#but i think in terms of nailing its themes and the sort of existential conversations it was having

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Like in all seriousness Bebop is considered an absolute ledge status anime because it introduced a sort of hyper genre hybridity that hadn't been done at such a level before in its respective medium. It's one of those animes who's impact on its industry led it into new playing fields which is something that cements its importance to me. Like there's a reason it's like top of the list for most people that says, "Hey look anime isn't just this one sort of thing, it can be a lot of things, its a complex medium, and it includes this."

It achieved this by creating a perfect storm of execution on multiple levels: character design, strong characterization and backgrounds for all its main cast, general solid main narrative thread under the episodic formula, mastery of tone with a solid sense of comedic timing, killer animation style with a distinctly thrilling use of action sequences, lush world building, script writing with an emphasis on great dialogue, strong understanding of what makes noirs, westerns, and sci fi's tick as genres with their own respective tropes as well as their unique pacing, scoring/soundtracking that not only achieved wonderful synergy to its visuals and tones but ultimately became a character all on its own, creating a perfect blend of Japanese and American influences both in terms of media and culture granting it accessibility to a broader audience, understanding the perfect formula for "cool" and avoiding the pitfalls of falling into cringe try hardness that most people fall into, etc Like I truly could go on!!!

Very few shows as a whole can create that kind lightning in a bottle!!!! Personally I understand why people are sooo attached to fma-b, i think especially because it's a lot of peoples "baby's first serious/mature themes" anime, and that leaves a big impression. But I think there have been works before and after it that handle mature themes a lot better (not the exact theme, just mature themes in general). I think the way it handles it's own underlying main themes is flawed in a way that contradicts it's aims and thats its biggest problem, and I think the older you get (and if you're more conscious of these subjects) the more apparant it gets. To be, idk, fair?? any show trying to tackle the subject of violent colonialism and imperialism written by someone who is of a group of people who are colonizers themselves is going to have a harder time trying to nail an anti-imperialist narrative without bias absolutely showing through and it uh, definitely shows through (once again the mangaka IS NOT indigenous and has never identified herself as such for the love of god...).