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Crossing Eden

Member
Oct 26, 2017
53,393
Ok so i just watched the anime series for the first time. Too much to unpack and get over, the first of which was coming to the realization that it was only one season which ended less than ideally for me personally.

How much does the live action series follow the anime?
If it's almost 1-1 I think ill need some time to pass before I can go on that roller coaster again...
The anime is two seasons. Episode 13 is the finale of S1 and 26 is the finale of S2. Hence the 2 parters.
 

ClayModel

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,926
Just finished Episode 7.

Jet watching his daughters' recital while Spike is brawling with Mink's men outside was some Zucker brothers visual comedy. I also really liked Faye's relationship with her con artist mom and how they started bonding over their swindling. And of course there's the emotional gut punch of them watching the VHS tape at the end.

Really the standout episode for me thus far.

These are some of the changes that I kinda like, giving an origin for Faye's distrust of people, swindling roots and how she got her gunship. Feels like something that could've also made sense in the anime I think.
 

Schreckstoff

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,618
He's talking about the anime. Julia's job in the anime was unclear, but she worked for the Syndicate, so a hitwoman is a fair assumption.

Then the live action show turned her into a sweetly, kindly jazz singer/battered wife who
suddenly has a heel turn and becomes some super sinister leader in a completely unearned twist. The whole thing felt a bit misogynistic tbh.
Felt to me that they embraced the femme fatale archetype for Julia more. I loved the heel turn because you could tell that Julia has gotten pretty viscious and unscrupulous throughout the season. Calling and arranging for the deaths of the elders and Viscious, life with him changed her and Spike is partly to blame for that for abandoning her. I didn't like that she shot him though that just felt out of place instead of just telling him to piss off.
 

Masterblaster

Member
Nov 13, 2017
280
So i have one ep left of the season. Anime is one of my favorites. I never had an expectation that this could do the anime real justice but i thought i'd take a look.

Well turns out the show really cannot do the anime justice. This show really feels like a cosplay fanfilm edition of the anime.

Casting is bad. The actor who plays Vicious really really does not fit the character at all. Cho as Spike really does not work for me. The only character that works is Jet and to a lesser degree Faye.

Acting in general in most of the episodes is just ....cringe.... by basically everyone.
And while we talk about cringe. I get that the live action version was kinda sorta aiming for it apparently in some way based on the trailers but the ep with Le Fou i almost switched the tv off because it was so bad.

All in all i guess it turned out as i expected but still somewhere i had some slight hope that maybe if this turns out good it would be a good way to get more Cowboy Bebop in the future but after this i for sure am not coming back if the show gets a second season.
 

El Bombastico

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
36,052
So i have one ep left of the season. Anime is one of my favorites. I never had an expectation that this could do the anime real justice but i thought i'd take a look.

Well turns out the show really cannot do the anime justice. This show really feels like a cosplay fanfilm edition of the anime.

Casting is bad. The actor who plays Vicious really really does not fit the character at all. Cho as Spike really does not work for me. The only character that works is Jet and to a lesser degree Faye.

Acting in general in most of the episodes is just ....cringe.... by basically everyone.
And while we talk about cringe. I get that the live action version was kinda sorta aiming for it apparently in some way based on the trailers but the ep with Le Fou i almost switched the tv off because it was so bad.

All in all i guess it turned out as i expected but still somewhere i had some slight hope that maybe if this turns out good it would be a good way to get more Cowboy Bebop in the future but after this i for sure am not coming back if the show gets a second season.

Man, should've waited until you finished the last episode.

That is one doozy of an ending...
 

Gavalanche

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 21, 2021
17,497
I didn't mind Vicious really. He is meant to pathetic. He is like Kylo Ren with bad acting. One of the themes of Bebop is characters being unable to move on from their past, and Vicious was certainly that.
 

Qikz

Member
Oct 25, 2017
12,493
I'm on episode 7, and I do understand people's frustration with the new depiction of Vicious and Julia, but in the anime they were essentially just props that haunted Spike's past. Vicious was just a contemporary anime villain trope, and Julia was just a film noir dame.

wsNJc9h.jpg


Also, I could have sworn it was a Beta tape, not a VHS tape.

It was a betamax I think in the anime since there's an entire scene where they go to I think it's ruined Akihabara on Earth in search for the last remaining betamax player to be able to play the tape.
 
Mar 11, 2020
5,099
Whelp as someone who liked the anime watching with a husband who has never seen the anime, we both really enjoyed it. Le Fou was the worst ep, but the rest i thought were fantastic. Too bad it prob won't get a 2nd season since there seems to be a lot of haters, but i do hope it does get one. Everyone just gotta hate on everything nowadays.
 
Oct 27, 2017
42,700
These are some of the changes that I kinda like, giving an origin for Faye's distrust of people, swindling roots and how she got her gunship. Feels like something that could've also made sense in the anime I think.
But all that was already in the anime. They literally had a whole episode dedicated to it (My Funny Valentine)

I didn't mind Vicious really. He is meant to pathetic. He is like Kylo Ren with bad acting. One of the themes of Bebop is characters being unable to move on from their past, and Vicious was certainly that.
And just like Kylo Ren, he was an awful antagonist in the Netflix show that was just a entirely separate main character that didn't reflect anything about the protagonist or really challenge them in any way
 

Rivenblade

Member
Nov 1, 2017
37,128
A reminder that Facebook groups are the absolute worst when it comes to fan community discussion. It's amazing how the existence of this show has absolutely polluted and toxified the fandom. It's like The Last Jedi all over again where if you admit to liking part of it, you have terrible taste, and every single little detail is being picked apart.

Like...showing that the stained glass scene recreation is actually not 100% the same because it's done from a different angle, and that being something that shows "The creators didn't care about the anime."

cowboybebop-animehomages-blogroll-1637700572614.jpg


Really? THIS is what you're going to complain about in a live action adaptation? Jesus Christ some people need to get their heads out of their angry, nitpicky fanboy asses.

There are legit criticisms that can and should be made about the show, but some people are losing way too much sleep and expending far too much hatred over it.
 

Schreckstoff

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,618
But all that was already in the anime. They literally had a whole episode dedicated to it (My Funny Valentine)


And just like Kylo Ren, he was an awful antagonist in the Netflix show that was just a entirely separate main character that didn't reflect anything about the protagonist or really challenge them in any way
but it set up where they decided to take Julia very well, besides shooting spike that came out of nowhere.
 

fallingedge

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,833
A reminder that Facebook groups are the absolute worst when it comes to fan community discussion. It's amazing how the existence of this show has absolutely polluted and toxified the fandom. It's like The Last Jedi all over again where if you admit to liking part of it, you have terrible taste, and every single little detail is being picked apart.

Like...showing that the stained glass scene recreation is actually not 100% the same because it's done from a different angle, and that being something that shows "The creators didn't care about the anime."

cowboybebop-animehomages-blogroll-1637700572614.jpg


Really? THIS is what you're going to complain about in a live action adaptation? Jesus Christ some people need to get their heads out of their angry, nitpicky fanboy asses.

There are legit criticisms that can and should be made about the show, but some people are losing way too much sleep and expending far too much hatred over it.

classic nerd shit hating on nerd shit

it is like this in the wrestling community as well

 

ClayModel

Member
Oct 29, 2017
1,926
But all that was already in the anime. They literally had a whole episode dedicated to it (My Funny Valentine)

True but I honestly thought they'd drop Faye's origins, with the whole ep3 killing of the doctor who unfroze her, in the early part of the season and going for like a 0.4 : 1 adaptation. The direction they took with Faye was an interesting shift that fit neatly in this version of Cowboy Bebop IMO and maybe even in the anime.

They still could screw things up by the next season ala Vicious/Julia route but for now, this was one of the changes I liked.
 

Veelk

Member
Oct 25, 2017
14,707
A reminder that Facebook groups are the absolute worst when it comes to fan community discussion. It's amazing how the existence of this show has absolutely polluted and toxified the fandom. It's like The Last Jedi all over again where if you admit to liking part of it, you have terrible taste, and every single little detail is being picked apart.

Like...showing that the stained glass scene recreation is actually not 100% the same because it's done from a different angle, and that being something that shows "The creators didn't care about the anime."

cowboybebop-animehomages-blogroll-1637700572614.jpg


Really? THIS is what you're going to complain about in a live action adaptation? Jesus Christ some people need to get their heads out of their angry, nitpicky fanboy asses.

There are legit criticisms that can and should be made about the show, but some people are losing way too much sleep and expending far too much hatred over it.
There's legitimate criticism to be had about this change - In the original, the stained windows were there to provide an interesting source of light, but it's off to the side, because the important thing here is Vicious and Spike, who stand out against the darkness. Particularly, how Vicious' white hair and katana are highlighted against the otherwise dark room. In the remake, the stained glass window being a bright white backdrop to the characters. Vicious stands out, but instead of his hair or sword, it's his dark coat against a colorful/white background that catches your eye. Meanwhile, Spoke's blue suit kind of blends in. Visually, the anime scene is more striking to me.

But I say this not trying to delegitimize your complaint in any way. If their complaint here is merely that it's different, without really articulating why being different is bad, then they're just fan boys frothing at the mouth for blind brand loyalty. And I certainly wouldn't say that this was the result of them not caring. If anything, it's all the more tragic how this series turned out when it's clear how much painstaking effort went into trying to create a version of this show that works in live action. They just made this alteration, I think, because they thought maybe that being able to see the stained glass window created a more interesting visual effect, which you can argue that could have happened if it had been more different. Like, if the stained glass window was depicting someting more than random christian imagery, maybe, and maybe if they darkened the silhoette of spike and vicious so they'd stand out more, or something. I can see where they were going with it, even if I ultimately find the anime to be the better visual composition overall.
 

Quinton

Specialist at TheGamer / Reviewer at RPG Site
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
17,285
Midgar, With Love
Well, uh. That was the first season of a Netflix series that I've watched in several years.

It sure was a thing that I watched, I can tell you that much.
 

Toth

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,007
So...wow, they certainly tried to go in different directions with this adaptation. Honestly, I am all for it. I loved the main cast and I would love to see them back again. Some better writing would be a plus. The whole Julia and Vicious subplot was too much though even though I see the point of it all now with the final episode watched. Still, poor Alex...he tried but this Vicious as written is just crazy and erratic, unlike anime Vicious who was cold, calculating, and evil. Also, yay at John Noble getting some good bit parts.
 

Ablacious

Member
Dec 23, 2018
1,650
cowboybebop-animehomages-blogroll-1637700572614.jpg


Really? THIS is what you're going to complain about in a live action adaptation? Jesus Christ some people need to get their heads out of their angry, nitpicky fanboy asses.
The angle from the anime wouldn't have worked in live action. The window would have looked weird. Haven't seen this sequence, but in the anime the shot sequence is built up for Spike going right and the grenade going left.

It is annoying that they aren't aiming at each other's hearts, though.
 

Watershed

Member
Oct 26, 2017
7,820
After bouncing off the trailers and extended preview, my love of the original Cowboy Bebop still compelled me to give this live action adaptation a shot. I'm not a fan of the much overused word 'cringe' but that's the best word to describe this show.

The music is, of course, on point. Some of the aesthetic, specifically the rundown SciFi tech, looks pretty cool. But aside from that, nothing else works.

The action and editing is choppy and stiff. The costumes look like just that: costumes from a stage play. And the acting...the acting is just awful. Half of it comes across as intentional parody, the other half like zero chemistry, flat acting, like everyone is just waiting to deliver their line and so often their line is just a one-liner, followed by another one-liner. I think it's supposed to be funny and demonstrate a kind of wit and chemistry, but it comes across as artificial and stiff.

And I think that leads to the series' biggest issue: the writing. Again, is it meant to be parody? Is it meant to be funny? It reminds me of soap operas, but is that intentional?

Spike in particular seems like a perfect storm of bad writing, bad casting, and bad acting. Spike in the anime, in classic anime style, is effortlessly cool, has a heavy sense of nihilism, but can also carry a physical comedy scene as easily as a cool, jazzy, brooding scene. And one character can do all that in an anime. Cho's performance captures none of that.

What am I missing?
 

GenTask

Member
Nov 15, 2017
2,666
Really? THIS is what you're going to complain about in a live action adaptation? Jesus Christ some people need to get their heads out of their angry, nitpicky fanboy asses.

There are legit criticisms that can and should be made about the show, but some people are losing way too much sleep and expending far too much hatred over it.

Its unfortunate. Chris Stuckmann talked about this in a vid. I had no idea people had been giving Eden Perkins a hard time for the Radical Ed character, they did a fine job (sounded almost just like Melissa Fahn's version of Ed).

The show it is what it is, they are different beasts, and certainly the existence of the live action does not diminish the original art that is Cowboy Bebop (I started re-watching it after the live-action). Could the live-action be better in certain aspects, sure - making any productions like these is not easy; I think maybe we expect too much in our consume-consume-consume culture. Its loads better than any previous anime adapation at least (dragonball z evolution, forever the best example).
 

Masterblaster

Member
Nov 13, 2017
280
After bouncing off the trailers and extended preview, my love of the original Cowboy Bebop still compelled me to give this live action adaptation a shot. I'm not a fan of the much overused word 'cringe' but that's the best word to describe this show.

The music is, of course, on point. Some of the aesthetic, specifically the rundown SciFi tech, looks pretty cool. But aside from that, nothing else works.

The action and editing is choppy and stiff. The costumes look like just that: costumes from a stage play. And the acting...the acting is just awful. Half of it comes across as intentional parody, the other half like zero chemistry, flat acting, like everyone is just waiting to deliver their line and so often their line is just a one-liner, followed by another one-liner. I think it's supposed to be funny and demonstrate a kind of wit and chemistry, but it comes across as artificial and stiff.

And I think that leads to the series' biggest issue: the writing. Again, is it meant to be parody? Is it meant to be funny? It reminds me of soap operas, but is that intentional?

Spike in particular seems like a perfect storm of bad writing, bad casting, and bad acting. Spike in the anime, in classic anime style, is effortlessly cool, has a heavy sense of nihilism, but can also carry a physical comedy scene as easily as a cool, jazzy, brooding scene. And one character can do all that in an anime. Cho's performance captures none of that.

What am I missing?

Fully mirrors my sentiments.

What i forgot to mention in my comment but you touched upon it is costumes. I mean ok in the anime each character has basically one costume because that's how usually animes work but i found it very distracting here after a while that basically each main character and to some extent side character owns one set of clothes throughout the show or in case of Spike they even made a dumb joke about it in one scene where he opens his closet and you see a row of the same suit and shirt. I mean surely they could've come up with some alternative designs for some episodes (not just for flashbacks) and not just have the characters run around in their default "skin".
 

bxsonic

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,224
I tried to watch an episode and a half or something and I just couldn't do it anymore. Maybe I have too high of an opinion towards the anime but this is not good at all. About as bad as that Ghost In the Shell garbage that I had to sit through. Now I'm feeling somewhat depressed.
 

Princess Bubblegum

I'll be the one who puts you in the ground.
On Break
Oct 25, 2017
10,310
A Cavern Shaped Like Home
Finally finished it. Bad but not a complete dumpster fire. The show for me peaked with episode 6 and 7. I love this iteration of Faye, love that she's gay, and I don't mind the alterations to her backstory and arc. The execution did leave me wanting, as the show did in general. There's a lot of straight up bad and mediocre aspects of the show to focus on but I want a S2 for more gay Faye.
 

StarStorm

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
7,600
Just saw the first episode. I was cringing a lot. Dialogue wasn't good. I watched the anime several times years ago. John Cho's Spike portrayal is pretty spot on. By the end, didn't enjoy it. Don't think I'll watch the rest.
 

Staab

Member
Oct 28, 2017
541
As someone who watched the anime back when it came out and did maybe one rewatch a few years later...
In my mind it was crystal clear that Spike died at the end which made the whole thing so heavy and sad.
Watching the adaptation and having Spike show up almost unhurt after the confrontation with Vicious, I was shocked and it felt like it cheapened the whole thing.
I really had to Google it and verify my spotty memories...
Funny how it was actually framed like he died but not 100% explicit!
Overall I enjoyed it for what it was but I dread an S2, knowing that...
Ed is such a goof ball typical anime character that works for comedy purposes in that format but will never ever be good in a live action show.
 

chronos4590

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,358
Ok, I posted my thoughts already several times but Credit where credit is due.

IMO, I liked how they did Jet's backstory more so than the actual anime. I just finished watching that episode in the anime again, and its almost too slow, but in the live action the pay off to the surprise worked better ( maybe the only time the longer format kind of worked), and the more noir approach worked well in live action.

That I will give this adaptation a lot of credit on. That was one of my favorites in this rendition.
 

Wes D. Mess

Avenger
Aug 11, 2018
1,553
Chicago
Looking at the hours viewed for Bebop's second week and they're...not bad but not great?

Chart wise in terms of weekly ranking it's pretty solid but actual watch time seems pretty middling, especially since Netflix pushed this more than most other new shows I've seen. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if season 2 had a 50/50 shot of happening. Curious to see how next week numbers look, I'm not expecting a big increase from this week.
 

Gavalanche

Prophet of Regret
Member
Oct 21, 2021
17,497
Looking at the hours viewed for Bebop's second week and they're...not bad but not great?

Chart wise in terms of weekly ranking it's pretty solid but actual watch time seems pretty middling, especially since Netflix pushed this more than most other new shows I've seen. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if season 2 had a 50/50 shot of happening.

The vast vast majority of Netflix shows get a second season. Its beyond that where it becomes less of a sure thing. I would be willing to bet just about anything that a second season happens. There have been far less popular and less watched shows that got one.
 

Dekuman

Member
Oct 27, 2017
19,026
Finished the series, I don't see a problem with their interpretation of certain plot points and leaves enough for season 2.
 

Ottaro

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,528
The action and editing is choppy and stiff. The costumes look like just that: costumes from a stage play. And the acting...the acting is just awful. Half of it comes across as intentional parody, the other half like zero chemistry, flat acting, like everyone is just waiting to deliver their line and so often their line is just a one-liner, followed by another one-liner. I think it's supposed to be funny and demonstrate a kind of wit and chemistry, but it comes across as artificial and stiff.

The plague of whedonesque dialogue in a nutshell really.
 
Oct 27, 2017
12,374
Looking at the hours viewed for Bebop's second week and they're...not bad but not great?

Chart wise in terms of weekly ranking it's pretty solid but actual watch time seems pretty middling, especially since Netflix pushed this more than most other new shows I've seen. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if season 2 had a 50/50 shot of happening. Curious to see how next week numbers look, I'm not expecting a big increase from this week.
Not sure if it's the mega hit Netflix looks for to justify expensive productions, but they gave Altered Carbon 2 seasons.

The end of this teases something expensive to adapt though, if they actually did it justice, so I think it's iffy if it happens. Probably will get a second season but I'm almost expecting budget cuts.
 
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StudioTan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,836
Looking at the hours viewed for Bebop's second week and they're...not bad but not great?

Chart wise in terms of weekly ranking it's pretty solid but actual watch time seems pretty middling, especially since Netflix pushed this more than most other new shows I've seen. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if season 2 had a 50/50 shot of happening. Curious to see how next week numbers look, I'm not expecting a big increase from this week.
It's 100% getting a second season.
 

ezekial45

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,757
Looking at the hours viewed for Bebop's second week and they're...not bad but not great?

Chart wise in terms of weekly ranking it's pretty solid but actual watch time seems pretty middling, especially since Netflix pushed this more than most other new shows I've seen. Honestly wouldn't be surprised if season 2 had a 50/50 shot of happening. Curious to see how next week numbers look, I'm not expecting a big increase from this week.

Considering the mixed reviews and the competition it had (Arcade, Hellhounds, Tiger King, Squid Game, etc), I'd say that's solid. Considering the investment Netflix has got in this, I'm sure the audience they got now has secured it another season. I'm pretty sure that's going to happen.

That said, I wouldn't be surprised if there's going to be some tinkering with the show behind the scenes in light of the negative reviews. I liked the first season and I had fun with it, but this show needed to be way better and the second season NEEDS to be hit every mark.
 

StudioTan

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,836
One thing to keep in mind about a second season, a lot of the sets like the Bebop and digital props like ships are already built and can be reused so that will help with the budget.