The Sadness Behind Spike Spiegel 

Okay so over the last week or so I went on a rewatch of Cowboy Bebop after a few years, and its still the hardest hitting piece of media I've ever seen that never loses its stopping power. In fact, it usually gains stopping power the older you get purely because of the theme of carrying the weight of your past and still managing to move forward. And as is tradition I like to watch video essays of people to get their perspective on the show and what they take from it. Its all subjective but to see how its effected so many people in similar ways gives me comfort in a way and stumbled upon this one. And I have to say this is one of the best videos I've seen on the show, not only that but from a man that i'd expect to have 100x the subscribers based on the quality of his upload. Not only that but on my multiple watched of the show, it's only now that I understand the idea behind his eyes. I always thought it was a purely metaphorical statement and theme but the way you explain it here makes so much sense to me. Even if its wrong and not intentional it's still my headcannon from now on. It would make sense that a mechanical eye made specifically to see whats in front of you and only that could maybe not be able to project memories and live within them. It may be stupid but I like the idea. This was a fantastic video and I'm a big fan of your humour and the way you edit alongside your perspective on this show. I hope you seriously blow up because you definitely deserve it :) p.s sorry for the essay i get carried away when talking about stuff i enjoy and cowboy bebop got me in that mood again to reflect and express yknow

this guy needs like 1M subs already my god

Steve Blum said that cowboy bebop is his favorite project to work on.

To me, you’re already as cool as spike

This is the best Cowboy Bebop video I’ve ever seen. I’ve watched several video essays about this show but I’ve never really understood the ending until now.

Hello everyone ! I actually have reuploaded my cowboy bebop analysis video with some added changes because it came to my attention that I got some things completely wrong with my analysis of Spike. The idea that I could be possibly spreading misinformation on this show and its characters and someone could watch the vid and then possibly continue to spread that misinformation really bothered me. So I thought the best decision was to reupload it with the correct information. I'm sorry I messed up first analysis and all that yanno lol and its important to me that the video should be accurate even if that means changing and reuploading it all together. I understand a lot of you probably already saw it and this might just be a slightly altered version but I would really appreciate it if you all could check out the new upload of it to get the right info and also watching all the way through would help it not lose the same traction and views that the original had also really makes me sad to lose a bunch of your amazing comments that I loved on the original so if you can drop a comment and if not I totally understand thank you so much. New video next Wednesday! or next next Wednesday lol

Yo the rough editing style and dry humor of this guy is deserving of a freaking Emmy or something

Fun fact, Tom from Toonami and Spike Spiegel are the same voice actor. Hes voice acted in so many of the shows I watched as a kid that Steve Blum is the narrator voice in my head now lol.

I am personally offended that this man hasn't reached 1M subs yet. Keep up the godly content, King.

This is something I saw another commentator say and I feel compelled to mention it here. In the episode "sympathy for the devil" before the kid dies he says something along the lines "Do you know the relief that you feel when you die?" Spike grabs his harmonica, throws it up in the air and pretends to shoot it "bang" and said "as if". In the end he says "bang" again meaning he now truly feels the relief of death after a never ending life.

the line "You're gonna carry that weight." always kinda had a double meaning for me. Not only are you gonna carry the weight of everything you've been through and hopefully learn from it, you're also gonna remember this masterpiece for the rest of your life and hopefully learn from it. p.s. I know this video is months old at this point, but I just found your channel and I wanna say I love it. It has such a cozy vibe, it's like the embodiment of the nostalgia that all those lofi streams wish they had. You're the first youtuber that I can actually relate to, especially since I'm pretty sure you're only like 2 or 3 years older than me. I literally went back and watched all the videos you've made except for like 1 or 2. Thanks for everything you've made, if you keep it up, I think you'll make it big.

When Spike tells Faye "Forget the past it doesn't matter" because he knows what pain not being able to live in the present causes. When spike talks of his eyes one seeing the present and one seeing the past it's always been interesting to me and reminds me a lot of a Gurren Lagann quote from Kamina that is english dub only in the heavily edited Bathhouse episode "There are some things I've just got to see/All of You Bastards Put Us in Hot Water" (so it's non-canon but it fits the show so well, don't make me fight you irl) in the recap talking about how the village leader of Adai had enough fighting spirit to pilot a gunmen and defeat a beastman was proof he should have had hope instead of condemning their village to live underground with a population below 50. "Tell me Simon, you know why people have eyes in front? it's because you have to move forward to see the landscape in the distance..." "yeah if you had eyes in back all you could see is your home town getting farther away, you can't move forward like that, if your eyes are in front, what you see in the distance keeps getting closer, that's what lets people move forward" I think this quote really plays off the idea of being stuck in the past like the bebop crew and how those who can't forget their past are damned to longing of their homes lost to time. This is why Faye shoots the roof in an attempt to bluff to keep Spike from leaving, because the bebop crew is her future, it's truly something they all should have been doing, looking to the future to make a life for themselves instead of looking to the past as their homes dissipated into nothingness. First Jet with his ex-wife and the pocket watch frozen in time there was no place for him to return to. Just like Faye we when we look to the past we have nowhere to return to, the past is the past because it's gone, that's why it's so tragic when spike says "I'm going to find out if I'm really alive" because we all know why Spike is leaving, he's attempting to go out in a blaze of glory because now that Julia is dead, he too has no place to return to. There's also the Dream metaphor too but I'm sure this comment is already unread-ably long so I'll just start speed running some cool notes. There's a book/teachings called Hagakure which the author's(Yamamoto Tsunetomo) critique on Bushido, just to quickly quote the wikipedia on the topic since I'm not a great writer, describing Hagakure the wiki says: "Written during a time when there was no officially sanctioned samurai fighting, the book grapples with the dilemma of maintaining a warrior class in the absence of war and reflects the author's nostalgia for a world that had disappeared before he was born." Another quick quote: "The book records Yamamoto's views on bushido, the warrior code of the samurai. Hagakure is sometimes said to assert that bushido is really the "Way of Dying" or living as though one was already dead" in comments he also mentions Samurai having to view themselves as already dead, living in a dream. Bushido is a concept that for the most part applies to spike, he seems to want a more honorable life than the one he had in the syndacate and he seems to have an undying loyalty to Julia he goes to die for his Lady. In this way both spike and Vicious' lives embody to Hagakure style Bushido, as well as the show making a lot of commentary on what it means to live that way. Source: It was revealed to me in a dream after my like 15th rewatch. tl;dr I'm a big fucking nerd and I went a bit 4:30

Spike was unironically the first time my brain though a man was hot

Samurai champloo is made by the same people and is also a character study. It’s not as great as cowboy bebop don’t get me wrong, but it was still a fabulous show that doesn’t get a lot of love. Would love if you had anything to say about it

This video is fucking amazing 😂. Literally the best Spike Spiegel analysis video. Good job homie 🤝

It's as if someone took the best aspects of NakeyJakey and my favorite weeb channels and stuck them in a blender. Totally here for it my dude

not gonna lie, I shed a tear or 2 ( or 10) over your interpretation of "You're gonna carry that weight." I didn't realize how badly I needed to hear that. Thank you so much Pitstop

"Leaving with Julia means escaping the past trauma for him" So wonderfully put - so many of us probably stuck in this hazy present with minds in the past - if only that 1 thing could be put right it would mean no more pain

Great quality! Keep up the awesome work and you’ll blow up sooner than you think 👊

A lot of video essay channels just feel like robots reading information from Wikipedia with clips of the topic. The reason why I loved this video is because you incorporated your personality bad humor into it.

Spike could've benefited from things we know now. I don't really want to call him a 'simp', but he built his personality around the heartbreak he himself chose (remember that Julia was Vicious' girl). Jet gave him a chance to escape his old life, and found a family in Ed and Faye. But he chose to go back and throw his life away. "I am not going out there to die, I'm going to find out if I'm really am alive." But you were, Spike. Living day to day with people who actually cared.

As someone who was raised by this anime since the age of 6 and is now 27, I deeply appreciate how clearly personal and charismatic this review is. Great job! Definitely subbing, expect you to reach 50k very soon or I’m suing RU-vid

I cried like a BITCH during the end of bebop. Iv never watched another show that had such natural and real characters. It still feels like jet is out there in the bebop looking for the next crew.

Such a beautiful analysis of Spike Spiegel.....he is a tragic and iconic character trapped between the hard walls of the past and future, stuck in the present as you said. Really makes the entire perspective and approach to his character so interesting and relatable, his love for Julia and feud with Vicious really bring his character to the climax. Have never seen any content better relating to the cool man himself, great work! The perspective that Spike operates in a dream like sequence so often is quite interesting too.

Cowboy bebop had a awesome theme song

This, out of all the other video essays was perhaps the clearest one. I love this anime and the growth it's recently got in being heavily discussed on, but yours really stands out in terms of truly getting to the point in a clear way, while also having a lot of topics surrounding it without being too bogged down or focusing way too much on one. Awesome vids, surprised you don't have hundreds of thousands more on subscribers ._.

Another banger bro, you’re on a kingly streak right now dude. Keep doing what you’re doing and you’ll be a successful youtuber like in less than a year

I’ve watched a few Bebop analysis videos before this one and I gotta say, this is definitely the best analysis I’ve ever seen of Bebop. I really love how you interpreted “You’re Gonna Carry That Weight”. That line now inspires me to keep moving forward in life no matter how hard it can get. Thank you for this. Amazing video!

And you love cowboy bebop as well? Perfect channel

this is it dude you absolutely changing the game out here keep it up

Cannot describe how much I love your chanel and your content.

I enjoy hearing others get such deep meaning out of Cowboy Bebop, it truly is something special. You know you've made something so good when people can get such important themes out of your show in only a single season.

real glad this popped up in my feed

thank you man, thank you. It was much needed, the analysis, the jokes and the references of all the songs in the description. Solid youtubemanship.

fantastic work, glad you didnt beg for an immediate sub and patiently went through everything you wanted to talk about. Keep it up don't stop

Dude you got an amazing sense of humor and creative talent. Honestly this video spoke to me. I love it’s message you touched upon

Came across this channel a week ago now I’ve binged every video and now have a new fav comfort channel

Cowboy Bebop pulled me out a pit of despair when I dropped out of college. Life was falling apart, but this kinda helped sew it back together. Only to be wrecked all over again by the end of the series, but it felt like a necessary hurt, if that makes any sense.

I had this video in my watch later playlist for so long, and i regret not watching it sooner due to how insanely high quality your videos are. I've been an avid viewer ever since, thank you for all the great vids

This video was incredible, so succinct with your analysis I learned things I never picked up watching the show, so happy I found your channel!

Great video man.....Bang Hyped me up so much, I really need to make my own one of these

"Babe wake up, Internet Pitstop posted" this analysis of spike was amazing!

The beauty of spike is his how vulnerable he is, always willingly puts himself at risk unwilling to sacrifice his virtues.

nice video! thanks for the analysis

Honestly out of all the bebop analysis video I've seen . This is so spot on

"as chill lofi hip hop beats to study to as spike" that's real.

This channel is my vibe. Just binged every single video. I really hope you go far with this king

Keep on space cowboy... You are living in the real world.

You have such a sweet attitude, your sense of style is fantastic as well. Very unique and unusual approach to put yourself in the front of things you're reviewing. Creative Even not a native English speaker, like me, it's extremely clear what ideas you try to convey. Instantly subscribed. Keep producing good content, you'll gain a lot if subscribers! Kudos

The Bebop crew: "Wait... It's all (for) Julia?" Spike: "Always was."

the old soundcloud lofi bgm had some songs i haven't heard for a while, thanks for the multiple layers of nostalgia

This show makes me cry the deeper I understand

Damn bro I thought some eps of cowboy beebop was boring filler but realizing that it only felt that way because the characters couldn't move forward really hits. This vid opened my eyes. I'm now seeing cowboy beebop in a different light and I only just recently watched it.

My man you can't just hit me with the smooth, deliciously heart-wrenching tragedy of Cowboy Bebop AND Eye Of Truth in the same video. I have reached a level of cathartic vibing I never thought possible. As someone with CPTSD, Spike has hit me harder than any other anime character. Maybe any character period. I've been told my entire life that I'm laid back, aloof, adaptable, even intimidating in some cases. It comes from being so used to chaos and trauma that it barely phases me in the moment. I fight disassociation on a regular basis. My laid back personality was forged by having to learn how to control my emotions to an unrealistic degree from an early age, and going through personal emergency after personal emergency as an adult. Internally, danger alarms are ringing and my mind is reminding me of past experiences. It's not a fun existence, but I do my best to get by.

I mean this in the best possible way when I say this man is like if Frugal Aesthetic made a anime channel 🔥🔥🔥

The day will come where this man will get the recognition he deserves. Well explained analysis!

What a beautiful video. Thank you for this.

Like you, I grew up the same way in struggling to watch Bebop against strict parental rules. It's been years, and after watching only the dub multiple times, I'm looking into finally watching the sub. This is easily the best Bebop video I've seen, and it was very nostalgic. Kudos for making me see many things I missed when I was younger. In terms of character analysis, there are many characters in Ashita no Joe and Legend of the Galactic Heroes that would make for very interesting and new character analysis content that hasn't been done before. I've tried myself, and those can get wilder.

this whole channel is a straight vibe

I can honestly say that I watched this at an appropriate time in my life. Thank you my guy

Crying just watching the breakdown. That's how heavy Bebop is.

Mann i've just recently discovered your channel and oh boy... It's all I watch in my free time. Congrats dude cause what you're doing is truly amazing. The humor, the writing and editing are one of the bests that I have ever seen. Just leaving my comment on this video specifally because I love Cowboy Bebop and gotta help with the algorithm with a spicy Spike video. Cant wait for the next uploads man!

this guy is actually insane, thanks youtube for reccomending me this guy, it really reminds me of nakey jakey but at his own style and makes it unique, keep it up your content is insane

"you're gonna carry that weight" punches me right in the soul. Just like you i was a kid when i first watched this. I barely even understood what i was watching. Decades later, those words are alot heavier.

So glad I clicked on this video! Your analysis and humor were chef's kiss. Had to subscribe

Really great job dude

My god you explained this so well and makes perfect sense

this is such a good video, ur making banger after banger

That intro, we can relate. I thought "American Rabbit" was one of the most sophisticated films. I was just 7 at the time.

Like you did with Berserk, you should absolutely breakdown the soundtrack of Cowboy Bebop at least the songs that highlight the soul of the show. There are ones on the main album that are obvious treats of the highest caliber (Tank, Rush, Cosmos, absolutely Space Lion, Memory, etc.) but there are some on lesser known albums that are so special. “On the Run” the theme of pierrot le fou is a song that incapsulates pure horror in music like Murder does in Berserk. It made that episode feel like I was a kid watching something late at night on adult swim that I was certainly not supposed to be watching. And “Goodnight Juila”. I have not and it’s my opinion unless I hear something godly elsewhere that there is no song in anime that is more emotionally beautiful and sad at the same time. The cosmic feelings of loneliness, sadness, hate, pain, reminiscence of memories fading like tears in rain, this song compiles them all and it’s not even that long. To do that in such a short time is a testament to Yoko Kanno’s skills. Definitely think about it and listen to those songs if you haven’t before. Your videos are the best and you should have much more than a million subs

I'm glad I'm here for the start of an already highly potential channel 😳 Because damn. That was a top notch & most importantly unique video! 👏🏼👌🏼

I’m embarrassed of how many of your videos I‘ve binged so far. Seriously your content is GOLD your references are so on fucking point. You’re my greatest inspiration. When I start making RU-vid videos, I hope I have half of your confidence/editing skills. You’re actually nuts bro

Gosh, your videos never disappoint!

Great stuff keep it up!

Killing it as always. Watched two and a half episodes of the Netflix adaptation and yearning more for the original. So here I am again arching analysis’ to give me that feeling. The essence of bebop and remind me of what the animation was to reward myself with the og once I’m done.

First saw your 90's anime aesthetic, but I've decided here that I'm gonna sub! Love your style, man! Your timing with the edits and use of the green screen is a great touch!!

By far my favorite Bebop video!! If you haven’t seen Ergo Proxy that show is a trip and has some interesting themes throughout the show. Keep it up 🫡

Jesus the bumps get me every time just bravo man standing ovation

Hell yeah I’ll watch this vid again, I’m so on it! BEST CHANNEL ON RU-vid! Really awesome of you to admit when you made some errors in the previous upload of this and go back and fix them. Especially when you had a good amount of views on the last one. I’m sure it’s not easy and a huge bummer to have that happen, but mad props for doing it.

This dude funny af 🤣 way better than most anime RU-vidrs. You don't take it super seriously but still deliver an awesome presentation! Well done

another banger 🔥 love me some bebop. super well put together and on point 👌🏽 well done

best bebop video ive seen, thanks for keeping it real

Dude you are fast becoming my favourite RU-vidr

Brother I’m a big fan of your work, love the content and you look like a cool dude, a fan from Portugal 🇵🇹 wish you lots of success

Dude such a good video and so well put together. Def gonna watch this on stream again one day you need to be way more popular

Yo this bro is mad cool. Props G.

I didn't get into anime until my mid-teens and I believe this was the first anime I ever finished (being in the middle of a couple lengthy shonnen series at the time). I've felt for a while that I was just too young to appreciate it at the time. Haven't rewatched it yet, but I'm looking forward to doing so.

Finally gonna get caught up on your stuff! You’ve been killing it bro 💯💯💯💯

Seeing this dude talk about his 1,000 sub special and seeing him at 205k just fits. Dude is a vibe.

FIRE VID! , I love the songs you put in the backgrounds too & I also think Mugen from samurai champloo would be a cool analysis.

This was beautiful

The real rite of passage for anime youtubers inst just making a video on Bebop, its making a video on the show and putting both space lion and waltz for zizi in the background

Thank you for this 🤘

Just finished Cowboy Bebop immediately came to watch ur vid awesome stuff 💯💯

6:17 Not naive at all. Just listen to the story of The Chinese Farmer. You cannot know what's "Good" or "Bad", all you can know is "Maybe". There is also the quote "Que Sera Sera". You make a great argument and I don't think you're wrong, but what I am saying is that that kind of outlook isn't a bad one...maybe. If anything, it seems that Spike's outlook is quite healthy. In the end, he does resolve his past :D Happy ending. 13:03 beautifully said. 18:04 Oh Wow! How beautiful and poetic. I had no idea. Man, all of your videos are so good. I believe this one stands above the others though because it seems that you truly got the message within this anime, something that I'm sure many, including myself didn't really get fully. This was such a delight to see things in a different perspective explained so well. You keep doing that actually. You're very good at explaining things. Well done.

I can honestly relate to a fictional character more than a real person in my real life because I know more about the fictional character than the real life person.

I've just started watching the original Cowboy Bebop it's great

Is it weird that I'm a millennial but had the same experience as a 10 yr old kid discovering the masterpiece that is CBBB through Adult swim ? I swear this anime seduced me with how fascinating it is. I could/and have rewatch the series over and over and never be bored ❤️

Your vid, is ON, ANOTHER, LEVEL

Well damn this channel is badass, never thought too much about Spike eye.It made more sense ✨👌✨💪✨