It hasn’t been long since the world learned of Netflix‘s plans for Cowboy Bebop, but fans are more than curious about the project. After all, the iconic anime is set to get a live-action makeover by the streaming giant, and a brand-new report claims to have details on the series.
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Recently, Splash Report posted a “spoiler-filled” breakdown about Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop. The site’s television expert Ludens wrote a long overview of the live-action series’ pilot, and the reported summary has got fans feeling a certain way.
In fact, it sounds like Cowboy Bebop may be handling its live-action debut rather well.
According to Ludens, the self-professed Cowboy Bebop fans has hope in the adaptation so far. The writer’s report labels the work-in-progress pilot as ‘Cowboy Bebop: Session One’, and it is said to kick off jamming.
“We begin on what is almost a beat-for-beat recreation of the Cowboy Bebop movie cold open, but with a twist. Instead of a grocery store, this scene takes place on a casinoโ a SPACE casino. This is the equivalent of the space casino scenes in the ‘Honky Tonk Women’ episode of the anime. Regardless, the scene is almost identical to the movie’s opening, down to the ICONIC line that Spike utters at the endโฆ chills. They also introduce some political subtext here about refugees, though I don’t believe they went far enough with it to be meaningful,” Splash Report teases.
When it comes to direct anime comparisons, the reported summary has only praise for how screenwriter Christopher Yost and how he handled the banter between Spike Spiegel and Jet Black.
“Tonally, the show feels like the anime, but with a bit more swearing. In the anime, they do swear, but not to the same level that they do in this show. There are full on f-bombs left and right. However, I felt like it really worked and fed into the tone well,” Splash Report writes.
“Regardless, despite all these new elements, I still felt like I was watching an episode of the anime. I could practically hear Steve Blum and Beau Billingslea’s voices in my head when Spike and Jet were bantering. Yost has absolutely nailed their relationship.”
So far, Netflix has yet to cast anyone in any role for Cowboy Bebop, but Splash Report’s take on the pilot script is complimentary. If these details match up, Netflix may make believers out of even the most staunch adaptation critics but it’ll have to clear some major casting hurdles to make that happen.
So, what do you think about this report? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
Cowboy Bebop was first produced by Sunrise in 1998. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, with scripts written by Keiko Nobumoto, character designer Toshihiro Kawamoto, and songs composed by Yoko Kanno, the series explores many existentialist philosophies as it follows the adventures of Spike Spiegel, and a group of bounty hunter misfits aboard the titular spaceship the Bebop in the year 2071.
The series premiered in Japan back in 1998, and ran for 26 episodes until 1999. It was licensed for an English language released by Bandai Entertainment and Funimation, and was the very first anime series to air on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim programming block in the United States.
