Cowboy Bebop is popular with LGBTQ anime fans due to its queer-coded themes. Because of these, some fans perceive Ed as nonbinary. So, what is Edward's gender, according to the creators?
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Here's What You Need to Know About Cowboy Bebop's Edward
Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivruski IV is a child prodigy who has a skill in hacking.
Born on January 1, 2058, Edward's father forgot to pick his child up from daycare.
Edward was then left with no choice but to stay in the orphanage for two years.
The androgynous character was added to the Bebop crew to help crack computer systems.
Edward’s skill was an advantage to the crew in terms of tracking down creatures and researching people’s names.
Ed first appeared in Episode 9 when Spike, Jet, and Faye were tracking down Radical Edward, a known hacker.
Ed eventually teamed up with the Bebop crew to eliminate the MPU Satellite.
Throughout the series, Edward's androgynous appearance often confused people about the character's gender. But worry not as we've got the answer right here!
Is Cowboy Bebop's Ed a Boy, a Girl, or Non-Binary?
Despite having a name we typically associate with men, Edward is female. As such, she's a girl and is referred to using she/her pronouns.
Whether Ed is cis or trans has not been discussed, and LGBT issues aren't often explicitly mentioned in anime (especially older ones), so we can't know for sure.
Ed, herself, definitely considers herself female. In Episode 17, she says that she is a cowgirl.
In another instance, she corrects the drag queen in Cowboy Bebop: The Movie who assumed that she was a boy.
What Do Ed's Creators Say About the Character's Gender?
In a 2005 interview, Cowboy Bebop character designer and animation director Toshihiro Kawamoto explained that Ed's character was initially conceived as a young male hacker before ultimately deciding to make Ed a girl.
In a later interview, director Shinichirō Watanabe mentioned that Ed “is a character that surpasses humanity,” which, according to Watanabe, means that the question of Ed's gender is ultimately not that important.
In the live-action, the role was given to Eden Perkins who is a non-binary actor. Perkins refers to the character with female pronouns.
Young Anime Characters and Ambiguous Gender
Ed is part of a long anime tradition in which a young androgynous-looking character is mistaken for a boy but turns out to be a girl in a surprise reveal.
One of the most recent examples would be Nurugai from Hell's Paradise whose unkempt tomboyish appearance makes other characters perceive her as a boy even though she's a girl.
An older example would be Dororo from the anime of the same name. In the manga and its first adaptation, Dororo is a girl posing as a boy in an attempt to avoid violence often directed at young girls.
The 2019 anime adaptation, of course, can interpret Dororo's character as a trans boy, as Dororo never stops using male pronouns and never starts presenting as female.
As far as Cowboy Bebop is concerned, some fans do not see Ed’s gender as an issue because Ed is still Ed regardless.
The character has been loved by many because of her happy-go-lucky and intelligent personality.
She might be childlike at times, but her resourceful and bubbly personality is entertaining and lovable.
Everyone can agree that Ed is the primary source of humor in the series with her eccentric behavior, regardless of her gender.
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