Cowboy Bebop (TV)

Trivia:

According to the book Cowboy Bebop: The After, the series' stories are highly influenced by the films Reservoir Dogs, The Crow, Desperado, A Better Tomorrow and Enter the Dragon.

In session #3, Jet talks about having a dream where he's talking to a guy named Charlie Parker, who is a jazz musician who helped start the bebop genre of jazz. 

The three old men seen throughout the series are named Antonio, Carlos, and Jobim. Antonio Carlos Jobim is a famous musician whose music was modeled after for some of the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack.

In session #15, when they re-insert Faye's cryotank, you can see that information plate on its top has the serial number NCC-1701-B, which happens to be the same serial number as the third Enterprise from the Star Trek series. 

In session #15, My Funny Valentine, there's a short glimpse of Lupin III's car. 

Ed's father's name means "Excuse me! Check please" in turkish. 

Spike's fight on the bridge with Abdul Hakim in session #2, Stray Dog Strut, is a homage to the fight between Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabar in the movie "Game of Death" from 1978. In fact, Spike uses Lee's "Jeet Kune Do" style when he fights. 

The names of the three members of the "Starship Pirates" that the crew is hunting in session #19, Wild Horses, are George, Herman and Ruth. George Harman Ruth is the full name of Babe Ruth, the famous baseball player. 

There's a poster of Bruce Lee on the building in which the doctor has his office, in session #25, The Real Folk Blues Part 1. 

Session #11, Toys in the Attic, contains many references to the movie Aliens from 1986. Examples of this are the tracking equipment Spike uses, and the arming up scene. 

Spike's pistol is an Israeli Jericho 941. Jet's pistol is a Walther P99.

Ed's full name is Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV. She made it up.

In session #3, Honky Tonk Women, the casino/space station is called the Spiders From Mars casino. This name is visible on the trash can Spike spits his cigarette into. The name comes from the David Bowie album Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars. 

Session #11 is named after Aerosmith's album and song "Toys in the Attic" (1993) 

Session #3 is named after Rolling Stones song "Honky Tonk Woman" from the album Through The Past Darkly (1969) 

Session #9 is named after Rolling Stones album "Jamming with Edward" (1972) 

In Session 19: Wild Horses, the man who owned and fixes Swordfish II, Spike's spaceship, is named Doohan. This is a reference to James Doohan, who played "Scotty" on the original "Star Trek" (1966) TV series. 

Faye's handgun is a Glock 30 .45

Spike's bent cigarettes are an homage to Jigen from Lupin III.

Session #24: "Hard Luck Woman" is named after the KISS song from the 1976 album Rock and Roll Over. 

In Session 6 - "SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL", Fatty Rivers' name is a reference to Muddy Waters, the legendary blues musician. 

Won "Best TV Animation Award" at Animation Kobe '98.

The Title of Sessions 25 and 26 "The Real Folk Blues" is not only the title of the show's end theme but a song by Muddy Waters 

The Japanese title for Session 10, "GANYMEDE ELEGY", differs slightly from the English title. The Japanese title says "Ganymede Bojou" (ガニメデ慕情). An elegy is a song or poem of lament. Bojou means longing or yearning. 

The Japanese titles for Sessions 11, "TOYS IN THE ATTIC", and 20, "PIERROT LE FOU", are actually "Dark Night of Heavy Rock" (闇夜のヘヴィ・ロック/"Yamiyo no Heavy Rock") and "Clown's Requiem" (道化師の鎮魂歌/"Doukeshi no Chinkonka") respectively. 

Only half of the series 26 episodes were aired on regular Japanese television(it aired on TV Tokyo). The rest were deemed "unfit" for regular television. Episodes 1, 4, 5, 6, 15, 16, 17, 19, and 20-26 were all skipped due to violence, drugs, and suggestive/mature themes. This was because a rash of very brutal murders were commited by a 14-year-old and then a 11-year-old. Their excuse was that they saw it on TV an thus caused Japan to start to heavily censor thier shows. It should be noted that Cowboy Bebop was eventually aired unedited and with every episode intact on Japan's WOWOW Satelite Channel.

Session #6: "Sympathy for the Devil" is the title of a Rolling Stones song, from the 1968 album Beggar's Banquet. 

Session #14: "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a Queen song from the 1975 album "A Night At The Opera." 

"Call Me Call Me" by Steve Conte (as played on Session #24) borrows chords and arrangements from the songs "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House and "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve. 

At the end of episode 23, Jet says Ronny Spanngen when the plate clearly says Rosny. 

Session #19: "Wild Horses" is the name of a Rolling Stones song from the album Sticky Fingers (1971) 

In Session #18, "Speak Like A Child", Jet and Spike obtain a Beta tape, and take it to a shop keep to try and sell it. The Shop keeper is watching an old television show, and at the end, you can partially see the names "Jason Prest-" and "Shanan D'ha-" as the Executive Producers. The names are cut off, but they are assumed to be "Jason Priestley" and "Shannen Doherty" respectively. This can allow us to assume that the shop keeper is watching a VHS tape of "Beverly Hills, 90210". To further prove it, the sister clearly calls the brother "Brandon". They also refer to each other as twins. Jason Priestley played the role of Brandon Walsh on Beverly Hills, 90210 for eight years from 1990-1998, while Shannen Doherty played the role of Brenda Walsh from 1990-1994. The played twins on the show. 

As noted in the bonus feature "Session #0", the English lyrics at the beginning of the opening theme are officially as follows: "I think it's time to blow this scene; get everybody the stuff together. Okay, 3, 2, 1, let's jam."

Session #2: "Stray Dog Strut" is a reworking of the Stray Cats song "Stray Cat Strut" from the band's 1982 self-titled debut album. 

Jet Black's nickname "Black Dog" is a Led Zeppelin song from the band's fourth album (a.k.a. "Led Zeppelin IV," "Four Symbols," "Runes," "ZoSo," or sometimes "Untitled").

In Session #14, "Bohemian Rhapsody", in the list of games played seen on the chess piece analysis scene, a game against the famous computer "Deep Blue" can be seen. Oddly enough, it seems the old man won, since he plays with blacks. 

We can easily learn Faye's true age by watching the Session #15, "My Funny Valentine". Right at the beginning of the episode, we can see on the cryo-container label that it was last opened on November 23th of 2019. Assuming that such a date was the date when Faye entered the cryo-container, that Cowboy Bebop's events happen on 2071, and Faye was born on 1994, it's safe to assume that Faye is 77 years old chronologically. 

In Session # 23, "Brain Scratch", the HUD (Heads Up Display) of the game the black boy plays when the channel 183 is tuned, (the "Brain Dream" commercial) is almost identical to the HUD on the space simulator game "Conflict: Freespace" and "Freespace 2". They are both green, with the same pane layout, triad cross-hairs and energy bar to the left. The only thing that distinguishes them both is that the "Freespace" HUD had an energy bar to the right too. 

In Session # 23, "Brain Scratch" on the Brain Dream commercial, we can see many controls tossed into a garbage can. Among them the Sega Megadrive (or Genesis), NES, SNES and PS1 can be recognized. Oddly enough, in all the recognizable controls, the direction pad and buttons have switched places. 

On the same episode ("Brain Scratch"), when Jet is making a queue to get the Brain Dream console, there is a cardboard dummy with a badly drawn woman in it. If you read the dummy, it says "Toon Raydaur". A clear tribute to "Tomb Raider". 

In Session # 24, "Hard Luck Woman", the first name of Ed's dad is Appledelhi. His assistant is called Macintyre. The first parts of each name are, respectively, "Apple" and "Mac", an obvious nod to Apple and Macintosh. 

Winner at the 2000 Seiun Awards for Best Media of the Year.

During Episode 26 when Jet goes to the mystic man, the camera zooms out to a overview shot, and a PlayStation can be seen. 

The moves listed for the two chess games seen in Bohemian Rhapsody are from actual games played by chessmaster Paul Morphy in 1857 and 1858. 

In addition to the Jean-Luc Godard film of the same name, "Pierrot le Fou" (episode 20) also contains 2 references to Yellow Magic Orchestra songs from their 1978 debut album. The villain's nickname, Mad Pierrot, is the name of a YMO song. Similarly his code name, Tongpu, is a reference to the YMO song "Tong Poo". In addition, Chris Mosdell, who wrote the lyrics for several YMO songs, also wrote the lyrics to "Butterfly" for the Cowboy Bebop movie's soundtrack. 

Session # 0 extra for the Remix box set release is essentially a Q&A with the some of the cast and crew of the production team while featuring clips from various episodes in the original dub fully subtitled

In Session #4 "Gateway Shuffle" a terrorist group threaten others with a vial of a virus called "Monkey business". It is a reference to a movie from 1952 directed by famous director Howard Hawks and starred by Marilyn Monroe. 

The personality and roles of the characters in Cowboy Bebop have many similarities with the Lupin III cast.

Spike's shoe design is most likely based off of the male shoe design from Lupin III.

Vicious' pet bird could be an homage to the classic anime series Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Both characters, Vicious and Harlock have cormorants that like to perch on their shoulders.

Toshihiro Kawamoto modeled Ed's character after singer Yoko Kanno: "I first heard from the Director, Watanabe Shinichiro, that Kanno was the type of person who rolls on the floor of the mixing room when she wants to go to sleep. She's just got so much energy. So I modeled Ed after her."

Originally, Ed's character was based on a description of the series' music director ("a little weird, cat-like, but a genius at creating music") and was going to be a dark-skinned boy. Edward was turned into a girl to even the gender ratio on the Bebop, which was, with Ed as a boy, three guys, and one girl.

Laughing Bull seems to be a Sioux Native American, since he makes a reference to Wakan Tanka, the “Great Spirit” in the Lakota Sioux way of life.

The Pippu Cola soft drink that is seen in various episodes is a parody of Pepsi-Cola.

Spike's description of his fighting style being "like water" might suggest certain forms of Chinese martial arts such as Wing Chun or Tai Chi. It is also likely a reference to a quotation by Bruce Lee (who himself practiced Wing Chun). The quote was "You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Become like water my friend."

Ganymede the moon that was featured in a few episodes from the distance or as the main setting is the largest moon of Jupiter and the largest natural satellite in the Solar system. Ganymede is composed of silicate rock and water ice. Evidence shows that the moon has a tenuous oxygen based atmosphere and possible salt-water ocean beneath its icy crust.

The architecture of Ganymede is modeled after Marseille, France and much of the displayed language is French.

The Woolong shares its symbol with the real-world Korean won.

Gren's style of playing the sax is highly inspired by the movie “The Crying Game”.

Gren was originally modeled after Brad Pitt.

Spike’s method of concealing a gun in a bouquet of roses during the flashback in episode 1, is a nod to Stanley Kubrick’s film “The Killing” from 1956.

In episode 1, the scene at the El Ray is an homage to Robert Rodriguez's film “Desperado”. The bar is a replica of a bar in the movie, which itself was filmed in Acuña, a city in the Mexican state of Coahuila. Asimov bears a striking resemblance to Antonio Banderas' portrayal of El Mariachi (long hair, dark skin, and dark-colored wardrobe) and travels with a beautiful Hispanic woman bearing a resemblance to Salma Hayek's character in the film. Asimov is also able to single-handedly defeat a bar full of mercenaries hired to kill him just like the Mariachi character. Another scene reflecting this is when Spike confronts a car full of people, in a similar fashion of Dany Trejo character confronts the same scenario in Desperado.

In episode 1, Asimov’s name is the surname of the famous science-fiction author, Isaac Asimov.

In episode 1, the poncho that Spike wears in one scene is a reference to Sergio Leone's Dollars Trilogy. Specifically, the attire worn by lead actor Clint Eastwood in his portrayal of the trilogies protagonist, The Man with No Name.

The asteroid colony of Tijuana featured in episode 1 is named after the present-day city in Mexico's Baja California, thus the Mexican cultural elements depicted in this session (such as the sombrero Spike wears). However, the asteroid also seems to be very culturally diverse, with many street signs in English, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Russian and Hindi in addition to Spanish. Zona Norte, mentioned by Laughing Bull as a section of the colony, is actually a red light district in present-day Tijuana, Mexico.

In episode 1, Laughing Bull's tent is filled with a clutter of junk including what appear to be a Sony PlayStation 1. (In the overhead shot of Spike and Laughing Bull, the PlayStation is next to Spike's right arm at the top of the screen.)

Spike's fight on the bridge with Abdul Hakim in episode 2, is a homage to the fight between Bruce Lee and Kareem Abdul-Jabar in the movie "Game of Death" from 1978. In fact, Spike uses Lee's "Jeet Kune Do" style when he fights and Abdul Hakim was modeled after Kareem Abdul-Jabar.

The session's name in episode 2, "Stray Dog Strut" is a reworking of the Stray Cats song "Stray Cat Strut" from the band's 1982 self-titled debut album.

The Martian city in episode 2 seems to have a very large Chinese population, for Chinese elements are constantly depicted: the announcement at Astral Gate is in Mandarin; the various street signs are all written in Chinese (not Japanese Kanji); the bartender that Abdul Hakim interacts with speaks Cantonese; the group of civilians that block the scientists in their pursuit seems to be playing a Chinese chess called Xiangqi; Spike and Jet also joke about having Peking duck throughout the session.

In episode 2, during the phone conversation Hakim goes by the code name Snoop which is a reference towards gangster rapper Snoop Dogg both named after dogs.

In episode 2 in the English dub, Spike uses the line "A fist full of Woolongs"; this is a reference to the 1964 Western film "A Fistfull of Dollars".

The dog catching van in episode 2 has a vanity license plate that reads "NC-1702," which may be a reference to the registry number of the Starship Enterprise.

In episode 2, the nunchucks that Spike found at the pawn shop commented that it's a "Way of the Dragon" model pair. This of course is the name of the Bruce Lee movie from 1972.

In episode 2 the pet shop owner said that since the Welsh Corgi is a common species of dog, Ein could possibly be sold for only 200 Woolongs. In the English dub however she says that Ein is worth only two Woolongs. .

In episode 3, Jet talks about having a dream where he's talking to a guy named Charlie Parker, who is a jazz musician who helped start the bebop genre of jazz.

In episode 3, the casino/space station is called the Spiders From Mars casino. This name is visible on the trash can Spike spits his cigarette into. The name comes from the David Bowie album Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars.

The session title in episode 3 is named after Rolling Stones song "Honky Tonk Woman" from the album Through The Past Darkly (1969).

The title in episode 3 is also a reference to establishments called "honky tonk". A honky tonk is a name given to bars in the Southwest and Deep South United States, often featuring piano or live band entertainment, typically cater to a rougher clientèle, and may be centers of prostitution. The history of this term can be traced back to as early as 1894.

In episode 3, Gordon refers to Faye as a reincarnation of Poker Alice. Poker Alice was a 19th-century professional gambler and card dealer that was skilled in counting cards. Her fame grew in Sturgis and Deadwood, South Dakota around the same time as notable Wild West figures as Wild Bill Hickok and Calamity Jane. Like Faye, she smoked cigars, carried a gun and was a felon.

In episode 3 while the casino ship own by Gordon is called "Spiders From Mars" as seen on playing cards and cigarette disposal units. However the name seen on the elevator screen as Spike and Jet descend to the casino floor, is spelled "Spaiders From Mars."

In episode 4, the virus vial that the Space Warriors threatens the public with is called "Monkey Business". This is a reference to two completely different American movies with the same title. The first film from 1931, was a Marx Bros. film directed by Norman Z. McLeod. The second film was from 1952 directed by Howard Hawks and starred Cary Grant, Ginger Rogers, & Marilyn Monroe.

Faye's lack of knowledge on high school astro physics in episode 4 is the earliest episode to hint that she did not grew up in the same lifetime as Spike & Jet did.

There is a vile of bloody eye on the stand beside the roses that is next to the window in Spike's flashback. in episode 5 "Ballad of fallen angels"

The opera scene in episode 5 is reminiscent of the 1976 film "Marathon Man".

In episode 5, the climatic shootout at the cathedral is a homage to a similar scene from John Woo's 1989 film "The Killer".

In episode 5, at the end when both Julia and Faye are humming, they hum a tune that might be homage to singer Sam Cooke humming "What Soul Represents".

In episode 5 in the signature scene in which Spike and Vicious exchange weapons, this references to a similar scene in the movie “A Better Tomorrow 2” by John Woo.

The Cathedral in episode 5 is visually inspired by the Notre Dame in Paris, France.

In episode 5 the porno magazine that the two boys steal from the store was altered in the Adult Swim TV airing. In the original version, the model was topless, but in the Adult Swim version, she has a bra on. In later airings, the scene no longer has this edit.

In episode 5 among the weapons Spike prepared for the fight was a Ruger P85.

In episode 6, "Sympathy for the Devil," Wen wears a green jacket, black shirt and yellow tie. This is an homage to the outfit that Lupin III wore during the first TV season and The Castle of Cagliostro.

In episode 6, Fatty Rivers' name is a reference to Muddy Waters, the legendary blues musician.

The session title in episode 6: "Sympathy for the Devil" is the title of a Rolling Stones song, from the 1968 album Beggar's Banquet.

In episode 6, Wen's harmonica-playing is a homage to Charles Bronson's character Harmonica in "Once Upon a Time in the West"; Spike trying and failing to play it at the end of the episode may be an intentional reference Cheyenne's sarcastic comment to one of the trigger-happy bystanders in trading-post/bar scene early in the movie, right after he's first met Harmonica: "You can't play!".

Due to the violent content in episode 6, the episode did not air on Adult Swim during the show's first run on American TV. It was also due to the recent 9-11 scare as it contained a scene of a man falling from a high-rise building and a child (Wen) emerging from burnt corpses and later the burning rubble of a destroyed building. The episode did eventually aired on Adult Swim when the show was reran with certain violent scenes being digitally removed. While the beginning dream of Spike in surgery had his lower nudity blacked out.

In episode 6, Wen's age is inferred from the note that the gate accident took place in 2021, and Wen was 12 at the time. Which would make him 62 chronologically during the events of this episode.

In episode 7, after Spike leaves VT at the bar, you can see a bottle of "Boofeater"-s pin on the popular "Beefeater" gin.

The session title in episode 7 is named after the song "Heavy Metal Queen" by the band Trance.

In episode 7, when Faye tries to capture Decker by staking out at a restaurant, she mistakenly identifies him for another man. Decker looks strikingly like filmmaker and actor Woody Allen, and since the restaurant where he is first introduced is called Woody's which is probable another homage to the filmmaker. He is also named after Rick Deckard in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" film.

In episode 7, written on the door to the bathroom stall that Spike is using while talking to Faye, it reads: "I wrote a letter to Heinlein once, asking him if I could use his ideas - I don't remember which song or which book now - but he wrote back to me and he said "Oh, my God, you're the first person, out of thousands who've stolen my ideas, who's written and asked". The quote is from Heavy Metal Magazine, August 1984 issue, from an interview with Paul Kantner of Jefferson Airplane.

In episode 7, Decker's truck has a depiction of the hindu god Saraswati.

In episode 7 contains general references to the Deep Purple song "Space Truckin'". The name of the legendary bounty hunter mentioned in this episode, Terpsichore, is a reference to the Muses. Terpsichore was the muse of dancing. After Spike leaves VT at the bar, you can see a bottle of "Boofeater"-s pin on the popular "Beefeater" gin. One of the brief images seen in the background of the Heavy Metal Queen's cab is Satyr from Satyricon.

In episode 7, V.T. is also the initials for the first woman to ever step foot in space, Valentina Tereshkova. V.T.'s Russian name and blonde hairstyle gives the impression that she is an aged homage to the cosmonaut.

In episode 7, Macho the business owner Mac's Diner was never refer to by name throughout the episode yet he is listed in the end credits. The original episode script gives the detail as to who Macho is.

In episode 7, V.T. speaks with several truckers whose CB handles are Love Machine, Sneaky Snake, and Spider Mike. These are a reference to the C.W. McCall song "Convoy", as well as the feature film based on the song, as is V.T.'s use of the call sign "breaker one-nine".

In episode 7, Otto was modeled after the character portrayed by Bunta Suguhara in Trucker Yarō ("Trucker Guys"), a series of ten films from 1975-1979 directed by Noribumi Suzuki.

In episode 7 one of the bounty hunters in the bar tells V.T., "I'm tired of you, Blondie." which is a reference to Sergio Leone's film "The Good, The Bad And The Ugly".

In episode 8, the in-flight movie on board the shuttle to Venus is a parody of Tom & Jerry.

In episode 8, the shuttle hijackers names Huey, Dewey, and Louie are a reference to the names of the three nephews of the Disney character, Donald Duck.

The music-box in episode 8 plays the song "The Singing Sea".

In episode 8, the scene where Rocco gets roughened up by Piccaro and his gang bears resemblance to a similar scenario in the neo-noir film Chinatown, in which the protagonist receives a beating and a cut to the nose by a gang leader and his henchman in front of a chain-link fence.

The plot in episode 8 is highly inspired by the 1951 Film Noir film "On Dangerous Ground".

In episode 8, Middle Eastern-based architecture, dress, and written language appear throughout the scenery of Venus, alongside the bazaar where Turkish store names are seen. In the fourteenth minute of the session, a skyline of Venus is also shown with an architectural copy of the Sultan Ahmed Mosque of Istanbul, Turkey. All these details suggest that Venus has substantial Arab and Turkish populations.

Calvino & Roco's gun in episode 8 is a Browning Hi-Power.

Piccaro Calvino in episode 8 is visually inspired by gangster rapper Notorious B.I.G.

In episode 8 according to the bounty computer screen, the names of the other three henchmen who work for Piccaro Calvino are Carpi Paolo, Achebe Laman, & Bakri Chinva. Carpi Paolo & Achebe Laman were credited as Thug B & Thug A respectively. While Bakri Chinva was not listed in the credits.

The session title in episode 9 is named after Rolling Stones album "Jamming with Edward" (1972).

In episode 9, at the very beginning of the episode, MPU resembles the computer HAL 9000 from Arthur C. Clarke's book and Stanley Kubrick's film "2001: A Space Odyssey".

In episode 9, the pictures drawn by MPU are identical to the famous ancient geoglyphs in the Nazca Desert in southern Peru. MPU states he is recreating them within a 2% margin of error. These drawings are famous for their gigantic size and are the subject of a lot of controversy as to how an ancient civilization could create them or why they even would.

In episode 9 Yurri Kellerman, the "expert on the supernatural" is a likely reference to TV psychic Uri Geller.

In episode 9, for the English dub Yurri Kellerman speaks in the same mannerisms as Hungarian-Austrian actor Peter Lorre (1904–1964).

In episode 9, one of the names on Ed's computer Tomato is Thomas Wayne which is likely a reference to Batman.

In episode 9, another name on the computer is "Predator" which is also likely a reference to the 1987 John McTiernan film.

The Japanese session title in episode 10, "Ganymede Elegy", differs slightly from the English title. The Japanese title says "Ganymede Bojou" (ガニメデ慕情). An elegy is a song or poem of lament. Bojou means longing or yearning.

In episode 10, the bar La Fin is French for "The End". Alisa opened the bar herself as a way of taking control of her life, which would indicate a new beginning or an end to her dependency on others; however, she was forced to take a loan from a criminal and once again to be dependent on someone else to care for her.

In episode 10, the word elegy in the session title is defined as a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead. The word comes from the Greek elegeia which is a reflection on the death of someone or on a sorrow generally.

In episode 10 Baker Panchorero, the name of the bounty head in the beginning of the episode, is named after the last names of the main characters from the 1970s police drama CHiPs. Jon Baker and Francis Panchorero.

In episode 10 Mr. Peanut , the mascot for Planters, makes an appearance as a knickknack in the La Fin bar seen behind the drinking bird.

In episode 11, contains many references to the 1986 film “Aliens”. Examples of this are the tracking equipment Spike uses, and the arming up scene.

The session title in episode 11 is named after Aerosmith's album and song "Toys in the Attic" (1993).

The Japanese session title in episode 11 "Toys in the Attic", is actually completely different from the English title. It reads as "Dark Night of Heavy Rock" (闇夜のヘヴィ・ロック/"Yamiyo no Heavy Rock").

The plot in episode 11 is the only episode to take place entirely on the Bebop ship and the only episode in which the main characters don’t interact with other humans.

The city on Callisto in episode 12 and the following episode seems to be mainly Russian, or at least influenced by Russian culture, as most of the street signs are written in Russian. The people on Callisto often wear parkas and ushankas, and the climate is cold and snowy, all images often associated with Russia.

The War on Titan featured in episode 12 and 13 contains many similarities to World War I. In particular, both wars contain a combat strategy known as Trench Warfare where fortified positions made fighting lines static as a result of advances in fire power but not in mobility. In this way, battles were fought for every inch of ground.

In episode 13, the scene of Vicious' missile hitting a building was cut on the Adult Swim version, due to worries it was too reminiscent of the then recent 9/11 attacks.

In episode 13, at just over seven minutes, using Space Lion to encompass multiple scenes and the end credits, this episode has the longest single music cue of the series.

In episode 13, Gren used a Heckler & Koch USP against Vicious.

The moves listed for the two chess games seen in episode 14, are from actual games played by chessmaster Paul Morphy in 1857 and 1858.

In episode 14, in the list of games played seen on the chess piece analysis scene, a game against the famous computer "Deep Blue" can be seen. Deep Blue was a chess-playing computer developed by IBM. It was the first computer to win both a chess game and a chess match against a reigning world champion under regular time controls. Oddly enough, it seems Hex won a match against Deep Blue, since he plays with blacks.

The session title in episode 14: "Bohemian Rhapsody" is a Queen song from the 1975 album "A Night At The Opera."

In episode 15, when they re-insert Faye's cryotank, you can see that information plate on its top has the serial number NCC-1701-B, which happens to be the same serial number as the third Enterprise from the Star Trek series. Which first appeared in the film “Star Trek: Generations”.

In episode 15, during the flashback when Faye tries to run away; a yellow 1957 Fiat 500 makes a brief appearance. This car was driven by Lupin III in various Lupin III media.

Faye's true age was revealed in episode 15, at the beginning of the episode, we can see on the cryo-container label that it was last opened on November 23th of 2019. Assuming that such a date was the date when Faye entered the cryo-container, that Cowboy Bebop's events happen on 2071, and Faye was born on 1994, it's safe to assume that Faye is 77 years old chronologically.

The session title in episode 15, “My Funny Valentine” is a the name a song from the musical “Babes in Arms” that has been covered by several artists such as Frank Sinatra and Miles Davis.

Whitney Haggis in episode 15 is visually inspired by George Clooney. The insurance company appeared to be named Totus insurance company.

Bacchus in episode 15 is name named after the greek God of wine. Which Bacchus himself admits to being named after and having alcohol issues in the past.

In episode 16 the wine that Tucan holds in the beginning of the episode is Dom Perignon.

The plot in episode 16, with a group of prisoners hijacking a prison transport ship, pays homage to “Con Air”, a 1997 action/thriller film starring Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and John Malkovich. The film is about a group of prisoners being transported to a prison via airplane that they are able to take over.

While the series as a whole takes heavy influence from Film noir, Jet's flashbacks in episode 16 are the most direct tribute to the genre.

A scene in episode 16, pays nod to a Neo-noir film “Le Samourai”.

The knife Udai Taxim uses in episode 16 is the same knife that Navajas, the knife thrower from “Desperados” uses.

The guns the prisoners use in episode 16 are a Heckler & Koch USP handguns.

In episode 17, "Mushroom Samba," a man is seen dragging a coffin. This is an homage to the 1966 Spaghetti Western Django, wherein the title character drags a coffin with a machine gun inside.

In episode 17, "Mushroom Samba", one of the characters trying to kill Domino is the youngest of the Shaft brothers. Given that the episode is a homage to blaxploitation films, it is highly likely that the Shaft brothers is a reference to Shaft, the name of the main character from a popular blaxploitation film in the 1970s.

In episode 17, when the Bebop crashes, the sign in the foreground "Western World Development Tract 8271" is a reference to the Wim Wenders' film "Paris, Texas".

In episode 17, the restaurant is named "Mobi Dik," presumably named after the famous novel. Moby Dick is also a reference to a Led Zeppelin song of the same name.

In episode 17, when Spike hallucinates walking up a stairway he encounters a frog who says "This is a stairway to heaven. You know that, right?", this is a possible reference to the song "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin.

In episode 17, the bounty hunter Coffee was inspired by the protagonist of the Pam Grier film "Coffy".

In episode 17, the name of mushroom dealer Domino Walker references both Led Zeppelin (via guitarist Jimmy Page's 1999 song "Domino") and the TV show "Walker, Texas Ranger".

In episode 18, Jet and Spike obtain a Beta tape, and take it to a shop keep to try and sell it. The Shop keeper is watching an old television show, and at the end, you can partially see the names "Jason Prest-" and "Shanan D'ha-" as the Executive Producers. The names are cut off, but they are assumed to be "Jason Priestley" and "Shannen Doherty" respectively. This can allow us to assume that the shop keeper is watching a VHS tape of "Beverly Hills, 90210". To further prove it, the sister clearly calls the brother "Brandon". They also refer to each other as twins. Jason Priestley played the role of Brandon Walsh on Beverly Hills, 90210 for eight years from 1990-1998, while Shannen Doherty played the role of Brenda Walsh from 1990-1994. They played twins on the show.

The session title in episode 18, "Speak Like a Child" was an 1968 album and song by American jazz musician Herbie Hancock.

In episode 18, the story that Jet narrates throughout the episode is actually a famous Japanese folktale called “Urashima Taro”.

Another fable that is referenced in episode 18, is the story of “The Tortoise and the Hare”. The first helicopter, which delivers a beta cassette in a C.O.D. package for Faye, looks like a turtle; while the second helicopter that delivers the beta player resembles a hare.

The names of the three members of the "Starship Pirates" that the crew is hunting in episode 19, are George, Herman and Ruth. George Harman Ruth is the full name of Babe Ruth, the famous baseball player.

In episode 19, the man who owned and fixes Swordfish II, Spike's spaceship, is named Doohan. This is a reference to James Doohan, who played "Scotty" from the original "Star Trek" (1966) TV series.

The session title in episode 19 "Wild Horses", is the name of a Rolling Stones song from the album Sticky Fingers (1971).

The session title in episode 20 "Pierrot le Fou", is the title of Jean-Luc Godard's film from 1965.

In episode 20 contains two references to Yellow Magic Orchestra songs from their 1978 debut album. The villain's nickname, Mad Pierrot, is the name of a YMO song. Similarly his code name, Tongpu, is a reference to the YMO song "Tong Poo". In addition, Chris Mosdell, who wrote the lyrics for several YMO songs, also wrote the lyrics to "Butterfly" for the Cowboy Bebop movie's soundtrack.

The Japanese session title in episode 20, "PIERROT LE FOU", is actually completely different from the English title. It reads as "Clown's Requiem" (道化師の鎮魂歌/"Doukeshi no Chinkonka").

Boogie Woogie in the session title in episode 21 “Boogie Woogie Feng Shui”, refers to a style of piano-based blues that originated in the southern United States during the 1910s and became popular for dancing in the late 1930s and early 1940s with swing bands.

“Feng shui” the last two words in the session title in episode 21, is an ancient Chinese philosophy based on aesthetics, astronomy and geography used to improve ones life.

The two thugs who pursue Jet in episode 21 are based off of Elwood J. Blues & Joliet “Jake” Blues of “The Blues Brothers”. A musical duo from the famous American variety show “Saturday Night Live”, who were also the main protagonists of the 1980 film directed by John Landis.

Cowboy Andy in episode 22 is an homage to the character "Nobody" played by Terence Hill in Tonino Valerii's film "My Name is Nobody".

In episode 22, when Spike, Jet and Faye go to a costume party to catch the Teddy Bomber. Jet is dressed up as a hippy with a marijuana leaf on his shirt. In the original Adult Swim broadcast, the leaf was replaced with a peace sign.

The Teddy Bomber in episode 22, appears to be a reference to Ted Kaczynski, the "Unabomber". This is most noticeable during his final speech in which he shares his anti-capitalism views.

Coincidentally in episode 22, Andy becoming a samurai at the end of the episode foreshadows the production of another anime by series creator Shinichiro Watanabe, “Samurai Champloo”. Much like Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo also makes use of a blend of film and music genres, in this case the mixing of hip-hop and chambara.

In episode 23, the HUD (Heads Up Display) of the game the black boy plays when the channel 183 is tuned, (the "Brain Dream" commercial) is almost identical to the HUD on the space simulator game "Conflict: Freespace" and "Freespace 2". They are both green, with the same pane layout, triad cross-hairs and energy bar to the left. The only thing that distinguishes them both is that the "Freespace" HUD had an energy bar to the right too.

In episode 23, on the Brain Dream commercial, we can see many controls tossed into a garbage can. Among them the Sega Megadrive (or Genesis), NES, SNES and PS1 can be recognized. Oddly enough, in all the recognizable controls, the direction pad and buttons have switched places.

In episode 23, when Jet is making a queue to get the Brain Dream console, there is a cardboard dummy with a badly drawn woman in it. If you read the dummy, it says "Toon Raydaur". A clear tribute to "Tomb Raider".

Goof: in episode 23, towards the end Jet says Ronny Spanngen when the plate clearly says Rosny.

Ed's real name is revealed only once, by her father in episode 24. It is "Francoise."

In episode 24, "Hard Luck Woman", the first name of Ed's dad is Appledelhi. His assistant is called Macintyre. The first parts of each name are, respectively, "Apple" and "Mac", an obvious nod to Apple and Macintosh.

The session title in episode 24 "Hard Luck Woman", is named after the KISS song from the 1976 album Rock and Roll Over.

The name of Ed's father who appeared in episode 24 means "Excuse me! Check please" in Turkish.

In episode 24, the "Call Me Call Me" song by Steve Conte borrows chords and arrangements from the songs "Don't Dream It's Over" by Crowded House and "Bitter Sweet Symphony" by The Verve.

There's a poster of Bruce Lee on the building in which the doctor has his office, in episode 25.

The title in episode 25 and 26 "The Real Folk Blues" is not only the title of the show's end theme but a song by Muddy Waters.

The plot in episode 25 marks the first episode since episode 8 to not feature Edward. It's also the first episode since episode 1 to not feature Ein.

In episode 26 when Jet goes to Laughing Bull, the camera zooms out to a overview shot, and a PlayStation 1 can be seen.