The Absurdist Existentialism of Cowboy Bebop

The struggle of finding meaning in a meaningless world.

Cowboy Bebop is a 1998 neo-noir space western anime, following Spike Spiegel, a bounty-hunter (known as “cowboys” in this universe) and his crew aboard their ship, the Bebop. Spike and his crew, Jet, Faye, and Ed, travel around the solar system (attempting) to cash in on bounties while also confronting their pasts and their struggles to move forward. In my opinion, I think the show perfectly captures the ideas of Absurdism, a “branch” of Existentialism. 

Spike is haunted by his past, of the betrayal of his partner, Vicious, the loss of his lover Julia, and the uncertainty of his future. Jet his cynical about the world and doesn’t believe he is as capable as he used to be. Faye has a deep, hollow void of loneliness inside her. And Ed is…Ed. She’s carefree and filled with optimism, but the feeling of being rejected by her father still runs through her. All of the characters are trying to find meaning in a world that just doesn’t have it.

I’ll focus on Spike, since he is the main character so not only does he get the most screen time, but I think he best captures the ideas of Absurdism, the conflict of trying to find meaning in a fundamentally meaningless world. His story reminds me a lot of Camus’ “Myth of Sisyphus”, probably the most famous and popular Absurdist work. Spike is like Sisyphus. He knows that his fate is sealed and that he can’t escape the past or the uncertainty of his future no matter how much he runs from it, so in the end he accepts it, and collapses onto the stairs with a smile on his face. The entire show has shown us (and Spike) that no matter what Spike does, the universe is meaningless, no matter how much Spike searches for meaning.