I said, what I said. The Netflix version of Cowboy Bebop was better than the anime. And this is coming from someone who loves the anime. Seriously, it was my introduction to the genre alongside Sailor Moon and Tenchi Muyo! And it stuck with me for my entire life and set the standard for anime in general. And nothing has lived up to it. Not until this moment.
The Netflix version of Cowboy Bebop hits the beats necessary to draw you in, in a manner that the anime never did until I was episodes in. And before you go, “Oh, that doesn’t make you a real fan!” or “How dare you?” I don’t regret it. And it does make sense. Shows have to hit certain beats to get you hooked. And for the live-action series, I was hooked from the start.
Making us care for the characters is the main beat that differentiates the anime from the live-action series. It did not take me long to go ride or die for Spike, Jet, and Faye. Even Ein I would sacrifice my life for. And the TV series managed to do this by exploring their bonds and making them family first and foremost. Sure, they were friends and partners. But the family part made it for me.
Then there’s the pacing of it all. The anime takes its time introducing key parts of the story and it’s only when you rewatch that you really get everything. Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop made it so the key storylines essential were introduced from the very start without leaving us scratching our heads and waiting for episodes upon episodes to understand what’s important and what’s not.
Combining making the team more than just a team and giving us hits of the important story bits early on is at the heart of why I think this version of Cowboy Bebop ends up being superior to the anime. That’s not to say that I don’t love the OG version of this property. I do and will always love it. But Netflix did an amazing job at taking something well known and making it their own.
That is another reason why I enjoyed this take on Cowboy Bebop so much. They didn’t try to do everything just like the anime. They honored the original, gave its flowers, and then went on their own journey to creating a universe that stands apart and will entice new fans into checking out the anime. And for me, that’s a win all around.
Cowboy Bebop is available on Netflix now.
Granted, I read your article before diving into Cowboy Soul, mainly because all I have seen leading up to the actual premiere has been light praise of the dedication they have gone through to honor the property, but mostly groaning complaints about the failure to truly capture anime to a live-action medium. So coming right out and saying that and hashtagging the NeNe Leakes GIF is brave LOL…and here’s the thing:
One of the first complaints I had read was how not hot Faye was, as in her wardrobe.
Oh go get fucked till you fall off the planet.
Okay, maybe the 22-23 years since the anime has made a reconsider of that needed. I don’t care though, because it’s the character not what she wears that defines Faye Valentine for me.
And, big one here, let’s be honest, there was no way to present this that wasn’t going to piss off a portion of the audience anyway. If it was done with a slavish amount of detail to duplicate the original ‘sessions’, there would be the portion who find that uninteresting, ‘I can just go watch the anime if I wanted to see that’ types. It seems, even off titles, as yes, they acknowledge the original, but they will retell these stories in the best way they can in the storytelling manner they use. No one has really mentioned the fact that where the original anime sessions were about a half hour in length, these Netflix ones are closer to an hour, so there is space to fill that extra background info to inform the viewer that the anime never could.
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I also loved how the opening casino heist in Cowboy Soul was a direct lift of the similar opening store robbery from the Cowboy Bebop Movie, which slots inbetween sessions 22 and 23 of the anime iirc.
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I am definitely intrigued to see just how good the sukiyaki they are making of the original Bebop stew is going to taste when it is all said and done.
I also hope they do get a second set of sessions to continue telling us this new Bebop story, and give us Ed (unless they do and I just haven’t got there yet LOL)!
Aaaaand it’s cancelled >:(*
I agree. In 15 years all the people who killed the series will be complaining that it didn’t get a second season. This Spike dying was going to hit way harder.