When Netflix announced that it was going to make ‘Cowboy bebop’ in live action, the eyes of a lot of otakus turned to the sky. and although the promotional campaign was not bad at allthe series ended up being very disappointing despite having its composer on the team. The one they didn’t have was Shinichiro Watanabe, the original creatorwho has now spoken out against the adaptation.
3, 2, 1, let’s talk
It was of little use to the creators and having a second season planned: As soon as the audience data arrived (about 74 million hours, but with a drop of 59% from one week to the next) and the public reaction, streaming cut the series in half. Watanabe must have been happy with the decision, because, according to what he tells Forbes, Netflix sent him a video so he could check if everything was to his liking… but he couldn’t do it.
The video started with a scene in a casino, which made it very difficult for me to continue. I stopped there and only watched the first scene. It clearly wasn’t ‘Cowboy Bebop’ and I realized at that moment that if I wasn’t involved, it wouldn’t be ‘Cowboy Bebop’. I felt like maybe I should have. Although the value of the original anime is somehow much higher.
What is clear is that future adaptations like ‘One piece’ will be looked at with a magnifying glass by their fans: the disaster of ‘Death note’ and ‘Cowboy Bebop’ It has been reason enough not to trust the work of Netflix when it comes to bringing anime to a wider audience. It must be said that in mid-2022 some comics based on the series of real actors were still published, so it can be said that somehow she is still alive (in spite of herself).