Cowboy Bebop - Netflix

j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I will have to go with a mixed bag on this one. I am a huge fan of the original Japanese Anime since it came out. It is easily one of the best anime series ever done. It has a great feel, highly interesting characters, amazing music, and a style all its own. it sort of feels like if Robert Rodriquez directed a 007 film. It has a solid, dark story arc that unfolds over the 26 episodes. It doesn't reveal the whole thing at once though, the actual story is maybe 5 episodes of that which are interspersed throughout. The rest is back story and filler for the other characters and how they blend into that story as they become friends of, and aid, the main character on this journey. This series has a huge following.

When Netflix announced a live action version, I think fans all immediately got excited and in the next moment, all knew it would be extremely difficult to deliver something that would meet fan's expectations. I'll be honest, what they delivered was not bad. It has the look and feel, and it bears a lot of resemblance to the original series. They nailed the main characters so far. I feel they may have obsessed so much over making the characters true to the previous series though, that they forgot or rushed the new stories. I understand they do not want to deliver a shot-for-shot reproduction, because nobody wants to see that really. However, they went to the opposite extreme, changing almost every single storyline. Some of the changes are to minor details that effectively do not add any benefit nor were they done to achieve a "current times update". Some of the things changed are little bits of what made the original so good and so far, of my group of family and friends who are fans, nobody likes those changes. I am not sure what the reasoning behind some of the changes are, but they seemed unnecessary, as if to change it simply to make it different from the original. It would be like remaking Home Alone and Kevin gets shot but lives.

I don't outright hate it, but I wouldn't call myself a fan of it either. I enjoyed what was done, but I'd expect long time fans not to like it either. It is an entertaining watch, with some nostalgia for fans for sure. For those who have not seen the original at all, I would expect many will enjoy it. If you're a newcomer, I'd say give it a watch and if you like the first episode, you'll enjoy the whole thing.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
I know I'll watch it... sometime... :D
;)
I agree, the Anime is far and away one of the best I've seen. It holds up to others like Trigun and Akira as absolute Art.

My first thought when I heard about this was a little more along the idea of, "oh dear." But I will watch, sometime, soon. :D
 
Replicant 7

Replicant 7

Audioholic Samurai
It's on my list to watch with Netflix. Had no idea this was a thing.
 
ellisr63

ellisr63

Full Audioholic
The more I watch it the better it gets for me as I have no expectations, since I never saw the animated version.

Sent from my SM-T830 using Tapatalk
 
jliedeka

jliedeka

Audioholic General
I'm a fan of the anime and I like the Netflix adaptation well enough. It probably helped that they got Yoko Kanno to do the soundtrack. Overall it seemed pretty Cowboy Bebop-ish. They really focused on the Spike/Vicious/Julia triangle. If there's another season, I'd like to see more about Faye's back story. Also, lets see if Eden Perkins can sustain the Edward performance.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
It is a fun "homage", but does not really feel like the original. I could not put my finger on it, but I read another critic review that said "It has been Netflixed" lol, churning out something to grab views while it can and I guess that is what it comes down to. They think they know what people will watch and completely miss the idea of the original. His comment was "Feels like people cosplaying Bebop characters really well in an entirely new story".

I feel like they tried to add more backstory to most of the characters, but ultimately the additions don't really add anything of any use. I actually feel they shortchanged Faye's story, because there's a lot more to it than what they boiled it down to. Adding story to Vicious and Julia is interesting, but it takes the focus away from Spike and the series is basically about him. I actually kind of like the Gren character, but he had a very interesting story arc that includes Faye, that I am not sure how they would tell now. A few characters from The Syndicate who are Spike's friends, are missing entirely as well as the connection between Mao, Ana and Spike.

Yoko Kanno's freshening, but still same feel, is definitely one of the highlights of the series.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
To nobody's surprise, the show ends at season 1.
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
I thought it was good, but not great by a long shot. Not enough dog fights and chase scenes while the jazz soundtrack is blaring out. Too much focus on Spike/Vicious arc.

I do love the original anime, and I think that series is the absolute best anime ever released. If anyone hasn't seen Samurai Champloo, that anime is in a similar style and well worth a watch.
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
Loved Samurai Champloo along with Bebop. Have both box sets. Sad to hear about Nobumoto. Plan to watch Netflix's Bebop after I've finished Squid Game. The acting in the first 3 episodes has been excellent. I wonder whether @gene watched the subtitled or dubbed version? After years of watching subbed anime I prefer to hear the acting in the original language but my wife finds it a big distraction to read subtitles.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
I have both box sets for Bebob and Champloo as well.

Squid Game was solid. I watched dubbed. The English dub wasn't so good.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
I'm not very familiar with Cowboy Bebop, but it's popular in a lot of the circles of movie and show reviews I like to watch. From what I've been seeing and based on ratings it's kind of a trainwreck. Most of the fans of the original outright hate it. This just popped up in my feed this morning. Haven't watched it yet but this channel does a lot of breakdowns and reports on rumors in the industry.


They're usually on the money and make it clear when they report on rumors that they are in fact only rumors and are to be taken with a grain of salt.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
I'm not very familiar with Cowboy Bebop, but it's popular in a lot of the circles of movie and show reviews I like to watch. From what I've been seeing and based on ratings it's kind of a trainwreck. Most of the fans of the original outright hate it. This just popped up in my feed this morning. Haven't watched it yet but this channel does a lot of breakdowns and reports on rumors in the industry.


They're usually on the money and make it clear when they report on rumors that they are in fact only rumors and are to be taken with a grain of salt.
Watch the anime. Really. Watch it.
One the absolute best.
 
Eppie

Eppie

Audioholic Ninja
I have both box sets for Bebob and Champloo as well.

Squid Game was solid. I watched dubbed. The English dub wasn't so good.
Asian languages and English are so different that it's very difficult to do a decent dub, compared to something from Europe which is also Latin based. I've watched my share of Japanese live action TV and the overacting can be pretty bad at times when you're used to American productions. Squid Game doesn't seem to exhibit any of that so far.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
Asian languages and English are so different that it's very difficult to do a decent dub, compared to something from Europe which is also Latin based. I've watched my share of Japanese live action TV and the overacting can be pretty bad at times when you're used to American productions. Squid Game doesn't seem to exhibit any of that so far.
Next would be Hellbound then, also Korean and directed by the creator of Train to Busan. I finished it this weekend and it was pretty good. Brutal and dark, but well done.
 
3db

3db

Audioholic Slumlord
I started watching it and although Im not a fan of anime, I do find the uncomplicated plot keeps me interested. I would complain bitterly if I were playing the black actor's character however for some of the worst lines ever scripted.
 
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