Ships guided by lonely pilots careen through space, pining for their next meal, a casino to gamble away their last Woolong or bar fight with a stranger, if only to feel some sense of connection. The series takes place in 2071, 50 years after a catastrophe leaves Earth uninhabitable and the reality of human uprootedness permeates every seam. These characters have been through the wringer, and they acted like it. No matter how loudly their ship’s machine guns rang out, how many sly grins Spike would crack at women and nemeses alike, the original was never a show that felt like everything would work out. What centered its universe and plot was an overwhelming sense of melancholy. ‘Drive My Car,’ a Japanese Study of Grief, Is the Most Entrancing Film of the Year This isn’t just an issue of translation from one creative medium to another, but rather a complete misreading, transforming a gripping space saga into something utterly childish. But where it falters, fatally, is in its misunderstanding of the kind of show Cowboy Bebop is. Cowboy Bebop gets some of the style parts right: the show’s kung-fu scenes, snappy scene-setting, and over-the-top imagery can prove compelling. Its performances signal that the cast doesn’t appear to grasp the pull of the source material, opting instead for lame slapstick humor and cornball lines (the script is woefully deficient). André Nemec’s new Netflix series, which stretches each episode to 40-plus minutes, doesn’t really know what to do with more resources and time. Unfortunately for Cowboy Bebop, fans will continue their search for an adequate remix. Between the by-the-panel approach of the Rurouni Kenshin Netflix films or the very strange, very bad Dragon Ball and Ghost in the Shell remakes, no adaptation can seem to get the formula right. In the minds of most anime fans, a live-action remake simply cannot recreate the spirit of the medium. Its crisp animation, crackling soundtrack, stylized aesthetic and unpredictable world endeared it to fans across the West, making Cowboy Bebop one of the most popular animes of all time. The dark, universe-spanning neo-noir followed a trio of bounty hunters-Spike, Jet and Faye-as they hurtle toward their next big score while attempting to outrun their pasts on their spaceship, The Bebop. One week, it was a mechanized Space Warrior’s delight the next, an achingly personal drama, blaxploitation romp, gun-slinging Western, or certified kung-fu flick. The OG Cowboy Bebop blasted its premise across its infectious theme: “The work, which becomes a new genre itself, will be called Cowboy Bebop.” And the anime series’ conceit consisted of wrapping popular genre motifs in a 26-minute package.

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