Product Description

Follows the crew of the spaceship Bebop--ex-gangster Spike Spiegel, ex-cop Jet Black, amnesiac Faye Valentine, genius child Ed, and the dog Ein--as their work as bounty hunters places them in the midst of a mafia battle.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1364763 in Books
• Published on: 2003-04-08
• Released on: 2003-04-08
• Original language: Japanese
• Number of items: 2
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

From Publishers Weekly
The Cowboy Bebop franchise is an undisputed mega-hit in Japan, boasting a popular television show and a blockbuster film. An alternate series to the original manga, Shooting Star is a space noir set at the end of the 21st century. The Bebop is a ship with an unusual crew of renegade space cowboys (or more accurately, interplanetary bounty hunters). This what-if story introduces Kai Lucas, who hires the Bebop's crew to track down his doppelganger. The crew, led by the reckless Spike Spiegel and Jet Black, a former member of the Inter Solar Systems Police, gradually grows to include its trademark ragtag assortment of eccentrics, like conniving con dame Faye Valentine, hacker Edward IV and Ein the hyper-intelligent dog. Through a convergence of fate and technology gone awry, Spike becomes one of space's Most Wanted, and the tables are turned: hunter becomes hunted as the crew get caught in space-mafia intrigue with Scorpion, the teenage leader of the Dragon Head family. Kai's decoy wreaks havoc, and mistaken identity, bait-and-switches and double-crosses ensue. It's one wild goose chase after another for the perpetually impoverished group. This volume is the second manga spin-off from the original anime series and is the same Cowboy Bebop in spirit but with a different story line; many characters are familiar, though they have modified origins and subtle personality differences (e.g., Spike's trademark unruly hairdo has been tamed). But it still continues the potent postmodern mix of sci-fi, wit, action and film noir that made the original series so outrageously popular.
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Customer Reviews

Kuga just doesn't understand
The good thing is Cain Kuga provides great art for this series. The bad thing is Kuga, as the writer, never grasped the personality or appeal of each character. The subtlety of the anime and the balance of the various personalities aboard the Bobop is lost. The most infuriating is Spike has taken on a whole new personality of stupidity. Instead of a cleverness hidden behind his nonchalant attitude, he has become Bebop's grunt, driven by hunger and little else. There's a reason the manga is being canceled after issue 2.

Same Characters, Different Stories
This manga is the first of a two part series by Cain Kuga. Cain Kuga was approached to do a manga version of Cowboy Bebop. This was before bebop even became a phenomenon.

The stories in the manga offer a different take on how Spike, Jet, Faye, Ein, and Ed get together. The bounty hunters get involved with a mysterious syndicate with a 13 year old commander named Scorpion.

The character's personalities are more or less the same. Spike is a little more irritable than in the series. He protests hugely when the new members come aboard, even more so than he did in the cartoon. Edward is still a little off. Faye doesn't show up until the end but no notible difference was seen in her either.

The manga is well-written and on par for the bebop personalities. It reads very fast and there is alot of action. Although it is good, it isn't great. Nothing really stands out. It just offers a different story for the origin of the crew, and a different villian. Of course, bebop fans just have to check it out, out of principle.

A new take on a great series
I absolutely loved the anime of Cowboy Bebop. This book is set in the same universe with the same characters. Their stories, however, have changed. The way we meet Ed, Faye, Ein, and the history of Spike and Jet are different based on the author's take on the characters. Some might not like this, but I like the new twist on their relationships. Plus the author has added a whole new badguy! Since the TV series is over, it is also like getting all new Bebop stories. I haven't read the rest in this manga series so I don't know how they continue, but if you are dying for more Spike and don't mind the alternate reality, I highly recommend the book!

If you don't want the stories to change, consider picking up the Cowboy Bebop series by Hajime Yadate and Yutaka Nanten, ISBN#1931514917, simply called Cowboy Bebop Book 1 etc. These are more like continuing adventures that take place in between what would have been a TV episode.