Netflix's Cowboy Bebop

[Memory]

Did anyone else think the new live action Cowboy Bebop series was better than most people gave it credit for?

I love the anime but I didn't want a recreation of the same thing in live action. I wanted an original take on the same material and that's exactly what I got. The style was the same, but the story and characters were different enough that I couldn't see what was coming while still being close enough to the original that they're instantly recognizable. I think that's exactly what you want in a remake or reimagining. If you want something exactly like the original, why not just watch the original?

Above all else, I think the casting was perfect. As soon as I heard John Cho was involved, before reading the article I immediately thought "he's gotta be Spike". And despite not being black in the anime, Mustafa Shakir still looked and sounded so much like Jet that it was uncanny. He was totally perfect in the role.

Some of the things they changed didn't work, and some of the controversy was justified. But overall I think the series got way more hate than it deserved.