# Firefly vs Cowboy Bebop **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 9, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619 "2003-04-09T19:01:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kasuo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8c91f0/32.png) [@kasuo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kasuo)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619/1 "2003-04-09T19:01:25Z")
So I was glancing back at a few old threads about FF and there was some mention of Cowboy Bebop. I never watched an ep of CB although from what I know, it’s anime that’s about some crew of bounty hunters who use jumpgate technology in the solar system. So what comparisons can be made about both shows? Is FF a rip-off of CB? ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619/2 "2003-04-09T19:08:04Z")
I don’t think FF is a ripoff of CB. Joss Whedon doesn’t do rip offs…he does _homages_. Seriously, I wouldn’t be surprised if Joss Whedon is a fan of Cowboy Bebop, but I don’t think he was consciously trying to rip it off. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619/3 "2003-04-09T19:56:50Z")
There aren’t very many, past those inherent in the genre. I mean, they both have spaceships in them, that sort of thing, but there really isn’t any sort of a “Western” theme to Cowboy Bebop. “Cowboy” is just a generic term for “bounty hunter” in that universe. They don’t have the whole “low-tech frontier” thing, or the Civil War metaphor. There aren’t any real analogues between the characters, either, although I suppose there are some broad similarities between Edward and River, but only if you really stretch. Although I’ve never seen it, a friend of mine claims that the anime TriGun is actually very similar to Firefly, at least as far as the sci-fi Western thing goes. ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619/4 "2003-04-09T20:18:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > **There aren’t very many, past those inherent in the genre. I mean, they both have spaceships in them, that sort of thing, but there really isn’t any sort of a “Western” theme to Cowboy Bebop. “Cowboy” is just a generic term for “bounty hunter” in that universe. They don’t have the whole “low-tech frontier” thing, or the Civil War metaphor. There aren’t any real analogues between the characters, either, although I suppose there are some broad similarities between Edward and River, but only if you really stretch.** I disagree; when I first saw “Firefly,” the first thing I thought was “apparently somebody at Mutant Enemy has been watching Cowboy Bebop.” There definitely is something of a sci-fi western theme to Bebop, especially in the beginning of the series. It’s not as pronounced as in “Firefly,” and sure, if you’re looking for a one-to-one correspondence, it’s not there. But the main feel of “rickety spaceship with assorted stragglers with mysterious pasts, doing odd jobs for pay on recently-settled frontier planets” is in both. “Trigun” is more obviously similar, because the western theme is much more pronounced, but that story focuses more on Vash & the insurance agents instead of a crew of wandering mercenaries. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619/5 "2003-04-09T20:57:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Miller \* > There aren’t very many, past those inherent in the genre. I mean, they both have spaceships in them, that sort of thing, but there really isn’t any sort of a “Western” theme to Cowboy Bebop. “Cowboy” is just a generic term for “bounty hunter” in that universe. They don’t have the whole “low-tech frontier” thing, or the Civil War metaphor. There aren’t any real analogues between the characters, either, although I suppose there are some broad similarities between Edward and River, but only if you really stretch. \*\* I’ve only seen one episode of Firefly ever. It actually seemed closer to the anime Outlaw Star than to Cowboy Bebop. IIRC both have aliens, AI robot characters, bounty hunters, intersteller travel and the like. CB takes place in a homo sapiens only club completely on terraformed planets and moons in our solar system. All shows belong firmly in the “space bounty hunter” genre (as does Star Wars). Cowboy Bebop, IMHO, is actually more interesting because it seamlessly blends a number of styles - Western, film noir, cyberpunk, classic kung-fu flava’, even a little 70s Blaxploitation. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619/6 "2003-04-09T22:22:24Z")
Firefly did not have Aliens, though it was set in space. In that regard, it’s more like CB than Outlaw Star. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2003, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619/7 "2003-04-09T22:29:58Z")
No aliens or robots in _Firefly_. And whether the travel in _Firefly_ was “interstellar” is an open question, deliberately left vague as far as I could tell. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619/8 "2003-04-10T00:39:53Z")
You know what. I’m thinking of that horrible show with Kevin Sorbo, not Firefly. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619/9 "2003-04-10T00:50:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by msmith537 \* > \*\*You know what. I’m thinking of that horrible show with Kevin Sorbo, not Firefly. \*\* _Andromeda._ And it’s not that bad, in a campy, Star Trek: TOS sort of way. **Fiver** : I seem to recall it being explicitly stated at one point that they were travelling between stars. I’d have to watch my tapes to be sure, and it still hurts too much to do that. **Sol** : That’s pretty much what I meant by “similiarities inherent in the genre.” ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2003, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619/10 "2003-04-10T01:52:12Z")
I’m ready to be shown wrong, **Miller** , but it’s something I was listening for with each new episode, and I never noticed any indication they were traveling between stars. What I can remember argues against it: The voiceover introduction by Book says “ **A** new system was found, and hundreds of new Earths…” And the more civilized planets were always referred to as the “central planets” and the frontier worlds as the “outer planets,” suggesting a concentric-circle geography like you’d find in a single star system. ---
**Author:** ![widdershins](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f0a364/32.png) [@widdershins](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/widdershins)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619/11 "2003-04-11T11:18:04Z")
Couldn’t it be that _Firefly_ borrowed fr…er, was an homage to different elements of all three shows. The crew from diverse backgrounds and with various specialities reminds me of _Outlaw Star_ and _Cowboy Bebop_. But that is staple of adventure and action genres of all stripes The lack of aliens as well as the cities on the terraformed planets and moons of _Cowboy Bebop_ remind me of _Firefly_ and its central planets. The desolate desert setting of _Trigun_ reminds me of the “low-tech frontier” of the outer planets. Right down to the western clothing and architecture, mix of advanced and older designs of firearms, the mix of mechanized vehicles and domesticated animals for transporation (although the cutie insurance duo seem to be riding animals native to the world, or at least not from Earth). I’m trying to remember, while _Firefly_ had no sentient alien races, did we ever see animals or creatures native to these worlds? River reminds me of Melfina from OS although she was a human who was altered and augmented rather than a synthetic creation. Both were naive young women who were somehow much more than they seemed on the surface, being persued by dark shadowy forces and bounty hunters, although this too is a staple of the genre. ---
**Author:** ![caveman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caveman/32/7242_2.png) [@caveman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caveman)\ **Post date:** [April 11, 2003, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/firefly-vs-cowboy-bebop/167619/12 "2003-04-11T14:11:35Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m trying to remember, while Firefly had no sentient alien races, did we ever see animals or creatures native to these worlds? Not as I recall…unless those were _alien_ cattle…