This review is based on the first four episodes of the series.
Cowboy Bebop is to anime as The Rock is to professional wrestling. Cheerios is to breakfast cereal? Better example? When news broke of a live-action Bebop series, feelings of skepticism arose. Live action adaptations have seen more misses than hits, and for a property like Bebop, I couldn’t help but feel nervous Netflix was about to commit a serious crime.
I grew up with Spike, Jet, Faye, Ed, and Vicious. The standalone episodes with an underlying tale in a 26-episode series was incredible for its time. You don’t quite see anime like this anymore. The characters, music by Yoko Kanno, and animation drew viewers in.
I feel we live in an era where a show or movie has to be dubbed “the greatest thing ever” and needs a 99.9999999% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, otherwise, the show or movie is considered horrible and ruins everything forever. In my opinion, Cowboy Bebop is a good show. Is it spectacular? No, and it doesn’t have to be. Netflix gave us a show with Bebop characters made for American audiences. Anyone who expected a carbon copy of the original anime would be foolish or would then take to social media to say Netflix didn’t come up with anything original. It’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t.
The first season of the Netflix show is only 10-episodes, and contains elements of the original anime. The first episode is a great starter, it kicks off with a shootout in a casino, introducing us to our cast. Witty banter and solid action sequences pave the way to the crux of the episode, pursuit of a Syndicate member who is on the run from both police and the Syndicate for stealing and profiting off a serious drug known as Red Eye. Sound familiar? It should, as this mirrors the first episode of the anime. Some slight changes are negligible, as the criminals attempt a getaway, but are intercepted by the ISSP, and are destroyed in space. The episode concludes with a glimpse of Vicious (Alex Hassell, The Tragedy of Macbeth) and Julia (Elena Satine, Twin Peaks Season 3) very early on.
Notable differences include Faye (Daniella Pineda, Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom) in this episode, as the one who mortally wounds Asimov while the criminals try to escape. In the anime, Asimov’s girlfriend is the one who kills him. I prefer this approach, but I understand the need to introduce characters with only 10 episodes. While the first episode neglects the flashbacks the anime contains, Netflix provides a different approach to the introduction to Vicious and the syndicate, more of a prominent figure, rather than a violent specter with few appearances.
This leads into the next two episodes, while in pursuit of a bounty, a Syndicate assassin attacks Spike while Jet faces the bounty. Spike (John Cho, Selfie) meets Ana (Tamara Tunie, Law & Order: SVU), owner of a club who reveals as someone significant to Spike. Ana, like many, thought Spike was dead, and is both angry and concerned at his reappearance, confirming what she heard from within the Syndicate, but also learn Julia is married to Vicious. Ana also learns The Elders want to punish Vicious for his involvement with Red Eye. There is a tense scene where Vicious is put in his place by the Elders. In this episode and in the third episode, Julia is shown to be quite clever with her own machinations in place, also meeting with Ana, who appears to be more of a central figure in the lives of our characters.
While tracking down Abdul Hakim for a bounty, Spike and Jet (Mustafa Shakir, Luke Cage) track him down to a field where he intended to kill them as dogs are rare and only owned by the wealthy. This is a vastly different tale. Originally, dogs were common, and Hakim had plastic surgery to alter his appearance, and was also a very skilled fighter. In the adaptation, while still a decent fighter, seems to have a less-sane persona. He is ultimately killed by the ISSP’s corrupt Captain, resulting in the loss of the bounty, but gain of Ein the Corgi.
The fourth episode is a combination of elements from two originals. Faye is trying to track her past, knowing she was frozen in cryostasis. I popped big time, recognizing Byron Coll from Viva La Dirt League as character Mark Manley, the middleman who has contact information for the individual responsible for Faye’s misfortunes. This also features the criminal eco-terrorist group Space Warriors led by Mama Maria Murdoch. It’s simple, they want to revert Ganymede back to its organic state, away from horrible structures and technology. Sounds like a Beast Wars concept, right? While in the anime they turned people into monkeys, the adaptation gruesomely turns people into trees. Very bloody. Faye runs into the Bebop again, and they team up to stop the terrorists. Spotlight on Faye, as simultaneously trying to find the one who wronged her, is the only one who can stop the missiles from hitting the planet. Unable to shoot them down, she sacrifices herself, steering the ship in a collision. As Mama Murdoch escapes with one daughter, the daughter loses her patience and activates a bomb on the ship, turning them both into bloody trees.
Faye is revealed to be alive, aboard the Bebop.
The first four episodes are enjoyable and leaves me with no problems with the different approaches to each episode. There is more to cover with their origins, Jet offering the corgi as a birthday gift to his daughter, but is rebuffed by his ex-wife who can’t afford the taxes. Vicious and Julia expand their plans to take over the Syndicate, with the live-action providing more detail into their plans than the anime did. It’s a fun series. Someone like me who can’t help but compare, but enjoyably so. I don’t mind the deviations and expanded story. Those who have not seen the anime should enjoy this too, it’s a story taking place in the far reaches of space, not tethered to any trope or something seen before.
If you want to enjoy something, try it out. Decide for yourself.
