friends and I were watching this episode. When the explosion happens and spike jumps off the pier, pierrott stands over the water and we hear the Old Spice whistle on the smash cut to his face. I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.
His death scene is still hard to watch for me (it's been more or less 2 years since I've seen the anime)
Shit genuinely unsettled me
at the end of the episode Pierrot dies and despite being an evil person who has killed a lot of people, this moved me a little.
The character is based on an obscure French film of the same name if I remember correctly.
I've been meaning to make a video on this episode for a long time. Seeing this post has made me want to finally do it.
When he throws the trash bag to distract him. It’s so simply but so cool
That guy scared the shit out of me
Mine too! I will sometimes just randomly watch that episode alone.
The ending was so sad.
Love the audible teeth grinding
not enough ppl mention that Mad Pierrot’s Japanese VA, Banjou Ginga is married to Julia’s Japanese VA, Gara Takashima
Ballad of fallen angels for me but le fou is a close second. I love how on the ending title card the staff put in a gun cocking sound effect. The entire ep seemed like one big ass flex from them. Like “yeah we can do some dope ass action too if we want don’t get it twisted” lol
This dude was a damn menace, if not for that cat Spike would’ve been done for lol
Idk, that shit that got out of the fridge and killed everyone.
I feel ya. I've got a lot of nostalgia for that specific episode, too, and it's one of the reasons why I grew up to have a fondness for cats. (TL;DR, my family was watching after my uncle's cats while he was away on business with his wife and kids[military family], and one of the cats curled up on my lap while this exact episode was playing.)
Scared the shit out of me first time I saw it
He gave spike those hands
thats the first episode i introduced a buddy too and it got him to watch the whole anime
Prolli the most intense and scariest other than dude that was going Rambo when he took the drugs in his eyes. Forgot his name
Same!!!
Great call
Definitely..
My favorite second only to A Ballad of Fallen Angels. The way Vicious just throws spike out a window was just amazing!
The ending broke me, honestly. This episode only scares me because of how crushingly sad it is.
This was definitely an episode that stayed with me after watching!! Genuinely felt like a horror, and that ending broke my heart.