Well, now we know why the Bebop crew was living on bell peppers and beef, without the beef…
Earlier today, Funimation opened reservations for their Cowboy Bebop 20th anniversary sets. As previously reported, three sets are available. That said, it appears that Funimation’s official price for the top tier is $550, as opposed to the previously reported $500.
In addition to the first-ever vinyl release of the soundtrack, the sets will include a brand-new on disc bonus feature, which will be revealed at a later date.
The three planned editions are as follows:
Bebop Crew Edition ($550)
The features for this set include:
- Two PVC bookends featuring the Bebop crew
- Cowboy Bebop on Blu-Ray
- Cowboy Bebop the Movie: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door on Blu-Ray
- Two-LP vinyl soundtrack
- 200-page artbook
- Five (5) Lithographs
The Boogie Woogie Box ($350)
The features for this set include:
- Rigid box with metal clasps
- Cowboy Bebop on Blu-Ray
- Cowboy Bebop the Movie: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door on Blu-Ray
- Two-LP vinyl soundtrack
- 200-page artbook
- Five (5) Lithographs
The Bounty Hunter’s Steel Edition ($250)
The features for this set include:
- Rigid Collector’s Box
- Cowboy Bebop on Blu-Ray
- Cowboy Bebop the Movie: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door on Blu-Ray
- Two-LP vinyl soundtrack
- 200-page artbook
- Five (5) Lithographs
The reservation period will run through May 31. A general purchase period will be held immediately after the reservation period, and will run from May 31 – July 13.
According to Funimation’s FAQ, the vinyl soundtrack will not be sold separately, due to licensing restrictions. Funimation will release a standard edition of the Cowboy Bebop The Movie: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door Blu-Ray, though specific details haven’t been announced.
Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 series from studio Sunrise. Shinichirō Watanabe (Space Dandy, Samurai Champloo) directed the project, which featured character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto (Blood Blockade Battlefront, Wolf’s Rain). Keiko Nobumoto (Tokyo Godfathers, Macross Plus) was in charge of series composition.
Yoko Kanno (Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, Macross Frontier, Space Dandy) scored the show’s soundtrack.
Bandai Entertainment originally released the title in North America on VHS and DVD. Cowboy Bebop was the first anime title to air on Adult Swim in the United States, and has aired numerous times since that initial broadcast. Though Bandai closed its doors in 2012, the show has since been rescued by Funimation. They describe Cowboy Bebop as:
The Bebop crew is just trying to make a buck. This motley lot of intergalactic loners teams up to track down fugitives and turn them in for cold hard cash. Spike is a hero whose cool facade hides a dark and deadly past. The pilot Jet is a bruiser of a brute who can’t wait to collect the next bounty. Faye Valentine is a femme fatale prone to breaking hearts and separating fools from their money. Along for the ride are the brilliant-but-weird hacker Ed and a super-genius Welsh Corgi named Ein.
On their own, any one of them would be likely to get lost in the sprawl of space, but together, they’re the most entertaining gang of bounty hunters in the year 2071.
Funimation currently offers Cowboy Bebop on several streaming services, including Crunchyroll (subtitled) and FunimationNow (dubbed).
Sources: Twitter (Funimation)
