Cowboy Bebop: Every anime Easter egg in season 1

If there’s one thing that Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop series is chock full of, it’s references and Easter eggs to the original 1998 anime. John Cho and Mustafa Shakir star as bounty hunters Spike Spiegel, Jet Black and Faye Valentine in the live action series. Cowboy BebopEach episode is filled with visual references to anime and other movies. So much in fact, it’s almost difficult to tell what is an allusion and what is actually pertinent to the show itself.

To that end, we’ve meticulously combed through the entire 10-episode season to bring together a list of every on-screen Easter egg we could find in Netflix’s new Cowboy Bebop!

Episode 1 “Cowboy Gospel”

Watanabe Casino

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Right from the jump, Netflix’s Cowboy BebopHits viewers with an allusion to the original series through the name of the creator. The “Watanabe Casino” is reference to Shinichirō Watanabe, the director of 1998’s Cowboy BebopTogether with Keiko Nabumoto (screenwriter), animation director Toshihiro Kumoto, Yutaka Nagamura (key animator) and Yoko Kanno (composer), Watanabe is known as the principal creative force behind the animated series. Watanabe served also as a creative consultant for Netflix. Cowboy Bebop series.

“Spiders From Mars”

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The ashtray which Spike disposes of his cigarette in is adorned with the words “Spiders From Mars,” a reference to David Bowie’s 1972 glam rock album “The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.” The ashtray itself is a reference to one glimpsed in the third episode of the original Cowboy Bebop, “Honky Tonk Women,” which was also set in a hotel.

Valentina Tereshkova is the space pioneer.

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When Spike flips his fifty Woolong coin in the air, a shot can be seen of the coin’s reverse side with an astronaut helmet surrounded by the words “Valentina Tereshkova; the first woman in space.” This is a reference to the real-life cosmonaut who, on June 16, 1963, launched aboard the Vostok 6 spacecraft and became the first female astronaut in space. This is not the same as the original. Cowboy Bebop per se, it’s still a cool and innocuous bit of worldbuilding on part of the live-action series.

Children playing soccer in front of “Free Titan” Graffiti

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The graffiti stencil seen in New Tijuana with the words “Free Titan” refers to the Titan War, an largely off-screen event referenced in the original Cowboy Bebop anime which plays a pivotal part in the backstory of both Spike’s nemesis Vicious and his former comrade Gren. While Gren and Vicious have very different stories, the live-action anime series still references the Titan War.

Space Warriors T-shirt On A Rack

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The t-shirt with the logo of a cartoon sea rat seen on the rack next to the woman talking to Spike is a reference to the eco-terrorist group known as the “Space Warriors” in the fourth episode of the original Cowboy Bebop, “Gateway Shuffle.” The group themselves appear in the fourth episode of the live-action Cowboy Bebop series, “Callisto Soul.”

The old three men

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Spike is greeted by three elderly men talking to him. They are Antonio, Carlos, or Jobim. These three older men appear in the eight original Cowboy Bebop episodes. The names of the characters are a reference to the Brazilian composer Antônio Carlos Jobim, and the trio themselves are seen again bowling beside the Bebop crew in the eighth episode of the live-action series, “Sad Clown A-Go-Go.”

Episode 2 “Venus Pop”

Steve Blum’s photo on the refrigerator

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Spike, Jet and the Teddy Bomber are looking at each other, but a picture of Steve Blum, who is the original English voice actor of Spike Spiegel, hangs on the refrigerator.

Wall scroll of a crane in Vicious’ penthouse

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The crane wall scroll seen hanging in Vicious’ penthouse is a reference to the original character’s unnamed pet who was first introduced in the fifth episode of the original anime, “Ballad of Fallen Angels.”

Names of the Syndicate Elders

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There are some differences between the Red Dragon syndicate council and the one in anime. For starters, the “Red Dragon syndicate” is just called “the Syndicate” now, and the elders themselves are no longer called “the Van.” If you watch the scene where the elders question and humiliate Vicious in front of his wife Julia with subtitles, you’ll notice that each of the three members is named after a character from William Shakespeare’s The TempestCaliban and Miranda. Why? No clue, but that’s an Easter egg for ya!

Episode 4 “Callisto Soul”

“Mushroom Samba” on the menu

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When Spike looks over the dinner menu in “Callisto Soul,” one of the dishes is named “Mushroom Samba.” This is a reference to the name of the 17th episode of original anime where Edward and Ein search for food after the Bebop crash-lands on Io and end up on the trail of a dealer of illicit hallucinogenic mushrooms.

Episode 5 “Darkside Tango”

“Jamming With Edward: The Supernatural Explored”

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When Jet and his former ISSP partner Fad approach the counter of the opium den, the receptionist is reading a magazine with the title, “Jamming With Edward: The Supernatural Explored.” This is a reference to the title of the ninth episode of the Cowboy BebopThis is an homage to 1972 Rolling Stones’ album, “Anime”.

Episode 8 “Sad Clown A-Go-Go”

“Cherious Medical”

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Cherious Medical was the clandestine lab that held Pierrot Lefou. This episode features Cherious Medical. Cowboy Bebop, “Sad Clown A-Go-Go,” is named after the pharmaceutical company responsible for the bioweapon used by Vincent Volaju in 2001’s Cowboy Bebop – The Movie. Volaju is referenced in the final moments of the season, so it’s reasonable to assume that the company will make another appearance in the future.

Mad Pierrot recites the “Tears in the Rain” speech from Blade Runner

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When Mad Pierrot is roaming through the abandoned grounds of the “Earthland” amusement park, he happens upon a glass case containing a Tongpu jester’s outfit. He then breaks out into a soliloquy where he paraphrases Roy Batty’s “Tears in the rain” monologue from the 1982 film Blade Runner … in French. Why? I have no idea, but that’s an Easter egg!

Jet mentions a lot of Blade Runner references

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Jet interrupts Spike’s plan to go off on his own to battle Pierrot Lefou, and then confronts him about his misguided suspicions. Jet believes that Spike is an ex-special forces soldier who was later a bounty hunter. He then asks whether he served on the “Shoulder of Orion” or “Tanhauser’s Gate.” Both of these names are references to locations mentioned in Roy Batty’s “Tears in the rain” speech in the 1982 film Blade RunnerMad Pierrot directly referenced this in his previous scene.

“An old Lee Marvin picture”

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Spike asked Jet why Jet has to rhyme as they are rehearsing how the trio will defeat Pierrot Lefou. Jet replies that it helps to retain the plan and that he saw it in, “an old Lee Marvin picture.” This is a reference to the 1967 film The Dirty Dozen, wherein Lee Marvin’s character Major John Reisman teaches a squad of convicted murderers a 16-verse rhyming chant in order to remember their roles in a coordinated mission to assassinate several high-ranking Nazi officers.