"Ganymede Elegy" is the tenth session, or episode, of Cowboy Bebop.
Credits[]
Written by:
- Akihiko Inari
Cast:
Cast (uncredited):
Animation Director:
- Hiroshi Ousaka
Mechanical Animation Director:
- Masami Goto
Plot[]
The crew had caught a bounty head, Baker Panchorero, and now has him tied up in the ship's common room. Ed torments him while the Bebop flies towards Ganymede to cash in on Baker. As Jet pilots the ship he looks at a broken watch and reminisces about a memory about a woman. Spike and Faye wake him up from his daydream and Faye, after remembering that it is Jet's home satellite, supposes he was thinking of a girl he left behind on Ganymede or of one that left him behind. This clearly angers the pensive Jet.
An old friend and partner, Donnelly, appears on the video screen, so he and Jet talk about the old times. Donnelly remembers Jet's nickname, the Black Dog, and Jet's ex-girlfriend, Alisa.
On Donnelly's info, Jet goes to see Alisa at her bar, La Fin, on the port of Marvis. He takes the Hammer Head after performing a water landing of the Bebop. Marvis looks like an old-fashioned fishing town, complete with seagulls and wooden boats. Spike and Faye cash in the bounty and talk about Jet's girl. Back on the Bebop, Faye tries to get a tan as she lays on the deck of the Bebop. Ed tries to fish off the side, and Spike tries to make repairs on his Swordfish II.
Jet finds La Fin, where a skittish man named Rhint leaves after Alisa tells him that Jet is an old friend. Alisa says she's closing shop and moving due to the lack of customers. Jet is worried that she can't make enough money to pay off the bank. Alisa explains that she's okay and has her boyfriend, Rhint. Jet tells her he's a bounty hunter now and shows her the watch.
Meanwhile, back on the Bebop, Donnelly calls Spike as he works on the Swordfish. He gives Spike special info on a new bounty, Rhint, and explains to Spike that he is Alisa's boyfriend. Spike, realizing the situation, is forced to ask what the bounty reward is.
Eyecatch
As Ed tries to do some fishing and Faye is well into working on her tan, Spike flies off in the Swordfish to contact Jet at his ship. He is still in the bar and doesn't answer. Jet is explaining his memory of Alisa leaving him and asks her why she did it. Alisa responds by remarking how Jet talks about it like time has stopped. She's forgotten about it, as it was so long ago and time never stands still. She bids him goodbye and Jet leaves.
Outside of La Fin, Rhint unsuccessfully tries to light his cigarette, and flashes back to the night he shot a loan-shark coming to hassle Alisa in self-defense. Jet leaves La Fin and the two lock eyes before Jet flies away. Rhint is scared when he realizes that Jet is a bounty hunter. Alisa wants them to leave now. Spike tries to find La Fin but sees Rhint and Alisa on a hovercraft boat first. He pursues them through an industrial district, firing warning shots, and almost crashes into Jet's Hammer Head.
Jet tells Spike to back off, saying this used to be his beat as a cop and that it is his score to settle as the Black Dog, saying that once he bites, he never lets go.
Jet pursues the hovercraft through tight canals and into an open bay where he uses the Hammer Head's harpoon to slow the boat down. He reels in the boat like a fishing rod but the tail end of the boat breaks off and the hovercraft crashes onto a rocky shoreline. On land, Alisa holds Jet at gunpoint. An ISSP ship is hovering overhead, painting a tense atmosphere. Alisa pleads to let them go. Jet says that even if he does, she will be caught later and then will be an accomplice, too.
Alisa breaks down and confides that the reason she left him was because he always made the decisions for the both of them and that she never had to do anything for herself. She lowers the gun, crying.
Rhint tries to escape, but Jet is quick to subdue him. The couple gives up, but Jet shows compassion for their relationship. After Rhint is taken into custody, Jet says to Alisa that Rhint will probably be released on a self-defense plea. He leaves the scene and throws the watch into the river, happy to put the past behind him.
Quotes[]
- “The way you talk about it, you seem to think that time really has stopped here. That’s a story from long ago, and I…I’ve forgotten about it. Time never stands still.”
- — Alisa
- “When I was a cop, this was my beat. I’m the Black Dog and when I bite I don’t let go. I have no regrets about her, but I’ll settle this score on my own turf.”
- — Jet Black
- “That’s just how you were back then, you decided everything; in the end you were always right. When I was there with you I never had to do anything for myself. All I had to do was to hang onto your arm like a child without a care in the world. I wanted to live my own life; make my own decisions, even if they were terrible mistakes.”
- — Alisa
Songs[]
- Tank! (TV Edit) – Opening titles
- Cat Blues – Edward attacks Panchorero
- The Singing Sea (Piano Version) – [Unreleased] Session card, through the team visiting Ganymede
- Forever Broke - Eyecatch II card, through Edward fishing over the side of the deck of the Bebop
- Waltz for Zizi – Jet talks to Alisa at La Fin
- ELM – Jet chases Rhint and Alisa
- Waltz for Zizi – Jet departs, leaving Alisa at the Dock
- The Real Folk Blues – Closing titles
- The Real Man (Ambient Version) – [Unreleased] Preview for Toys In The Attic
Background[]
Homages and References[]
- Black Dog, Jet's nickname, is a reference to the 1971 Led Zeppelin song of the same name.
- Baker Panchorero, the name of the bounty head in the beginning of the session, is named after the last names of the main characters from the 1970s police drama CHiPs. Jon Baker and Francis Panchorero.
- Mr Peanut , the mascot for Planters, makes an appearance in La Fin behind the drinking bird
Trivia[]
- Ganymede 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.
- Elegy: An Elegy 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.
- La Fin: 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.
Gallery[]
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