Cowboy Bebop

[Drunk Monk]

So do you like Faye USA 2021? How deep are you in the series so far?

[Greg]

I saw the first Ep. I concur on the look and feel of the universe. It's fun to see the animated word in real life. But the story is just meh. It probably would have helped if I hadn't seen the anime. Now, I'm just looking at scenes that I've seen before and just doing a comparison. One of the other joys of the anime was that it was in Japanese and yelling in Japanese is so much. Especially when it is punctuated by a name you can discern like Spike or Jet.

I wasn't enthralled by the anime version so a pale imitation live action version isn't doing it for me.

[Drunk Monk]

E2 was a little better. It marked a significant break from the anime, even with Teddy Bommer. No Faye. But the music was better. Was that Yoko playing in the back of the jazz club? I liked the fights for their comic cartoonishness. I’m ready to take this at face value and try to disregard the original. Spike’s noodle obsession is greater. Julia’s arc is totally different. Spike & Jet’s bromance is more pronounced. I’m ready for Ein.

---

E3 EIN! And Hakim (but that played out so differently). It’s divorced from the anime enough to be its own thing. There’s still a stiltedness to the dialog repartee, and I won’t say it’s great like the anime but it’s diverting. Again no Faye. And what is with the nekkid drug makers? Why is that a thing in cinema? Although the blinding was an amusing twist.

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

I liked Ep 3.

Ein!

[Drunk Monk]

I was tempted to post this in Unusual Covers but here we are...

[thatguy]

The Netflix series soundtrack is awesome (so far, I’m halfway thru - listening on Spotify)



—tg

[Drunk Monk]

for the record, i hate seinfeld

[Dr. Ivor Yeti]

The Netflix series soundtrack is awesome (so far, I’m halfway thru - listening on Spotify)



—tg

The anime sound track, which is Killer, is on iTunes. if you like “Crime Jazz”, worth it.

[Drunk Monk]

for the record, i hate seinfeld

Hold that thought - or rather don't watch this vid until you watch E4. Sorry. I didn't know. It'll be funnier afterwards. 

E4 has Faye, Ein and Adrienne Barbeau! Luved her back in the day. Nice to see her again. 

This is becoming like the Star Trek Kelvin timeline, except for Bebop. It's the anime in a parallel live action universe. That stilted dialog delivery is starting to work for me in a comic way, whether intentional or not. It really twists up the original, and not necessarily in a loyal way, definitely not canonical. I'm amused, even entertained, but not for the reasons I thought I'd be. 

Man, I hope they do the mushroom episode.

[Drunk Monk]

e5 - Jet's backstory ep played out with a lot of jazz banter and an overdone noir detective vibe. It was okay considering that if you've seen the anime, you know where it'll go. Meanwhile the Spike/Faye/Ein banter was kinda funny. I've accepted live-action Faye as distinct from anime Faye and all is good. Glad to see more of Ein. The Vicious/Julia thing isn't quite working for me. It's too cardboard. 

I'm ready for another sword fight. Or the mushroom ep.

[Drunk Monk]

E6: Well that was a twist on Faye. That was kinda elation stimulating. 

I liked the way the VR world glitched. I knew Spike wasn’t out. 

I don’t care for Julia or Vicious. They fail for me. I can accept live-action Faye now but not them.

No Ein. Mention of Ed, which is enough.

[Drunk Monk]

e7 - Faye's identikit. Honestly you'd be hard pressed to find a working VCR and playable cassette now, much less in whatever time period Bebop takes place.

---

e8 is the live action spin on the anime e20. It was okay. I'm getting rather lukewarm about this series now even tho this ep brought out Ein a bit more.  I'm only going to finish it to see if it ends like the anime.

[Drunk Monk]

I planned to finish this tonight because my Money Heist final season binge starts tomorrow, but I fell asleep during e9. 

Maybe I’ll finish this on the other side.

[Drunk Monk]

Done. It did not finish like the anime at all. Instead it went somewhere that I hoped was omitted for a cliffhanger tease if they make another season. 

Overall it was ok - no where near the original but I did watch it all the way through.

Sword fight! I might have dozed off during some of that. Not going to go back for it. Plenty of other stuff to watch. 

Not particularly D00M recommended unless you’re already into it. If so, just lower your expectations and you’ll be fine:

[Greg]