Is Cowboy Bebop a cyberpunk anime?

I mean, considering all the high tech and low life.
Weak governments.
Corrupt governmets.
Gang controlled worlds.
Rife criminality.
And so on...

It's an episodic space noir.

Cyberpunk is sci-fi noir

It can still be cyberpunk and that.

No.

Bebop is a space western

Yes.

Barely, the only thematic element was Big Shot.

If the story was told differently I suppose it could be. It doesn't have enough drugs, overboard bureaucracy, dirt, and general hopeless rebellion against the perverted corrupt world for me to call is cyberpunk, but you could tell a story involving that stuff in the bebop universe.

So, almost.
But they're too free?

It's character driven drama.
There's no "small guys rising up against evil elite" stuff either.
The aesthetic isn't cyberpunk either.

Cyberpunk has nothing to do with good guys fighting bad guys and the aesthetic is cyberpunk

Unless you think cyberpunk is perpetually night and neon

This.

Cyberpunk would be one of its subgenres.

>doesn't have enough drugs
buraadi ai

The story follows characters that sweep up the dregs that the government can't be bothered to deal with even occasionally dealing with blade runner tier shit.

It has dystopian vibes on some planets they visit but I wouldn't call it cyberpunk.

It's cyberpunk but bleached from sun and during daylight.

It's western scifi noir.

It's homage to Jon Woo style criminal shoot em ups

What about the movie where they fight an augmented terrorist on mars who wants revenge for what the government did to him. There's references to the "war" on saturns moon throughout the series as well and there's implications that the government orchestrated and manipulated the people who fought for some reason- testing super soldiers, weapons, etc. most likely using the poor of mars as fodder. Although the governments presence in both mediums seems minimal and in the shadows, but blatant corruption in the police force is present.

Everything is cyberpunk if you squint hard enough

even real life, sans the signs ridiculously everywhere and everyone owning flying cars
but we'll get those soon enough

>Unless you think cyberpunk is perpetually night and neon
Yes

>Cyberpunk has nothing to do with good guys fighting bad guys
What are you talking about, cyberpunk has always been about fighting governments and corporations?

This. Cyberpunk is about cyborgs/androids and despair. Who cares about all that detective shit.

Thats an extremely narrow view of Cyberpunk. megacorps and governments just have to be a part of the backdrop or the atmosphere.

Cyberpunk is sci-fi noir

But not all sci fi noir is cyberpunk

Armitage III was the first anime I ever saw. Sweet memories.