I have been following Cowboy Bebop on Netflix (the anime, not the spinoff TV series). The opening is a visual and musical marvel; I’m enthralled by it. The show’s soundtrack is a unique blend of jazz (big band hard bop, mainly), blues, and a bit of rock, which I’ve never seen before in anime and probably in movies. Even episode titles pay tribute to jazz, blues and rock tracks. We have “Valtz for Venus,” “Sympathy for the Devil,” “My Funny Valentine,” and stuff like that....
On February 13, 2023, about ten days ago, [Leiji Matsumoto][3] left this world. A phenomenal Japanese manga artist, he created several space operas that influenced me as a kid. Matsumoto directed Space Battleship Yamato1, wrote and illustrated Galaxy Express 9992, and then released the magnificent Space Pirate Captain Harlock. Regarding visual operas, I suspect my fascination with space, astronomy and all things science has much more to do with these three than with the Star Wars movies that came later, or Star Trek....