Cowboy Bebop There are many classic episodes due to the overall quality of the series, although one such episode is almost completely different from the original. The final version of the episode, “Wild Horses,” was actually banned for a short time on Adult Swim, but that might not have been the case had the story followed its original vision.
“Wild Horses” is a Cowboy Bebop episode featuring the Space Shuttle Columbia, which was taken off the air in 2003 after the real-life Space Shuttle Columbia was tragically destroyed during re-entry. While they couldn’t have known it at the time it was made, it was actually a great tribute to the first shuttle to fly into space, giving the old girl one last adventure, even if it was only in animated form. However, it turns out that the episode may not have originally had anything to do with the space shuttle at all.
In fact, the episode was originally intended to introduce a strange new element into Cowboy Bebop quite late: Giant Mecha.
Cowboy Bebop Almost Had a Giant Robot Episode
Mecha in Cowboy Bebop are hard to imagine
In an interview with Forbes, Cowboy Bebop's spaceship designer Kimitoshi Yamane spoke a bit about “Wild Horses,” saying that he was the one who suggested the episode feature a real-life space shuttle. Describing the initial pitch to him, Yamane said, “About the idea for the Cowboy Bebop episode, the one with the shuttle was mine. I wrote the initial plot and asked one of the writers to finish it. The director originally asked for an episode about mecha, but I didn't want to design a robot.Because I think real world cars are more interesting.”
While the term “mecha” is generally broader in Japan than it is in the Western anime fan community, encompassing all types of machines rather than just giant robots, Yamane’s statement suggests that he was specifically asked to design a robot for the series. There are no giant robots in the final version of the series, so suddenly introducing one in episode 19 of 26 would be quite a surprise, to put it mildly. Giant robots don’t seem to fit well into the relatively hard sci-fi world of Cowboy Bebop, so the idea of an entire episode revolving around one is a strange one indeed.
Of course, Cowboy Bebop loves to mix genres and subvert expectations, so perhaps a Bebop episode about giant robots would be really fun. However, considering the episode that fans actually got, it seems like the show would have been better served sticking to Yamane’s recommendation, as the refurbished shuttle also offers a look into Spike’s past and how he got his own ship, the Swordfish II. “Wild Horses” is a classic episode that has taken on new meaning in the years since it was made, and the show wouldn’t have had that if the giant robot episode had actually been followed up.
It's surprising how close we are. Cowboy Bebop did include an episode built around Mecha, but perhaps the series would have been better if this strange idea had never come to fruition.