When it comes to anime, streaming
giant Netflix has a hit or miss track record, whether from hosting major series
and films, or with their “original” anime productions. But when it comes to
adapting anime into live-action, their binge-watchers agree that Netflix sucks.
Their 2017 film take on iconic series “Death Note” got panned by fans of the
original, and their live-action series adaptation of another legendary anime, “Cowboy
Bebop,” looks to follow the pattern. Not even the early release of the intro (a
near-recreation of the anime’s) and a short teaser, have mollified naysaying
old fans, until the trailer.
CNET tells us that Netflix has just put up their first actual
trailer for their live-action “Cowboy Bebop” series, featuring actual scenes
from the episodes. This was in contrast to the “Lost Session” teaser, shown
last week, which featured an original fight scene skit that received mixed
reception from viewers who have watched the original 1990s anime. Earlier
criticism of the series’ promotional material focused on the bizarre blend of
psychedelic and grindhouse motifs, as opposed to the anime’s neo-noir and
space-western aesthetics. The trailer seems to keep the grindhouse feel, but
now adds the neo-noir and anime-like atmospheric visuals.
The trailer begins with bounty
hunter Spike Spiegel (John Cho) catching up on old times with a bar owner
acquaintance, Ana (Tamara Tunie). In the future Solar System, with planets and
moons colonized b mankind, Spike relates that death can befall anyone at the
hands of the police, bounty hunters like him, and a Syndicate that had been
part of his past. So Spike works together with fellow hunter Jet Black (Mustafa
Shakir), captain of the converted spaceship Bebop,
and (rather reluctantly) with sultry con artist Faye Valentine (Daniella
Pineda), who is also an amnesiac.
Other visuals range from
martial-arts street brawls (and Spike training with a Kung Fu wooden dummy),
gunfights, and space battles between armed aerospace craft like Spike’s Swordfish
II. His disdain towards Faye is also highlighted with his itchy trigger-finger around
her. And of course, there is Spike’s unfinished business with old syndicate
partner-turned-nemesis Vicious (Alex Hassel). The visual direction for this
trailer seems to have won over some former critics, with them looking forward
now to when “Cowboy Bebop” premieres on Netflix streaming November 19.
Image courtesy of NME
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