#because she thought he was dying for real and the crew couldn't convince her (:

[ginkovskij]

watching the making of a movie is so amazing and so humbling like wow some movies are so good you forget it's a play pretend story it's so !! to see how it all came together to work in a way that feels so natural and real

[oceanspray5]

I JUST FINISHED THE LAST 4 EPISODES OF COWBOY BEBOP AND I HAVE SO MANY THOUGHTS AND FEELINGS!

Here is my personal interpretation of the last 4 episodes. Obviously anyone is free to disagree but this is my view of it.

First off: YOU CANT TELL ME SPIKE DIDNT LOVE FAYE BACK. HE DID. HE LOVED HER AND NOBODY CAN CONVINCE ME HE DIDNT.

The two episodes before The Real Folk Blues basically proved he did imo. Spike is someone who shows he cares in very subtle ways and his real emotion all came pouring out in the two episodes before TRFB.

In Brain Scratch, the way he gently touches her face to make sure she's okay and check if she's alive once he finds her. The relief on his face when she wakes up! Spike cares. He's just really bad and scared of showing it because of his past but in that moment when she was really in danger of dying it came through in his expressions and actions!

In Hard Luck Woman he's completely unsurprised and doesn't complain AT ALL when he wakes up to find them on Earth which is miles off course. They lose their lead on a BOUNTY. Even Jet is annoyed but Spike? He is nonchalant, unperturbed. He has never shied from showing his irritation for Faye and her flakey non-serious attitude throughout the entire show but this time he's completely relaxed. He's not even mad that they lost the bounty. He just sits there and waits for her to come back because he knows it's important for her this time. He knows whatever her reasons were to drag them all to Earth, they're necessary and they couldn't wait. He knows about her past and how the lack of it haunts her better than anyone and he understands. So he doesn't say anything. Doesn't complain even once about the bounty or that she's taking too long to come back. Jet does but Spike doesn't. If that isn't someone who cares then what else is it?

And finally, The Real Folk Blues.

Both Jet and Spike are upset about Faye and Ed and Ein being gone, we know that from the start. Then Shin comes into the picture and tells Spike that everyone he's ever been close to is being targeted. What does Spike do? He calls Faye. Spike isn't one to call for help especially not from Faye if he can help it but this time he does. There's danger looming and he calls her almost as if to warn her and to ask for her help to take care of Jet but also to tell her where he's going. He has no reason to do that if he didn't care.

He asked her to come back and he said it was to help take care of Jet but it was so clear he asked because HE wanted her back too. Spike is too proud and detached to ask ANYONE, especially Faye, to come back but he did this time! It's because she means something to him.

I have a personal interpretation of Spike as he was in the past (how we see him in his memories) as well as the Spike in the present too. I felt there was a very big distinction between the Spike of the memories and the Spike in the present.

Past!Spike was in love with Julia. There's no doubt about it. The way he was with her, you could see it clearly.

Present!Spike cared about Julia but it didn't give me the impression he loved her still. His behavior and body language after meeting Julia all seemed to indicate he was conflicted about the past, slightly bitter too. He cared about her. But I don't think he loved her anymore. He'd moved on at that point despite the pain from the past.

When she dies he even tells Jet "there's nothing I can do for her" because she's dead. He admits he definitely isn't going to face Vicious for revenge. His reasons are personal. He's going for himself and maybe for the Bebop crew. They're still targets and Spike cares about them and they're still alive.

Then there's the scene with Faye. She points a gun at him. She almost shoots him to stop him and THAT HURTS SO BAD. She's crying too because she loves him but this is where I feel like Spike admits he loves her too even though it's VERY subtle and easy to miss.

One thing Spike says to Faye before leaving that feels almost like a confession: He says "I thought I was watching a dream that I would never awaken from... But then before I knew it the dream was all over."

He SMILES at Faye while saying the second part. As if it's meant for her, as if it's because of her. She woke him up by coming into his life. She already helped him start to feel alive. That, to me, feels like a confession more than anything else. In the most cryptic way possible, Spike tells Faye the truth without admitting it outright. He doesn't know if he's coming back, but he says what he can. He tells her he loves her in a way she won't realize what he's saying until later because in case he dies he doesn't want her to be in more pain than she already is. But he has to say it. So he tells her he loves her.. by telling her she's the reason he woke up.

And what's the first thing Vicious asks him when Spike confronts him? It's if Spike is finally awake.

I read the entire part of the episode of Spike going to fight Vicious, as him going both to confront his past and to try and keep his new friends, his new family, safe. He goes to tie it all up so he can move forward once and for all.

The flashbacks he's thinking on in the Swordfish while he's going there right after he leaves the Bebop? It's like he's contemplating the events in his life that got him to that point. His friendship with Vicious, his relationship with Julia. The mess it all made. Now that he's awake, he's finally thinking clearly about the events of his past while sitting in the present without it hovering over him.

He's ready to close that chapter, end it once and for all, and hopefully make it back alive for Faye and Jet (and maybe one day Ed and Ein if they come back).

Anyway, that's my interpretation of the last four episodes. As for whether Spike dies? I like to think he lives. The creator of the show, Shinchiro Watanabe, said it was up to us to decide but that he liked to think Spike lived too. Others may prefer to interpret it as Spike having died.

I choose to believe Spike lives. That his crew comes after him. That Faye goes after him and that he finally gets the chance to live the life he was unable to live.

This was just such a beautiful anime and I'm really glad it was my first. There's so much more I can say about these episodes and maybe I will at some point but for now I just had to get all my thoughts out because the last four episodes ran into each other so well forming such a perfect build up to the finale but creating the subtext to leave the lasting impact of impression of both Spike's character and his relationship with everyone else.

I'm gonna hold this interpretation and my version of the ending close whether anyone believes it or not. But one things for certain, the weight? It will be carried. There's no way it can't be.

[dreams-of-wings]

Phantom Dragon

Imagine being on of the things/people that make Ikebukuro so special.

Warnings: It's me, so swearing. I'm a slut for Light Fury's, sorry. And being obsessed with something (for me) means crossing it over with almost every fandom I know.

There's so much that makes Ikeburkuro stand out from other cities. Sure it might not be the biggest or most populated city in the world, but you know what they say, "Quality over quantity."

It's the people that make this city so unique: you've got The Headless Rider, Saika (who some still argue is just a myth), the strongest man in the world Ikebukuro, everyone's most hated favorite information broker, and heck even some of the gangs help make the city widely infamous.

And then there's you.

You only came recently.

Some time after that big fight that landed Masaomi in the Hospital.

You hadn't arrived there by normal means- traveling internationally involves medical records and documentation in order to make sure that, health wise, you were okay to travel to another country. BUT because you aren't completely human, and have a little somthin' else, any form of testing might come up or appear outside the normal ranges for a human being (little things like taking your temperature might be alarming to medical professionals).

So you got there by paying someone to stow you away on a boat. Unfortunately getting somewhere by shifty means, ment you had to hire some shifty people, and that ment they couldn't always be trusted to keep their mouths shut - especially after they thought they saw something.

That being said, of course Izaya knew about you the day you arrived.

Correction

He knew of you, but not about you. He only knew what he had been told and that only made his interest in you deepen.

"Someone's arrived in Ikebukuro who might add some extra weight to the scale- maybe not on one side or the other, but perhaps in a new direction."

Oh color him interested.

For about a month or so, you were able to live quietly and without being seen while you were... *cough cough* having fun being yo majestic dragon shifting self.

The first sighting happened on one of the days when Celty was being hunted down ceaselessly.

Someone got their hands on one of those giant guns that shoots out a big net, and they had the mind to try and use it on Celty.

Let's just say their aim was off

And you, in all your curious glory wondering why so many thugish-looking bikers were ganging up on one woman, were gliding around kinda low.

Then it happened. You were shot down, but at first no one could see you and for a second they thought the net was faulty.

But Celty knew otherwise.

She was able to use her powers to help you get away without being seen by the people in your immediate vicinity, but she could do nothing about the people in the surrounding buildings.

So of course someone had seen you and gotten video evidence before you seemed to disappear into thin air.

It took only a few hours for the footage to go viral - with some people stoked to see that such a creature existed in their home town, while others were skeptical of the video being real.

Izaya was giddy as fuck, because this must be what that one guy was talking about.

Shinra wasn't sure if it was real, but then again his girlfriend is a Dullahan so why the hell not?

Shizuo was there when Celty set you free.

Anri was a bit more on the indifferent side, she wasn't sure how she felt about the video. If it was fake it didnt change a thing, but what if it was real? Her school girl mind could only imagine.

Masaomi cracked jokes about there being a princess in town, and that was why there was a dragon here.

And as always Mikado was a bit late to the party.

Let's talk about the people who know about you- and I'm not talking about people who saw the video, no. I mean people who looked at you and just got a sixth sense or figured it out.

Simon: Just seemed to know somehow? He seems kinda like the guy who knows more than he let's on? So people just don't really think much of him at first glance. He said something to you when you stopped by for a bite to eat that just made you freeze, "Sushi is good and easy on stomach before and after long flight, no?" Oh...

Celty: She had never actually seen you shift, but when she met you she also just knew. She got this hair standing up on the back of her neck feeling, and it took her a few more interactions to figure it out, but she was one of the faster ones to the draw.

Shizuo: The timeline of the viral videos and him seeing you (a new face in Ikebukuro) around now had bothered him. It seemed very coincidental and everytime he saw you or that damn video he thought about it long and hard, and eventually he put the pieces together. Just because he's strong, doesn't make him dumb.

Izaya: One of the last people to know, though not from a lack of trying I can promise you that. Even Mikado and his friends, and Erika and her group knew about you before he did (mainly because Celty and the others told them after convincing you they were trust worthy). After managing to make friends with you, Celty and her friends did everything they could to keep you hidden away from the information broker, and that normally ment one of them being with you when you went out into the city. Celty would be damned if she let Izaya dig up your information and hold it over your head like he did to her. Of course he connected the dots when he questioned why his dear little Celty took a sudden interest in a nobody newbie. Being friends with them was probably your downfall to be honest.

Now let's talk about all the things that come with being an undocumented [I guess] dragon shifter.

God forbid you get sick, and I don't mean, "Oh look I've got a runny nose," sick i mean- coughing fit, feels like your dying sick. All I can say is fire, fire everywhere. Hope your neighbors aren't nosy.

It's kinda hard to get a good job? Everything needs proof of identity and since you aren't from their you dont have things they would normally ask for, you also dont have a work Visa saying that it's okay your there.

Sure you can get hired under the table, but keep in mind if anything goes wrong (and not necessarily with you) you'll be the first one your boss gets rid of incase people start snooping around.

You do a lot of job hopping, apartment hopping, and sometimes squatting, till you're finally able to get a good job.

#EveryonesFirstApartmentIsShit

Honestly being a dragon helps you save a lot on food sometimes- you can just go hunting yo.

Once you make friends with the crew, getting a decent paying job is easier and you bounce between working deliveries with Celty and debt collecting with Tom and Shizuo.

Kinnosuke, that hard ass motorcycle cop that gives Celty problems, gives you problems as well. Of course he wanted to know what kind of people the headless rider hung out with, so after he saw the two of you together a few times on the street he flagged you down on your walk home from work (Yes, you walk), and asked for your ID. He wasnt heartless, just a man of the law, so he understood that getting a new ID could take a while. When you gave him the ID from where you previously lived, he politely asked for a Visa or proof of citizenship in Japan/Ikebukuro.

Oh

Oh, no

It was on the second you ran for a nearby ally, turned into a damn dragon, and flew away.

"Do you have a license to fly?!"

"Do you have a permit to fly within city limits?!"

After that, you would fly to the nearest ally of your destination for anything because at least he can't get to you in the sky, and you can still hide.

"Its not the same as flying a plane you idiot!"

Sorry, not sorry.