15 [Similar Anime] Like Cowboy Bebop

The same director is enough to put these series together, because Watanabe's way to create is somehow the same with Miyazaki, who share many ideas in his works. The crew contingent is almost the same, a woman and two men (with some exceptions). The story contingent is also almost the same, one episode - one story, with a great story line which has resolution in the end. You'll find moments to laugh yourself to death and to burst into tears. Besides all the above listed you'll enjoy an awesome work with music in these series. It isn't just a background for the main performance, but a very integral part of the creation.

One trait that sets Shinichiro Watanabe’s work apart is his refusal to accept this Japanese conformity. In his anime, all of the characters define themselves by their individuality, fighting for themselves and ONLY themselves in a vast and lonely world. In Cowboy Bebop, the characters were thrown together by chance and stayed together only as long as convenience allowed. Although the anime was for the most part an action comedy, even the hilarious moments were subdued by this profoundly forlorn undercurrent of internal solitude.

Trigun and Cowboy Bebop are both similar in the sense that they both have a western kind of feel to them, except one takes place in space and one takes place in an actual desert setting. Both animes have a very cool, laid back main character, but they are both different in their own rights, too, in that Trigun's main guy is very emotional and a pacifist with the insane luck and the main character of Cowboy Bebop is a bounty hunter, with amazing luck and skill, but they both have very horrible pasts and very different outlooks on life. Each episode of the anime revolves around a different bounty hunter story or a different story about helping people in a different town and every now and then they throw in some real parts about the storyline, hinting at both the past and the lives of the other characters, but it's mostly about the main character and their views on life, their pasts and they both have guns, insane main male characters and awesome fighting action scenes with a lot of humor sprinkled in.

Two classic series, just classic.

The similarities between these two anime are not so apparent, however they do share quite a bit in common. Both shows are about a rag tag bunch of pirates (or bounty hunters, same thing, right?) who make their living dong dangerous things. Both shows are episodic in nature, and are very character driven. While not on the same par as Bebop, Black Lagoon is no slouch when it comes to character development, which is a bit of a surprise from a show whose immediate goal is to deliver as much blood, action, and gunplay as possible (which Bebop also has quite a bit of). Revy, BL's resident badass, has her own distinctive charm, much like Spike. While Bebop is easily the better show (well, it's better than most anime, so it's not really fair to compare), Black Lagoon is entertaining in its own right and is worth a look from Bebop fans.

Amazing, exciting, and gritty anime which focus on a crew composed of 4 people (bounty hunters in CB, modern pirates in BL) and their adventures and jobs at the edge of legality.
The main characters are quite similar: there’s the hot and dangerous beauty (Faye/Revy), the computer genius (Ed/Benny), and the ship’s owner/leader (Jet/Dutch).
Both anime have large amounts of action, badassery, guns, violence, black humour, mafia, plus awesome characters, great animation, and good music.
Also, both anime have an episodic nature: most of the episodes have a different story with several characters joining it, but without forgetting the protagonists' past and troubles.
If you love one, you’ll adore the other.

If you're looking for a space adventure with crime and action, then Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star should definitely be something worth taking notice of. For these two series, they both have science fiction themes dealing with criminals in an adventure like setting.

Cowboy Bebop and Outlaw Star are both space westerns featuring a crew containing bounty hunters that attempt to make a living off their jobs. In both anime, the crews' attempt to "make it big" through high paying bounties or jobs is often foiled. Both are episodic anime that concentrate more on individual stories, while the overall plot is an undercurrent that compliments the series rather than dominating it. Cowboy Bebop's individual stories tend to be deep or compelling, while Outlaw Star's individual stories focus more on comedy instead, but Outlaw Star does not lack in emotion and Cowboy Bebop does not lack in comedy.

Bebop and Baccano! are all about style. It’s the thirties: tommy guns, stars from black-and-white movies and jazz. Bebop is more like blues with its sadness and noir films features. Baccano! is a jazz like it was in really beginning, totally improvisation. You don’t know what will happen next. Great cocktail from retro, detective stories, comedy, cruelty and heartbreaks. Both these series was inspired by films like “The Godfather”, “The Untouchables” and so on. You’ll find crime families and gangland killing, fire-fights and pursuits, maniacs and comedy characters in Bebop and Baccano!

As an anime viewer, you might be lucky enough to eventually stumble upon unforgettably great anime at one point or another. I'm here to tell you of two such anime: Baccano!, a tale of immortals and the mafia gang, and Cowboy Bebop, the journey of a former syndicate-turned-bounty-hunter.

Shinichiro Watanabe is known for playing the role of directing both these two series. For starters, they have a similar style involving a space adventure. The main male protagonist has a casual way of living his life along with his their similar personalities. Their professions are also both classified as bounty hunters.

Both could technically be considered to exist in the same universe. With Space Dandy taking place a lot later in the future. Both are the only shows to use Woolongs as space currency so that buffs up the argument.

Even though the premise is different, Michiko to Hatchin has a very similar vibe to cowboy Bebop. Both stories are wild west stories build around a futuristic 70's style universe. Where Bebop had the bounty hunter's gallivanting all over the place looking for their big payday theme; Michiko has a classic wild west bandits on the run premise. The similar feel might be because Shinichiro Watanabe was the music director for Michiko to Hatchin. But even if you don't think they're similar, I'm sure you'll enjoy Michiko if you liked Bebop.

The director of Bebop was a producer on Michiko and Hatchin so even though he didn't direct the show feels quite a bit like one of his shows, Bebop included. Both shows are mainly episodic with a plot linking it's protagonist/s to a past they (well one of them in the case of Michiko and Hatchin) have difficulty letting of and that is kept mysterius, hinted at through flashbacks and linked to organized crime, with troubles from said organized crime driving the plot and action.

The two series constantly switch between comedy and drama, being very good at both. Both shows are set in the near future, where our present technology is merged with sci-fi components, like flying cars and space travel. Both main characters, Gintoki and Spike, have a mysterious past and now work as freelancers taking crazy jobs for money - which they screw up more times than not, often because of their sense honor or for just being sloppy. Both are also constantly haunted by their past, in the form of old comrades that turned into outlaws or old friends that passed away.

I never thought I would compare them, but I can see many similarities. First, both belong to the same study, Sunrise. Then, in most important aspects, we have the MCs, Gintoki and Spike, both have a sad and dark past who have decided to overcome, but they still feel guilty. Their personalities are similar. They have an old comrade who became the enemy. In both anime, Yorozuya and the team aboard the Bebop, are quite peculiar and charismatics. These groups are poor and unable to complete any work. The series are episodic, Gintama more focused on comedy and satire, accompanied by drama and action, while in Cowboy Bebop focuses more on action, drama and existential questions. Space environment. Well, Gintama and Cowboy Bebop are a little similar, but uniques and highly recommended.

These series share a similar episodic format, Cowboy Bebop's plot spanning one episode while Darker Than Black spans for two. In each of these miniature arcs the main group of character's more or less are completing a mission as part of their careers, bounty hunting and assassinations. In addition, these arcs are very well development and serve to expand on multiple main character's backgrounds. There are episodes targeted for comic relief but it isn't a central aspect of either of these shows. They both also touch on serious topics, contain symbolism throughout, and are thought provoking. Spike and Hei's character similarly have a dark past they want to escape from. And, both teams of characters contain an animal in their crew (Darker Than Black has a cat and Cowboy Bebop a dog). In addition the atmosphere and music in both of these are well presented and reminiscent of each other. And, the ending contains a surprising plot twist.

Both anime share a near future setting where technology has an important role in society. Kougami is a character similar to Spike in the way they think and both have an archnemesis which wants to play with their mind and twist it.
Cowboy Bebop has a unique style, while Psycho-Pass tries to put the viewer to reason about society. Psycho-Pass will surely not disappoint Cowboy Bebop fans.

If you liked Psycho-Pass's characters, you will likely like Cowboy Bebop's characters. Spike Spiegel and Shinya Kougami have an almost exact personality match, except Spike is a little more... humorous. Vicious and Shōgo Makishima are also very similar in terms of intelligence and looks. Shōgo is definitely more cunning. Jet Black and Nobuchika Ginoza are also very similar. They have a similar backstory, overall demeanor and even looks. Both Spike and Shinya are main protagonists and both Shogo and Vicious are main antagonists. Spike and Jet's companionship is similar to Shinya and Nobuchika's companionship. There's not really too many similarities beyond that other than the dark vibes from both shows.

Both series stories' are driven episodically, with different individual characters being focused on each episode. Both are action-oriented involving a crew of people facing off against dangerous criminals, or sometimes more down-to-earth stories of members of the crew getting involved with strangers' lives. Both are very musically involved especially centered around the jazz and big band style. And both homage to real gangster movie style, while Cowboy Bebop goes into the Sci-Fi and Kekkai Sensen goes into the Supernatural. Both blend action and comedy very well.

Both have the same atmosphere. They both feel fairly light hearted and episodic, which gives them both unique charm. Both have a diverse cast of characters. They both utilise a soundtrack that features jazz, to enhance the city feel. They are both fairly light and comedic, with a good amount of action.

These anime share a similar plot structure: we have a different case/adventure in most of the episodes while still retaining a background main plot. Throughout the story we learn more about each MC personality and past. If you like futuristic action and some mature themes, you got here two anime perfect for you. The crew in Cowboy Bebop is more of a 'bandit crew' while the crew in GitS is an investigation team and everything would point that they are opposite poles but they actually share many similarities. Just take in mind the settings and world are quite different.

The similarities grow as Ergo Proxy moves to its second half. The main cast of both shows spend time in close quarters abroad their broken down ships. They're both set in dystopian sci-fi's. Both become episodic in nature though have an overarching plot. Spike and Vincent both want to run from their past, but end up facing it in the end.

both are stories about a pair of bounty hunters, and they're daily lives, and they're adventures; including dealing with the past of one of the main protagonist involving an old psychotic partner and an organization they left because of a woman, that is out to get them. Along the way, the main protagonist meets a partner, who was a police detectives and now they hunt bounties together, trying to be free, while dealing with the fact they are dirt poor, and starving most of the time.

Cowboy Bebop and Macross Plus shared some creative staff, most notably, director Shinichirō Watanabe and composer Yoko Kanno, both of which are stunningly brilliant, creating these masterpieces.