Shinichirō Watanabe only releases a new anime once a decade or so, but they all leave their mark in pop culture, most notably Cowboy Bebop in 1998 and Samurai Champloo in 2004. Both shows are similar in several regards. They feature involuntary trios of friends trying to get out of a variety of jams. They deal with existential themes at times. And they both have a killer soundtrack, cool action, and serene scenes in-between.
Most fans love both shows, and comparisons usually end in, “Just watch them all,” but when it comes to wider impact and making anime cool in the West, Cowboy Bebop takes the crown. If you forced me to pick one over the other, I would also go with the king. Recently, I figured out why.
Both shows run for a total of 26 episodes. In Samurai Champloo, set in Japan’s Edo period, the same pattern repeats several times: The female protagonist gets kidnapped, and her two male travel companions bail her out. Both of them have near-superhuman strength, and it is only in the last two episodes that they finally meet their limits. It is also in those last two episodes that we finally learn more about each character’s origins, little of which has been revealed thus far.
Cowboy Bebop, meanwhile, sends its cast on 26 extremely unique adventures. Along the way, every episodes reveals one or a few critical detail about one of the characters. The backstory gets filled in slowly over time instead of being heaped upon you in one go. There’s little repetition, and every challenge derails the team in a completely new way. By the time the conclusion rolls around, you are not only satisfied with the arc of the story. You also care deeply about Spike, Faye, and Jet, all of whom have bled dearly—literally and figuratively—to reach their final destinations.
Both shows have taught me wonderful lessons. That some things can only be nourished in increments. That 20 minutes is enough to tell a great story. And now, their comparison yields one more: In the end, jagged paths are the most beautiful. We can try to straighten our stories, but that’ll just make them look flat and repetitive. Embrace the detours, and count every detail along the way—because in the big picture, every detail adds color.
But yeah, even if “B” comes before “C” in the alphabet, when you can see a master like Watanabe at work, there’s no reason to skip to the crescendo—so you should definitely watch them both.