Netflix Cowboy Bebop Cancelled · 7:01am Dec 23rd, 2021
So apparently after just one season, Netflix announced the cancellation of this expensive and ambitious live action adaptation series of the classic 90s anime, Cowboy Bebop. The ax fell just three weeks after the show premiered.
And you know what? I am not too surprised by this.....
And after seeing the show and watching and reading the reviews from all over the net. Its cancellation was somewhat deserved...
Now while the Netflix series offers its own unique spin on the anime across its ten episodes, including a baffling twist-ending that not even hardcore fans will see coming, that this has been designed as a binge-watch distorts Cowboy Bebop into an odd monstrosity. Any mystery in the anime, especially where Spike’s sad past was concerned, has been overwritten. What was once lore wisely shrouded in shadows is now exposed in the naked light of Netflix serialization. And what’s left isn’t a sexy story around Spike and an old flame, but rather more rudimentary heartbreak that could barely service a daytime soap opera.
If there’s a high mark the show hits, it’s the fact that its all-star main cast was successfully assembled to begin with. Cho, Shakir, and Pineda enter Cowboy Bebop full of texture, energy, and pizzazz that feels both respectful of the anime’s tone but still wholly their own. Cho proves he’s the real deal. As Spike, he oozes cool, charm, and wit, a modern-day James Shigeta. Cho may not be the Spike of your Toonami memories, but he’s the Spike he was always meant to be. Shakir’s Jet brings warmth to the cold-metal interiors of the Bebop.
Sadly the same cannot be said for Hassell and Satine, playing Vicious and Julia. Through no fault of their own, their characters’ added screen time adds little value. Any time these two are on screen, the show comes to a screeching halt, sabotaging any groove the show settles into. And in a show this ultimately terrible, such moments of genuine cohesion feel rare.
To be honest, It sucks that the live action Cowboy Bebop turned out to be a bad show. Imagine if this show was actually great. Imagine if this show had been allowed to be more than a mediocre Netflix content dump.
The original Cowboy Bebop wasn’t celebrated because it was a sci-fi anime with cool characters, but because it stood out in a crowded marketplace through the confidence its art and vibes-centric storytelling radiated. The same can’t be said for Netflix’s version, a funhouse-mirror adaptation that stretches and distorts a classic until it’s misshapen, blatantly adding hours to satisfy Netflix shareholders who increasingly equate success with volume.
Here’s where everything wrong with the adaptation can be summarized in a nutshell: The original anime’s memorable end credits, set to Yoko Kanno’s “The Real Folk Blues,” featured beautifully framed illustrations that just barely told the story of Spike’s heartbreak. Netflix, a streaming service that famously wants you to skip the credits and get onto its next offering, gives audiences nothing to watch in its credits but still plays the same song.
But ultimately, Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop is another disappointing misfire in the canon of ill-advised reboots. Sure while it does somewhat plays all the right notes. It did not have the vision. Without vision, it fails to find that perfect rhythm. If it’d had the courage to stand out on its own two feet, maybe this old anime fan might have feel a bit differently. But it didn’t, so I don’t. So with all that said and done.
SEE YOU SPACE COWBOYS...
BANG!
I already knew this show was going to get a cancelation.
To be honest, I feel nowdays it's kinda impossible to adapt an anime into live-action or a TV series (there are exceptions, don't get me wrong, but only because under the direction of a focused mind over the subject).
5619822
Yeah, but are you also aware this isn't the only anime Netflix's going to adapt into live action?
We got One Piece, YuYu Hakusho, and Mobile Suit Gundam UC to look forward to...Yay... (I'm being sarcastic here).
Yeah it was a colossal disaster of a show Netflix really need to stay away from anime
Even though I never watched the show but I knew it was going to be a disaster and as the Angry Video Game Nerd always say
5620082
5620084
Yeah, and unfortunately this won't be the last anime they're try to adapt. We got One Piece, YuYu Hakusho, and Mobile Suit Gundam UC to look forward to... Oh Yay........
5620993
Well Netflix
5621189
Yeah, ain't that the truth. I definitely not looking forward to what they do with Mobile Suit Gundam UC. That one of the major mecha anime IPs.