Why Cowboy Bebop’s Creator Abandoned Netflix’s TV Series After One Scene

Comics and video games have taken over Hollywood, so it is no surprise to see anime shooting its shot. As the medium grows globally, there are more people than ever tuning into anime and reading manga. Still, Hollywood has yet to roll out an anime adaptation that checks all our boxes. Most recently, Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop failed to reach that bar, and the anime’s creator is now outing their take on the adaptation.

And spoiler, it isn’t a good one. It turns out Shinichiro Watanabe turned off the adaptation after a single scene, and he refuses to watch anymore.

During a recent interview with Forbes, Watanabe was asked about his career and its recent push into live-action film. It was there the creator of Cowboy Bebop admitted he watched the first season’s casino scene before turning off the Netflix show for good.

“For the new Netflix live-action adaptation, they sent me a video to review and check,” Watanabe said. “It started with a scene in a casino, which made it very tough for me to continue. I stopped there and so only saw that opening scene. It was clearly not ‘Cowboy Bebop’ and I realized at that point that if I wasn’t involved, it would not be ‘Cowboy Bebop.’ I felt that maybe I should have done this. Although the value of the original anime is somehow far higher now.”

So, there you have it. It turns out Watanabe didn’t care to continue Cowboy Bebop since it didn’t feel like the anime he oversaw. This feeling came about as Watanabe did not participate in the Netflix adaptation. The creator’s decision came down to personal preference and given his history with Cowboy Bebop, Watanabe can feel however he wants about the IP.

Of course, fans have a more mixed take on the Netflix series. The show earned a 47% critics rating on Rotten Tomatoes while fans upped their score to 60% overall. Ultimately, the show was not renewed for a second season, but fans are still stumbling upon the adaptation to this day. But as far as we know, Watanabe won’t be one of those late bingers…

Where do you stand on Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop series…? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB.