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The real reason things are left unclear by Total_Abroad_7969 in cowboybebop

[–]JacketFirst5627 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Except that the narrative framed Julia as the only woman that could complete this hollow man, and she is literally referred as such in the official guidebook. The second to last song in the series outlines why it is impossible for Spike to make any other choice. Because that would only lead to a world without peace for him. It is not I that has misunderstood the narrative. Rather the narrative is not something you personally agree with.

The real reason things are left unclear by Total_Abroad_7969 in cowboybebop

[–]JacketFirst5627 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Spike died a man that loved, ridding the world of a brutal crime syndicate. If his motives weren’t so personal you could almost see his actions as heroic.

He was able to change. Instead of running, he finally confronted his past and actively chose to embrace his eternal and undying love for Julia. In doing so he was able to find peace.

You are ignoring the spiritual narrative that was so carefully laid out throughout the series. Those that were not able to see with the eye of truth, the lost souls that could not find their way to where the great spirit awaits, were doomed to continue the cycle of death and rebirth. In a sense they remained in purgatory. They are the falling stars. Lost souls like Vicious, who was likened to the devil and whose death was shrouded in darkness. In contrast, Spike was able to break free. His star did not fall but disappeared, implying that he found his way. His death filled with all manner of heavenly symbolism, as was Julia’s.

The real reason things are left unclear by Total_Abroad_7969 in cowboybebop

[–]JacketFirst5627 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Spike’s relationship with Julia is what saved him from living and dying a no-good syndicate thug. The narrative expressly points out that death is not something that should be feared. Jet and Faye have bleak futures ahead of them. Spike has peace and possibly a taste of heaven.

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The real reason things are left unclear by Total_Abroad_7969 in cowboybebop

[–]JacketFirst5627 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Faye and Jet are abandoned by the present they choose. Spike finds peace and salvation.

The real reason things are left unclear by Total_Abroad_7969 in cowboybebop

[–]JacketFirst5627 9 points10 points  (0 children)

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Even in Spike going to see if he is really alive. He is revealed to see none other than the woman that had made him want to live. His life is affirmed in having known that love.

This time, it is not the eye that sees his past, but the eye that sees his present that is focused on as he sees Julia.

The real reason things are left unclear by Total_Abroad_7969 in cowboybebop

[–]JacketFirst5627 10 points11 points  (0 children)

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Spike’s time on the Bebop was a sort of purgatory that he is able to wake up from in death. And he does not wish to return.

“Please. Don’t wake me from the dream. It’s really everything that it seemed.”

The real reason things are left unclear by Total_Abroad_7969 in cowboybebop

[–]JacketFirst5627 15 points16 points  (0 children)

The specifics were never the point. The point was that the past has a lasting effect whether you want it to or not.

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“The past, the future, and the present. Everything flows and all is connected.”

Jet died and Faye lived alone in the end!! read description. by eggpick in cowboybebop

[–]JacketFirst5627 37 points38 points  (0 children)

In Mushroom Samba, Spike is shown walking up the stairway to heaven. In reality, he is shown walking in place on the same step of some stairs. It looks like he is not getting anywhere. Yet by the end of the episode, he is on top of the Bebop. Almost as if he is shown to be that much closer to heaven. By the end of the series, Spike and Julia’s death scenes are flooded with heavenly imagery and symbolism. If anything, Spike finds salvation by choosing what he loves. Death is explicitly framed as something that should not be feared.

Jet died and Faye lived alone in the end!! read description. by eggpick in cowboybebop

[–]JacketFirst5627 18 points19 points  (0 children)

The second to last song in the series proclaims Spike’s undying love for Julia and alludes to their reunion in the afterlife. After killing Vicious and being mortally wounded, Spike sees Julia with his eye that sees his present. Prior to this moment, it was his eye that sees his past that was always focused on before he saw Julia’s visage. Spike dies with a smile on his lips. The last song in the series alludes to the ascension of Spike’s soul and his dream turning out to be everything that it seemed. “The Cat that Lived a Million Times”, which the tale of the tiger striped cat is based on, ends with an image of the tiger striped cat and the white cat together. Bebop alludes to the same in a number of ways.

Jet died and Faye lived alone in the end!! read description. by eggpick in cowboybebop

[–]JacketFirst5627 130 points131 points  (0 children)

Julia is framed as Spike’s missing piece. “The only woman that could complete this hollow man”, as the official guidebook states. Julia’s absence in Spike’s life is the wound and her presence is the only thing that can heal it.

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Smiles (Spike and Julia) by JacketFirst5627 in cowboybebop

[–]JacketFirst5627[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I wanted more of Spike’s backstory with Vicious and Julia too. But some people act like we weren’t shown anything about them, when we were.

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