D
Deleted member 246005
Guest
I finished it and enjoyed it. However Vicious and Julia were the weak link which makes me worried about where they are going with a potential season 2.
TV ► Cowboy Bebop Live action series
- Thread starter Zettaflare
- Start date
|
REGISTER TO REMOVE ADS |
|
I'm also on episode 4 and I'm not very happy with most aspects of it. I do want to say that yes, there are some parts I like. Jet and Spike's moments and conversations together most of the time are some of the show's most genuine feeling moments. The music is awesome, I liked Jet's family story better than I thought I would. There are some things they did right. But yikes, there is so much that is just wrong.
I think pretty much the whole internet agrees at this point that they BUTCHERED Vicious. I think Hamster also hit the nail on the head that they didn't understand Julia's significance and her role in the original and by messing with that really just changed the whole tone of Spike's story and past and his relationship with Vicious. And then Faye, yikes. She may not have been as butchered as Vicious, but I'm really not happy with how she was changed either. I don't feel like she's well-written, instead of coming off badass she comes off annoying and immature. There's just a huge difference between her character in the original and her character here, and here I feel like she feels like more of a modern stereotype strong woman with a mouth instead of the complex badass she was in the original.
Speaking of tone, I mentioned this to someone the other day and Spockanort also touched on it: what the hell is this show's tone? It's so inconsistent and all over the place. The anime was able to have heartfelt moments, sad moments, intense moments, and they flowed nicely together, so it's not like the anime was a crazy serious endeavor the whole way through. But with the live action, the tone doesn't flow at all. It feels less natural with the live cast than with the animation, and I feel like so much of that comes down to, again, not understanding what made it work, and that creates so many of the cringe moments this show almost could have avoided.
Finally, I accidentally got spoiled by YouTube thumbnails and scrolling through Facebook on a few ending details, such as the Julia one Hamster mentioned and the character introduced at the end of the last episode. And fucking wow, that stuff alone makes me unsure of if I even want to see this through at this point, I'm really undecided on if I'll stop here or keep going. The things I like about this show really don't seem to be outweighing the bad, I don't like the weird-ass direction they decided to take the story (which again, changes Spike's WHOLE internal journey), and that sad excuse for a beloved character in the last moments. Just awful.
I think pretty much the whole internet agrees at this point that they BUTCHERED Vicious. I think Hamster also hit the nail on the head that they didn't understand Julia's significance and her role in the original and by messing with that really just changed the whole tone of Spike's story and past and his relationship with Vicious. And then Faye, yikes. She may not have been as butchered as Vicious, but I'm really not happy with how she was changed either. I don't feel like she's well-written, instead of coming off badass she comes off annoying and immature. There's just a huge difference between her character in the original and her character here, and here I feel like she feels like more of a modern stereotype strong woman with a mouth instead of the complex badass she was in the original.
Speaking of tone, I mentioned this to someone the other day and Spockanort also touched on it: what the hell is this show's tone? It's so inconsistent and all over the place. The anime was able to have heartfelt moments, sad moments, intense moments, and they flowed nicely together, so it's not like the anime was a crazy serious endeavor the whole way through. But with the live action, the tone doesn't flow at all. It feels less natural with the live cast than with the animation, and I feel like so much of that comes down to, again, not understanding what made it work, and that creates so many of the cringe moments this show almost could have avoided.
Finally, I accidentally got spoiled by YouTube thumbnails and scrolling through Facebook on a few ending details, such as the Julia one Hamster mentioned and the character introduced at the end of the last episode. And fucking wow, that stuff alone makes me unsure of if I even want to see this through at this point, I'm really undecided on if I'll stop here or keep going. The things I like about this show really don't seem to be outweighing the bad, I don't like the weird-ass direction they decided to take the story (which again, changes Spike's WHOLE internal journey), and that sad excuse for a beloved character in the last moments. Just awful.
I think what upsets me the most about this series is that it’s lost the atmosphere of the original. The original was all about the story told in the quiet spaces between the actual action and dialogue.
Also the fundamental misunderstanding of Vicious and Julia. They were Spike’s ghosts. Julia was a ghost he couldn’t stop dreaming about and wanting. Vicious was a ghost he tried running from. They were never “characters” but representations of the best and worst parts of Spike’s past.
This live action show didn’t know how to build an atmosphere and how to let the melancholy that plagues Spike come out.
And it is these little fundamental missteps that led to Julia becoming this warped, bitter abused woman who becomes a usurper rather than somebody who was able to stand on her own and survive for years on her own and Vicious becomes a hyper-aggressive cuck (I hate that word but this characterization warrants it) who can’t stand being called anything less than a man. It’s baffling and at times it felt like I was watching two different shows in one.
I hated the ending. I hate it so much. It misses the mark on the entire message of the show about found family, about chasing ghosts, about reality and fiction, and most importantly it just made everybody seem so unreasonable and ridiculous in the end. It’s amazing how I could go from Episode 9 feeling like “okay this is different but I can dig this change” to feeling absolutely disappointed. The whole fight between Vicious and Spike is absolutely unearned. Trying to copy parts of it shot by shot was also a mistake because, again, it’s a fight that is so unearned.
If they make a season 2, I will watch it but I am really hoping they take time to fix all of the tonal issues, figure out what the atmosphere and vibe of their show is, and then stick to it.
Also the fundamental misunderstanding of Vicious and Julia. They were Spike’s ghosts. Julia was a ghost he couldn’t stop dreaming about and wanting. Vicious was a ghost he tried running from. They were never “characters” but representations of the best and worst parts of Spike’s past.
This live action show didn’t know how to build an atmosphere and how to let the melancholy that plagues Spike come out.
And it is these little fundamental missteps that led to Julia becoming this warped, bitter abused woman who becomes a usurper rather than somebody who was able to stand on her own and survive for years on her own and Vicious becomes a hyper-aggressive cuck (I hate that word but this characterization warrants it) who can’t stand being called anything less than a man. It’s baffling and at times it felt like I was watching two different shows in one.
I hated the ending. I hate it so much. It misses the mark on the entire message of the show about found family, about chasing ghosts, about reality and fiction, and most importantly it just made everybody seem so unreasonable and ridiculous in the end. It’s amazing how I could go from Episode 9 feeling like “okay this is different but I can dig this change” to feeling absolutely disappointed. The whole fight between Vicious and Spike is absolutely unearned. Trying to copy parts of it shot by shot was also a mistake because, again, it’s a fight that is so unearned.
If they make a season 2, I will watch it but I am really hoping they take time to fix all of the tonal issues, figure out what the atmosphere and vibe of their show is, and then stick to it.
D
Deleted member 246005
Guest
I think they were going for an action comedy vibe and it worked better in the beginning.
Which is fine because Cowboy Bebop had a lot of humor in it, but this show didn’t know how to balance that so you had these serious moments that then ruin themselves with an outlandish aside. Scenes in the original that were serious like the example I gave earlier with Asimov doing the drug deal—that didn’t need to have a random comedic interjection. Or when Vicious is about to kill all of those blind-naked drug makers. It felt like a parody by having the henchmen ask a dumb question and Vicious responds sarcastically before he yell then shoots up the room. Like ??? Was it that hard to keep the scene grim?
The only time I felt the comedic interjections were fine was the ecoterrorist episode and the episode with Faye’s con-mom.
D
Deleted member 246005
Guest
I'm not disagreeing with you or Max. I was just trying to help you find the phrase you wanted.
I enjoyed the season more than you or Max but I have my own concerns about the shows future.
Well, I have still been watching, albeit slowly. I'm midway through episode 7. As much as I normally loathe spoilers, I'm kind of glad I've had time to brace myself for episode 10 when I get to it.
- Joined
- Nov 15, 2016
- Messages
- 540
- Awards
- 3
Ok this isn’t about the live action series but I commented on here before regarding the anime, after watching 8 episodes (then) I wasn’t really feeling it and was bored, but I decided to keep going and I’m glad I did.
I finished ep 20 two days ago and while I still don’t feel like this anime is in my tops, it is much better than how I initially felt about it. Ed is a great addition to the cast and I feel like all the episodes after she is in are better, even the “filler” ones (well most of the episodes are “filler” but they’re somehow better after ep 7-8). There are more episodes where we get to peek into the characters’ pasts, which is hella interesting. I am a lot more attached to the characters than I was after 8 episodes lol.
and ep 20, wow, this was one of the higher produced episodes (even if it isn’t one of the main story arc ones), and seems to be the most artistic one by far! The setting and mood gave me huge twilight zone vibes
Anyways I got 6 more episodes, eager to finish this
! As for the live action series, I might pass, maybe, idk, I’m all over the place sometimes in decisions
I finished ep 20 two days ago and while I still don’t feel like this anime is in my tops, it is much better than how I initially felt about it. Ed is a great addition to the cast and I feel like all the episodes after she is in are better, even the “filler” ones (well most of the episodes are “filler” but they’re somehow better after ep 7-8). There are more episodes where we get to peek into the characters’ pasts, which is hella interesting. I am a lot more attached to the characters than I was after 8 episodes lol.
and ep 20, wow, this was one of the higher produced episodes (even if it isn’t one of the main story arc ones), and seems to be the most artistic one by far! The setting and mood gave me huge twilight zone vibes
Anyways I got 6 more episodes, eager to finish this
! As for the live action series, I might pass, maybe, idk, I’m all over the place sometimes in decisions
Hey, it's awesome to hear that you decided to keep watching and ended up enjoying yourself. As much as I enjoyed Bebop my first time through, I think I've always enjoyed it even more on subsequent watches because of the attachment I built to the crew as well as being in the know on their histories. You should definitely come back when you've finished and give your thoughts on the rest, the last two episodes are pretty incredible.Ok this isn’t about the live action series but I commented on here before regarding the anime, after watching 8 episodes (then) I wasn’t really feeling it and was bored, but I decided to keep going and I’m glad I did.
I finished ep 20 two days ago and while I still don’t feel like this anime is in my tops, it is much better than how I initially felt about it. Ed is a great addition to the cast and I feel like all the episodes after she is in are better, even the “filler” ones (well most of the episodes are “filler” but they’re somehow better after ep 7-8). There are more episodes where we get to peek into the characters’ pasts, which is hella interesting. I am a lot more attached to the characters than I was after 8 episodes lol.
and ep 20, wow, this was one of the higher produced episodes (even if it isn’t one of the main story arc ones), and seems to be the most artistic one by far! The setting and mood gave me huge twilight zone vibes
Anyways I got 6 more episodes, eager to finish this
I finished the live action a couple of days ago. I don't know, what is there to say that hasn't already been said? I think episode 8 might have been my favorite, I enjoyed seeing the crew do a little birthday thing with Faye, I like them coming up with their plan and Spike ditching in true fashion, they did pretty good with that episode, though I wish the confrontation had lasted a little longer.
After that though, 9 just baffled me. I genuinely just did not like 9 at all, I don't think they understood what made Spike's backstory tick and just how much the ambiguity and letting our minds fill in the blanks made it work out so perfectly in the original. Here they just felt the need to "tell all" and so much of it came off lacking heart or cheesy/cringy. I became less sold on Spike and Julia's love for each other after watching that episode than I was beforehand with the light flashbacks and implications.
Needless to say 10 didn't help any. Whereas I kept finding "something" to like in this overall disappointment of an adaptation, just enough to like to make me hit play on the next episode when I was on the fence, that whole ending just kind of soured the whole experience for me. It had been spoiled for me, I already knew what was coming and had time to prepare for it, and I still just felt huge disappointment. A real shame.
After that though, 9 just baffled me. I genuinely just did not like 9 at all, I don't think they understood what made Spike's backstory tick and just how much the ambiguity and letting our minds fill in the blanks made it work out so perfectly in the original. Here they just felt the need to "tell all" and so much of it came off lacking heart or cheesy/cringy. I became less sold on Spike and Julia's love for each other after watching that episode than I was beforehand with the light flashbacks and implications.
Needless to say 10 didn't help any. Whereas I kept finding "something" to like in this overall disappointment of an adaptation, just enough to like to make me hit play on the next episode when I was on the fence, that whole ending just kind of soured the whole experience for me. It had been spoiled for me, I already knew what was coming and had time to prepare for it, and I still just felt huge disappointment. A real shame.
D
Deleted member 246005
Guest
In hindsight, they could've followed in footsteps of the 1990's manga. That was a vaguely canonical spinoff to the anime. It didn't last that long but mostly focused on the crew in new adventures. It even had a brand new main villian called "the scorpion".
Most tv shows are built to last a few seasons (like 3-5). So they could've kept Vicious and Julia in the back pocket till whenever they decide to wrap things up.
We might get that just in the reverse. Here's hoping Vincent and the Scorpion could pick up the slack.
Most tv shows are built to last a few seasons (like 3-5). So they could've kept Vicious and Julia in the back pocket till whenever they decide to wrap things up.
We might get that just in the reverse. Here's hoping Vincent and the Scorpion could pick up the slack.
Last edited by a moderator:
The Netflix adaptation's second season is cancelled?! Who could have seen this coming!
The one good thing about this whole space storm is that the anime is on Netflix now so its easier to legally watch.
That's a shame. Despite my disappointment and misgivings with the series I was still curious what they were going to do with a second season.
Well, whatever happens happens. Seeya Space Crowboy Bleep Bloop.
D
Deleted member 246005
Guest
Oh well. On to the next one.
I guess you could say Netflix is gonna carry that weight.
...or they're not, depending on how you look at it.
...or they're not, depending on how you look at it.