My fiance worked overnight, my brother is out of state, and I had a long week of work, so I decided to stay in last night, relax, and watch some good TV.

I re-watched the first five episodes of Cowboy Bebop, my favorite anime, and reminded myself exactly why I love that show so much. Those of you who have seen the show understand. Never seen the show? Pick up the first disc somewhere (Cowboy Bebop, 1st Session) and watch the fifth episode, “Ballad of Fallen Angels” (or better yet, all five episodes). Genius.

Cowboy Bebop combines great animation, compelling characters, high-quality script-writing, and amazing music into one fantastic series. The stand-alone episodes are fun to watch, but the stories about the main characters’ backgrounds set this series apart as a masterpiece. It is the kind of work that any storyteller (animation or live-action) should strive to achieve, and if you can even come close you will have created something great.

I also watched The Departed last night for the first time, which I also really liked. Scorcese does some genius work and this falls squarely into that category. The movie had me on the edge of my seat, in thrall waiting to find out what will happen next. I don’t want to give away any details, for those of you who haven’t seen it, but it’s definitely worth watching.