Cowboy Bebop ends with an extremely ambiguous finale in which everyone thinks the protasgonist Spike Spiegel dies, but the rose suggests the ending might not be what it seems.
The anime Cowboy Bebop tells the story of Spike and the group of bounty hunters aboard the Bebop ship as they come to terms with their respective pasts and try to make a living.
Spike, who was once an enforcer for the Red Dragon crime syndicate, left the organization to become a bounty hunter, leading to the events of the anime.
In the series finale, Spike appears to die after being hit by the hail of bullets from Vicious and his henchmen.
One detail, however, implies that Spike may have survived.
In the Cowboy Bebop series finale, “The Real Folk Blues”, Spike reunites with the woman he loves, Julia, but she dies in a shootout with the henchmen of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate.
Having reached the peak of despair and with his rivalry with Vicious now at a boiling point, Spike sets out on an apparently suicidal mission to kill his rival and end the Red Dragon once and for all.
At the end of Cowboy Bebop, Spike manages to kill Vicious and annihilate most of the associates, but the fight leaves him severely wounded, and he apparently dies in the final moments of the episode.
Although it seems Spike died as a result of his injuries after Vicious’s death, a recurring symbol may indicate that Spike survived the fight.
Cowboy Bebop frequently showed a red rose lying in a puddle, representing his doomed love for Julia, and the symbol appears again at the end.
Several petals blow across the ground with the wind just before Spike sets out on his suicidal mission, but they are fully colored.
Despite being the reason Spike lived, Julia died, and the visual symbolism of the rose suggests that Spike may have survived, despite his injuries.
The first part of the series finale ends with prolonged shots of Spike’s rose in full bloom and in color, further supporting this symbol of his survival.
Spike Spiegel himself assures Faye that he wasn’t facing Vicious with the intention of dying, but to “find out if (he’s) really alive.”
Although enigmatic, the line adds weight to Spike’s survival.
Throughout Cowboy Bebop, Spike has a rather indifferent attitude toward his survival during his numerous dangerous missions, so Spike might have simply passed out from exhaustion rather than dying from his injuries.
There is an equal amount of evidence that Spike died after finally killing Vicious.
Spike no longer felt the need to live after losing Julia, and all that remained for him was to avenge her by killing his rival.
With Vicious’s death, Spike finally accepted his past and could die in peace.
Symbolically, the ending shows a bright star flickering before disappearing at the end of the credits, coinciding with a prediction made by Spike’s ally, Laughing Bull.
Cowboy Bebop has an intentionally ambiguous ending, with creator Shinichirō Watanabe refusing to confirm either outcome and admitting he doesn’t have a definitive answer himself.
The conflicting visual clues and the abrupt nature of the anime’s ending allow viewers to decide for themselves, but Spike’s character arc ends beautifully either way.
Whether the Netflix version ends on an equally ambiguous note remains to be seen.
For those who wish Spike survived, however, the visual hint given by his rose might be enough to assume he survives the end of Cowboy Bebop.
