See You Space Cowboy…just not on Netflix…
Today, it’s been reported by THR that the live action Cowboy Bebop series has been cancelled by Netflix after one season. This news comes less than a month after the series debuted on November 19.
Starring John Cho as Spike, Mustafa Shakir as Jet, and Daniella Pineda as Faye, the 10 episode series came in with a lot of hope but even more expectation – considering it was trying to adapt one of the most iconic animes of all time. Despite garnering about 74 million viewing hours at its debut, the series was unable to live up to lofty expectations, as it received a 46% positive reception from critics and 56% from viewers, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Historically, Netflix only has a 60% renewal rate for scripted series that have two or more seasons. They often weigh viewership and cost when decided which series to renew. In the case of Cowboy Bebop, viewership went down by 59% in the weeks following its release and the cost to make a 2nd season live up to the anime’s standards likely were the reason for its cancellation.
The live action Cowboy Bebop tried very much to capture the same magic of the 1998 anime, but it often felt unnatural and poorly imitated. There were definitely flashes of brilliance, at times, but far too many liberties and shortcuts taken to really make it a meaningful adaptation. If given a bigger budget and better direction, it may have action been something really great, but as we see now that wasn’t a risk Netflix was willing to take.
That said, one risk Netflix is ready to take is making live action anime adaptations work – a genre that historically has proven very difficult to be successful. Netflix currently has a live action Avatar: The Last Airbender series, One Piece series, and Yu Yu Hakusho series in the works.
