Cowboy Bebop - The Complete Series - Blu-ray

Yes, yes, yes, Cowboy Bebop is one of the greatest Anime of all time (in my top 3). However, I'm posting to inform you of the following 4 versions of this re-release of the Cowboy Bebop series: - Cowboy Bebop: Complete Series (DVD 5 disc set) - Cowboy Bebop: Complete Series (Blu-ray 4-disc set) - FUNimation.com Exclusive BD/DVD Premium Edition (Blu-ray/DVD Combo 9 disc set) - Cowboy Bebop: The Complete Series - Amazon Exclusive Edition (Blu-ray/DVD Combo 9 disc set) What I've found so far is the following (thanks to Nicholas Gold for commenting on my original review) FUNimation Exclusive Premium Edition * Complete TV series on Blu-ray and DVD (combo pack) * Exclusive Limited Edition tri-fold packaging in the style of a vintage record cover * Display easel for packaging * Four exclusive art cards * One additional exclusive art card with foil-stamp autograph from series director Shinichiro Watanabe * As of 9/12/14 Market Price is $89.98 and pre-order price is $64.98 directly from FUNimation [and still $64.98 on 10/5/2014] Amazon Exclusive Premium Edition * Complete TV series on Blu-ray and DVD (combo pack) * Exclusive Limited Edition clamshell art box * 140 page black and white art book featuring concept sketches and designs that highlight Cowboy Bebop's origins * 48 page vibrant, full-color art book * As of 9/12/14 the Market Price is $99.98 and you can see the current Amazon Price above So, as far as I can find so far, the actual content is the same. In my opinion, the difference is that the Amazon exclusive has more interesting physical extras. However, at a $25 premium. So, if you're a collector and don't mind shelling out another $25, then get the Amazon version. If all you care about is watching the videos, then the FUNimation version may be for you or the Blu-Ray standard edition. If you're super hardcore, than you're gonna tear your hair out trying to decide if you should buy both LOL! I cannot confirm yet if the actual video (and on disc extra) content is any different between the standard and premium editions. If you find any other info regarding the differences to these edition, then please post in the comments and I'll update this post with those comments or any info I find as well! ------------------------------------------------------------- Regarding the FUNimation Exclusive, I've copy/pasted their info below: DETAILS Includes: Eps 1-26 Format: Blu-ray & DVD Language: English,Japanese Subtitles: English Closed Captioning: No Rating: TV-14 Aspect Ratio: 4x3 Main Feature Video: 1080p High Definition 4x3 (SD Remaster) Main Feature Audio: Dolby TrueHD: English 5.1,Dolby TrueHD: Japanese 5.1,English 5.1 Surround,Japanese 5.1 Surround Special Feature Audio: Dolby TrueHD: English 2.0,Dolby TrueHD: Japanese 2.0,English 2.0,Japanese 2.0 Main Feature Runtime: 650 Region: A|1 Number of Blu-ray Discs: 4 Number of DVDs: 5 Studio: FUNimation UPC: 704400090578 SPECIAL FEATURES Exclusive tri-fold packaging in the style of a vintage record cover Display easel Four exclusive art cards One additional exclusive art card with foil-stamp autograph from series director Shinichiro Watanabe On-disc extras TBA ------------------------------------------------------------- Regarding the standard edition: someone posts in the comments below that it is $36 elsewhere; as of 10/05/14 this is less than what is listed on Amazon. I'm not posting the site on my review cause I don't know if that's Kosher, but you can see the original comment below. ------------------------------------------------------------- Regarding the DVD and Blu-Ray extras, I want to thank BOOTA-san for finding this first and posting in the comments below. I can confirm that I've now found this list posted elsewhere on the interwebz, so here it is: DVD Extras (160 minutes): - Memo from Bebop: The Dub Sessions Remembered - a brand new 95-minute original extra, featuring the original English-language cast of Cowboy Bebop as they give you the behind-the-scenes stories about recording this seminal series. - Session #1 Audio Commentary with Koichi Yamadera (Spike) and Unshou Ishizuka (Jet) - Session #5 Audio Commentary with Wendee Lee (Faye) and ADR Producer Yutaka Maseba - Interview with Wendee Lee (English Voice of Faye Valentine) - Session #10 Audio Commentary with Wendee Lee (Faye) and ADR Producer Yutaka Maseba - Interview with Cartoon Network Producer Sean Akins - Session #17 Audio Commentary with Director Shinichiro Watanabe and Composer Yoko Kanno - "Tank!" Full-Size Music Clip - "Tank!" Club Remix Music Clip -UK Version- - Session #24 Audio Commentary with Megumi Hayashibara (Faye) and Aoi Tada (Ed) - Original Opening and Closing Songs - Textless Opening and Closing Songs - Ein's Summer Vacation - Cowboy Bebop Session #0 - U.S. Trailer Blu-ray Extras (227 minutes): - All of the DVD extras, plus - Dinner Aboard the Bebop, a brand new 68-minute original extra, featuring the original English-language cast of Cowboy Bebop reunited for dinner, drinks, and a very special script reading! ------------------------------------------------------------- Don't forget, if you haven't already, add the Cowboy Bebop: The Movie [Special Edition ] to your order! Read the first review on that page; I agree to get the DVD version (unless you're a completest) Read more

Great series viewed with amazing quality. Read more

I double dipped and grabbed the Amazon Exclusive Bebop and sold my older version (ADV? Bandai? Can't recall). The Funimation treatment has been great. One lovely note for those fans of the excellent English cast - it is the SAME! So gladly, Funimation did not re-dub with new talent! But in the dozen plus times watching the series - I do actually prefer the Japanese cast. True, the English cast is very well matched - but Faye especially excels in the Japanese (that mix of silly, quirky, serious). For those who have been living in anime purgatory for the last 15 years: Cowboy Bebop is the story of four hard luck bounty hunters (plus their Welsh Corgi) and their adventures in the near future. Each episode is a stand alone story (except a few of the two part episodes), but there is a continuity of the story and a few major story arcs that run parallel to the individual stories. It is the perfect gateway anime and I have personally gotten several people into anime who had never seen a single anime before this. It's anime crack! And Funimation did us a solid with their limited editions (3 different versions!). I chose the Amazon edition because I wanted the art books. They are smaller than I had thought, but they are pretty excellent as far as content goes. Bottom line? If you are familiar with the series, it's a new, high def release (cleaned up a bit, especially backgrounds), great sound, and worth double dipping for true fans. If you don't have the series, then now is the time to buy it. You won't regret it. I have watched hundreds of anime series since the 80s and I count this in my top 3. Read more

The best version of Bebop yet! As others have pointed out, it's not 16:9 because it was originally created for 4:3 television. It never existed in 16:9 widescreen, and never will. But who cares about widescreen! The conversion is excellent and well worth it. It sill looks fantastic and is quite an upgrade over what is currently being broadcasted. As is the remixed 5.1 audio. If you don't have a surround sound system, depending on your receiver it may sound worse - that's not the fault of these BlueRay's - other than perhaps lacking a pure stereo track. Since I think audio can be as, if not more, important than the video quality, I have a very nice 5.1 surround sound system with a fairly respectable sub woofer to go along with my very nice plasma display. This set takes full advantage of my sound system. It's pure auditory bliss. The soundtrack and musical score on Bebop was always superb - now it can really be shown off nicely! They didn't just do some post processing to the original mixes, these disks have a completely new 5.1 mix and it is very obvious to anyone who appreciates a good surround sound mix! Overall I'm very pleased with the set and I'm thrilled there are companies like Funimation who put obvious care and passion into re-issues like this. It's greatly appreciated by the fans, as the current rankings in Amazon's sales charts reflect! Hopefully this will encourage more companies to do quality re-issues that take full advantage of the latest technology as much as possible. I may have to pick up the reissue of Ghost in the Shell if it has been done to the same quality level as Bebop! Read more