"Cowboy Bebop" has it all! Comedy, action, romance, danger.

The series' main storyline isn't introduced until episode 5, but the episodes before it are packed with fun. These self-contained stories alone provide enough thrills and laughs to sustain an entire series- but the ominous weight of the series' arc burdens the main characters with tumultuous pasts.

Spike and Jet are a great pair; Spike's maverick bravado perfectly compliments Jet's down-to-earth sensibilities. Although they bicker constantly, their arguing belies a deep friendship. Faye, too, promises to be a complex and engaging personality.

The characters' movements are very fluid and compliment their personalities. The excitable Spike jumps about like a gangly teenager while the more subdued Jet takes his sweet time, lugging his weight slowly but surely.

Minor differences between the subbed and dubbed versions do not pervert the story. In the sub, Jet entices Spike to take the Tijuana assignment by telling him that "The beef there is really good." In the dub, he says, "The Gorditas are to die for." Small but subtle changes like this make the dubbed dialogue much smoother than its subbed counterpart. Apart from the fact that all the road signs in Mexico are written in Japanese characters, there's very little else to complain about (and even that little inconsistency works well with "Bebop's" overall conceit).

Professional actors bring their talents to bear on "Cowboy Bebop." Spike and Faye present their lines with emotion, and Jet's gruff baritone in particular suits his character. Even all the minor parts sound real and professional.

Lots of action, but also some gratuitous violence. A couple of thugs die violently. Spike and Vicious get into a nasty sword fight, and Spike falls out of a three-story window. Blood sprays in several scenes. Crime runs rampant, and Asimov uses drugs in a Tijuana bathroom.

Good format, easy to understand. Plus it's got some extra goodies, like an extended music video version of the introductory credits.

The three toothless slackers we meet in "Asteroid Blues" have the unsettling habit of popping up in the oddest of places, from an orbiting casino to a deep space scrap yard.

Like all good bounty hunters, Spike and Jet get their news from "Big Shot," a hilarious television series for bounty hunters, by bounty hunters. A man with a colossally hybrid accent and a ditzy blonde of copious cleavage gad about in flamboyant cowboy outfits, behaving like hyperactive kiddy show hosts, while offering nuggets of information about the latest bounties offered. If only real news were delivered this way...

Love it? Hate it? Buy it.