The phrase “the original was better” has been thrown around a bit too loosely in recent years. Excluding the philosophical question of what exactly constitutes an “original” and the subsequent dilemma of inspiration vs. plagiarism, we tend to forget a very important thing. In most cases, this comparison is made between two different mediums, in other words a novel and a cinematographic rendition, a comic book or a manga and the animated version of it, any other source of inspiration and a TV series. Exploring why exactly certain fans are so vehement on this would take too long and is probably better left for another article.
As I was saying, a comparison, especially one that is meant only to be spiteful towards the “adaptation” is not a useful one for one simple factor: we are considering two distinct mediums, two divers ways of telling/showing a story, hence it is obvious that there will be many diverging points. If one simple paragraph in a book could be represented in countless ways through a camera lens, how would one represent hundreds of pages “faithfully”? Different channels imply different choices and if as a viewer you do not agree with those choices, then you can always become a director and finance the “adaptation” you think is just. Then again someone else will have something to say against your rendition.
Sooo…anyway…Netflix did a thing, and yes, the original was better (this is obviously meant to be ironical).
I will say this much about Netflix’s adaptation of Cowboy Bebop (except for the Marlon Brando meme “look how they massacred my boy”): it is an adequate watch if and only if you are able not to consider it an adaptation. If as a viewer you are able to distinguish between two separate products that share similar characters but then go their own separate ways, then yes it is adequate. Not excellent, not something on the “must watch”, but still decent. If you liked the setting for Natan Fillion’s Firefly, then you will probably also enjoy this series.
I will not overly analyze the main differences between the two since I gather that many fans/bloggers/tubers will probably do a better job, but I do have a couple of personal considerations I want to make.
First and foremost, if the series creates the curiosity in the viewer to at least give the anime a try then it already accomplished a good thing. I remember some time ago there was the Death Note case again by Netflix(oh boy). Someone on the internet had asked why the movie was receiving so much hate as it was in the very least not that horrible; the same person returned after several weeks saying that they had watched the anime or read the manga and understood the reason behind the hate. At this point fans should at least appreciate that something that they like and enjoy is at least getting more attention than previously, even if they don’t agree with the decisions made in the adaptation.
So why did they change it so much?
So here is one reason why the series could not have worked if it would have followed the anime. Cowboy Bebop gives much more space to the journey rather than the plot. Don’t get me wrong, you do get to see the main narrative knot of Spike Spiegel’s life, but out of 26 episodes, that is done just in the last two episodes and maybe in two or three other ones along the way. Schinichirō Watanabe is a master on concentrating on the journey rather than the actual end of it (case and point, Samurai Champloo). TV series tend to function differently: to get the viewer “hooked” they must give the story a certain continuity, the occasional cliffhanger, character development and so on. This is not always the case, but these are formulas that usually work. So, just I explained previously, different mediums have different ways of showing/telling a story.
John Cho is a pretty good actor and I liked his interpretation; he uses guns a bit too often for my taste, but to be fair, I would imagine choreographing Spike’s way of fighting is no easy feat. Obviously there were some choices that I personally did not like, but between the fact that they kept the original intro (and oh my God what a soundtrack!) and most of costume design and the cinematography, it is a series that is overall watchable (as long as you do not consider it an adaptation).
My Spike Spiegel
The Spike that I fondly remember (I think I watched it more than ten years ago) is this fantastic and indescribable person. He is one of the most relaxed characters that I have ever seen; with this laid back attitude, he does not deliver many quips, but when he does they are priceless and in the least expected moments. At a certain point for instance he is behind a counter, being shot at by several angles, with a dead bartender beside him; he just takes the bartender’s shaker, takes a sip and sais “Definitely too much vermouth”, before proceeding to toss it, using it as a distraction. That is Spike; he just has no care in the world. In many moments he helps others, but does not do so because he is a Samaritan or because he wants something in return, he just does what he wants and that is final.
Although he is a good shot, being an ex-assassin and all, he is at core a martial artist using either Jeet Kune Do or at the very least a Bruce Lee-inspired style. And there is something to be said about how Watanabe combines fluid movements and perfectly choreographed fight scenes with music. In Cowboy Bebop you have martial arts and jazz, in Samurai Champloo you have a breakdancing samurai with low-fi hip-hop (or something of the sorts). It is obviously either very difficult or close to impossible to replicate a similar fluidity through cinematographic means.
There is not much left to say except See you Space Cowboy.
Bang!