Leave it Bebop, Keep it Shiny

They've had some right cowboys in here

Cowboy Bebop was one of the best anime shows I've ever seen. It oozed “cool”, with its jazz soundtrack and noir tones, mixing Sci fi and Western with style. The writing was razor sharp and witty, the action scenes were so visceral, drawn with such life and fluidity.

I decided to check out the new live-action remake. I quite enjoyed the first episode so after I went back and rewatched episode 1 of the anime and I realised that as fun as the live action version is, it seems to lack the depth of the anime.

Sure it's fun. Sure it's nostalgic. And hell, they've even “remixed” the stories a bit to add a flavour of originality, whilst still keeping the overall feel. But it all feels like a quirky take on a quirky show that had a deep drama to it. The nuance is gone, and the whole thing feels like a cartoon where the original, animated show didn't.

That's when I realised that if I want to see a live action Cowboy Bebop then I'm much better off watching Firefly, and I'm enjoying my rewatch of this SO much more than the Netflix CB.

Strangely it seems that this iteration of Cowboy Bebop could have done with drawing more inspiration from the show it inspired than the original show as that may have lent some more credos to it.