Cowboy Bebop

Cowboy Bebop is a live adaptation of a popular anime featuring a group of space bounty hunters nicknamed 'cowboys' who roam the now-populated solar system a few centuries in the future. The tone of the series is light-hearted, featuring typical down-on-their-luck yet likeable main characters who stumble their way into victories against equally incompetent bad guys. It's basically all in good fun.

It's universe is a combination of Americana influences from the '50's up to the '70's, Japanese mafia tropes and old-skool visceral science fiction, with a film noir-detective glue that holds it together. It consist of over-the-top but well designed set pieces with characters that find themselves in absurd situations, mostly created by their own antics. Fair warning, it can get pretty bloody at times between all the sarcasm, true to anime heritage.

The music is excellent, especially the jazz pieces from all the greats that seem hand-picked to fit the scenes. It's general feel is reminiscent of comic books, with lots of different color schemes, shots from strange angels and short, witty comebacks that could've just as easily been dropped in captions. Blood doesn't drip, it flashes over the screen, that sort of thing.

My main criticism are the predictable plot-lines, with one or two nice surprises. Also, not all the jokes land because the editing can be off beat, slowing down the comedic timing of the actors. On these review pages it has been compared to the original, well-loved anime, which I didn't do. Without the comparison, the end-result is a production that could have had a sharper finish, but that doesn't take away much from this futuristic noir-detective that got stuck in the seventies.

Don't expect the world and you'll root for these cowboys.

-For me the cast is decent, except Faye Valentine (Pineda), but still tolerable.

-The universe, visuals and costumes are good.

-The fighting scenes were ok -The plot changed a lot, but i understand that adaptations do that, so I'm not angry like many here.

-If you never watched the anime, this series could worth a watch. If you are a true fan, dont expect a spectacular and accurate adaptation.

-The ones who gave 1 star are too salty, maybe their nostalgia is too strong, and they just shouldn't see any live action adaptations.

Watched the anime like ages ago and went into this with no expectation and got hook.

First episode wasn't that great as a pilot but things pick up by the second episode.

The fight can look a bit slow sometimes but everything else is enjoyable. The set designs are amazing. I love the retro feel of it. Really captured the cowboy bebop mood.

And god the music... Yoko Kanno's Tank! Is that amazing that I didn't skip the intro at all. The whole jazz soundtracks feel so refreshing after watching movies with similar sounds.

John Cho is amazing too as Spike. He got the mannerism and coolness, and so is Faye Valentine. I love the witty humour and sarcasm. Jet Black also holds the team together.

Plus point for Ein. Adorable.

I was skeptical about the cast at first, but John Cho was surprisingly pulling Spike off very well. Now, I can't seem to find any other actors to play Spike other then John Cho. Jet Black, on the other hand, the beard on him looks too artificial. It just doesn't sit well on the guy. They could have styled the beard as its own since they changed the character to a black guy, but then somehow they attached the original character's beard on him which seems to be the general issue in this show. They changed some elements in the animation and adopted new things to a live action show, but then they somehow applied original elements back to new things. They don't get along well together, and often produces some silly chuckles and eye sores just like Jet Black's beard. Overall, the show is interesting as its own. It could have been better if they have made it as a standalone show instead of making a carbon-copy version of the original animation.

My only casting dislike so far is Faye Valentine.

The writing for her is awful, and her delivery is even worse. She also doesn't look the part either. Faye was the stereotypical femme Fatale in appearance, but juxtaposed by her brash nature. This actress lacks the first part, which is important to her character. She's cringeworthy. Also not a fan of vicious, either. But I'm telling ya Faye is really bad.

Jet is great. Spike is pretty good.

They NAILED the environment and atmosphere. Production is amazing. That really helps the affair.

Music is the best of all. Amazing. They brought back the same guy from the anime. It's incredible stuff.

They did make some stupid changes to things that I found entirely unnecessary, though. Why? Beats me.

It's not the anime and it never could be. But it's a damn good show, especially when you compare it to every other animation adaptation to live action

Give it a shot and don't let others whining taint your experience.