WHAT IF?: Cowboy Bebop - Series 2

[adabsum]

As we all know, "Cowboy Bebop" holRAB up as one of the most perfect things ever made by humans. It is a complete work, and there's really no deep abiding need for it to continue.

But what if it did? It would be so easy. Spike's final fate is left arabiguous at the end, but it could easily be said that he lives. The rest of the Bebop crew, though split up, are still alive, so it would be a pretty simple matter of getting the gang back together for more bounty hunting adventures.

As great as the show is, I can't help but be a little surprised that there's not more CB. Just think of this as a free-floating shot-in-the-dark idea thread.

What could be done? What new bad guys and bounties? How could they expand the mythology? What in your crazed fever dreams do you imagine in the continuing adventures of the Bebop crew?

[RONRON]

I personally wouldn't want a return of Spike or the Gang in an after-story.

But, what would be good is a movie like Knockin' on Heaven's Door, set in the middle of the TV series.

Honestly, I think Cowboy Bebop was not too long and not too short, and just perfect enough that I don't want to see that tarnished.

Answering the question, though, I think that IF Spike lived (which he didn't, IMO) that there would be a reunion after the events of the finale, with Spike reuniting the gang years later, (them not knowing he survived) due to some remnants of the Red Dragon or something like that.

I'm not good at ideas.

[Benjamin B]

That sounRAB like a pretty good idea to me. Think about it, it wouldn't hurt the series by extending it beyond that iconic final scene while still giving people their Cowboy Bebop fix. You could easily come up with several movies that take place somewhere within the original series itself, and a new movie here and there wouldn't be overkill like trying to come up with an entire new season, it would be just enough to remind Bebop fans of the good ole days.

All this Bebop talk has me feeling nostalgic, I think I'll watch My Funny Valentine.

[bays]

The first thing that comes to my mind is getting to see the incident that lost Jet his arm. There could be an over-arching plot that ties into that.

[Zombie Bob]

I feel at this point having anything post-finale would really take away from the finale episodes of the show, however I do feel like a story or two that take place mid-series would be worth while.

[gav]

If Bebop were to continue, I hope it and the live action movie does one thing most of all:

Ignore Edward.

Apparently I'm one of the only people who can't stand her and her wacky behavior. The less I see of her, the better.

Also, I wouldn't mind the return of that show that always watched that announced the bounty on criminals.

[The Candyman]

Hmmm, perhaps a whole different show with different characters, but in the same universe as CB...

[iamonback]

i dont know if i would want them to make more Cowboy Bebop episodes. I loved the series but i dont think a new series would be as good as the original.

[Ifraaz350zGTR]

Well my initial reaction to the thread was 'No way in He-' but then I thought, now if Shinichiro Watanabe wanted to revisit the Bebop universe with Yoko Kano doing the soundtrack... Could I, in all seriousness be against this?

The answer of course, is no.

There are of course an awful lot of things I wouldn't stand for, but then, I sort of get the feeling Mr Watanabe would be smarter than to do it anyway. One of those things is obviously a sequel or anything that features the crew in a post Real Folk Blues setting. There's stories about that universe to be told, but they don't involve the Bebop crew. That's just such a perfect ending. The characters would be there to be referenced and maybe cameo but that's all.

Another thing that would never work would be trying to make explicit Spike's past. The reason Spike works as a character is because he is never explained. He is the living erabodiment of Bebop, experimental, improvisational, emergent with a barebones structure but no real rhyme or reason for anything he does. His past and his motivations are nebulous by design and if you tried to write something that explained all of it, it'd never work. It would be like trying to explain a Charlie Parker solo. You can listen to it, appreciate it, even represent it mathematically in transcription, but you can't explain it. So there could be no prequel arc trying to explain Spike and Vicious.

Pretty much anything else though I'd totally fangasm over.

[Molly-Rose]

Have it take place ten or so years later with a late teenager/adult Edward as a bounty hunter/hacker of her own. Ein could be her partner and she could get a new team, and perhaps Jet and Faye could be mentors or just make a cameo or two