Top 10 Worst Changes In Netflix's Cowboy Bebop
Top 10 Changes in Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop
Top 10 Cowboy Bebop Moments
Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we are counting down our picks for the Top 10 Changes in Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop. For this list, we’re going over the most drastic changes made by Netflix’s live-action version of the iconic anime. Keep in mind we aren’t saying all of these are bad…okay, most of them are really, really bad, but the main point being they’re a blatant contrast from the original. Which alterations did you find dumbfounding? Let us know in the comments!
#10: Side Character Switch Ups
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We’re taking time here to highlight some of the more minor but still noticeable changes made to some secondary characters. Asimov and Katerina are a Bonnie and Clyde-style couple who love each other to the end, negating the tragic aspect of Katerina’s character. Annie, instead of being a convenience store owner, runs a club and helped kick start Julia’s singing career, acting as a maternal figure to both her and Spike. Then there’s the Mad Pierrot, who’s now afraid of dogs instead of cats because…they needed to find a way to keep Ein relevant?
#9: Mama Matsumoto
One of the biggest reasons for Faye’s lack of trust in people is due to the slimy deeds of one Whitney Haggis Matsumoto; a con man who pretended to love her before saddling her with debt. When the Netflix series introduces Masumoto, their relationship with Faye is similarly sour. Save for one key difference; Whitney is a woman who pretended to be Faye’s mother. Gender swapping aside, what really dampens the impact here is that by the episode’s end, Matsumoto and Faye have carved out something of a familial bond, and as such does away with the bitterness that formed such a vital foundation of Faye’s character.
#8: Jet's Ex-Wife and Kid
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Credit to Mustafa Shakir, because he is acting his ass off in every scene he’s in, and probably comes the closest to embodying his character. Unfortunately, his version of Jet Black has to deal with some rather unexpected and unneeded baggage; an ex-wife who’s now shacked up with one of his former co-workers, and a daughter he never gets to see. This is a subplot that runs throughout a staggering number of episodes. It wouldn’t be so bad if Jet’s whole deal wasn’t about how he could never have a normal life, how his choices and mentality wouldn’t allow him to go further than the occasional what if. As a result, their presence is more of a distraction than anything of substance.
#7: Gren
One of the most important side characters in all of Bebop, Gren’s sorrowful tale enriched the series in a myriad of ways. A soldier seeking to return to the battlefield, betrayed by the man who he once thought a comrade, a confidant of Julia who gives Spike hope that he may find his lost love again, and someone whose body was altered due to being forcibly given experimental drugs. Was any of this translated over? Nope. Instead, they just work as Anna’s right hand, given nothing to do except make quippy comments. Pretty far from the Jupiter Jazz we’d been hoping for.
#6: “Fearless”
Surprise, Spike isn’t really Spike. Sort of. In a bid to put more meaning behind having a character named Vicious, the showrunners obviously decided that during his time with the Syndicate, Spike must have also had a crazy adjective for a name. Thus, we have Fearless, with Spike Spiegel being a new name he picked out for himself after ditching the Syndicate. And it’s as stupid as it sounds. Seriously, the number of times people say Fearless in this show might actually eclipse the times people call him Spike!
#5: Excessive Nudity
Bebop is no stranger to mature themes, even sensual ones, but it never, ever, glorified them. The same cannot be said for the Netflix series because…yeah, these people are horny all the time. You’ve got multiple flashbacks of Spike getting it on with Julia, a scene where Spike is hanging between a billboard featuring two gigantic breasts, Vicious shooting down a collection of naked men and women, jiggle physics included, and lest we forget, Spike and Jet visiting a dominatrix while she’s having her way with clients. We didn’t think the day would come where the words bukkake and Cowboy Bebop were used in the same sentence, but here we are.
#4: Ed (Or Lack Thereof)
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When trailers and clips first started making the rounds, it became worryingly clear that the fourth member of the Bebop crew appeared to be absent. And that’s somewhat true. The eccentric hacker is nowhere to be found throughout the series, aside from a minor reference here and there. By the end, we had just come to accept that Ed wouldn’t be showing up. And then she did, right at the end. The result? Hard to pass judgment from a ten second scene but…let’s just say if this is what they’re going with, Season Two is going to be rough.
#3: Faye Effing Valentine
Ha! And you people her costume was the biggest thing to get upset over. To be fair, they do make an…attempt at bringing up Faye’s amnesia and desire to seek out her forgotten past. But then there’s everything else. Hold onto your horses. Appearing right off the bat in episode one, we soon learn the following: this version of Faye swears like a sailor, has no gambling problem to speak of, is not a con artist, is outrageously horny, has zero femme fatale qualities, and gets with a woman she knew for about thirty seconds. It’s a radical departure that confuses sassy for…well, this.
#2: Vicious is a Little Bitch
You’d think having Spike’s nemesis appear constantly throughout the series would undo all the mystique and terror that the original was known for. And you’d be right, but that is FAR from the worst thing about this interpretation of the iconic villain. This version of Vicious is a brat with major daddy issues and is obsessed with Julia and Spike in a way that comes across as pathetic as opposed to terrifying. Then there’s the facial expressions, oh sweet, merciful Watanabe, the facial expressions! Now those WILL make you cry tears of scarlet. Before we reveal our number one pick, please enjoy these rather…exquisite examples of dialogue from Netflix’s version of Cowboy Bebop. "You Touched My Mother's Boob" "The Testicles of a Man Who’s Wronged You" "Death Note" Blackmail
#1: Julia is the Villain
You heard right. Granted, the show had already demonstrated more than a few pitfalls with Julia’s character, what with her NOT being on the run, but rather staying with Vicious as his wife, though still pining for Spike. Oh sorry, we mean Fearless. That all changed when she discovered her lover was still alive, leading to the three of them confronting one another at the Ballad of the Fallen Angels’ climactic scene. There it’s revealed that Julia is mightily pissed that Spike left her with Vicious for all those years. So, what does she do? She shoots him out the window, makes Vicious her prisoner, and takes over the Syndicate. Uuuuuuugh. Anyone else feeling those Real Folk Blues?
