Thread: Cowboy Bebop Live Action Series

You can google it to take a look at the cast and information on it.

I am not going to like this. They have the dude from White Castle playing Spike. That right there makes me not want to even bother attempting to watch it. No offense to him but they could have found someone WAY better for the role.

Ugg... I feel like this is just going to piss a lot of us Bebop fans off.

It will be a Netflix series as well.

Fuck's sake, main reason for 9/10 of these upvotes is Ein. Typical sneaky Netflix using doggo for clout.

The casting choice for Spike is bizarre. Some people have this idea that every character in anime is really supposed to be Asian, but it's quite obvious that this isn't the case. I'm pretty sure that when the artist envisioned Spike, he didn't think to himself, "Ah yes, I'll make a tall man with a German surname and a jewfro inspired by Bob Dylan... and he'll be Japanese!". Spike is clearly supposed to be white, or at least some kind of ambiguous mix, so to cast an overtly Asian actor in the role feels out of touch. It doesn't help that regardless of race, this dude looks absolutely nothing like him. When I first heard news of this, I legitimately thought it was some kind of parody article or something. I mean, come on, the fucking Harold and Kumar guy? Dude...

To be fair, one of the things that Spike was modeled after was a japanese actor named Yasaku Matsuda.



When you factor that in, casting an asian actor does make sense. I do agree that the Harold and Kumar guy is sorely miscasted for Spike. You need some that oozes a smooth, laid-back coolness, someone like 80s era Chow-Yun Fat. This guy just screams asian stoners. I find it hard to believe that they couldn't find any other asian actor that could embody Spike better than this guy. Of course, I could be wrong and it's possible he might even be really good but I'm not holding my breath.

I can't help but feel that the Ghost in the Shell casting choice "whitewashing" fallout has something to do with this, and in both cases the ethnicity of the protagonist is very debatable. Even the original GitS director said it's all stupid. Ironically, I believe that casting Scarlett Johannson as Major was a fantastic choice.

Because on the other hand, Spike isn't a "manly man" in the way that Gene Starwind is, but he's still a man nevertheless. This Harold & Kumar actor just looks very young. (Edit: He's 47 with a face less than half his age...)

This is the silver lining of Outlaw Star being a considerably less popular show than Cowboy Bebop.

I liked portions of the Bebop anime the few times I've watched through it. Since it's a hijinks anime, it loses a lot of points in my book because almost nothing in the show advances the story, but I did highly appreciate the story-relevant episodes & I have SOME respect for the ending. A lot of people think the ending is such a huge deal, but I'll tell you what ruined it for me:

I'm serious this is a spoiler for the anime not one of my usual jokes

The director of the anime I think it was (you can check on this, the interview I'm talking about it quoted and linked in the show's Wikipedia page) says that the ending is open to interpretation as to whether or not Spike died. I mean...bullets go through his head, just watch the clip. he gets rekt HARD and I think the director or writer didn't want their OC to die so they tried walking it back in interviews and stuff. Either kill him or don't. If you want me to have an emotional reaction, your big cash-out moment can't be left ambiguous.

The anime was a 7/10 in my book, which is just an average between the 9.5/10 episodes and the majority of them being 4/10 filler. The filler in other shows like OLS for example at least gives the illusion that it still matters. IN Bebop that is expressly not the case. You can tell that they created these OCs that they really really like and want to watch doing cute side stories...which is fine if you find them endearing but I didn't particularly fall in love with the cast.

All that being said, a Netfux live action adaptation of an anime can only go downhill. If it's downhill from a 7/10, then that bodes poorly. Keep in mind that this is all in MY OPINION. SUBJECTIVE. SUBJECTIVE. SUBJECTIVE.

This site is likely thee last place you'll find any hype for Bebop media, btw so I tried my best to be constructive for once lol. Hope I did okay.

I loved the anime and to me, it feels like this is their "woke take" on the anime series. They always change the color of characters which normally, I wouldn't care but you know they do it with the intent not to offend people which is BS. Japan art is known for using primarily only light-skinned characters who don't appear to be Japanese and in spite of this, there are still plenty of fans out there who happen to be black, Latino, etc. Most fans don't just don't think about this stuff. You either enjoy anime or you don't, the color or race or sex of the characters is irrelevant.

And yeah they are clearly using the dog to bait people in. Everyone I asked who is a fan said this is a terrible idea.

Originally Posted by KorinKitty

And yeah they are clearly using the dog to bait people in. Everyone I asked who is a fan said this is a terrible idea.

Everything about a live-action adaptation of anime is a bad idea, especially if it's made in a Western country. Spike was always vaguely Asian to me, so I don't care if he's cast as an Asian guy...whatever. Jet was pretty dark, so that's all good too...I'm really not that bothered by the casting having taken a deeper look into it.

You wanna see perfect casting? Check out a few panels of the "I Am A Hero" manga, then look at the live-action movie. First movie I've enjoyed since I saw Samurai Cop 5 years ago.