I didn’t watch the original Cowboy Bebop back when it originally came out, just never came into my orbit. I had the opportunity to watch it a couple years ago, took that opportunity, and was underwhelmed with what I experienced. I’m sure if I had seen it 30 years ago it would have been a somewhat revelatory experience, as I’m a huge fan of the world they built and the basic concepts in place, but that original series was more goofy and poorly animated than I think I would have cared for.
This live action series is better in every way, even if they do play way too closely to the original series at times with it’s terribly pacing and story structure, they still have the extremely odd habit of dedicating entire episodes to a flashback that should have been kept in the shadows and just alluded to, and it really kills the momentum that they built in the previous episodes. That can be forgiven, as the fans of the original stuff are absolutely rabid in nature and would surely complain bitterly if they don’t adapt it word for word, and I’m sure we’ll hear all about all the things that this adaptation “got wrong”. It was worth getting through that original material though, because (for the most part) now they’re open to doing original stories set in that universe. They may be able to stretch out the remaining unadapted material, but why should they?
