In 2071, the crew of the spacecraft Bebop travels in the solar system in search of bonuses. In the slang of the time, these bounty hunters are called "cowboys". Most episodes revolve around a bonus; however, the center of the story is about the past of each character and older, more general events that connect as the series progresses.

The first story is that of Spike Spiegel, a former member of a criminal organization, the Red Dragons, who is haunted by a love triangle he has known with his former Red Dragons teammate, Vicious, and a mysterious woman named Julia.

The second story revolves around Faye Valentine, an indebted and amnesiac player awakened from a cryogenic sleep, whose past is a mystery.

Other characters also have a past to explore: Jet Black, a former officer of the interplanetary police agency ISSP and owner of the ship (the Bebop), Edward, a gifted and hyperactive young hacker, and Ein, a "dog data" escaped from a laboratory, having a superior intelligence but behaving most of the time like a normal dog.

Genre Neo-noir, space Western
Directed by Shinichirō Watanabe
Produced by Masahiko Minami
Kazuhiko Ikeguchi
Written by Keiko Nobumoto
Music by Yoko Kanno
Studio Sunrise
Original run TV Tokyo Broadcast
April 3, 1998 – June 26, 1998
WOWOW Broadcast
October 24, 1998 – April 24, 1999
Episodes 26 (12 Episodes and a Special for its TV Tokyo Broadcast) (List of episodes)