Despite there being a poor track record of anime being adapted into live-action films, that hasn’t stopped Netflix from trying. The streaming service made a live-action Death Note movie in 2017, which received a poor reaction from critics and fans alike. Four years later, the platform has taken another stab at adapting an iconic anime with Cowboy Bebop.
Unfortunately for Netflix, reviews of the new show are mixed, to say the least.
We Got This Covered’s Martin Carr wrote in his review that the series “trades on visual flair rather than dealing in character development.” However, some of that visual flair isn’t exactly resonating with fans of the anime. One major issue fans have is with the appearance of Radical Ed. One fan said that the character looks like a “Spy Kids villain.”
Many not only had an issue with how the character looks, but also just couldn’t get behind the depiction of the character.
However, Radical Ed is only a minor character in the live-action series. What really matters most is John Cho’s depiction of Spike Spiegel. Luckily, fans have taken a liking to Cho’s look and performance.
While it appears that Netflix got Spike right, there hasn’t been much else for fans to get excited about. Overall, they’re just not that impressed with the series.
Cowboy Bebop is sitting at 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, so the critical reception hasn’t been much better. Time will tell if the series ends up running longer than just one season. If not, it will likely get lumped into other live-action anime adaptations that flopped, including The Last Airbender and Dragon Ball: Evolution.
