Anime | Live Action |
- "It's all...a dream."
- ―Julia[src]
- "Yeah...just a dream."
- ―Spike Spiegel[src]
Julia (ジュリア, Juria) was an affiliate of the Red Dragon Crime Syndicate who had relationships with Vicious and Spike Spiegel.
Appearance[]
Julia is a young woman with shoulder-length blonde hair that has bangs hanging over her forehead and light blue eyes.
Biography[]
Julia, Vicious and Spike Spiegel were comrades in the Red Dragon Syndicate. She had a relationship with Vicious in the 2060s.
One day in 2068, she nursed Spike back to health after he was critically injured and collapsed outside her apartment. That night started a dangerous affair that led to Spike offering to abandon the Syndicate and elope with her, despite the fact that the Syndicate punishes desertion with death. Spike wrote her a letter arranging to meet at a graveyard later; however, Vicious had discovered the affair. He confronted Julia by telling her that she would have to kill Spike at the graveyard, or else they would both be killed. Instead, she ripped up the paper with the location on it and went into hiding while Spike knowingly walked into an ambush, presumed by the Syndicate to have died. She wouldn't be able to tell him about Vicious' threats.[1]
In 2069, Julia went to Callisto and met Gren at the Rester House. They became friends and so she told Gren about Spike, and he told her about Vicious and the music box he gave him. Immediately, she told him to check inside the music box, revealing a solar transmitter which signaled Vicious had betrayed Gren. After about a month, Julia left.[2]
In 2071, Julia, living in Tharsis, was tipped off by Shin that the syndicate was coming after her. The Van wanted to eliminate any connections to Vicious. She was soon pursued by syndicate men by car and headed for the airport. By chance, she drove by Faye Valentine there. Faye decided to shoot at her pursuers and was able to cause them to crash. Julia had her enter the car while they lay low off the highway. Julia eventually recognized Faye as an acquaintance of Spike's and asked her subtly where she could find bounty hunters, without mentioning his name. Faye didn't understand until Julia dropped her off and revealed who she was by asking her to tell Spike she'll be "at the place."[3]
Julia waited at the graveyard for Spike and, inevitably, he came. She held her gun as she was supposed to the last time, but couldn't shoot him. She wanted to run away with him, together, and Spike left with her. They went to get supplies at Annie's store; however, they found the syndicate has also paid her a visit, as she was dying of a gunshot wound. After, Julia watched Spike get more than enough supplies than they needed, and realized he intended to kill Vicious.
She pledged to stay with him to the end and, indeed, the store was ambushed and they had to fight their way out. They made it to a rooftop and killed many of them, but one last one was able to shoot her as they ran. As she lay dying in Spike's arms, she whispered her last words to him: "It's all a dream," to which he responded, "Yeah, just a dream."[1]
Background[]
Despite being among the main driving points of the entire series, Julia only appears in flashbacks until the final two episodes.
She acts as a stark contrast to the world around her—her blonde hair and bright red umbrella and automobile stand out in the otherwise drab environments that she inhabits, for her peculiar and mysterious essence, which is attractive and proper to one femme fatale like Julia.
Shin refers to her as Julia-sama in the original Japanese version, indicating that she once had rank and status within the Red Dragon Syndicate.[3]
Cowboy Bebop Anime Guide Book[]
Julia: Disappeared and went into hiding three years ago. To Vicious, she is an ex-lover; to Spike, she is a soul mate untimely ripped from him by wicked circumstances. Up until now, she has only appeared in flashback sequences and, briefly, in images during the ending theme of the show, but in the final session, she finally shows herself. She's been living on the run from the Red Dragon who are chasing her most likely at Vicious’ instigation. Recently Lin’s brother Shin (both of whom knew Spike from his days within the syndicate) told her about the shift of power within the Red Dragons, and gave her information about Spike and the others.
Trivia[]
- Julia is named after the song "Julia" by The Beatles.
- Julia appears in all the episodes that Vicious is in.
- Keiko Nobumoto would refer to Julia as "Spike's woman" in interviews.
- At the end of the series, Spike goes from seeing Julia with his eye that sees his past to seeing her with his eye that sees his present.