Cowboy Bebop has always had its fair share of peculiarness with an anime that isn’t afraid of embracing the darkness while also embarking on a journey that goes about all levels of weird. Regardless of what way one might be watching the series, it always has a strong hold on anime fans. From Japanese to subbed and then dubbed, it is foundational in many ways.
In a show that had so much to offer, one episode stands out more than the rest. It may have opened the doors for anime to globalize itself but it also prepared the world for just how uncanny and unhinged the anime world can be. However, Toys in the Attic, the most interesting episode of Cowboy Bebop, also happens to be inspired by real-life events.
Cowboy Bebop’s Inspiration from Reality
Shinichirō Watanabe, the director of Cowboy Bebop has worked on many renowned projects such as Carol & Tuesday and Samurai Chamlpoo. However, his magnum opus has a special place in everyone’s hearts. While in an interview with Forbes, he talked about the bizarre experiences that helped him create the series.
As for the idea behind the episode Toys in the Attic, that came from [Masahiko] Minami’s refrigerator. This dates back to when I worked on Layzner. Minami was also a production manager, more senior to me. One day Minami asked me to help him move house, and when I got there his refrigerator was outside, and he told me that it could never be opened.
Specifically, if there was any that took real life experiences into consideration, much to everyone’s surprise, it was Toys in the Attic that drew from Watanabe’s life. The episode revolved around a creature terrorizing the characters onboard the Bebop spaceship and they were unable to do anything until Spike finally found a way when he discovered just where the creature was hidden.
It was hiding in a refrigerator in the cargo hold of the ship. As bizarre as it sounds, there was inspiration behind the making of this episode. While the director worked with Masahiko Minami, he helped the then-production manager move from one house to another.
Some Refrigerators are Best Left Unopened
During this assistance, he was told one rule. Do not open the fridge under any circumstances. As ominous as it sounds, there was a reasonable explanation behind Masahiko Minamai’s demand. The refrigerator had been untouched for too long. Opening it probably meant to be met with a big mess.
This was because he had left it unattended for too long, and he had no idea what had happened to the food left inside. It was wrapped very securely with a lot of duct tape, and we never opened it. So naturally, I always wondered what was going on inside it.
To avoid it all, the refrigerator was completely sealed off with no one allowed to open it under any condition. Then came the mystery of what was inside that fridge. Shinichirō Watanabe grew curious as time went on. Although he couldn’t open it, he could always imagine what was inside.
The Schrodinger’s cat presented itself in the form of a peculiar yet thrilling episode of Cowboy Bebop to not only satisfy his curiosity but also add onto it. The mystery, however unsolved it may be, did get an interesting twist to itself in the end.
Cowboy Bebop is available to watch on Crunchyroll and Hulu.
