“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” appears to be the motto of the upcoming live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop premiering on Netflix this coming November.
To prove this point, the opening credit sequence for the upcoming Netflix series was posted to Twitter on September 25th, and honestly? It’s hard to find a lot of faults with it. Before we get to the main event, though, let’s look at the original anime opening credits to refresh our memories…
And now, let’s take a look at the Netflix version…
3, 2, 1… let’s jam. Watch the opening credits for Cowboy Bebop, landing November 19th. #TUDUM pic.twitter.com/LzZ8fqpVmD
— Netflix Geeked (@NetflixGeeked) September 25, 2021
For the most part, the Netflix version is a faithful adaptation of the original opening credits. First off, it’s worth reminding everyone that Yoko freakin Kanno is back to compose the music, so it already has that going for it. After that, the main shots of the credits are almost fully faithful to the original, with only a few additional characters and episode scenes added in.
Unfortunately, it seems that not everyone is convinced though. Many people have commented since the reveal that the Netflix adaptation is a little too faithful, which makes them wonder why they’re even bothering to create the series in the first place. Even notable figures within the anime community have expressed doubts about how good this series is going to be.
I am remaining cautiously optimistic about this one. Yes, it’s true that Netflix has kind of a bad reputation for churning out subpar adaptations of various anime and manga titles (poor, poor Way of the House Husband which was never even given a fair chance) but my gut is telling me that Cowboy Bebop could be the one that breaks that trend. It just feels like all the right parts are being put into motion with this one. While I doubt Netflix is going to treat this series with the same reverence as many anime fans do, it should be a decent popcorn series at the very least. At least I hope so. I’ve been known to be wrong before.
Source: Netflix Geeked on Twitter
