This article is about the anime series. For the live-action series adaptation, see Cowboy Bebop (2021 TV series). For other uses, see Cowboy Bebop (disambiguation).
Cowboy Bebop

Key visual of the series, featuring the entire Bebop crew
カウボーイビバップ
(Kaubōi Bibappuu)
Genre
Neo-noir[a]
Space Western[b]
Created by Hajime Yatate
Manga
Cowboy Bebop: Shooting Star
Illustrated by Cain Kuga
Published by Kadokawa Shoten
English publisher
NA: Tokyopop
Magazine Monthly Asuka Fantasy DX
Demographic Shōjo
Original run September 18, 1997 – June 18, 1998
Volumes 2 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by Shinichirō Watanabe
Produced by
Masahiko Minami
Kazuhiko Ikeguchi
Written by Keiko Nobumoto
Music by Yoko Kanno
Studio Sunrise
Licensed by Crunchyroll LLC[c]

UK: Anime Limited
Original network TXN (TV Tokyo), Wowow
English network
AU: ABC2, Sci Fi Channel (Animax)
AUS: Adult Swim
BI: CNX, Toonami UK
CA: Razer (Kamikaze)
PH: GMA Network, TV5, Hero, TeleAsia Filipino
SA: Animax
SEA: Animax
SG: Arts Central
UK: Channel 4, AnimeCentral, Showcase TV, Viceland
US: Adult Swim (Toonami)[d]
Original run TV Tokyo broadcast
April 3, 1998 – June 26, 1998
Wowow broadcast
October 23, 1998 – April 24, 1999
Episodes 26 (List of episodes)
Manga
Illustrated by Yutaka Nanten
Published by Kadokawa Shoten
English publisher
NA: Tokyopop
Magazine Monthly Asuka Fantasy DX
Demographic Shōjo
Original run October 18, 1998 – February 18, 2000
Volumes 3 (List of volumes)
Anime film
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie (2001)
Live-action television series
Cowboy Bebop (2021)
Anime and manga portal


Cowboy Bebop (Japanese: カウボーイビバップ, Hepburn: Kaubōi Bibappu) is a Japanese neo-noir space Western[12] anime television series which aired on TV Tokyo and Wowow from 1998 to 1999. It was created and animated by Sunrise, led by a production team of director Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriter Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer Kimitoshi Yamane, and composer Yoko Kanno, who are collectively billed as Hajime Yatate.

The series, which ran for twenty-six episodes (dubbed "sessions"), is set in the year 2071, and follows the lives of a traveling bounty-hunting crew aboard a spaceship, the Bebop. Although it incorporates a wide variety of genres, the series draws most heavily from science fiction, Western, and noir films. Its most prominent themes are existential boredom, loneliness, and the inability to escape one's past.