Cowboy Bebop was the first anime to be shown on Adult Swim back in 2001, which is arguably the single best introduction fans could have to the anime medium. The neo-noir sci-fi Space Western was unlike anything else in anime, balancing a stylishly jazzy soundtrack with expressively fluid animation and nuanced character writing. The face of anime on Adult Swim (and mainstream television in general) would look completely different had Cowboy Bebop not launched on the block.
Every location of Cowboy Bebop feels truly lived in – the characters feel like real people. To call Cowboy Bebop one of the best anime of all time would be a massive understatement. 25 years since Cowboy Bebop premiered on Toonami and the series’ first movie came out, Cowboy Bebop is getting a 4K movie worked on by Shinichiro Watanabe, complete with a theatrical release in Japan (and hopefully more countries to come).
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie 25th Anniversary Release in Theaters This October
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door originally released on September 1, 2001 in Japan. To celebrate the movie’s 25th anniversary, series and movie director Shinichiro Watanabe is supervising a 4K remaster that’ll premiere on October 30 in Japan. Along with the announcement of the movie’s re-release, the official Cowboy Bebop X account shared a new poster for Cowboy Bebop: The Movie by Toshihiro Kawamoto, Atsushi Morikawa, and Sueaki Uesugi.
An international release for Cowboy Bebop: The Movie‘s 4K release has yet to be announced. That said, given Cowboy Bebop‘s immense international popularity – especially in America – there’s a very high chance that the film will come stateside for a limited engagement release. Likewise, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door could very well see a 4K physical release down the road now that Sunrise is actively working on a remaster.
When to Watch Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, also called Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, takes place between Episodes 22 and 23 of the anime. Logic would dictate the best time to watch The Movie would be after “Cowboy Funk,” but it’s honestly better to wait until after finishing the entire series. Although The Movie is set during the events of the anime, it wasn’t until 2001, years after Cowboy Bebop had already ended.
Cowboy Bebop: The Movie is written with the anime’s ending in mind, making certain moments – especially with Spike – land a lot harder when you have context from the series finale. That said, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door is written in such a way where watching the prequel where it takes place canonically won’t ruin the ending by any means – you just won’t get the full weight out of the The Movie.
- Release Date
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1998 – 1999
- Network
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TV Tokyo, WOWOW Prime
- Showrunner
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Shinichirô Watanabe
- Directors
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Yoshiyuki Takei, Ikuro Sato, Hirokazu Yamada
- Writers
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Keiko Nobumoto, Michiko Yokote, Dai Sato, Sadayuki Murai, Akihiko Inari
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Koichi Yamadera
Spike Spiegel / Ein (voice)
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Unsho Ishizuka
Jet Black (voice)
