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James Marsh

This article contains spoilers.
Netflix’s live-action adaptation of Cowboy Bebop is a huge departure from the original anime series.
Despite original director Shinichiro Watanabe serving as creative consultant and composer Yoko Kanno providing the eclectic score, almost everything else about the show feels off-key.
Memorable villains and bounty heads like eco-terrorist Maria Murdoch, indestructible assassin Mad Pierrot, the Teddy Bomber, and cult leader Dr. Londes feature, but their storylines are either curtailed or completely repurposed.
Cowboy Bebop: Netflix’s live-action series is a galactic dud
The changes most likely to infuriate fans, however, are those to the Bebop’s crew and other principal players. Here are seven of the most egregious points of departure from the classic anime series.
1. Fearless Spike
When Spike (John Cho) first visits his old friend Ana (previously Annie), she calls him Fearless, to which he responds “I go by Spike Spiegel these days”. Anyone who knew him back in the day also calls him by this name. Does this mean “Spike” is an alias?

One assumes that “Fearless” is a Syndicate-adorned nickname similar to “Vicious”, but it leaves our protagonist without a true identity. He is also missing his cybernetic left eye, which he claimed let him see the past.
2. Jet Black’s a dad
Bebop’s gentle giant pilot (Mustafa Shakir) still has a shady history with the Intra Solar System Police, but now also has an ex-wife and a young daughter, Kimmie (Molly Moriarty), who is dragged into the action on more than one occasion.

It’s a significant addition to his personal life, which in the anime consisted of little more than an ex-girlfriend harbouring one of his bounties. For Kimmie’s birthday, Jet even tries to give her a certain Welsh corgi he has recently acquired.
3. Ein, robot
One of the anime’s most beloved characters, Ein is a genetically modified, highly intelligent corgi, and the first new crew member to join Spike and Jet. In her new incarnation, Ein hails from the same lab as assassin Mad Pierrot, and is brought on board by Jet after his failed attempt to give her to his daughter.

Ein’s powers aren’t explained definitively, but the super smart pooch might just be robotic, as she can project video messages from her eyes.
4. Julia lives
Seen only as a spectral figure who haunts Spike’s memories in the original series, until she reappears just long enough to get herself killed, Julia (Elena Satine) is a pivotal presence throughout the new show.

Her volatile marriage to Vicious is explored in depth, culminating in a critical betrayal that not only sees Julia survive the end of the season, but exert her authority decisively over both Vicious and Spike. It’s a wildly different take on the character that is sure to rile hardcore fans.
5. Vicious and the Syndicate
Alex Hassell’s Vicious is given far more screen time in Netflix’s live action version than his animated counterpart, which spotlights his increasingly unhinged behaviour as he vies to take over the Syndicate.

An extra layer of emotional betrayal is added with the revelation that the principal elder is really Vicious’ own father. These developments arguably give more agency to the show’s primary antagonist, who remains somewhat enigmatic in his original incarnation, but fans are notoriously resistant to such radical change.
6. Playful Faye
No character is more significantly reimagined than Faye Valentine. Gone are the revealing outfits and impossible figure, temperamental attitude and untrustworthy behaviour. Faye, as portrayed by Daniella Pineda, sports a very different wardrobe and generally more damenable demeanour.

Her memory loss and mountain of debt remain, but she is now a working bounty hunter, and far more open to collaborating with the Bebop crew, which is especially true when Jade Harlow’s no-nonsense mechanic comes aboard.
7. Where is Radical Edward?
Fans of the hyperactive young hacker Edward Wong Hau Pepelu Tivrusky IV must wait until the show’s final scene to get a glimpse of Radical Edward.
A crucial character in the anime, the precocious teen helps the crew on numerous occasions before becoming a fully fledged member herself, but is only mentioned once in passing before her last-gasp appearance here.
What is Cowboy Bebop, the classic Japanese anime series, all about?
While clearly foreshadowing Netflix’s intention to do a second season, the show’s fate is now in the hands of the fans.
Cowboy Bebop is streaming on Netflix.


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John Cho as Spike Spiegel in a still from Cowboy Bebop. Photo: Kirsty Griffin/Netflix

(From left) John Cho as Spike Spiegel, Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine, and Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black in a still from Cowboy Bebop. Photo: Geoffrey Short/Netflix

Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black in a still from Cowboy Bebop. Photo: Geoffrey Short/Netflix

Ein in a still from Cowboy Bebop. Photo: Geoffrey Short/Netflix

Elena Satine as Julia in a still from Cowboy Bebop. Photo: Kerry Brown/Netflix

Alex Hassell as Vicious in a still from Cowboy Bebop. Photo: Geoffrey Short/Netflix

Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine in a still from Cowboy Bebop. Photo: Geoffrey Short/Netflix

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Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine in a still from Cowboy Bebop. Photo: Netflix.

John Cho as Spike Spiegel in a still from Cowboy Bebop. Photo: Geoffrey Short/Netflix

Alex Hassell (left) as Vicious and John Cho as Spike Spiegel in a still from Cowboy Bebop. Photo: Geoffrey Short/Netflix

(From left) Cho as Spike Spiegel, Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black, and Pineda as Faye Valentine in a still from Cowboy Bebop. Photo: Geoffrey Short/Netflix

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A still from the Cowboy Bebop film Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, featuring Spike, the show’s central protagonist. 

A promo image for Cowboy Bebop. From left to right: Jet Black, Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine, Radical Ed and Ein.

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Jet Black, ex-cop turned cyborg bounty hunter.

Faye Valentine, a bounty hunter with a mysterious past.

Radical Edward, the show’s quirky hacking expert.

Ein, a super intelligent corgi.

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