Netflix’s ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Rumored to Make Major Character Change

Netflix is continuing is push of anime and manga licensing and distribution into 2019, and that surprisingly includes a live-action adaptation of the prolific Cowboy Bebop series.

New details from the script for the first episode have reportedly gone online, and one of the major rumored changes for the upcoming adaptation is that Jet Black will be much different in the live-action adaptation.

Splash Report recently shared a “spoiler filled” breakdown of the Netflix’s new series’ pilot episode, and the site’s “resident expert on TV pilots” Ludens reports that Jet Black will be Black in the upcoming series. Noting that, “Jet Black in this show is black…But what matters most here is that they have nailed his personality. Jet feels like Jet. He may not look one-to-one like the anime, but he feels like it.”

Ludens’ take on the pilot episode’s script (reportedly titled “Session One”) is positive, and notes that the episode’s writer Christopher Yost clearly has a reverence for the original anime series. There are many smaller differences, but the impression Ludens gives is that the pilot of the live-action series shares a lot more similarities than differences with the first episode of the original series.

With that in mind, the race of the characters might be changed but the spirit of the original series seems to be in tact. Cowboy Bebop wore its diversity on its sleeve with pride, and a diverse cast for the live-action adaptation would be a great way to capture tons of diversity in the anime’s character designs, something that is going to be difficult to emulate regardless of race.

Cowboy Bebop was an original anime series first produced by Sunrise in 1998. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, with scripts written by Keiko Nobumoto, characters designed by 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 Bebop spaceship 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. It’s often credited by fans from the 2000s as a major “gateway” show to the world of anime overall and has gone on to major critical, cult, and commercial success.

via Splash Report