3-2-1 Let’s Jam at the Cowboy Bebop 25th Anniversary Exhibition

On April 3, 1998, the legendary anime series Cowboy Bebop first aired on the Japanese TV station TV-TOKYO. Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Bandai Namco is hosting a 25th-anniversary exhibition at the Seibu Shibuya Movida-kan 6th-floor special event space.

While Cowboy Bebop first aired in Japan in 1998, it would take some time before airing abroad. First in 1999 in Italy, then making its way to the United States in 2001. Combining elements of neo-noir, science fiction, and westerns, the series quickly gained popularity wherever it was aired. Now a quarter century since it first aired, Bandai Namco, in conjunction with Sunrise Inc., is celebrating with the Cowboy Bebop 25th Anniversary Exhibition at the Seibu Shibuya Movida-kan sixth-floor event space. It’s a nice little gallery through the series with some wonderful displays and areas for fans, new and old, to take some photos. Here are some highlights at the Cowboy Bebop 25th Anniversary Exhibition.

Note: There are no foreign language instructions or presentations available for the exhibition. All displays are in Japanese.

The most exciting item at the Cowboy Bebop 25th Anniversary Exhibition is certainly the scale model of the main character Spike Spiegel’s The Swordfish II. Made by AVIOT, the model is roughly 3m long and 2.6m wide, making it a roughly 1/5 scale model.

No anime anniversary exhibition would be complete without a merchandise shop. With some standard items such as shirts and plush dolls, there is also a plethora of unique items that exemplify Cowboy Bebop.

There is no doubt fans of Cowboy Bebop will have a great time at the 25th Anniversary Exhibition. From sitting on the sofas of the Bebop, the scale model of the Swordfish II, and animation cells we unfortunately couldn’t take pictures of, it’s well worth visiting. The Exhibit will run from Friday, October 27, 2023, to Sunday, November 19, 2023. Tickets are available through the e+ service for ¥1,600 for advanced tickets, ¥1,800 for same-day tickets, and free for elementary students and younger. It should be noted tickets cannot be purchased from overseas, which is a slight inconvenience. Just remember, if you can visit the Exhibition, it isn’t like watching a dream you’d never wake up from. It’s far better.