I saw
Cowboy Bebop a while back on [adult swim] and was one the other anime series on there other than
Trigun which I really enjoyed. Recently (last week, in fact), I finished rewatching the series again... and I'll be damned I fell in love with it over again. I've seen numerous anime and yet I still regard
Cowboy Bebop to be a masterpiece. While not all gateway anime are standards of excellence, the series belongs up there with
Akira,
Neon Genesis Evangelion,
Vision of Escaflowne,
Ghost in the Shell, etc. for being truly great pieces of work (moreso the
Akira manga, which makes the animated movie pale in comparison), easily earning the "classic" label that they've been given.
Cowboy Bebop has absolutely amazing direction, and while he is praised left and right you cannot simply deny that Shinichiro Watanabe has true talent. This shows in that part of its draw is the fact that it is episodic, which makes for a much more accessible and better experience than what most anime can offer.
The characters and stories are familiar to a lot of common European and North American tales, particularly of the film-noir variety, still are able to break away from the mold and achieve true depth and complexity to them. As a result,
Bebop boils down to being downright entertaining and being able to constantly deliver.
Then...
Blue>>>Real Folk Blues