Every Friday, we highlight the DVD releases for the following week that may be of interest to comic book and animation fans.

This week’s spotlight release is an easy choice: Cowboy Bebop Remix, Vol. 6, the final DVD in what many fans consider the finest anime series ever. And while I’m partial to Last Exile, they may be right.

There’s something undeniably addictive about Cowboy Bebop. Maybe it’s Yoko Kanno’s jazz soundtrack, which can shift from sultry to manic, depending on the episode (or “session,” in Bebop terms). Maybe it’s the setting, a not-so-distant future that feels less like science fiction than it does a mashup of film noir, the American Western and martial-arts movies.

Or maybe it’s the characters, bounty hunters all: Spike Spiegel, the cool, but frustratingly listless, wanderer. Faye Valentine, the confident, and incredibly sexy, gambler from another era. Jet Black, police investigator turned renaissance man and father figure. And curious little Ed.

Yes, undeniably addictive.

The DVD, which retails for $29.98, includes: Session #23, “Brain Scratch”; Session #24, “Hard Luck Women”; Session #25, “The Real Folk Blues” (Part 1); and Session #26, “The Real Folk Blues” (Part 2). There’s also commentary track by Megumi Hayashibara (Faye) and Aoi Tada (Ed) on “Hard Luck Women.”

Other notable releases:

• Armored Trooper Votoms, Stage 3: Deadworld Sunsa
• Beavis and Butt-Head: The Mike Judge Collection, Vol. 2
• Boondocks: Complete First Season
• Boys Be …, Vol. 3: Autumn
• Divergence Eve: Complete Collection
• Dragon Ball GT, Vol. 11-15
• Elemental Gelade, Vol. 1: React
• Fantastic Children, Vol. 2
• Genshiken: Premium Collection
• Gilgamesh, Vol. 7: All Fall Down
• The Golden Age of Cartoons: Aesop’s Fables
• The Golden Age of Cartoons: The Complete Adventures of Cubby Bear
• IGPX, Vol. 3: Toonami Edition
• Kirameki Project, Vol. 1: Robot Girls
• Last Exile, Vol. 1
• Mars Daybreak, Vol. 6
• Panda-Z: The Robomination, Vol. 6
• The Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection, Vol. 4: Swingin’ in the Pink
• Project: Valkyrie
• Stargate SG-1: Seasons 1-8
• Tenjho Tenge: Round Seven
• This Is America, Charlie Brown
• Zatch Bell: A New Pledge Between Zatch and Tia, Vol. 4

This entry was posted on Friday, June 9th, 2006 at 5:15 am and is filed under Animation, Movies, Television. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.