For many, the music of Cowboy Bebop is as inseparable from its identity as its main cast. Built on thematic foundations of merging the bebop musical style of the 1940s and the space western subgenre of science fiction, the jazz and blues-inspired soundtrack accompanying the original series was recorded by Japanese composer Yoko Kanno and her band, the Seatbelts. Since its debut, the anime's original soundtrack and its offshoots have gone on to become central to the series' global image.