I only ever watched the original anime through once in 2006 but so far, I vibe with this. They came correct with this adaptation. Not gonna lie, I love how the villains are going after the rich fucks who ruined Earth, I find that to be a plus
Only seen two episodes and it's... fine. You kinda have to recognize this is an alternate timeline or something and not sweat the bits that conflict with the anime "canon" but that's okay, better than trying to do a note-for-note copy of that story. Still not convinced it's particularly necessary but it's not a mess.
I like how they changed fay. In this one she is a bounty hunter and she can take down bad guys. She can stand toe to toe with Spike in hand to hand combat, and she can take a bullet. Spike also had to give her respect for taking down some dangerous bounties. One thing I was a bit dissappointed in was I was waiting for the gate chase with the monkey disease missiles. That was one of the most exciting space chases in the series. My complaint is small because the results were similar, but I was waiting to see her and spike speeding through the gate with some witty back and forth as they shot down the missiles. It is not that exciting in this version. I did like how they worked more with people turning into trees. The episode is as good or maybe better overall, but I really loved that chase. I am also a bit disappointed we are not getting any new music tracks. I get that they are using everything from the huge number of tracks from the movie and series, but I wanted another CD of music from this. I already have and listen to these songs. I get there is a new audience who can now buy some of these great CDs or download the songs, but I want more bebop music. Another small complaint.
I honestly don't much like Cho in the role - to me they succumbed to the temptation of "Anime show must have Asian lead" lest they get blowback - despite their being nothing about Spike in the original that says "Asian dude" I mean, again, he's ...fine. But too often he seems to be playing deadpan when he is, or should be, going for laconic. It doesn't ruin anything or whatever but I just think they might have been better off to not have gone with "Best Asian option" when casting. Maybe not. We'll never know.
This is not the anime spike. Anime spike would have never said respect to faye when she was listing off the bounties she got. Faye becomes a trusted part of the crew in this one, and they become friends who can joke with each other. Jet and spike would have never given faye a birthday cake to make her feel better about her amnesia. Faye would have never apologized for lying to spike and jet. I actually like this dynamic a bit better because the old crew was a hot mess that could never admit to their feelings without something extreme. These are different characters over all. Cho's spike jokes around, and is not as dead pan as the anime spike is. It is not just the way Cho is playing Spike, it is the way the character is written for this version. Spike was sexist in the original, and this spike has his love exposed when they swap faye out for him in the cult episode. I am actually really liking this, but not because it is the old Bebop, but because it is a new and good version of bebop. That is my opinion of this so YMMV and that is ok to anyone who does not care for this version as it is different characters. These actors are not playing the anime characters with how far they have altered them and the plot. I still love the old version, and I have some real love for this version. I have to say I prefer some things from each version. The only thing I am saying is cho is good at this version of spike, but yes this would be as bad job of being the old spike.
Finished the first season. I will say first season because there will be a second one. It is good, but it is not the original. Everything and everyone is different. The new music does come in for the last couple of episodes. To answer the question, Ed is coming and cast. This may not be a good thing for season 2.
Given how few Asian men are ever considered for casting roles and how the two top leads of Hawaii 5-0 walked after CBS refused to pay them as much as the white co-stars with fewer lines, I'm giving this a pass. It it wasn't John Cho, it would've been some other bankable white guy that fit nothing of the role. I'm just glad that, for once, out of all the criticism that will surround the show for Netflix taking on this sacred cow that Hollywood racism isn't one of them, certain YouTubers spazzing over Jet Black being black notwithstanding.
Are there actual people spazzing about Jet being actual black? I believe it because his color scheme in the anime is whitish. Jet was always black, and he should be black as night. Jet is awesome in this. I was worried about them making him a dad and that really brings out his character. With what happens with Bean in the end it makes the character so much more. Especially considering how this Jet actually really is open about caring for Faye and Spike. Cho does a good job with the new Spike, and he is charming and he is deadly. He does sell this character. The old Bebop is enclosed and done. There will be no more of it. I am happy with that. It was perfect the way it was. This is new netflix bebop. They have thrown so much more into the series and I like it. I am having fun with it. This is also Bebop.
I guess I need to change my opinion on it now that an edgelord on twitter and gizmodo has said their opinion.
I remain resolute that Firefly was just a poor ripoff of Cowboy Bebop and it deserved to get canceled.
If Joss did like the original it would sure seem to go along with his view on women. Live action bebop would probably piss him off with the way Faye had clothing and was much more above being exploited by men.
The joke does not make much sense considering Faye's character in the live action is much stronger and more involved than original faye who was really a lot of fanservice. This Faye is dressed, can go toe to toe with Spike, and is not an overall diva. This is not a character from Firefly because she is not an abused emo twat like all the women Whedon masturbates....I mean writes. .
So trying to translate what @Tuckerfan is saying, the people who really like Joss whedon's work are probably going to think this is a bad copy? This is just for my information as you do not have to like this, and it just fills in where a large group of people's tastes are. I am obviously not the fandom for whedon, but I know many people who enjoy his work a lot and I am happy he puts out crap for them.
One of the things that is really getting me bothered with some of the critics of the new series is the intellectual sexism. Faye was fucking fanservice. No matter how much you want to say she was putting her sexuality against the male dominated society for the sake of a noir bad ass character, she was fucking eye candy. She was booby jiggling pure and simple. I watch anime and faye was a waifu pillow. You can try to justify it with some artsy terms, but the only reason for her to be fighting bad guys in that outfit was to give the boys something to look at. The new Faye is not un-attractive, but she can also fight which seems to piss these critics off because now she does not have to jiggle her boobies as much. Old spike was pretty damned sexist too.
In other news, the original anime series is up on Netflix now too. It looks good (I like waifu pillows). Sound is excellent too.
I wasn't happy Cho was chosen to be Spike, either, but ... Spike was Asian in the original anime. Just like Sabine Wren is Asian in Rebels. That said, for live action, Cho did a pretty good Spike.
There's really no indication in the original that Spike, or anyone else in the main cast, is Asian. Given anime art style you might could make a minor case for Faye. I went back and re-started it last night and watched the first five episodes and have to revise my previous comment. Original Spike wasn't laconic like I remembered, he was a full-on wise-ass. I'm seeing even more distance between him and Cho's performance. Cho wasn't bad at his job, he just wasn't the right guy for that job.
They are clearly not sticking to race. Take a look at Mushroom Samba. There are a number of black characters in Mushroom Samba, but Jet is pale white Japanese. There can be no ambiguity in Jet being white skin tone in the original because it does include black characters. Even the native american and middle eastern characters in the anime have darker skin tones than Jet. Abdul Hakim has a darker skin tone than Jet. Yes, spike is referred to as oriental in the manga according to this article. They also say spike was modeled after Japanese actor Yusaku Matsuda. So if you go by the artists and Manga he would be Japanese. It is not uncommon for people to assume anime characters are american despite almost always being Japanese unless noted. If you have seen enough anime americans are almost always drawn as giant blonde goofballs. Caucasian characters are often noted by blonde hair and anime tends to state their foreign nature right off the bat. I would guess the cowboy from the teddy bomber episode in the anime was caucasian american, and probably the woman in the bounty hunter show. https://cowboybebop.fandom.com/wiki/Spike_Spiegel
So that whole "let's use Ed as the cliffhanger to make sure we get a second season" ploy didn't work i guess
There probably was not much interest outside of the anime scene. They had to generate viewership by non-anime fans, and this just wasn't going to be a squid games.
