Cowboy Bebop Volume 2 features all new chronicles on the famous exploits of the hapless Bebop crew Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, Faye Valentine, Edward Wong Ha (well… just Ed) and Ein. Bound by convenience, driven by woolongs, and usually starving, this quirky quintet may, or may not, get their bounty, but they’ll pursue it with vigor and tenacity… or at least that’s what an MBC TV producer wants to see when she does a story on them.

Annoyingly, the only two manga titles that were released for Sunrise’s hit show Cowboy Bebop weighed in at a measly two volumes and then three volumes respectively, and worse still, they were primarily targeted to shoujo, i.e. females aged 10 to 18 and fans of science fiction.

In other words, Cowboy Bebop Volume 2 by author Hajime Yatate and artist Yutaka Nanten failed to capture my attention, the end result being me not enjoying the books and thus not willing to give it a great score.

Of course, you could always say that I’m being unfair considering this isn’t being targeted to me, but unfortunately for you, these additional two facts help strengthen my view: a) The decision to write in a short story format (volume 2 is made up of 5 separate stories!) means no continuity, rushed conclusions and setup, and just no chance to actually build on characters which we came to love via the television anime run, and b) Yutaka Nanten’s artwork, though competent for the most part, does often come across rushed and sometimes to stylistically forced – heck, there are times she’ll simply not draw in character faces for no reason other than it made sense to herself at the time to do so! So not pleasing on the art front either then.

In case you’re interested, here is a breakdown what is contained in Volume 2:

She’s a Rainbow: Rachel M. Kazuki, a reporter for MBC TV wants to do a feature on bounty hunters, or as she calls them “Outlaw heroes. Rebels on the edge of society.” Faye negotiates a deal with Rachel, allowing her to interview the crew of the Bebop for a price, but when a bounty comes up Rachel wants to be first on the scene.

Great Deceiver: When Jet’s old ISSP friend, Bob, gives the crew a lead on a new bounty it becomes a personal job for Faye. The perp is Linda Wise, the woman who taught Faye how to become a hustler and con artist. She used to say that the first rule of hustling was to “win your keep and move on.”

Bebop Special Short: Jet has a cold and no one knows how to cure him. Spike and Faye go searching for scallions on Earth to help Jet but instead they get chased through a swamp and catch colds on their own.

Thinking Bird, Happy Song: Jet takes Edward shopping for food but she gets hungry and tries to eat an old man’s pet bird in a marketplace. An assassin has been commissioned to kill the same old man but Edward foils his plans without realizing it.

Like a Rolling Stone: Spike goes to a wild west town and meets an enchanting guitar player named Allison who offers to help him find his next bounty: her deadbeat father.

Yup, that’s too many stories in one little book.

So the end result is that just like the first volume in this series, the short story format is just too weak, making the book less engaging and thus less interesting. If you want a Cowboy Bebop fix, rather go and re-watch the exceptional television series or excellent movie that started it all in the first place!

Not worth picking up, even if you are a die hard fan.

Related link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboy_Bebop