It’s been about a week since Netflix announced that the live action series of Cowboy Bebop would be on their service. In that time, I have read about two dozen articles discussing the decision. Well, maybe discussion is too generous a term. I have not read such “the sky is falling” articles since well forever. Should Cowboy Bebop be made into a live action show? Absolutely. Should we as fans of the show and anime in general panic over what could be a terrible show? Absolutely not. My reasons come from a look at some terrible adaptations, why they failed and what makes Cowboy Bebop different.
Gateway
Let’s say you had a friend who wanted to get into anime. He or she comes to you asking what show they should start with. Your two choices are Cowboy Bebop and Death Note. Now, remember that you are trying to build a fan for life. Which show do you pick. You said Bebop, I know you did. Death Note is a great anime, but I know hardcore fans who have never touched the show. When the announcement that a movie about Light was being made, I had that feeling like it was going to fail. Death Note is too specialized, a sub-genre that you like or don’t. It was not the one you show to someone to begin their anime fandom. Bebop was the show that turned non fans into fans. Adapting something like that is much easier and already has a head start.
Insanity
The most popular anime in the world is Dragon Ball Z ( I would have accepted Pokemon, but we are looking at more adult titles.) You know that it is mainstream, but it has one big problem in regards to adaption. There is so much crazy things happening that to make it live action would be an exercise in futility. Dragonball Evolution showed us that. You have to realize what you can do and what you can’t. Bebop, while having some out there set pieces, is still more grounded. Showing Spike and crew in space or on some casino is much easier to do.
Film vs Series
Returning to Death Note, the fact that it was a movie instead of a series doomed it even further. Stories like this have to have room to breath, to develop the story and the characters. If you don’t, you have to rush to introduce all the characters while getting them from A to B regardless if your audience cares about how they got there or why. A series is a must, especially for Bebop. If they had made it a movie, it would have to focus on the overarching story or some sort of prequel. I’m not saying I want a shot by shot remake of the series. If you are going to make it, show me something new. Just stay true to the characters.
No New Fans
One argument that keeps popping up is that “If the the series is terrible, I won’t be able to convince my friends to give the original a shot.” People point at the live action Avatar: The Last Airbender as proof. I hate to break it to you, but your friends were never going to watch the original series. A terrible adaption gives them a ready made excuse, one that is hard to argue against. It seems ridiculous when you think about it, a terrible adaption of a book does not turn people away. In fact sales go up.
Americanized
This is an American production so the argument that it will not Americanized and lose it’s Japanese identity has popped up again. While reminding people that only Americans care about this ( Japanese people were not upset about mostly American actors in American adaptions, their reasoning being that the movie was being made for Americans so why not have mostly American actors) I would like to point out that Bebop has every multinational feel to it. Earth is gone and I can not tell you what nationality Jet was in the show.
Fans
Some articles have said that the reaction from anime fans show that they are never satisfied and always looking on the dark side of things. I say that is an untrue statement. Anime fans are a hopeful bunch in general. We want adaptions to be fantastic, set the world on fire. This will bring in new fans that we can talk with. We are terrified that adaptions will be bad, but we hope they will be great. Perhaps a truer statement is that we don’t want an adaption, we want a great one.
Will the series be good or bad? I don’t know. I have not seen a cast list, a still from the set, or a trailer. I do know that I won’t worry about it. Cowboy Bebop has the best chance to be great, so I’ll do what I know most fans will do. I’ll wait. And hope.