Tag: Netflix

Faye finally makes her return after a brief appearance in the pilot episode. We get a clearer picture of her character and the series’ new take on her origin from the original anime. She’s on the hunt for a con artist but ends up involved with the incompetent Callisto Liberation Front, who accidentally steals the only lead she has and her ship. Luckily for her, two familiar cowboys are at a local diner and allow her to get back what she was going to steal. Do we get a better insight into her character, or are we retreading familiar problems?

As Faye Valentine takes center stage this time around, we get a better grasp of her character. She’s not the same character we know and love from the original anime. Daniella Pineda’s take on the character is just as outspoken but very much “in your face” which summarizes the series’ general adaptation perfectly. Once you get used to her take on the character, there’s quite a bit of charm there and she does work well when she plays off Cho and Shakir’s spins on their respective characters. Spike wanting to kill her was quite a hilarious running gag.

The biggest change though is the Liberation Front. While the Ganymede sea rat is referenced and remains their core motivation for this group, but they now turn their victims into trees rather than monkeys. So, the connection is that due to this corporation deforesting trees it led to their extinction. It seemed like a strange extra step to avoid an expensive monkey transformation. It’s also rather gruesome to watch and adds to the lack of subtlety that the original had. Yet, it’s also visually impressive and nightmarish to imagine. So, it balances itself out.

Julia gets more focus this time around again. Vicious reveals his plans to take down the Elders and she seems to be the driving force behind her husband’s actions. It teases a darker future for her and adds another layer to how different they are from the original. Seeing the main antagonist of the anime being manipulated so easily is still a hard pill to swallow but highlights that this is a different take on the original characters. After a brief appearance, the episode also highlights that Gren is quite removed from the original but is given a more active role in the story. We’ll see if their tragedy will ever get a focus later down the line.

This episode does build on the strengths of the last one. I love the dynamic between these three, even if it’s a bit more cynical. While there’s no cor mystery, our team has something to do as a group, and we get a great moment from Pineda when she has to decide what is important. Sadly, our main antagonist, Adrienne Barbeau‘s take on Maria Murdock, is oddly the most downplayed aspect of the episode, as we spend little time with her. She doesn’t even interact with our main cast outside of running away, but it’s her hubris that becomes her undoing.

The episode is quite a bit better than the previous one, as outside of some bidet discussions, there are some strong moments scattered throughout. Pineda gets a great moment after she seemingly sacrifices herself that is given more weight with a beautiful piece by Yoko Kanno. While the episode still doesn’t quite catch that Cowboy Bebop magic, there’s a lot to love here. Cho’s performance and comedic timing add that extra layer of enjoyment. It has me excited going into the next episode.

Who knew dogs were so expensive in the future. Yes, the episode has finally arrived where we meet the Welsh Corgi named Ein. Yet, before that, we have an episode that focuses primarily on the bounty of the episode. Yes, we do get a few moments building up the overarching plot, but the core of the episode is about Spike figuring out how to handle the fact his identity has been blown. So, we finally take a moment to explore the characters to enforce the story rather than the other way around.

This episode highlights Jet’s new role as a family man. The doll he is trying to buy is nightmare-inducing, but who knows how rare they are in this galaxy. While a strange addition at first, it does add an extra layer of motivation for the character that was mostly just dragged along until the story affected him directly. Not going to lie, the doll getting damaged in every possible way was a funny addition as he’s trying to help out Spike. The tender moment between Jet and his daughter was quite nice, especially with how Ein played a role in bringing them together.

I will say that what they did with Abdul Hakim was certainly strange. Not sure why the character needed to be a holographic projection, especially with some questionable implications. It’s the same episode where the now-infamous “blackmail” comment appears that sticks out like a sore thumb. It’s something that does sour an overall good episode, as we finally get a feeling for how Spike and Jet work with each other to take down their targets. Plus, his motivation with kidnapping dogs (who are no longer Data Dogs this time around) was an interesting twist on the original. It’s too bad that these are overshadowed by some questionable additions.

Speaking of, Cho is a highlight in this episode. He’s having a lot of fun with the role and has a great grasp of balancing that cool but fun side of his character. The visual of him hanging from the building while Jet’s desperately holding was great. Seeing him lighting a cigarette upside down until the camera reveals what he’s leaning against was a rather well-done scene. Also, his “Nice!” comment when Hakim pulls off some moves is probably one of my favorite moments in the series. His first confrontation with Vicious was also great as this version of Spike shows off why he was called “Fearless” back in the day but does once again highlight that our main antagonist is not that vicious as he could be.

There are great moments in this episode, but it is dragged down by some strange decisions. It’s great to see Ein and he’s as adorable as he always is. Spike gets some great moments sprinkled throughout with Cho being a highlight. His dynamic with Mustafa Shakir‘s Jet Black finally got some attention and it was worth the wait. The way they play off of each other is one of the series’ highlights and we get a good glimpse here. They are friendly and joke with each other, but even after working for three years, they don’t get along with everything. Here’s hoping the next episode focuses on the strong points and drops what didn’t work.

Netflix’s live-action adaption of Cowboy Bebop has finally arrived. While you can check out our overall review by Nicole Sobon by clicking here, it was time to take a look at the various episodes and see how the series holds up and adapts some of the iconographies from the original 1999 anime. So, let’s start off with the first episode titled “Cowboy Gospel” as Spike Spiegel and Jet Black take on a bounty that’ll draw the wrong kind of attention. Will the first episode grip your attention, or falter early on?

We start off with a casino heist that goes wrong when John Cho‘s Spike arrives on the scene not putting much care into hiding. It’s a curious way to kick off the adaptation, but it tries to give us a fast feel for what the series is going for. It’s a bit of a departure from the original, as not only are episodes running quite a bit longer, moving to an hour from the usual half-hour fare, but also it being more comedy driven. This could be a make or break aspect of this adaptation, as it is less a bounty-of-the-week but tries to spend more time with characters, which is a big aspect of later episodes.

The opening tries to quickly introduce viewers to Cho‘s version of Spike and Mustafa Shakir‘s Jet Black, who’s dynamic is a highlight of the series. It mostly adapts “Asteroid Blues” from the original anime, but also sets up the main narrative of the story. There’s a noticeable cost thought for this direction, as Katerina’s arc is a bit sidelined for the introduction of the Red Dragon Syndicate. It’s a shame because her story is more a plot device rather than an emotional core. This is one of the live-action adaptations biggest problems throughout: it lacks the subtlety of the original.

Daniella Pineda‘s Faye Valentine makes an early introduction in the first episode and highlights that aspects. She’s there to set-up an appearance later on, which is in line with more Western story structures. But, the issue is that appearance in this story takes away from Katerina and Spike’s moment together. Even with her time cuffed in the toilet is a nice nod, it felt a little too early. Especially as she interrupts the first and main interaction between Spike and Katerina to set up their connection.

Cowboy Bebop has a curious love for the dutch angle, especially in its first episode. It seems to be used primarily to add a style to it rather than lean into it’s original intent of creating uneasiness. It’s not bad but can be distracting or requires at least some getting used to for new viewers. This decision once again highlights the fact that this show is a bit more “in your face” unlike the original.

The first episode ends on a rather disorienting gun fight with some fun nods to John Woo action sequences. It’s something you’ll notice fast in the opening as well that the action is there, but it feels like it’s not given enough time to breath. So, it’s not as impactful as it could be. But, it does give us our first name drop of Spike’s Syndicate times as Fearless, which is something new added to this adaptation. These events leads into the ending of the episode that will dramatically change one characters’ direction.

Overall, it’s a decent start to the show. It’s seems deliberate to utilize the first episode from the original to showcase the similarities and differences moving forward. It does drag a bit with its doubled runtime but it uses that time to flesh out characters early on. The only issue of the lack of subtlety, especially in the way the ending visually shows the aftermath of Katerina’s final decision rather than letting the events tell you its outcome, is something that does bog it down a bit. We’ll see if future episodes follow a similar pattern.