“Cowboy Bebop” Creator Shinichirō Watanabe Says He Was Only Able to Stomach One Scene of Netflix’s Live-Action Adaptation

It seems that it wasn’t just fans who were unhappy with Netflix’s absolute mishandling of the beloved space western series, as original Cowboy Bebop anime creator Shinichirō Watanabe has admitted that he couldn’t bring himself to suffer through more than one scene of the streaming service’s live-action abomination.

Spike Spiegel (John Cho), draws Rengie Tanaka (James Hiroyuki Liao), in Cowboy Bebop Season 1 Episode 1 “Cowboy Gospel” (2021), Netflix

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The veteran anime director shared his opinion on the widely-panned, cancelled-three-weeks-after-its-premiere adaptation during a recent Interview with a career retrospective given to Forbes’ Ollie Barder.

In Cowboy Bebop Season 1 Episode 1, Jet Black (Mustafa Shakur), draws on Tweaker, (BridieSisson), “Cowboy Gospel” (2021), Netflix

Here’s a quick look at his past works, which include such pieces as Blue Comet SPT Layzner, Gundam 0083, And, of course Cowboy BebopWatanabe was then asked about his thoughts. Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop revealed that he was not a fan.

“For the new Netflix live-action adaptation, they sent me a video to review and check,” Watanabe was remembered. “It started with a scene in a casino, which made it very tough for me to continue.”

Spike Spiegel, John Cho, and Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), try to stop a heist at a casino in Cowboy Bebop Season 1 episode 1 “Cowboy Gospel” (2021), Netflix

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“I stopped there and so only saw that opening scene,” He admitted it.

“It was clearly not Cowboy Bebop and I realized at that point that if I wasn’t involved, it would not be Cowboy Bebop,” He concluded. “I felt that maybe I should have done this. Although the value of the original anime is somehow far higher now.”

Jet Black (Mustafa Shakur), is shocked by his inadvertent groping of a passer-by in Cowboy Bebop Season 1 Episode 1 “Cowboy Gospel” (2021), Netflix

Not only did Watanabe share his distaste for Netflix’s adaptation, be he also opened up about his general opposition to the Hollywood machine.

“Back on The Animatrix, I first got to work with people in Hollywood,” The director reflected on the short he had made for animated films. The Matrix anthology, Kid’s Story. “Working with those kinds of people is always difficult. This is because at the beginning they promised me that I could do whatever I want, but that’s just lip service.”

Hikaru Midorikawa’s Michael Karl Popper logs in to The Animatrix chatroom ‘Kid’Warner Bros., ‘Story’ (2003). Animation

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“Actually, I had a big altercation with a Hollywood producer on The Animatrix,” Watanabe was recited.

“He would always come with these stupid requests, just so he could identify his own contribution,” He continued. “As the requests were stupid and made no sense, I rejected all of them. Unfortunately, I couldn’t win in this situation, so I had to concede on some of these things”

“I learned from this bitter experience though,” The director confirmed. “For subsequent projects, I became smarter at handling people who wanted to interfere. In that, I would send back very small corrections or adjustments just before the deadline. That tended to work.”

Michael Karl Popper (Hikaru Miorikawa), twitches in class at The Animatrix ‘Kid’Warner Bros., ‘Story’ (2003). Animation

“In Japan, you sometimes get producers that are similar to American ones,” Watanabe said. “You also sometimes find good producers in America.”

“The original producer on The Animatrix was a really good guy,” He noted. “He understood my work and didn’t give me stupid requests. However, he had to leave due to family issues, but his successor, called Spencer Lamm, was awful.”

Hikaru Midorikawa’s Michael Karl Popper takes a leap in faith with The Animatrix ‘Kid’Warner Bros., ‘Story’ (2003). Animation

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“So many requests,” He said it in a frustrated voice. “Change this, change that. It was very frustrating and if these requests were coming from the Wachowskis, I would at least respect that as they came up with The Matrix. So who was the new producer compared to that? He explained that he was the gatekeeper to the Wachowskis and unless he could be convinced, he wouldn’t bring my work to them.”

Watanabe stated that he would handle this situation by saying, “when I went to Los Angeles for the recording sessions, I told the team that if I saw that producer I would just punch him in the face. The producer ended up not coming to the recordings, which is unheard of.”

The teacher (Fumihiko Tachiki) attends Michael Karl Popper’s (Hikaru Midorikawa) funeral in The Animatrix ‘Kid’Warner Bros., ‘Story’ (2003). Animation

Of course, Watanabe is far from the first Japanese creator to express massive disappointment at the West’s handling of their creations.

Originality is the most prominent characteristic among these creators. Dragon Ball mangaka Akira Toriyama was a witness to the James Wong disaster. Dragonball: Evolution Feel the need to produce Dragon Ball Super To undo the harm that the live-action incident caused to his legacy.

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