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In Cowboy Bebop: The Movie how did Spike know where to look for the virus? How
did he end up in that Moroccan styled market?

Do we see him getting any leads that lead him there?


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2019-03-13T06:26:28.467
51149
2019-12-11T23:23:30.400
45401
question
cowboy-bebop
Why was Spike looking for beans in “Cowboy Bebop: The Movie”?


Rasheed mentions that "you can find anything on Moroccan Street", likely
implying the that market may have some back alley that deal with products
different sorts.

Perhaps it is a nuance that is lost in translation? What Spike is probably
looking for is information. There is a word in Japanese, 豆知識 (まめちしき), which
literally means "bean knowledge" and can mean "bits of knowledge", or
information. A bean that you can't see.

When he mentioned that he is looking for a bean seller it's possible someone
that sells information (the local informant) in general. This is not explicit
in the original Japanese language version, but in the English dub only, at
around 0h:20m mark, there is an old lady that points and says, "ask for the
bean shark, they will know what you mean." This is likely added to the English
script for better context to the viewers. In actuality, it likely Spike asking
around for sources of information that led him to the market and Rasheed to
come out of the works to talk to Spike, since he is said to be well acquainted
with the local folk, who likely informed them of a foreign asking for
information.

It's probably a coincidence that the bean seller is connected to Vincent and
the bioweapon directly. On the outside, Rasheed may seem like a regular bean
seller, but it probably is a front or perhaps an informant side business. A
bit like asking for a street name of some product so that certain locals can
differentiate them from "normal" folk.

He speaks in a very indirect manner, perhaps likely to discern his intent.
When he asks what kind of bean he is looking for, he refers to "Calabar beans"
and how they can tell if "your wife's cheating", indirectly asking if then he
goes on about Pythagoras about fava beans.

The significance of Pythagoras, the fava bean, and his death comes from
[legends](https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/guest-blog/fava-the-magic-
bean/). It is said that he hid and lived inside a cave for some time to hide
from a dictator. In some accounts of his death his death was told to be the
result of him fleeing attackers, who chased him until a field of flowering
fava beans blocked his way, unable to advance any further, his pursuers caught
up and he was killed. There are many interpretations of why the chose to stop
there, but there his a particular speculation historian that has a bit overlap
with the plot of the movie.

It is believed that Pythagoras may have had favism, for those unaware, favism,
a genetic disorder that is particularly common in the Mediterranean. The
[condition](https://www.researchgate.net/publication/224879800_FavismA_brief_history_from_the_abstain_from_beans_of_Pythagoras_to_the_present),
named after the bean, causes people to develop hemolytic anemia from eating
favas, or inhaling the pollen from its flowers. Meaning that after consumption
or contact, red blood cells start to break down, cause anemia-like symptoms,
jaundice, and/or heart failure. Perhaps it is a bit of ironic foreshadowing or
illusion to the bioweapon?

Spike likely didn't catch on to Rasheed's true identity until their second
meeting, in which Rasheed spoke when he knew about the Doctor in the third
person.

> Spike likely pieces everything together by the end (Rasheed = the Doctor),
> asking Rasheed to deliver a messaged to the Doctor before he departs, then
> promptly punching him in the gut.


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