Summary
The final title of Cowboy Bebop reflects the tone of the series, while also alluding to the characters and their ships. The original title was “Shooting Star Bebop,” which alluded to the series’ ending. The final title of Cowboy Bebop is short, catchy, and unforgettable.
Cowboy Bebop is an iconic anime series, and its seemingly nonsensical title perfectly captures the tone of the anime. However, it's hardly a title, and the original title would never have conveyed the harsh, often dark, and gloomy atmosphere of the series.
The current title of Cowboy Bebop comes from the main characters’ occupation, bounty hunters known as “Cowboys,” and the name of the ship they all live on, the Bebop. The name also has a musical connotation from “Bebop,” which fits with the series’ reliance on jazz for atmosphere and impact. On the other end of the spectrum is the “Cowboy” part, which evokes images of lone cowboys on a mission, which accurately reflects the premise of the series.
Although the title may seem nonsensical like many other anime, it is actually quite a fitting title, unlike the previous one.
Cowboy Bebop is almost called “Shooting Star Bebop”
“Shooting Star Bebop” Will Relate to the End of the Series
According to an interview with Shinichiro Watanabe, the author of the series, held on Forbes, “It was originally planned to be called Nagareboshi Bebop, or 'shooting star' Bebop, but in the end we couldn't use that name. due to trademark issues. So we tried an English version of Shooting Star Bebop, and again we ran into trademark conflicts. So we thought about the story and its focus on bounty hunters, who could be called 'cowboys', which is how we ended up with the name Cowboy Bebop.”
The idea of the series being called Shooting Star Bebop is an interesting one, as it alludes to a theme seen at various points in the series of the deaths of warriors being mirrored by shooting stars falling from the sky. This could allude to Spike’s ultimate fate in the series, as the ending of Cowboy Bebop leaves it ambiguous as to whether Spike is alive or dead. Putting “shooting star” in the title seems to imply that the series is about Spike’s death, removing a level of ambiguity. However, despite this connection to the series’ themes, the title Shooting Star Bebop is a bit too confusing and certainly not as coherent as Cowboy Bebop.
Shooting Star Bebop also has a bit of an odd sound, and doesn't convey the tone of the series as well as the final title. It may have been a blessing that the title wasn't available due to trademark issues, as it prompted Watanabe and his team to eventually come up with the idea of calling the bounty hunters cowboys, and thus the final title. Cowboy Bebop may even owe some of its success to having such a short and memorable title, as it's hard to forget the title after hearing it. Cowboy Bebop achieves the perfect balance between meaning and appeal in its title, and that's something its original title lacks.
