Adapted from the fan favourite popular 1990s anime series, Netflix Cowboy Bebop has received divisive reception ever since its premiere on the streaming giant. While some are quite happy with the ten-episode adaptation, most fans are disgruntled over how the suave charm of the original anime is lost in the colourless mess in the live-action series.
Starring John Cho, Daniella Pineda and Mustafa Shakir in the lead roles as Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine and Jet Black, the series sees a ragtag team of bounty hunters battle adversaries across the solar system along with personal demons.
Created by Andre Nemec, while the live-action adaptation tries to capture the essence of the original by retaining the iconic Yoko Kanna jazzy soundtrack, there are certain deviations that have been defended by cast member Daniella Pineda.
The show has also generated some controversy over including a particular line that has offended the Black community.
Fans of the original anime have been looking for Ed, one of the most popular characters on the show who is a teen hacker, by the name of Radical Ed, played by Eden Perkins, it was not until the very end that Ed made an appearance. It confused fans as the teen was a major part of the anime. However, the creator has revealed the real reason for his late arrival.
Although he revealed to have had many discussions in the writer’s room regarding the same, they decided that introducing the goofy character late would please the audience to do justice to this “complicated character”.
“Ed is a real disruptor and gets the guys into shit every now and then. I think in order to really dramatically, properly tell the story of Ed it was necessary” to explore the other characters “before disrupting the world with Ed”.
“To keep the mystery around the character was to not necessarily want to promise that this was going to be a season that was inclusive of Ed, to not necessarily put something that many may find is disappointing out into the world,” he said.
Nemec added, “But in fairness, Ed doesn’t show up in the anime until many episodes in, maybe about a third of the way through the entire series. So, it felt fair to also keep Ed from showing up [in live-action].”
Nemec said that the second season of Cowboy Bebop, which will most likely come to fruition, will explore Ed’s trajectory even more
Watch Cowboy Bebop on Netflix now.
