I’m still not sure how I feel about this upcoming Netflix adaptation of the classic Cowboy Bebop series, but thanks in large part to the show’s classic “Tank!” theme song, the intro is a banger at least.
The live-action intro was revealed during Netflix’s fan event named TUDUM.
(I guess that sounds like the annoying bong noise that plays when you open Netflix. Is that clever? I don’t know.)
The adaptation stars John Cho as Spike Spiegel, Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine, and Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black. First announced back in 2018, the Cowboy Bebop live-action series is an adaption of the original anime and will air on Netflix this November.
Fans of the series have been skeptical about how the show will turn out, even as good news was revealed. For example, Yoko Kanno is heavily involved in the show as its main composer. She even is going to create new tracks for the live-action adaptation. Costumes and sets revealed by Netflix over the last few months have also looked solid, sticking mostly to what was seen in the original 1998 anime created by Shinichiro Watanabe.
This intro is another bit of good news for the series. Sure, the classic song is mostly carrying this intro but I do appreciate how faithful it is to the original. Though it does teeter between cool and cheesy. But that’s not a terrible place to be at, especially for an intro as stylish and cool as Cowboy Bebop’s iconic opening.
Still, Netflix’s track record with live-action adaptions isn’t great. And the overall history of American remakes of anime films and shows is littered with bombs, failures, and completely awful projects. Stuff like that live-action Ghost in the Shell or the horrendous live-action Dragonball film. But even if this show sucks or ends up being meh, at least every episode will include this damn solid intro sequence. That’s nice!