In my thirties, after having been both homeless and an enlisted soldier at different points in my life... having many good friends, including my best friend, either die young or disappear from my life entirely... yeah. This show took on a whole new meaning for me coming back as an adult. I used to think it was just cool, now I think I should have read it more closely, as it's closer to a premonition.

If you live long enough, you WILL carry that weight.

"You're gonna carry that weight" is a blessing for those who can come to terms with their past, and the damnation of those who can't.

used to wanna be Spike, but lived long enough to become Jett Black

I remember hating Cowboy Bebop when I was 10 and hadn't lost anything yet. I watched it again at 25 after my dad died, and don't know how I ever lived without it. Then at 30 I remember some teenager telling me how it sucked ass, and that he just knew nothing was ever going to change his mind. I laughed and said "you haven't carried that weight yet."

Faye going home breaks my heart every time The Seatbelts start playing Call Me Call Me

As an older bloke who's suggested Bebop a hundred times to a hundred people. It's totally fair that it doesn't land right away. It comes from a time where symbolism was a lot more subtle and modern anime fans are used to much more focused and direct storytelling. I think the thing that stuck with me as a kid watching it was how all of these characters where so talented but unable to find their way in the world, but what really cemented the series with me was growin up and seeing how much more there was, how each character is unable to let go of the past and that stops them having a future, until they all find a way to let go and move on. That's the thing about time, it never stops, so whatever baggage you're carrying, until you learn to let go, you're gonna carry that weight.

Possibly the closest we will ever get to a universally perfect anime. Didnt try pushing the story past a point of tarnishing it, i.e. more forced seasons.
Edit: the netflix version doesnt exist

A quick note (heh) on the music: it's not just a fusion of genres, and a huge selection of them at that, but also languages within songs... Yoko Kanno made up a language (kannonese) using English, French, German, Japanese, and others that was used in songs like Green Bird and Cats on Mars, giving them a futuristic melting pot feel that seems familiar and alien.

I listen to all the OSTs regularly still, and could go on for hours just on the music

"I never watched Cowboy Bebop."
I'm sorry, I don't understand those words in that order.

My first job was at a movie theater. I worked my way into being an IMAX tech, and sometimes there wasn't a big blockbuster, or it was after hours. And here I am, with the controls of an empty room with a lightshow and an audio system that costs as much as a house, and sometimes I'd take some time to cue up Space Lion and sit in the middle of that empty theater and vibe.

Watched Cowboy Bebop when I was around 16, then again around 26 and I am now 36.
Each time it resonated with me on a different level. However, I felt like I truly understood the essence upon my third watch with enough life experience behind me at 36 years old.
Shit hits deeper than I thought - life is a rollercoaster.

I've been chasing that Cowboy Bebop hit since the early 2000s...

Nothing has ever matched it.

I remember watching this some time in my teens and thinking "damn, this is good, I like it". then watching it again in my thirties; after all the heartaches, betrayals, losses, colossal fuckups, catastrophic mistakes, and bad decisions I've made or suffered throughout my life. and just thinking "damn, this hits different now".

I never understood cowboy bebop's message until I became a man, but even as a kid I recognized the weight it carried emotionally. It truly is a timeless anime. Everyone has a tragic background, as thats what brings them together, they are all running from a past, and nobody cared about the others pasts, at first, but as the anime continues, they all care for each other, then last episodes when spike opens up to fey about his past and she yells "why are you telling me this, you never tell me about your past" 😢 I still get emotional.

Legendary algorithm pull

Crazy that you used "a beat up old yugioh card" as the analogy for nostalgia. I literally just pulled a dark magician out of a drawer I haven't opened in a decade and honestly that feeling slaps

I feel like it’s impossible to talk about Cowboy Bebop deeply without feeling somber

It's definitely like an onion with layers and layers. Once you get into it and start to understand it that's where the real appreciation settles in.

The people you lose. The people you couldn't save. The people you love. The strangers you meet. The sound of a wind chime bringing back memories of your childhood. Memories. I never want to be free of them not matter how much they hurt.

Never seen a bluer sky...