Cowboy Bebop Live Action projects

[Endscape]

Some of the best shows on TV have had lackluster first seasons. I don't think this show was as bad as people made it out to be, and it could have improved from what it was given some time.

Netflix's bad habit of killing stuff so soon out of the cradle is just going to make avoid watching any new stuff they put out.

[Ithekro]

Was hoping for more of the Dark Crystal out of Netflix, but things happen.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by Endscape

Netflix's bad habit of killing stuff so soon out of the cradle is just going to make avoid watching any new stuff they put out.

That's what I usually do, unless it's a no brainer the series is going to get renewed. I focus on older shows or mini-series.

[Chosen_Hero]

The show isn't as bad as the people that haven't watched it made it out to be, there's plenty of fun stuff in it and plenty of callbacks to the anime. Sure, t's not perfect and some of the changes or alterations are not the best, but it's not the disaster people that only saw the horrible Ed scene make it out to be.

A second season could have improved it if there had been some ... well, ANY constructive criticism being shared. The sad part is that the show was helping a lot of people that wouldn't normally get into anime get into that universe and was creating actual interest in both it and the anime.

Lo que será, será, I guess.

[Magin]

Originally Posted by Endscape

Some of the best shows on TV have had lackluster first seasons.

While this is true (hell, Star Trek: TNG had about THREE terrible beginning seasons and is now beloved by Trekkies)... we're in 2021. There's a plethora of options out there, so if people aren't hooked in by the first season, there's a high chance they're going to move on to something better. It's just human nature so long as we have options- the bar has been set high.

Heck, Amazon is currently releasing a show based on one of my favorite book series. Of its eight episodes, the first six have proven to deviate heavily from the source material, and a lot of people (myself included) are Highly Upset about this. And while a Season Two has been greenlit for it... Amazon has two episodes left to make the show somewhat more faithful to the books, or there's going to be a very high chance that they'll have screwed the pooch for this particular series as well.

Really, it all leads to the question of how faithful adaptations should be to the source material, and even among just anime fandom, it's a question that is extremely divisive (of course, if you've paid attention over the years, you may have noticed that Source Material readers will always claim the Source Material is far superior to any adaptation... and I don't disagree)

[Endscape]

Originally Posted by Magin

While this is true (hell, Star Trek: TNG had about THREE terrible beginning seasons and is now beloved by Trekkies)... we're in 2021. There's a plethora of options out there, so if people aren't hooked in by the first season, there's a high chance they're going to move on to something better. It's just human nature so long as we have options- the bar has been set high.

Fair enough, this is why Netflix needs to rethink their model. Binging is fine when a series is already proven and has people eagerly awaiting it, but it didn't do this show any favours.

Heck, Amazon is currently releasing a show based on one of my favorite book series. Of its eight episodes, the first six have proven to deviate heavily from the source material, and a lot of people (myself included) are Highly Upset about this. And while a Season Two has been greenlit for it... Amazon has two episodes left to make the show somewhat more faithful to the books, or there's going to be a very high chance that they'll have screwed the pooch for this particular series as well.

Wheel of Time is the sort of series that was never going to get a one to one adaptation because of the nature of it, so they have to make adjustments.

Like, people complain about Perrin

Spoiler for WoT:

being married in the show and her dying

but how else do you get the viewer to empathize with Perrin's struggles against his own violent nature without his internal monologue?

Really, it all leads to the question of how faithful adaptations should be to the source material, and even among just anime fandom, it's a question that is extremely divisive (of course, if you've paid attention over the years, you may have noticed that Source Material readers will always claim the Source Material is far superior to any adaptation... and I don't disagree)

Anime fandom is too used to perfect one on one adaptations, so they're much more sensitive to this than other fandoms.

As I said, with live action adaptations changes are often inevitable. The problem is the writer not making those changes flow well.

I mean, the only live action adaptation I think matched or even improved on it's source material is the Magicians. it's simply really rare to strike a great balance like that.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

*reading that Cowboy Netflix is cancelled*



Now give all the money & resources that's supposed to be for Cowboy Netflix S2 to Arcane.

[Last Sinner]

Think some of you would probably get a kick out of this review. At least it made Drinker watch the original.

Spoiler for Drinker - How to kill a show in 5 steps:

[zztop]

Originally Posted by Endscape

Some of the best shows on TV have had lackluster first seasons. I don't think this show was as bad as people made it out to be, and it could have improved from what it was given some time.

I agree. I'd have loved to see Bebop get a 2nd chance to address its mistakes and recover from its errors. And the writers would already have an entire S2 script to freely amend, given they'd plotted S2's direction out back when John Cho was still in hospital for that onset stunt injury.

Take for example, S1 of the popular USA TV series The Office (with Steve Carrell). From my knowledge, USA Office S1 was also very lacklustre and rough, considered a poor adaptation of its much-respected original British series, and was very close to cancellation (quite similar to Bebop). And yet, something prevailed and it got its 2nd chance to prove itself which it did amazingly (perhaps someone on the production/executive team must have really stuck their neck out to support Office).
Imagine if The Office was denied its chance, and simply disappeared into history as "that lousy adaptation of that wonderful BBC series" instead of getting gems like Creed Bratton's deviancy or memes like "I...DECLARE...BANKRUPTCYYYYYYYY!"

Originally Posted by Endscape

Anime fandom is too used to perfect one on one adaptations, so they're much more sensitive to this than other fandoms.
As I said, with live action adaptations changes are often inevitable. The problem is the writer not making those changes flow well.

I'm aware that some other adaptations out there get dislike from their fandoms, yet somehow still manage to squeeze through.
For example, I've been watching DC's Titans TV series and I recall its S1 got bad impressions over things like its gloomy, gritty atmosphere (ex. that part when Dick Grayson goes F**k Batman), directionless parts, sudden violent turns, etc. I think even its latest S3 was still criticized for writing issues, with some comicbook fans unhappy with how the central conflict of S3 was written;

Spoiler for S3 central arc:

Jason Todd gets brainwashed into becoming the Red Hood due to Jonathan Crane's manipulations

and that they wouldn't want to watch it again. And yet, Titans still endures with a S4 in the works.

[Obelisk ze Tormentor]

Another good thing about Cowboy Netflix (which doesn't come from within the show itself) is that it made my favorite veteran anime-tubers feel compelled to make comprehensive analyses of the situation. One of them being Sage from Anime Abandon who just completed his two-parter videos digging deep into this debacle (recommended watch IMO):

YouTube

https://youtu.be/Jd2i666sCOU

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YouTube

https://youtu.be/mjzYr1ewy7w

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[AnimeFan188]

Another Netflix Cowboy Bebop post-mortem.

YouTube

https://youtu.be/zQMrhmLZ3v4

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[AnimeFan188]

Shinichiro Watanabe On Making ‘Cowboy Bebop’ And
What He Thinks Of The Live-Action Adaptation

https://archive.is/pEmoU#selection-415.0-415.93