I only started watching the anime about 2 weeks ago and only finished 8 episodes so far.Regarding the anime, so far it doesn’t stand out to me. There are some episodes that I found more interesting than others, but overall it follows a very episodic feel, it feels arcless and feels like filler. I know ep 5 characters are going to reoccur but other than that the other episodes (for the most part) feel very self contained. Not my cup of tea so far. However, looking forward to seeing how the rest of the anime goes.
Regarding live action intro, I find it interesting that it includes some characters from individual episodes that, as far as I know, only appear in one episode. (Unless I’m mistaking the characters in that intro)
Also, the anime ED song has to be in it somehow, it’s so goood, too good not to include in live action series.
I had a similar opinion of the show when I was first watching it as a young teenager. The older I get though and with each subsequent watch-through, I find it more and more to be a true timeless classic and it has over the years stuck in my head and become one of my favorite series ever, anime or otherwise.
Episodes that felt like filler when I was younger now hold a greater significance for me, in fleshing out these different characters and demonstrating who they are. And each characters' arcs aren't told through 4 episodes in a row, but rather over the course of the series with different jobs inbetween, and I appreciate that realism just the same as how in life we frequently have waiting periods between big or momentous moments.
When a series is episodic, it's hard to call anything filler. When someone makes a show episodic, it's a creative choice that allows them to tell multiple stories and not always require people to tune in week to week, sometimes life gets in the way. They can flip the channel, see this show they enjoy, and enjoy an entire small story right there without missing anything. Whereas with filler it's more like, hey, we need something to kill time while the manga develops further, buy us a year with a 54 episode filler arc, buy us a few months with a 12 episode arc. Sometimes there's also the fun filler just to get to enjoy the characters on an offbeat adventure, very similar to the original-story movies we see so frequently in anime.
I look at the way Cowboy Bebop is presented very similar to something like The X-Files. They're always moving towards something, even if the episode doesn't quite get you there as fast as others. Another great example is Firefly, Firefly and Bebop have been compared to death due to their episodic structure and space cowboy settings, how even when they're on a job you you catch these little character moments during these smaller scale stories that can help you get attached to these people, and in the back of your head you always know "Spike is gonna run into Vicious again," or in Firefly's case "We're going to find out what experiments were done on River and see why she ended up so crazy."
I'm not saying Bebop has to be for everybody, there's a chance you'll finish it and still not feel the same about it as it's fanbase. But several reasons people love it are for its gorgeous '90s artstyle that still holds up today, its stellar soundtrack that has always differentiated it from the rest of the pack and gave it that certain "air," and then our lovable (subjective, sure) cast of imperfect souls all running to or from something on the way to their next meal. Each from different walks of life, people who may not have been friends at one point or another (and arguably still aren't sometimes) somehow all found themselves together in the same place with similar needs. The way these people who you wouldn't think would blend happen to blend together so perfectly is just awesome.