The series premiered less than a month ago
Netflix lost no time in cancelling their first attempt at a live-action series of classic anime Cowboy Bebop. The series was in the news throughout the year as many had expressed concerns about adapting popular animes.
This move has come less than a month after the series premiered in November 19.
Reception
The space Western series did not have a smooth reception. Critics particularly hated it, and gave only a 46 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans still went a bit easy on it by giving 56 percent. The series managed to land in Netflix’s Top 10 in its premiere week, and garnered almost 74 million viewing hours. However, it plummeted to the bottom for the week of November 29 to December 5.
A show has to stand at 60 percent on average for Netflix to greenlight a second season, and the decision for Cowboy Bebop was made after analyzing the show’s viewership and cost. Netflix had previously failed big time when they tried adapting Death Note into a movie in 2017. These titles join 2009’s Dragon Ball Evolution and 2017’s Ghost in the Shell. The problem usually lies in not staying true to the source material, and making risky alterations to the story, thereby making fans hate it. The only successful adaptation that succeeded was 2019’s Alita: Battle Angel which managed to rack up an overall $319 million at the box office.
Criticisms
In most reviews, Cowboy Bebop was said to contain bad CGI, forced humour, and shoddy-looking set pieces. In their attempt to stay true to the anime, certain visuals ended up looking really out of place. The series starred John Co, Mustafa Shakir and Daniella Pineda as three bounty hunters, who are known as Cowboys in the year 2171.
Those who were left with a bad taste after the series can still watch the 1998 anime followed by the 2001 movie.
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