Cowboy Bebop, Netflix’s live-action remake of the beloved late ’90s anime show, is out this week, and the reviews are…well, they’re bad to middling. “A colorful, campy attempt at live-action anime doesn’t justify itself,” raves Entertainment Weekly. “The new Bebop looks singular but feels generic,” enthuses The Atlantic. “It recites the melody of its predecessor but can’t find the same rhythm.”
Critics seem to agree that there’s a lot of effort put into the show but that it doesn’t really come together and pales next to the original. But of course the real test will come when the episodes drop and fans can watch for themselves. And if they decide that the series is worth following, showrunner André Nemec is ready to make more. “If Ted Sarandos comes by, you tell him I got big plans for season two,” he told The Hollywood Reporter. “We definitely know where we want to go, and I’m excited that we get to tell those stories. Fingers crossed that we get more Cowboy Bebop.”
Cowboy Bebop cast and crew excited over the show’s Asian influences
Maybe the world is ready to love this remake of a stylish animated space western with Asian influences? Steve Aoki, who worked on the music for the show with original series composer Yoko Kanno, is certainly hoping so. “I used to be in anime club when I was in college,” he said. “Back then, it was more niche. It’s not like in Asia where everyone watches anime from age 5 to age 75. But it’s a part of culture now.”
"What’s happening with K-pop, with BTS, I just love what’s happening now. It’s just showing more light into a culture that’s already been popular, but hasn’t really been exposed as much in America…This is the time."
Star John Cho — who plays the impossibly cool space bounty hunter Spike Spiegel — is also excited to see more Asian representation in Hollywood. “He’s way cooler than me, way deadlier than me,” he joked about his character.
"The outlets are there and the audience is there. Everything we thought we knew about the [mainstream] audience turns out to be wrong, and I just always knew that if we put out quality — wherever it comes from — there’s an audience for it."
But again, the show has to strike a chord with audiences before anything more can happen. “Because it’s beloved, we did not want to screw it up,” said executive producer Becky Clements. “We were terrified because the fan base was so loyal. We always had an eye toward making sure we kept the integrity of the original in the live-action.”
All 10 episodes of Cowboy Bebop drop this Friday, November 19 on Netflix.
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