Hey, it's before midnight! ;D
Character/Fandom: Julia (Cowboy Bebop)
Title: Beautiful Phantom
Author: Radical Lindsay
Spoilers: Julia is perhaps the key character in the last 2 episodes of the series, "The Real Folk Blues part I/II." This character is also tied directly with the main character, Spike Spiegel and big spoilers will accompany him and Julia.
So, in general, huge spoilers because she ties into the last two episodes as if she owned them! :P
E-mail: Lindsay_RR@yahoo.com
Notes: You can still read up to a point where I warn of spoilers. I wish you could, though, or else you will only know her a phantom. :) But at least you'll get a general idea of whom she is.
Also, I am a Spike/Julia person, but I will be as unbiased as I possibly can. Besides, I shouldn't talk about Spike/Faye in an essay that's suppose to center around Julia as much as possible. :)
This only covers the anime; the manga's basically the misadventures of the Bebop crew and bounties and Julia's not in any, I assume.
A memory...
A mere figment in the subconscious of a man's mind...
This is how we meet Julia. She is not your average woman. Not even a woman, she greets us as images in someone's mind.
Small Past, Brief Meeting
Impression & History
So, who is she? Maybe an old lover of something.
And so here I am, watching for the first time, what would become one of my favorites, "Ballad of Fallen Angels," the fifth episode. And damn, what a confrontation this man is in! Before I know it, "Green Bird" plays in the background and Spike falls helplessly down out of the church. There's a shot of one of his eyes; all of these memories flash onto the screen. Among them is a woman. An attractive, young woman. Rather easy to guess she is a love interest of his. But his final memories are extended and involve only her. I'm looking through Spike's eyes now, stumbling towards her as she leaves a little shop. Then he collapses and falls, on the brink of death. His eyes open looking right at the woman. She's sitting right by his side, reading a book and humming. She feels his eyes on her at looks back
"Just like that..."
He utters clearly despite the condition and pain he's in. She looks a little concerned and shocked.
"Sing for me."
She curves a smile, grateful and flattered he woke up and spoke to her just for a little request.
This ends the first time we meet this woman. All we know now is that she is a kind, loving woman, who cares deeply for Spike. A quite girl, who tended to his wounds (by herself? a doctor? we don't know, but she made sure he would heal). Someone who would literally stay by your side. A girl who enjoys an occasional book every now and then. Hmm, maybe she stood by Spike's side so long, she occupied herself with a book?
Or does it end there? We've actually seen her before! During the end credits, there are beautiful images featuring Spike, Julia, and Vicious. The end credits actually serve a purpose, to try and tell us more about the past. From this, we see an image of Vicious and Spike, and Julia running towards them. It seems they were all once friends or comrades of some sort. We also see Spike and Vicious leaning against a fence on each side. They could have been friends. We even see Spike on the floor, Julia just leaving the shop; the same memory Spike had during his fall. Then we see Julia alone. She's sitting, looking out a window of a rainy day, we can see half of her face in the reflection. A statue of two fish accompanies her on the table. We see her last in a shot of her with Spike. And a man is standing atop a staircase facing them. You can guess it's Vicious, and it's a good one, since the past is all about these three people and the only key characters featured in the credits are they.
This must be a significant moment to appear in a memory and the end credits background. My guess is to show how much Spike felt for her and how she saved him from death. Then again, we learn that Spike is injured thanks to a reoccurring memory of him faking his death to leave the Red Dragon syndicate. He could have gone to see a private doctor, as he and Jet did in the second to the last episode. Instead, near death, he chooses Julia. I bet he knew she could save him and wanted to be with her.
The Saxophone of Callisto
More History & Grencia Mars Elijah Guo Eckener
Other than session 5, we don't hear about her again until the Jupiter Jazz episodes.
In "Jupiter Jazz part I," our favorite vixen Faye has left the Bebop, as well as all of the cash. Edward begins searching the net on her whereabouts, and happens to come across the name "Julia" and says it out loud. Spike snaps and Julia's face flashes in his mind (this is where we officially know the woman in his memories name is "Julia"). In a rush of energy, he asks Ed for more information; she found the name on one of Jupiter's moons, Callisto, and Spike immediately flies off to find her.
However, it turns out this "Julia" is a "Julius," a male, cross-dressing prostitute. Spike asks him if he has any information. Julius says to look for a man named Gren, a musician at the Rester House bar at the Blue Crow. He's been seen with a woman before.
Meanwhile, Faye happens to be in Callisto, too, and at the Blue Crow, no less. This is where she meets none other than Gren himself. After a little chat, Faye goes off on her own again, only to find herself up against a bunch of men. As she prepares to fight, Gren blocks her and whacks an oncoming man with his saxophone's case. He grabs her and takes her to safety in his apartment.
In short, they talk some more to each other, but as he leaves to bathe, Faye finds out more than she needed to know, a lot more.
This episode ends with a smaller confrontation between Spike and Vicious, accompanied by a man named Lin..
"Are you dating Julia behind my back?" asks Spike.
Here, Spike is referring to Vicious' codename for his drug deal...
"I feel sorry for her. Having her name used for some crooked deal like this," he continues.
"Julia was here, in the town," Vicious informs him.
With a tranquilizer gun, Lin shoots down Spike.
In "Jupiter Jazz part II," when things get settled down, Gren opens up to Faye and talks about his past. Gren was actually a war veteran with Vicious on Titan. In the trenches, Gren hears a little tune; it's coming from Vicious. He holds a small music box playing. When asked what it's called, "Julia," is answered. Gren likes it and requests to play it on his sax when he gets home. Vicious simply gives the box to him.
"You're [Faye] the second person to know Vicious since I arrived here. And the second that I've talked about this to..."
The first person has to be Julia.
Jet also finds himself on Callisto and at one point is at the Rester House during closing hours talking to the custodian. Jet asks if he'd seen Faye. Nope, there are no women on Callisto, except for Julia. Jet's ears perk up. The man says she wandered in around 2 years ago and disappeared in less than a month later.
"What kinda woman was she?"
"She was a real babe."
(I prefer the dub's word of "woman," makes her sound more like a significant person than just some chick ;P)
More memories of the past flood in.
Vicious: "I'm the only one that can keep you alive... I'm the only one that can kill you..."
Spike: "I'm only watching a dream that I never awakened from."
Julia: "It's like I am watching a dream..."
Vicious: "Be careful when you're with that woman."
Julia: "Women are all liars..."
Spike: "When this is over, I'm getting out of all this. And then...will you come with me?"
Vicious: "Are you going to betray me?"
Julia: "They're going to kill you..."
"Your left eye and right eye are different colors..."
Spike: "My left eye sees the past..."
Julia: "Then what about your right eye...?"
In Vicious' first line, we don't know if he's referring to Spike or Julia yet, or both. Spike and Julia's first comments are strangely similar; both seem to share an outlook of life as some sort of dream. Vicious warns someone to be careful when with Julia. It must be Spike since the three of them were once a trio. Then comes a shot of Vicious and Julia in bed. We now know they were at one point, lovers. It's kind of safe to say they were together before she was with Spike, as Vicious knows Julia as his lover so he warms him about her. Julia then tells someone (Spike, Vicious, both, we don't know) that women are all liars. I'm not too sure why she said that, though, whatever words she has spoken are honest (as we'll see later). My only guess is that she's not exactly lying, but hiding the fact she is falling for Spike and vice versa because right after Vicious' and Julia's image, Julia's turning around in a leather outfit. We'll see later that this is where she and Spike meet, that's probably to tell the audience she met someone else: Spike. Then Spike mentions something about leaving and wanting Julia to come with him. Bye now, judging by the visions in the memories, we can say Spike has left the Red Dragon syndicate and wants his love to come with him, naturally. Then we suddenly hear Vicious asking if "you" are going to betray me. It's now clear he's at least referring to Julia. Because with his words, an image of a gun is pressed against the back of Julia's head. The memories end with Spike and Julia discussing his eyes, how they are two different colors; Spike says he sees the past with his left eye; an image of a mechanical eye appears. Spike lost it in an accident, so his left eye is forever a constant reminder of the past; he'll always see it.
There is a serious dogfight between Gren, Spike, and Vicious. Gren ship crashes thanks to Vicious, but his ship got damaged, too, so he flies off as Spike tracks down Gren. He's seriously hurt as Spike tries to help him and get him to talk. While doing so, Gren figures it out.
"I see. You are Spike." Gren begins to reminisce on Julia. "Julia was always talking about you... That your two eyes were of different colors... That's what she said... that you get a strange feeling when you look into his eyes..."
"What was she doing?"
"In the corner seat of the bar... She always sat there while I wasn't paying attention... [Julia even behaves like a phantom in the smallest ways] She always requested the same song... and smiled. Sadly...smiled." [I loved how the dub says her smile is "so sad, so beautiful."]
I would like to mention how important of a woman she was to Gren. Remember the tune Vicious called "Julia?" It is indeed the exact same as the one Gren plays on his sax at the Rester House, note-for-note. The song by which it is called in the "Cowgirl Ed" O.S.T. is in fact "Goodnight Julia." Gren probably kept the Julia" in it because that's what it's originally called. But what about the word "goodbye?" Since Julia was only around for less than a month and they were close enough for her to be the first person to hear his past, maybe his misses her; goodnight, Julia. What I love even more, his how this extends in Gren's little theme song, "Space Lion" from the "Cowboy Bebop" O.S.T. (the first one). Quite a few characters seem to have a theme song of theirs, like "Cats on Mars" for Ed. This must be Gren's, as it plays the ending of "Jupiter Jazz part II" and is really an extended version of "Goodnight Julia." For such a beautiful song to stem off from a farewell titled tribute to Julia touches me.
Waking from the Dream
Motives, Growth, Spike Spiegel, Vicious, & Faye Valentine
Mild Warning!: This is now "The Real Folk Blues part I." There is nothing too spoiler-ish in this episode. However, you can call this half of the last episode; if you feel uncomfortable reading on knowing we're so close to the end, you may stop. But we really meet Julia in person from this point on, having real conversations with people in the present; you may want to read on, after all.
But it does end with a big cliffhanger!
You may want to urge yourself to read on, though. Of course you'll probably spoil yourself greatly if it does make you want to read on. But if you can hold on to the cliffhanger (no pun intended) without a need to read on afterwards, it is suggested that you do read "Part I."
"The Real Folk Blues part I"
We see Julia right from the start. She goes back to her apartment and listens to a message on her phone. Shin tells her that the elders [of the Red Dragon] are making their move; it's getting too dangerous, she needs to go.
The past speaks again.
"When this is over, I'm leaving the syndicate."
"You'll be killed."
"I'll let them say I'm dead." [we know for certain now his memories often included faking his death]
Spike hands Julia a note.
"I'll be waiting at the graveyard. Of course, I will be alive."
"I...can't come with you." [remember how I mentioned Julia was an honest woman?]
"Come with me. We'll leave here... We'll escape from this world."
"And then what are we going to do?"
"We'll just live a life of freedom somewhere. Just watching a dream..."
Julia holds the note with Spike.
This is certainly the note she shreds, as often seen in past memories.
For the first time in the whole series, we see Julia live in the flesh as she drives a rather sporty red convertible.
Perhaps, an even more important and revealing conversation of the past floods her mind.
"Are you going to betray me?"
More closure: we see Vicious pressing a gun on Julia's head.
"Vicious."
"Even if it's a dream, that's a impossibility." [he, too, shares this "dream" outlook, along with Julia and Spike; all three of these people seem to be very much alike]
Julia looks straight at him. "Are you going to kill him?" [even though she had a gun to her head a few seconds ago, she inquires about Spike without a thought]
"Yeah...with your hands." Julia is extremely shocked. "You stay alive... or you both die. You can choose."
Julia tears up Spike's note than throws its shreds out into the rain.
She has been given the worst ultimatum; kill your love yourself, or both of you die. No wonder she never met with Spike and the two got separated. Not only did she choose not to meet with him, she had to, in her heart. Like hell she'd kill him herself. She made the choice by not doing so, she choose to die with him rather than live without him and be free.
Spike insisted that she come escapes with him. Julia says they'll kill him. Common sense, to fake you death from a mob syndicate would be beyond dangerous, as his memories of his shoot-out shows us; only someone like Spike could have survived, and luckily he did. However, since he suggested it, he believes he can take Julia and himself away. But Julia refuses, so she may have wanted to opposite, to stay where they are for now. Certainly avoiding a good chance of death, she doesn't want her love to risk his life, for any reason. Freedom together would be nice, be they are there together, they can remain where they are for the time being. Whether or not their conversation was before or after Vicious' ultimatum, each believed in their choice whether to stay or remain.
It especially hurt that they lacked verbal communication skills. Spike and Julia have similar personalities; calm, collected, introverted; they are people of few words. She told him she couldn't go; he gave her the note. And yet they've been separated for around three years, doing what they thought was best. Spike did fake his dead and leave the Red Dragons. Julia did remain on Mars, for the most part.
We are with Julia in her car again, but she's not alone; she's actually the victim of a high-speed car chase where she's constantly being shot at. Perhaps, since she remains on Mars, she's being hunted by the Red Dragons.
She zooms past Faye who's by her ship at a parking lot. Faye notices the danger she's in and pulls out her gun. Julia makes a turn, both cars backing back around. Faye successfully trashes the pursuers' car with one shot. Julia pulls over and stops next to her, and Faye hops in. Soon, another vehicle appears and begins the hint again. The same as earlier, Faye easily ends it again.
The girls stop to have a smoke and have a chat. Julia compliments Faye's skill, who says that it's a plus when chasing bounties.
"A bounty hunter...?"
Faye says that she's on a break and noticed Julia's got something going on with the car chases and all. She then asks Julia if she'd like to partner up saying it might be good to work with a woman.
"I have...something to do. Do you know any bounty hunter hangouts?"
Faye says if she wants a bounty on someone, she can do that. However...
"I'm looking for a bounty hunter."
Faye's mind clicks a little.
"I'll drive you back." Later... "What's your name?"
"Faye."
"Faye...?"
"Faye Valentine. A common name. What's yours?"
"Julia."
"Julia...!?"
"It's a common name." The car stops and Faye gets out. "I'm glad I met you."
"Me, too. Um, have I met you somewhere...?"
"If... you see Spike again..." Faye gasps loudly. "Tell him that I will be waiting there. He'll know what I mean. Tell him I'll keep waiting [she's been waiting all these years...]."
"Why?"
"Good-bye, Faye Valentine."
"Why? Why do you know!?"
This is the only time Julia and Faye ever meet. It was brief and a little fun, Faye offered to become partners with her, but it is also crucial; Faye becomes a direct link of the past and the present and help people to their fate.
We can also deduce that Julia has been looking for Spike and has gathered information in him since she knows a woman named Faye Valentine works with him. Why didn't she go further and get in more contact with Spike? Well, as we've seen, because Julia remained on Mars, she's remained close to danger and too big of a target to escape easily. She did manage to go to Callisto, but perhaps she's being well sought after and stayed there for not even one month.
Back on the Bebop, Jet converses with Spike and wonders why he can't forget about the past.
"There was a woman. For the first time in my life... I saw a woman that was truly alive. That's what I believed. She was a piece of me I had lost. She is my other half that I longed for."
Julia...truly alive. Julia must have been a woman with a vivid spirit, passionate. Spike believes she is truly alive. However, he's referring to the woman in the past. Back when he met her, times were good. For the most part, we see her in troubled times; as they separate, Julia becomes a sad phantom, not exactly the person she once was.
Spike says she was a piece of him he lost and his other half. I believe here he is calling her his soul mate. One idea is that soul mates are two souls that cannot stand to be without each other. They are often called their other halves. Furthermore, Spike says the other half he longed for. Spike seems to be one half of a soul mate pair, to feel and know he needs one. To call Julia what he's said suggests they are indeed a pair.
The messenger came and delivered the news.
A gate swings open on a rainy day at a graveyard. Spike picks up a red rose and sees Julia standing before him. She pulls a handgun out of her coat and aims it at Spike.
"The Real Folk Blues part II"
MAJOR Warning!: Do I even have to tell you it's because this is the last episode? ;) Read on only if the cliffhanger was too much and you don't mind be spoiled!
Julia walks towards Spike.
"It was raining that day as well."
Spike smiles, "You didn't come because of the rain?"
"I was suppose to kill you... That day...if I had killed you...I have been free."
"So why didn't you?"
"Why...did you...love me?" She lowers the gun and gently embraces him. "Let's just run away somewhere. Truly escape from this world...and go where no one else is... Just the two of us..."
This is truly a grand testament to Julia's love for Spike.
She could have killed him to live and embrace freedom. But she chooses not to. Perhaps that is another reason why she tore up the note. To truly prevent herself from meeting Spike for his safety.
She chooses not to kill him. This says a lot. She doesn't want to kill Spike with her hands. Either way, Spike was to be killed, and she'd rather die with him than live without him. [later we'll see she repeats this notion]
I see her with the gun for many reasons other than to kill him, of course. For one, she gave one hell of a cliffhanger to the last episode, quite creative. Her lowering it screamed to me that there was no way she would ever hurt him, when I first saw this episode.
Julia answers Spike question honestly, after all, but he loves her; she loves him.
Then, she sounds so desperate to leave with him now. She sounds tired of being without him, waiting all these years, hungry to be with him alone forever. She reminds me of Spike when he was talking to Jet; Julia sounds like she can't stand to be without him anymore, and furthermore wants to be with forever, in solitude.
Reunited at long last, they decide on Spike's original plan and escape.
Together they drive with the objective to meet with an old friend, Annie. One way or another, she too is involved with the Red Dragons; Spike wishes to make sure she's okay
However, they arrived too late. Spike rushes to her and listens to her last words. Soon, Julia comes in.
"I see...you were able to meet Julia... I'm glad."
The syndicate is seriously after everyone now. Spike feels this and prepares himself with weapons and ammo kept in Annie's store.
"You don't need weapons like that just to run away."
Spike loads a gun.
"You're going to go... I'll go with you. Until the very end, Ill be with you."
Her choice on Vicious' ultimatum, her choice to remain by Spike's side in the world of the mob... These have to be among the hardest, toughest decisions a person can make... But she chose them rather easily. If that's not love, I don't know what is.
Jet and Faye remain at the Bebop...
"So what kind of a woman was Julia?"
"A normal woman... A beautiful, dangerous but normal woman that you can't leave alone..."
"I see."
"Like a devilish angel...or maybe an angelic devil..."
Faye description of Julia is thought provoking. A normal woman, Julia's ordinary, human. But also beautiful and dangerous. This is similar to what Spike said about her being truly alive. She's an attractive person, but with a tendency to get into trouble, lives life on the edge. Maybe this is the warning Vicious gave to Spike about being careful when with her. Faye also says she's a woman you can't leave alone. No wonder Vicious and Spike at one point of another were attracted to her. The contradictions are also intriguing. This could compliment the "normal" aspect, she's good but also bad or bad but also good, to have both. Maybe this could also mean she's unique as a person, but be devilish among angels, and angelic among devils.
The biggest of spoilers is coming right up! Final warning!
It doesn't take long for Spike and Julia to be caught in a crossfire of bullets. Both defend themselves well with their guns as they escape via rooftop.
Men keep coming after them from all angles, following them to the roof and from below in the street.
Spike tells Julia to get down and kills one who came in behind them, then concentrates on a shooter from the street and kills him, too.
Julia notices the clearing and gets up to continue running.
A man appears out of nowhere and fires before Spike can turn back around and kill him.
Then the most beautiful scene of anything I've seen in my entire life unfolds.
Julia falls forward in slow motion, her face clearly telling us she had been shot. Doves flapping wings are the only sound heard as scenes switch between her eyes and Spike's bulging eyes. She hits the ground.
"JULIA!"
Spike drops the gun and rushes to her.
"Hey!"
In silence she tells Spike her last words and passes on in her beloved's arms.
But it doesn't quite end there.
A man accompanying Vicious finds Julia's passport in her coat, which she laid on Annie's body. My guess is she might have been going to leave Mars to look for Spike again and/or to get out of harm's way for a while.
Spike returns to the Bebop to have a meal with Jet. Here he tells a story of a cat that lived and died a millions lives, but only cared when he met a female cat. When the female cat died, the male cried a million tears and died soon after. This is clearly a metaphor of Spike's life and it foreshadows what is to come next.
As Spike leaves, Jet asks if it's for Julia, but Spike cannot do anything for a dead woman.
Faye tries to stop him, even threatening him with a gun. She asks why he's going to throw his life away as if it were nothing. However, Spike does see the past constantly with his left eye. He also needs to settle the score with Vicious once and for all. He ends saying that he's not going there to die, he's going to see if he had been alive.
Spike and Vicious meet for the last time. In the middle of their duel...
"Julia passed away... let's end it all."
"If that's your wish."
Spike looks up at the sky and remembers Julia one last time.
"This is a dream," Julia's lips say as she looks at Spike one last time.
"Yeah, just a bad dream."
Julia's life was a dream, and given the circumstances they have been living in, Spike agrees but that it is a bad dream.
Her dream is over now. She's awake...but where? Spike's dream was soon over, too. They are both awake and free from this world, as the ending song "Blue" clearly states.
I believe that they are alive together somewhere, forever reunited, and truly alive.
Awaken from the Nightmare Now...
Strengths, Weaknesses, & Interest
She was strong; a calm woman in a nightmare, a good friend to those who knew her, to exist for a man's heart, someone who completed him and gave him reason to live.
She was weak; lost her true love for many years, became a sad wandering phantom, a memory, to die only to send a man to his death soon after.
Julia has to be one of the most fascinating characters I have ever met, if not, the most fascinating.
I've been watching Cowboy Bebop for over three years, and she has managed to still grab my attention. I'm constantly learning more about her.
And how many times do you meet a ghost from the past? She is a truly mysterious woman. Her calm personality, tendency to where black, a color that can symbolism darkness, mystery, the unknown. And, of course, that we see her as a memory more often than in person. To think I can learn and get to know her so much despite her lack of appearance... She is truly a remarkable character if that can be pulled off; and it did.
The more and more I watch her, learn about her, and see her, the more I love her.
Of course, I didn't cry for her when I first saw her die a few years ago; it's hard to get attached to a character like her at first. But I got to know her better, so much so, she's a favorite character enough to make me cry for her for the first time as I re-watched all of the episodes she was in today. To cry for someone you've seen many times later...
Goodnight, Julia.
END.
Fun Stuff
Trivia: Julia's English voice actress also happens to be the director of the dub!
Lyrics to "Adieu," Julia's unofficial theme song:
Been a fool, been a clown
lost my way from up and down
and I know, yes I know
And I see it in your eyes
that you really weren't surprised at me at all
not at all
And I know by your smile it's you.
Don't care for me, don't cry
let's say goodbye, Adieu.
It's time to say goodbye, I know that in time
it will just fade away, it's time to say goodbye.
I stand alone and watch you fade away like clouds
high up and in the sky
I'm strong and so cold
as I stand alone
Goodbye, so long, Adieu.
* Oh how I love you so, lost in those memories
And now you've gone
I feel the pain, feeling like a fool, Adieu
** My love for you burns deep
inside me, so strong
Embers of times we had
And now here I stand lost in a memory
I see your face and smile
* Repeat
** Repeat
Links:
White Roses - A Julia, SxJ shrine; of course, it's dormant/broken ;-;
AMVs:
Of course, I've look for a character profile AMV on Julia, and there are none. Surprise, surprise. ;P I suppose the best you can get are scenes with her in them in general or Spike-centered AMVs.
And holy crap, can this be? AMVs, in one way or another, about an OTP?! Why, yes, it seems to be that way!
Anyway, here are a couple of more S/J-ish AMVs that I was fortunate to be linked to. Thank you!
"Shadows" -- The most beautiful AMV I have ever seen. Makes me cry every time. XD
"Life is But a Dream" -- Another gorgeous piece of work. It also makes me cry! XD!
LiveJournal Communities:
goodnight_julia - Julia
spikeandjulia - Spike x Julia
(of course, I'm in both ;) join me!)
Colorbars:
Spike and Julia are Celestial Love
(the only Julia related one I've seen)
Fanlistings:
Goodnight Julia - Julia
Spike and Julia - Of COURSE this one's broken ;-;
Sources of Reference:
Sessions 1, 3, and 6 DVDs, Episodes 5, 12-13, and 25-26 (all viewed today)
Last Train Home
The Real Folk Blues
Random Pimpage:
tough_to_beat - Join the first community I created, it's dedicated to Sanosuke Sagara of Rurouni Kenshin!
rk_claims - Inspired by bebopclaims, come here and claim all the stuff in the RK world! It's huge, so you can certainly find at least 1 thing you'd like. :)
Title: Beautiful Phantom
Author: Radical Lindsay
Spoilers: Julia is perhaps the key character in the last 2 episodes of the series, "The Real Folk Blues part I/II." This character is also tied directly with the main character, Spike Spiegel and big spoilers will accompany him and Julia.
So, in general, huge spoilers because she ties into the last two episodes as if she owned them! :P
E-mail: Lindsay_RR@yahoo.com
Notes: You can still read up to a point where I warn of spoilers. I wish you could, though, or else you will only know her a phantom. :) But at least you'll get a general idea of whom she is.
Also, I am a Spike/Julia person, but I will be as unbiased as I possibly can. Besides, I shouldn't talk about Spike/Faye in an essay that's suppose to center around Julia as much as possible. :)
This only covers the anime; the manga's basically the misadventures of the Bebop crew and bounties and Julia's not in any, I assume.
A memory...
A mere figment in the subconscious of a man's mind...
This is how we meet Julia. She is not your average woman. Not even a woman, she greets us as images in someone's mind.
Small Past, Brief Meeting
Impression & History
So, who is she? Maybe an old lover of something.
And so here I am, watching for the first time, what would become one of my favorites, "Ballad of Fallen Angels," the fifth episode. And damn, what a confrontation this man is in! Before I know it, "Green Bird" plays in the background and Spike falls helplessly down out of the church. There's a shot of one of his eyes; all of these memories flash onto the screen. Among them is a woman. An attractive, young woman. Rather easy to guess she is a love interest of his. But his final memories are extended and involve only her. I'm looking through Spike's eyes now, stumbling towards her as she leaves a little shop. Then he collapses and falls, on the brink of death. His eyes open looking right at the woman. She's sitting right by his side, reading a book and humming. She feels his eyes on her at looks back
"Just like that..."
He utters clearly despite the condition and pain he's in. She looks a little concerned and shocked.
"Sing for me."
She curves a smile, grateful and flattered he woke up and spoke to her just for a little request.
This ends the first time we meet this woman. All we know now is that she is a kind, loving woman, who cares deeply for Spike. A quite girl, who tended to his wounds (by herself? a doctor? we don't know, but she made sure he would heal). Someone who would literally stay by your side. A girl who enjoys an occasional book every now and then. Hmm, maybe she stood by Spike's side so long, she occupied herself with a book?
Or does it end there? We've actually seen her before! During the end credits, there are beautiful images featuring Spike, Julia, and Vicious. The end credits actually serve a purpose, to try and tell us more about the past. From this, we see an image of Vicious and Spike, and Julia running towards them. It seems they were all once friends or comrades of some sort. We also see Spike and Vicious leaning against a fence on each side. They could have been friends. We even see Spike on the floor, Julia just leaving the shop; the same memory Spike had during his fall. Then we see Julia alone. She's sitting, looking out a window of a rainy day, we can see half of her face in the reflection. A statue of two fish accompanies her on the table. We see her last in a shot of her with Spike. And a man is standing atop a staircase facing them. You can guess it's Vicious, and it's a good one, since the past is all about these three people and the only key characters featured in the credits are they.
This must be a significant moment to appear in a memory and the end credits background. My guess is to show how much Spike felt for her and how she saved him from death. Then again, we learn that Spike is injured thanks to a reoccurring memory of him faking his death to leave the Red Dragon syndicate. He could have gone to see a private doctor, as he and Jet did in the second to the last episode. Instead, near death, he chooses Julia. I bet he knew she could save him and wanted to be with her.
The Saxophone of Callisto
More History & Grencia Mars Elijah Guo Eckener
Other than session 5, we don't hear about her again until the Jupiter Jazz episodes.
In "Jupiter Jazz part I," our favorite vixen Faye has left the Bebop, as well as all of the cash. Edward begins searching the net on her whereabouts, and happens to come across the name "Julia" and says it out loud. Spike snaps and Julia's face flashes in his mind (this is where we officially know the woman in his memories name is "Julia"). In a rush of energy, he asks Ed for more information; she found the name on one of Jupiter's moons, Callisto, and Spike immediately flies off to find her.
However, it turns out this "Julia" is a "Julius," a male, cross-dressing prostitute. Spike asks him if he has any information. Julius says to look for a man named Gren, a musician at the Rester House bar at the Blue Crow. He's been seen with a woman before.
Meanwhile, Faye happens to be in Callisto, too, and at the Blue Crow, no less. This is where she meets none other than Gren himself. After a little chat, Faye goes off on her own again, only to find herself up against a bunch of men. As she prepares to fight, Gren blocks her and whacks an oncoming man with his saxophone's case. He grabs her and takes her to safety in his apartment.
In short, they talk some more to each other, but as he leaves to bathe, Faye finds out more than she needed to know, a lot more.
This episode ends with a smaller confrontation between Spike and Vicious, accompanied by a man named Lin..
"Are you dating Julia behind my back?" asks Spike.
Here, Spike is referring to Vicious' codename for his drug deal...
"I feel sorry for her. Having her name used for some crooked deal like this," he continues.
"Julia was here, in the town," Vicious informs him.
With a tranquilizer gun, Lin shoots down Spike.
In "Jupiter Jazz part II," when things get settled down, Gren opens up to Faye and talks about his past. Gren was actually a war veteran with Vicious on Titan. In the trenches, Gren hears a little tune; it's coming from Vicious. He holds a small music box playing. When asked what it's called, "Julia," is answered. Gren likes it and requests to play it on his sax when he gets home. Vicious simply gives the box to him.
"You're [Faye] the second person to know Vicious since I arrived here. And the second that I've talked about this to..."
The first person has to be Julia.
Jet also finds himself on Callisto and at one point is at the Rester House during closing hours talking to the custodian. Jet asks if he'd seen Faye. Nope, there are no women on Callisto, except for Julia. Jet's ears perk up. The man says she wandered in around 2 years ago and disappeared in less than a month later.
"What kinda woman was she?"
"She was a real babe."
(I prefer the dub's word of "woman," makes her sound more like a significant person than just some chick ;P)
More memories of the past flood in.
Vicious: "I'm the only one that can keep you alive... I'm the only one that can kill you..."
Spike: "I'm only watching a dream that I never awakened from."
Julia: "It's like I am watching a dream..."
Vicious: "Be careful when you're with that woman."
Julia: "Women are all liars..."
Spike: "When this is over, I'm getting out of all this. And then...will you come with me?"
Vicious: "Are you going to betray me?"
Julia: "They're going to kill you..."
"Your left eye and right eye are different colors..."
Spike: "My left eye sees the past..."
Julia: "Then what about your right eye...?"
In Vicious' first line, we don't know if he's referring to Spike or Julia yet, or both. Spike and Julia's first comments are strangely similar; both seem to share an outlook of life as some sort of dream. Vicious warns someone to be careful when with Julia. It must be Spike since the three of them were once a trio. Then comes a shot of Vicious and Julia in bed. We now know they were at one point, lovers. It's kind of safe to say they were together before she was with Spike, as Vicious knows Julia as his lover so he warms him about her. Julia then tells someone (Spike, Vicious, both, we don't know) that women are all liars. I'm not too sure why she said that, though, whatever words she has spoken are honest (as we'll see later). My only guess is that she's not exactly lying, but hiding the fact she is falling for Spike and vice versa because right after Vicious' and Julia's image, Julia's turning around in a leather outfit. We'll see later that this is where she and Spike meet, that's probably to tell the audience she met someone else: Spike. Then Spike mentions something about leaving and wanting Julia to come with him. Bye now, judging by the visions in the memories, we can say Spike has left the Red Dragon syndicate and wants his love to come with him, naturally. Then we suddenly hear Vicious asking if "you" are going to betray me. It's now clear he's at least referring to Julia. Because with his words, an image of a gun is pressed against the back of Julia's head. The memories end with Spike and Julia discussing his eyes, how they are two different colors; Spike says he sees the past with his left eye; an image of a mechanical eye appears. Spike lost it in an accident, so his left eye is forever a constant reminder of the past; he'll always see it.
There is a serious dogfight between Gren, Spike, and Vicious. Gren ship crashes thanks to Vicious, but his ship got damaged, too, so he flies off as Spike tracks down Gren. He's seriously hurt as Spike tries to help him and get him to talk. While doing so, Gren figures it out.
"I see. You are Spike." Gren begins to reminisce on Julia. "Julia was always talking about you... That your two eyes were of different colors... That's what she said... that you get a strange feeling when you look into his eyes..."
"What was she doing?"
"In the corner seat of the bar... She always sat there while I wasn't paying attention... [Julia even behaves like a phantom in the smallest ways] She always requested the same song... and smiled. Sadly...smiled." [I loved how the dub says her smile is "so sad, so beautiful."]
I would like to mention how important of a woman she was to Gren. Remember the tune Vicious called "Julia?" It is indeed the exact same as the one Gren plays on his sax at the Rester House, note-for-note. The song by which it is called in the "Cowgirl Ed" O.S.T. is in fact "Goodnight Julia." Gren probably kept the Julia" in it because that's what it's originally called. But what about the word "goodbye?" Since Julia was only around for less than a month and they were close enough for her to be the first person to hear his past, maybe his misses her; goodnight, Julia. What I love even more, his how this extends in Gren's little theme song, "Space Lion" from the "Cowboy Bebop" O.S.T. (the first one). Quite a few characters seem to have a theme song of theirs, like "Cats on Mars" for Ed. This must be Gren's, as it plays the ending of "Jupiter Jazz part II" and is really an extended version of "Goodnight Julia." For such a beautiful song to stem off from a farewell titled tribute to Julia touches me.
Waking from the Dream
Motives, Growth, Spike Spiegel, Vicious, & Faye Valentine
Mild Warning!: This is now "The Real Folk Blues part I." There is nothing too spoiler-ish in this episode. However, you can call this half of the last episode; if you feel uncomfortable reading on knowing we're so close to the end, you may stop. But we really meet Julia in person from this point on, having real conversations with people in the present; you may want to read on, after all.
But it does end with a big cliffhanger!
You may want to urge yourself to read on, though. Of course you'll probably spoil yourself greatly if it does make you want to read on. But if you can hold on to the cliffhanger (no pun intended) without a need to read on afterwards, it is suggested that you do read "Part I."
"The Real Folk Blues part I"
We see Julia right from the start. She goes back to her apartment and listens to a message on her phone. Shin tells her that the elders [of the Red Dragon] are making their move; it's getting too dangerous, she needs to go.
The past speaks again.
"When this is over, I'm leaving the syndicate."
"You'll be killed."
"I'll let them say I'm dead." [we know for certain now his memories often included faking his death]
Spike hands Julia a note.
"I'll be waiting at the graveyard. Of course, I will be alive."
"I...can't come with you." [remember how I mentioned Julia was an honest woman?]
"Come with me. We'll leave here... We'll escape from this world."
"And then what are we going to do?"
"We'll just live a life of freedom somewhere. Just watching a dream..."
Julia holds the note with Spike.
This is certainly the note she shreds, as often seen in past memories.
For the first time in the whole series, we see Julia live in the flesh as she drives a rather sporty red convertible.
Perhaps, an even more important and revealing conversation of the past floods her mind.
"Are you going to betray me?"
More closure: we see Vicious pressing a gun on Julia's head.
"Vicious."
"Even if it's a dream, that's a impossibility." [he, too, shares this "dream" outlook, along with Julia and Spike; all three of these people seem to be very much alike]
Julia looks straight at him. "Are you going to kill him?" [even though she had a gun to her head a few seconds ago, she inquires about Spike without a thought]
"Yeah...with your hands." Julia is extremely shocked. "You stay alive... or you both die. You can choose."
Julia tears up Spike's note than throws its shreds out into the rain.
She has been given the worst ultimatum; kill your love yourself, or both of you die. No wonder she never met with Spike and the two got separated. Not only did she choose not to meet with him, she had to, in her heart. Like hell she'd kill him herself. She made the choice by not doing so, she choose to die with him rather than live without him and be free.
Spike insisted that she come escapes with him. Julia says they'll kill him. Common sense, to fake you death from a mob syndicate would be beyond dangerous, as his memories of his shoot-out shows us; only someone like Spike could have survived, and luckily he did. However, since he suggested it, he believes he can take Julia and himself away. But Julia refuses, so she may have wanted to opposite, to stay where they are for now. Certainly avoiding a good chance of death, she doesn't want her love to risk his life, for any reason. Freedom together would be nice, be they are there together, they can remain where they are for the time being. Whether or not their conversation was before or after Vicious' ultimatum, each believed in their choice whether to stay or remain.
It especially hurt that they lacked verbal communication skills. Spike and Julia have similar personalities; calm, collected, introverted; they are people of few words. She told him she couldn't go; he gave her the note. And yet they've been separated for around three years, doing what they thought was best. Spike did fake his dead and leave the Red Dragons. Julia did remain on Mars, for the most part.
We are with Julia in her car again, but she's not alone; she's actually the victim of a high-speed car chase where she's constantly being shot at. Perhaps, since she remains on Mars, she's being hunted by the Red Dragons.
She zooms past Faye who's by her ship at a parking lot. Faye notices the danger she's in and pulls out her gun. Julia makes a turn, both cars backing back around. Faye successfully trashes the pursuers' car with one shot. Julia pulls over and stops next to her, and Faye hops in. Soon, another vehicle appears and begins the hint again. The same as earlier, Faye easily ends it again.
The girls stop to have a smoke and have a chat. Julia compliments Faye's skill, who says that it's a plus when chasing bounties.
"A bounty hunter...?"
Faye says that she's on a break and noticed Julia's got something going on with the car chases and all. She then asks Julia if she'd like to partner up saying it might be good to work with a woman.
"I have...something to do. Do you know any bounty hunter hangouts?"
Faye says if she wants a bounty on someone, she can do that. However...
"I'm looking for a bounty hunter."
Faye's mind clicks a little.
"I'll drive you back." Later... "What's your name?"
"Faye."
"Faye...?"
"Faye Valentine. A common name. What's yours?"
"Julia."
"Julia...!?"
"It's a common name." The car stops and Faye gets out. "I'm glad I met you."
"Me, too. Um, have I met you somewhere...?"
"If... you see Spike again..." Faye gasps loudly. "Tell him that I will be waiting there. He'll know what I mean. Tell him I'll keep waiting [she's been waiting all these years...]."
"Why?"
"Good-bye, Faye Valentine."
"Why? Why do you know!?"
This is the only time Julia and Faye ever meet. It was brief and a little fun, Faye offered to become partners with her, but it is also crucial; Faye becomes a direct link of the past and the present and help people to their fate.
We can also deduce that Julia has been looking for Spike and has gathered information in him since she knows a woman named Faye Valentine works with him. Why didn't she go further and get in more contact with Spike? Well, as we've seen, because Julia remained on Mars, she's remained close to danger and too big of a target to escape easily. She did manage to go to Callisto, but perhaps she's being well sought after and stayed there for not even one month.
Back on the Bebop, Jet converses with Spike and wonders why he can't forget about the past.
"There was a woman. For the first time in my life... I saw a woman that was truly alive. That's what I believed. She was a piece of me I had lost. She is my other half that I longed for."
Julia...truly alive. Julia must have been a woman with a vivid spirit, passionate. Spike believes she is truly alive. However, he's referring to the woman in the past. Back when he met her, times were good. For the most part, we see her in troubled times; as they separate, Julia becomes a sad phantom, not exactly the person she once was.
Spike says she was a piece of him he lost and his other half. I believe here he is calling her his soul mate. One idea is that soul mates are two souls that cannot stand to be without each other. They are often called their other halves. Furthermore, Spike says the other half he longed for. Spike seems to be one half of a soul mate pair, to feel and know he needs one. To call Julia what he's said suggests they are indeed a pair.
The messenger came and delivered the news.
A gate swings open on a rainy day at a graveyard. Spike picks up a red rose and sees Julia standing before him. She pulls a handgun out of her coat and aims it at Spike.
"The Real Folk Blues part II"
MAJOR Warning!: Do I even have to tell you it's because this is the last episode? ;) Read on only if the cliffhanger was too much and you don't mind be spoiled!
Julia walks towards Spike.
"It was raining that day as well."
Spike smiles, "You didn't come because of the rain?"
"I was suppose to kill you... That day...if I had killed you...I have been free."
"So why didn't you?"
"Why...did you...love me?" She lowers the gun and gently embraces him. "Let's just run away somewhere. Truly escape from this world...and go where no one else is... Just the two of us..."
This is truly a grand testament to Julia's love for Spike.
She could have killed him to live and embrace freedom. But she chooses not to. Perhaps that is another reason why she tore up the note. To truly prevent herself from meeting Spike for his safety.
She chooses not to kill him. This says a lot. She doesn't want to kill Spike with her hands. Either way, Spike was to be killed, and she'd rather die with him than live without him. [later we'll see she repeats this notion]
I see her with the gun for many reasons other than to kill him, of course. For one, she gave one hell of a cliffhanger to the last episode, quite creative. Her lowering it screamed to me that there was no way she would ever hurt him, when I first saw this episode.
Julia answers Spike question honestly, after all, but he loves her; she loves him.
Then, she sounds so desperate to leave with him now. She sounds tired of being without him, waiting all these years, hungry to be with him alone forever. She reminds me of Spike when he was talking to Jet; Julia sounds like she can't stand to be without him anymore, and furthermore wants to be with forever, in solitude.
Reunited at long last, they decide on Spike's original plan and escape.
Together they drive with the objective to meet with an old friend, Annie. One way or another, she too is involved with the Red Dragons; Spike wishes to make sure she's okay
However, they arrived too late. Spike rushes to her and listens to her last words. Soon, Julia comes in.
"I see...you were able to meet Julia... I'm glad."
The syndicate is seriously after everyone now. Spike feels this and prepares himself with weapons and ammo kept in Annie's store.
"You don't need weapons like that just to run away."
Spike loads a gun.
"You're going to go... I'll go with you. Until the very end, Ill be with you."
Her choice on Vicious' ultimatum, her choice to remain by Spike's side in the world of the mob... These have to be among the hardest, toughest decisions a person can make... But she chose them rather easily. If that's not love, I don't know what is.
Jet and Faye remain at the Bebop...
"So what kind of a woman was Julia?"
"A normal woman... A beautiful, dangerous but normal woman that you can't leave alone..."
"I see."
"Like a devilish angel...or maybe an angelic devil..."
Faye description of Julia is thought provoking. A normal woman, Julia's ordinary, human. But also beautiful and dangerous. This is similar to what Spike said about her being truly alive. She's an attractive person, but with a tendency to get into trouble, lives life on the edge. Maybe this is the warning Vicious gave to Spike about being careful when with her. Faye also says she's a woman you can't leave alone. No wonder Vicious and Spike at one point of another were attracted to her. The contradictions are also intriguing. This could compliment the "normal" aspect, she's good but also bad or bad but also good, to have both. Maybe this could also mean she's unique as a person, but be devilish among angels, and angelic among devils.
The biggest of spoilers is coming right up! Final warning!
It doesn't take long for Spike and Julia to be caught in a crossfire of bullets. Both defend themselves well with their guns as they escape via rooftop.
Men keep coming after them from all angles, following them to the roof and from below in the street.
Spike tells Julia to get down and kills one who came in behind them, then concentrates on a shooter from the street and kills him, too.
Julia notices the clearing and gets up to continue running.
A man appears out of nowhere and fires before Spike can turn back around and kill him.
Then the most beautiful scene of anything I've seen in my entire life unfolds.
Julia falls forward in slow motion, her face clearly telling us she had been shot. Doves flapping wings are the only sound heard as scenes switch between her eyes and Spike's bulging eyes. She hits the ground.
"JULIA!"
Spike drops the gun and rushes to her.
"Hey!"
In silence she tells Spike her last words and passes on in her beloved's arms.
But it doesn't quite end there.
A man accompanying Vicious finds Julia's passport in her coat, which she laid on Annie's body. My guess is she might have been going to leave Mars to look for Spike again and/or to get out of harm's way for a while.
Spike returns to the Bebop to have a meal with Jet. Here he tells a story of a cat that lived and died a millions lives, but only cared when he met a female cat. When the female cat died, the male cried a million tears and died soon after. This is clearly a metaphor of Spike's life and it foreshadows what is to come next.
As Spike leaves, Jet asks if it's for Julia, but Spike cannot do anything for a dead woman.
Faye tries to stop him, even threatening him with a gun. She asks why he's going to throw his life away as if it were nothing. However, Spike does see the past constantly with his left eye. He also needs to settle the score with Vicious once and for all. He ends saying that he's not going there to die, he's going to see if he had been alive.
Spike and Vicious meet for the last time. In the middle of their duel...
"Julia passed away... let's end it all."
"If that's your wish."
Spike looks up at the sky and remembers Julia one last time.
"This is a dream," Julia's lips say as she looks at Spike one last time.
"Yeah, just a bad dream."
Julia's life was a dream, and given the circumstances they have been living in, Spike agrees but that it is a bad dream.
Her dream is over now. She's awake...but where? Spike's dream was soon over, too. They are both awake and free from this world, as the ending song "Blue" clearly states.
I believe that they are alive together somewhere, forever reunited, and truly alive.
Awaken from the Nightmare Now...
Strengths, Weaknesses, & Interest
She was strong; a calm woman in a nightmare, a good friend to those who knew her, to exist for a man's heart, someone who completed him and gave him reason to live.
She was weak; lost her true love for many years, became a sad wandering phantom, a memory, to die only to send a man to his death soon after.
Julia has to be one of the most fascinating characters I have ever met, if not, the most fascinating.
I've been watching Cowboy Bebop for over three years, and she has managed to still grab my attention. I'm constantly learning more about her.
And how many times do you meet a ghost from the past? She is a truly mysterious woman. Her calm personality, tendency to where black, a color that can symbolism darkness, mystery, the unknown. And, of course, that we see her as a memory more often than in person. To think I can learn and get to know her so much despite her lack of appearance... She is truly a remarkable character if that can be pulled off; and it did.
The more and more I watch her, learn about her, and see her, the more I love her.
Of course, I didn't cry for her when I first saw her die a few years ago; it's hard to get attached to a character like her at first. But I got to know her better, so much so, she's a favorite character enough to make me cry for her for the first time as I re-watched all of the episodes she was in today. To cry for someone you've seen many times later...
Goodnight, Julia.
END.
Fun Stuff
Trivia: Julia's English voice actress also happens to be the director of the dub!
Lyrics to "Adieu," Julia's unofficial theme song:
Been a fool, been a clown
lost my way from up and down
and I know, yes I know
And I see it in your eyes
that you really weren't surprised at me at all
not at all
And I know by your smile it's you.
Don't care for me, don't cry
let's say goodbye, Adieu.
It's time to say goodbye, I know that in time
it will just fade away, it's time to say goodbye.
I stand alone and watch you fade away like clouds
high up and in the sky
I'm strong and so cold
as I stand alone
Goodbye, so long, Adieu.
* Oh how I love you so, lost in those memories
And now you've gone
I feel the pain, feeling like a fool, Adieu
** My love for you burns deep
inside me, so strong
Embers of times we had
And now here I stand lost in a memory
I see your face and smile
* Repeat
** Repeat
Links:
White Roses - A Julia, SxJ shrine; of course, it's dormant/broken ;-;
AMVs:
Of course, I've look for a character profile AMV on Julia, and there are none. Surprise, surprise. ;P I suppose the best you can get are scenes with her in them in general or Spike-centered AMVs.
And holy crap, can this be? AMVs, in one way or another, about an OTP?! Why, yes, it seems to be that way!
Anyway, here are a couple of more S/J-ish AMVs that I was fortunate to be linked to. Thank you!
"Shadows" -- The most beautiful AMV I have ever seen. Makes me cry every time. XD
"Life is But a Dream" -- Another gorgeous piece of work. It also makes me cry! XD!
LiveJournal Communities:
goodnight_julia - Julia
spikeandjulia - Spike x Julia
(of course, I'm in both ;) join me!)
Colorbars:
Spike and Julia are Celestial Love
(the only Julia related one I've seen)
Fanlistings:
Goodnight Julia - Julia
Spike and Julia - Of COURSE this one's broken ;-;
Sources of Reference:
Sessions 1, 3, and 6 DVDs, Episodes 5, 12-13, and 25-26 (all viewed today)
Last Train Home
The Real Folk Blues
Random Pimpage:
tough_to_beat - Join the first community I created, it's dedicated to Sanosuke Sagara of Rurouni Kenshin!
rk_claims - Inspired by bebopclaims, come here and claim all the stuff in the RK world! It's huge, so you can certainly find at least 1 thing you'd like. :)