Netflix's Live-Action Cowboy Bebop to Release This November

I'm still convinced convinced about the casting here especially John Cho as Spike. Its great they have an Asian actor in the role im just not sure he looks the part. I will still give it a go and hope for the best
 
As per usual with these live action adaptations I don't see the point in making it and I don't want to watch it but I'll watch it anyway "just in case" and then almost certainly not like it as predicted....

😐
 

Even if the corgi is half as smart as the fictional version, Ein is the one character they/any anime live-action version cannot possibly miscast. Gotta watch, if only for the dog. I doubt it'll be able to play chess, though.

crashmatt said:
I'm still convinced convinced about the casting here especially John Cho as Spike. Its great they have an Asian actor in the role im just not sure he looks the part. I will still give it a go and hope for the best
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I can accept Jet being black, him having had a black guy dub him iirc. His surname is 'Black', and Netflix clearly took that rather literally. I can also readily accept Faye being an attractive Mexican. She looks the part, with a purple wig. Why we're goin for a multicultural checklist when none of the main trio appeared to be, but okay.

Spike being played by a 5'10 Korean guy (with seemingly no martial arts training?), when given the art style of Bebop he was lanky and used kicks fighting?... I don't get it. Even a quick Google reveals he's meant to be 6'1 in the anime. In the live-action screenshots he looks barely taller than Faye! I guess a reasonably tall actor, with some martial arts background, was too much to ask.
It looks the part in those screenshots as an adaptation. Costumes and whatnot cool. But if they've miscast one of the most charismatic, memorable anime protagonists, it'll be like having a guy cosplay as Spike. His character was inspired by a Japanese actor, but Watanabe was clearly trying to appeal to Western audiences with his names and character designs. It seems so random to have a small Asian guy play him. He ain't even Japanese is the best part.
 
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Just Passing Through said:
Unsurprising review is in.

www.forbes.com

Live-Action ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Review: Almost Entirely Terrible

After finally watching all the way through the first season of the new live-action 'Cowboy Bebop', I am sad to say that it was a rather depressing experience.
www.forbes.com www.forbes.com
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Very unsurprising.
I'm still going to give it the benefit of the doubt and make my own mind up, if just to see how badly they've done Ed after all the crazy rumours of making her an AI!
Personally I don't think they'd be that stupid but time will tell 🤷‍♂️
 
Well, that was a depressing review. And no mention of Ed, so I assume she's been deleted from the Bebop-iverse?

Still, I'd probably pick up the DVD if I spotted it out shopping.
 
More nuanced reviews... although none glowing,


ew.com

'Cowboy Bebop' is colorful, campy attempt at live-action anime that doesn't justify itself

Netflix's 'Cowboy Bebop,' starring John Cho as bounty hunter Spike Spiegel, is a colorful, campy attempt at live-action anime that doesn't justify itself.
ew.com ew.com

www.avclub.com

Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop is a bloodless substitute for the real thing

Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop is a bloodless substitute for the real thing
www.avclub.com www.avclub.com
 
You know, the topic of Spike's height in the Netflix live-action series is something I'd have chipped in with at one point in time, but unfortunately I can already see it turning into just another debate that gets deleted. 🤷‍♂️
 
IGN review said that the stories were "remixed" and the original story beats were poor, but the banter between the crew, especially when Faye shows up was good and instead of making stuff more realistic they kept with the tone of it being an anime adaptation and if anything went more outlandish:
 
Neil.T said:
You know, the topic of Spike's height in the Netflix live-action series is something I'd have chipped in with at one point in time, but unfortunately I can already see it turning into just another debate that gets deleted. 🤷‍♂️
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To me it’s not the height but that John Cho is too old to play Spike…you can see the lines in his face. He pushing 50 playing a 27 year old character.
 
Neil.T said:
You know, the topic of Spike's height in the Netflix live-action series is something I'd have chipped in with at one point in time, but unfortunately I can already see it turning into just another debate that gets deleted. 🤷‍♂️
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Roy hasn't been her/his/their usual dedicated self, of late. Or rather, few of my posts have been moderated and I haven't been banned for awhile. You're probably safe. Possibly. 'Tis only natural asians are small, white people average and black people big 'uns.

At best, it'll be so bad it's good. A trashy substitute for the real thing, indeed. Will have a look simply because, bar trying that anime about a beautiful girl that's unrealistically shy and stutters like a machine gun, sod all I use Netflix for currently. I pay for someone else to watch things, more oft than not. More hopeful of Witcher S2 not being naff but, even then, after making Triss fugly to be PC/usual multicultural bollox, eh. I miss Witcher 2 sexy tiem, honestly....

...er, anyway: no way that Spike miscasting and imitating an anime that had few flaws, importantly, as an anime could ever end well. Didn't think trailer was as awful as could've been bar Vicious=Sephiroth but, after comments, revisited paying attention and... dialogue cringe. Squid Game as an unoffical Kaiji adaptation that changed things to suit its live-action needs worked well enough. With Bebop, people are gonna jump on the omissions whilst simultaneously being disgusted with it as a shoddy imitation of a better thing. Doooooooooooooooooooooomed.
 
Neil.T said:
You know, the topic of Spike's height in the Netflix live-action series is something I'd have chipped in with at one point in time, but unfortunately I can already see it turning into just another debate that gets deleted. 🤷‍♂️
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Logged in to see what the chatter about live action Bebop might be like here. Sad that this is the post that resonates with me the most so far.
 
Magillanica Lou Mayvin said:
Squid Game as an unoffical Kaiji adaptation that changed things to suit its live-action needs worked well enough.
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Netflix still has the Chinese live-action Kaiji film, Animal World, if you feel so inclined. It adds a lot of filler at the beginning and tries too hard to make Kaiji/Kaisi sympathetic, but the part in the middle that covers the scissors-paper-stone game is very faithful to the source.
 
HdE said:
Logged in to see what the chatter about live action Bebop might be like here. Sad that this is the post that resonates with me the most so far.
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I fear I am missing something here: on the second page of news forum, there's a split off from another Bebop thread. My ****** Asian tidbit was turned into small Asian, there, but the post itself wasn't deleted. Is there another discussion that was deleted? I know Roy isn't fond of the whole discrimination thing.

That said, a guy with a Judge Dread(?) lookalike avatar and debates over size can never end well, honestly.


Professor Irony said:
Netflix still has the Chinese live-action Kaiji film, Animal World, if you feel so inclined. It adds a lot of filler at the beginning and tries too hard to make Kaiji/Kaisi sympathetic, but the part in the middle that covers the scissors-paper-stone game is very faithful to the source.
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I did not know of a Chinese Kaiji given random renaming that would've made me certain it an Animal Farm Orwellian sequel. Perhaps that's the point given poor people treated like livestock. I don't know if you know but years ago there were two actual live-action Kaiji films, with the butch lesbian lookalike actor from the Death Note JP films. First one pretty faithful to card game/S1.

I was happy with Squid Game: Kaiji like most things anime not geared to a copy&paste version. Zawazawa, narration, self-thinky, etc. I was amused with only part in Squid were protag had self-thinky bit, over picking shirt. Tis unnatural away from anime, my friend helped me notice.
 
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So having watched the first 3eps my early impressions are:
  • The banter between Jet & Spike is generally well written and probably the best aspect so far.
  • The guy playing Jet kills it and is easily the best cast. He obviously just watched the Anime dub and based his entire performance on that and it works.
  • John Cho is good as Spike but would've been much better 10 - 15 yrs ago...
  • The guy playing Vicious is by far the worst thing and may be the deciding factor in acceptable adaptation and utter s#it show in the long run.
  • Faye is good but too hyper, hardly been in it so far so may improve.
  • ALL the action scenes feel like cheap John Wick rip offs but with movement slowed down by 25% so they lack any impact.
  • The fight at the end of episode 2 wouldn't be out of place in the Adam West Batman series. All it needed was big "POW" and "BLAM" flashes.

So far not a dumpster fire but I'm only a quarter through.
 
In episode 5 atm and frankly I'm loving it. Its just so much fun. Faye is easily my favourite thing about it. Shes Faye but also new and different. I just really like what they've done with her. Ep4 was my favourite so far.

Agree with @Jon O Fun that the guy playing Jet is closest to the original in how hes playing the character. Hes very good.

The show as a whole has this cartoony stylised Sin City vibe that I'm totally down with.
 
Jon O Fun said:
So having watched the first 3eps my early impressions are:
  • The banter between Jet & Spike is generally well written and probably the best aspect so far.
  • The guy playing Jet kills it and is easily the best cast. He obviously just watched the Anime dub and based his entire performance on that and it works.
  • John Cho is good as Spike but would've been much better 10 - 15 yrs ago...
  • The guy playing Vicious is by far the worst thing and may be the deciding factor in acceptable adaptation and utter s#it show in the long run.
  • Faye is good but too hyper, hardly been in it so far so may improve.
  • ALL the action scenes feel like cheap John Wick rip offs but with movement slowed down by 25% so they lack any impact.
  • The fight at the end of episode 2 wouldn't be out of place in the Adam West Batman series. All it needed was big "POW" and "BLAM" flashes.

So far not a dumpster fire but I'm only a quarter through.
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WMD said:
In episode 5 atm and frankly I'm loving it. Its just so much fun. Faye is easily my favourite thing about it. Shes Faye but also new and different. I just really like what they've done with her. Ep4 was my favourite so far.

Agree with @Jon O Fun that the guy playing Jet is closest to the original in how hes playing the character. Hes very good.

The show as a whole has this cartoony stylised Sin City vibe that I'm totally down with.
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Thanks for the analysis! My brother will be pleased :)

How is the bad language? I don't like watching shows with lots of swearing (especially F-words), so I'm wondering how it is in this show? The original was quite tame, so I hope it's similar...
 
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