While this showcases upcoming stories and characters, it comes at the expense of the visual and symbolic artistry that the anime’s opening had.
The opening theme uses the iconic “TANK!” of course, although it switches out a lot of the scenes for clips from future episodes. No matter what the scene is, hearing that iconic soundtrack creates the atmosphere that can only be Cowboy Bebop. The music is put to good use, whether it’s to set scenes, create character motifs, or carry the action. The jazzy tunes accentuate every scene, add life and energy to the key moments, and match the atmosphere and tone every time they’re used so perfectly. The soundtrack is utterly iconic, and nothing Bebop would work nearly as well without it. Several of my thoughts involve how it compares to the anime (especially in this review, since I want to cover the general adaptation elements early on), but if something works, it works.įirst and foremost: Yoko Kanno’s music made the original Cowboy Bebop, and it makes this adaptation as well.
#How long would it take to watch the entire cowboy bebop series series
I fully intend to review this series on its own merits, rather than just as an adaptation, but that will factor into things too. However, it has been a few years since I last watched it, so while I’ll be able to catch more than a few references and parallels to the anime, there may still be some things that have slipped my memory. It wasn’t my first anime (that would be Samurai Pizza Cats) but it was the first one that showed me how amazing an art form anime could be, and is to this day the only series I could get my parents to watch and enjoy. Now, to provide a little context: I freaking love the Cowboy Bebop anime. And the tightrope the show has to walk between being a faithful adaptation and being able to stand out as its own thing is incredibly thin. It’s been quite the ride leading up to this series, with everything from rumors claiming Ein was going to be a husky instead of a corgi (Ein is still a corgi, don’t worry) to the amazing announcement that Yoko Kanno was returning for the soundtrack causing our anticipation and expectations to rise and fall. (Occasionally with spoilers too, so read on with caution.) For the next several weeks, I’ll be watching each episode and leaving five of my thoughts, whether the show turns out good or bad. That’s right, the live-action Cowboy Bebop is upon us, and I have the honor of reviewing it. I think it’s time I blow this scene, get everybody and their stuff together.