Cowboy Bebop Season 1 (2021)

Cowboy Bebop Season 1 (Christopher L. Yost, 2022)

Click here for the basics

Rating: DSQ=7, SP=4 / Average Snack

Scale A=3, Scale B=2, Scale C=2, Scale D=2, Scale E=2

Based on Anime, Action, Adventure, Science Fantasy, Western, Noir

I'm a firm believer that every adaptation must be judged as individual and separate from its parent/original as much as possible. That is really hard to do, sometimes, though. This is the perfect example. This live-action version of Cowboy Bebop was...fine. The original anime series is still WAY better than this, but it wasn't awful like so many fans and reviewers are claiming. BUT...the live-action has too much back story, made some strange narrative choices, and ultimately just feels like actors playing characters. The casting was good, the artistry was fun, but it isn't intriguing and mysterious and innovative like the anime. The elegance and beauty of the anime is completely missing from the live-action. That being said though, I still enjoyed it and I would have watched more.

Read my post on the original animated series here.

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Cowboy Bebop, revisited

Cowboy Bebop Season 1 (Shinichiro Watanabe and others, 1998)

Click here for the basics

Rating: DSQ=12, SP=7 / Decadence

Scale A=4, Scale B=4, Scale C=4, Scale D=3, Scale E=4

Anime, Action, Adventure, Science Fantasy, Western, Noir

Favorite episodes: This is tough, because I think they are all better as a whole, but I'd probably have to say "Speak Like A Child" and "Cowboy Funk"

Re-watching this series was great. It'd been over ten years and my first viewing missed a lot, of course. This show is just spectacular in all ways: the music, animation, story lines, characters, humor, mystery, setting... everything. A group of misfits--each with their own mysterious past--always seems to work as a set-up. I especially like Ed and Ein, this crazy data-duo.

I recommend watching the series in order and also in the original Japanese. Also, be prepared to binge!

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