His cool and carefree attitude hid both his badass fighting skills but also trauma. The ending he got was unnervingly ambiguous but also fitting given his past and status as a bounty hunter and ex criminal.
It's really not ambiguous. The song that plays after Spike leaves the Bebop is a pledge of undying love for Julia. The lyrics state that he will love her even when he is dead and allude to them being together again in the afterlife. Before Spike dies, he sees Julia with his eye that sees his present. She is glowing in white. Then Spike is engulfed in a white heavenly light. All series long Spike is shown seeing Julia with only his eye that sees his past, yet it is foreshadowed in Jupiter Jazz that he will see her with his eye that sees his present. He does. We are also given visual cues that Vincent, Julia, Vicious and Spike's souls have ascended immediately after their deaths. The song that plays at the end is literally a song about Spike's soul ascending to heaven. At the end of the credits we see Spike's star go out. It never falls. Laughing Bull said a falling star is "A pitiful soul who could not find his way to the lofty realm. Where the great spirit awaits us all." After a death, the soul ascends to the heavens and those who could not find their way fall back down to earth as shooting stars. Spike made his way to the great spirit. He is with Julia now. Like the tiger striped cat, Spike followed his love in death and never returned. Both were able to break free from the cycle of death and rebirth. In Buddhism, breaking free from death and rebirth is a soul's ultimate goal. It is the ultimate release from suffering.
"There once was a tiger striped cat. This cat died a million deaths, revived and lived a million lives, and he was owned by various people who he didn’t really care for. The cat wasn’t afraid to die. Then one day the cat became a stray cat, which meant he was free. He met a white female cat, and the two of them spent their days together happily. Well, years passed, and the white cat grew weak and died of old age. The tiger striped cat cried a million times, and then he died too. Except this time, he didn’t come back to life."
That's literally what happened. The song that plays after Spike leaves the Bebop is a pledge of undying love for Julia. The lyrics state that he will love her even when he is dead and allude to them being together again in the afterlife. Before Spike dies, he sees Julia with his eye that sees his present. She is glowing in white. Then Spike is engulfed in a white heavenly light. All series long Spike is shown seeing Julia with only his eye that sees his past, yet it is foreshadowed in Jupiter Jazz that he will see her with his eye that sees his present. He does. We are also given visual cues that Vincent, Julia, Vicious and Spike's souls have ascended immediately after their deaths. The song that plays at the end is literally a song about Spike's soul ascending to heaven. At the end of the credits we see Spike's star go out. It never falls. Laughing Bull said a falling star is "A pitiful soul who could not find his way to the lofty realm. Where the great spirit awaits us all." After a death, the soul ascends to the heavens and those who could not find their way fall back down to earth as shooting stars. Spike made his way to the great spirit. He is with Julia now. Like the tiger striped cat, Spike followed his love in death and never returned. Both were able to break free from the cycle of death and rebirth. In Buddhism, breaking free from death and rebirth is a soul's ultimate goal. It is the ultimate release from suffering.
Spike: Years ago, back when I was much younger, I was afraid of nothing. I had not the slightest fear of death. I was ready to die anytime. But then I met a special woman. She made me want to go on living. For the first time, I was afraid of death. A feeling I’d never had before. Elektra: Where is she now? Spike: She went away.
I started this show to just ... have it watched, I guess. But when Ed decided to leave the Bebop and Ein joins her, I cried a little. I cried more, when Faye tried to stop Spike from going and Jet standing alone in this living room kinda thing at the Bebop. But when the end screen was done and this last message appeared with "You're gonna carry that weight" I totaly lost it 😭
i feel like that too. I feel like after she found out about her past, she really cared about everyone ed, jet and spike. Also, I feel like she push her own feelings aside for the sake of spike and the rest.
Spike's song to Julia that plays near the end: "Everything is already over", You say with closed ears The words only flow Towards a tomorrow without peace "There's nothing that won't change" Even if my life ends This love will not disappear It's something that will live forever Even if dreams are hidden in darkness I got a rainbow Rainbow in your hands...
i hav watched countless things in my life and this i believe is the most phenomenal show ive ever seen. every time i watch it it just hit different like it grows with you, i could rant about it all day but see u later space cowboy
N543576 - I agree and disagree yes he's sleeping but in between worlds talking to Julia contemplation weather or not he should really continue on to the afterlife
Lol nope. Only Death can give meaning to the show's final glory or legacy is not necessarily true. It doesn't matter whether spike is drad or alive. Atleast he killed his past as he says he always wanted to.
Cowboy Bebop is such a legendary show with such a great protagonist. Just wish the show continued, and hopefully that the Netflix real life adaptation doesn’t ruin it or hope that it isn’t true
@@tybotomusrex870 It’s not as bad but it’s also not good either. If the original was a stylish Sci Fi Noir with subtle powerful storytelling Bopflix is a Sci Fi B-Movie Comedy with writing about as subtle as your average Marvel movie.
The director of this anime knows how to use music in anime to create a strong atmosphere which draws you in completely. Cowboy bebop, samurai Champloo and space dandy are my top favorite animes of all time (All the same Director). Many 90s and early 2000s anime titles were absolutely amazing aswell. Such a shame the current state of studio ghibli films. Also very saddened with the state of anime in general. We shall never see 💎 like these anime series ever again.
I watched this anime as a kid and never really know the real story. In my country, local tv channels air anime like naruto, cowboy bebop, galaxy angels, card captor sakura, etc. every 4pm-6pm exact time where us kids from middle school just got home or are on their way home. Such good memories and times were simpler back then.
His ship at the start of the show is the Swordfish. Spike loses this ship in session 19, Wild Horses. His ship in every episode after that (including the movie) is the Swordfish II.
for those of you that don’t know the director of cowboy bebop didn’t really announce what happened to spike so he said you make up your own ending, whether if that may be spike just being unconscious and he comes back to jet or he dies. I personally see him as dead because it only makes sense.
I've never realized just how much Spike's focus had always been Julia, and how much the last few episodes focused on Spike's eagerness to find her. I only felt like Spike's love was genuine in and out. Maybe its because Julia wasn't the focus all along to the viewer (😅 oops), but Spike himself. Alive or dead, the ending is bittersweet. Spike finally let go of the past and saw his future by doing what Jet mentioned men do before they die: think of the past to see if they were really living. Spike saw he was truly alive in those last few frames of him left, but as himself and not focusing what's now the past, Julia. The bebop crew always felt like a family, I like to think Faye stayed on the bebop and lived with Jet. I love their characters so much, they really did feel like a family, especially Faye and Jet!! 😭💔
Nope. Spike walks away from Faye and Jet without a second glance. He never thinks about them again. The song that plays after Spike leaves the Bebop is about how he will love Julia even when he is dead (and how he will be with her in the after life). He finally sees Julia as his present 40 seconds before he dies, something that was foreshadowed since mid-season. Also, Julia was devoted to Spike, chose him over herself, was willing to die for him, and did. "Everything is already over", You say with closed ears The words only flow Towards a tomorrow without peace "There's nothing that won't change" Even if my life ends This love will not disappear It's something that will live forever Even if dreams are hidden in darkness I got a rainbow Rainbow in your hands...
@@buniuniuni Seems like you might need a rewatch. She was always thinking of him the whole time. *Gren:* I get it now, you’re the one. You’re Spike. Julia was always talking about you. Your eyes are different colors. I remember her saying that. Said you get a strange feeling if you keep looking straight into his eyes. *Spike:* Where’d you meet her? Where was she? *Gren:* Right on the corner bar stool. She’d slip in when I wasn’t looking. She asked me to play the same song every time she came in. Strange lilting tune. And then she would smile. Oh, what a smile. So sad. So beautiful.
The Great Pretender has a lot of similar vibes of Cowboy Bebop and all around an amazing a beautiful anime. (You should check it out and review the main character next is what I'm trying to say.) :)))
Very well made video! Cowboy Bebop is such an incredible series, and I truly believe the story of Spike, Jet, Faye, and Edward is one of the greatest works of fiction every written.
I personally perfer spike actually lived in the end and finally "kills his past" and "frees his miserable soul" which he always wanted to do. The writer gave us the choice to believe either spike died or lived, and i know many people want to belive that he died because it would end spike's life and the show perfectly, but i believe that now he finally has peers, even if he lives on by chance, he still has chilled and comfy way of life to go on. Finally free of dreadful past and misery which he always wished. Also, the last line "You are gonna carry that weight" might also mean that we as watcher have to overweight our mind with thoughts of overthinking whether he's dead or alive.
I prefer Spike being dead at the very end because... it's just one of those things... that's "perfect." Not everything story needs to go on forever. Cowboy Bebop, the way it ended, was tasteful.
I’ve lost caught of how many times I’ve watch Cowboy Bebop. I think that Spike might’ve died after the final battle. He lost his love and killed his rival. Being on medical disability to the point I can’t even drive anymore I sometimes wish they weren’t able to revive after the accidents. I’ve lost the profession I have a passion for and the woman I thought was going to be my wife and mother of my children. Good thing I’m so against suicide.
I think the mystery around his childhood is kind of necessary for the emotion of the show so i think if they made a prequel i think it should be spike as a bounty hunter a little while before he meets jet.
A fading star is for a soul that found its way to the great spirit that awaits. The star was for Spike. He even saw Julia as his present before he died. Pitiful souls have falling stars. Vicious is judged as pitiful by the Van in The Real Folk Blues.
2:30 well I think it's clear it was a romantic triangle, and Julia was Vicius girl until she met Spike, and the two man hate each other because they were also very good friends
One thing that still left me a lil puzzled. If Vicious had taken over. Why were they still chasing Spike and Julia, and killed Annie? Since they were on Vicious' side. I try to think of it as..... did Vicious give the order to finish the job on spike, annie and julia. Or this went down as vicious was gaining power. So the hitmen who took orders from elders hadnt got the memo yet. So Spike in general just blamed Vicious because if he hadnt did what he had done. Hit men wouldnt have come after him, julia and annie.
Haven’t saw the show so long I didn’t know how deep the season(?) is I only saw the show only adult swim when I was in high school ‘til I was in my early 20s (31 now) it was my favorite show ever in anime shows of adult swim
