Part science fiction, part Neo-noir, with a splash of slapstick comedy, the anime series "Cowboy Bebop" follows a ragtag group of bounty hunters, called cowboys, as they track down fugitives across space in a dystopian future.
Having originally debuted in the late 90s, the wildly popular anime series is now getting the live action treatment thanks to Netflix. The series, also called “Cowboy Bebop,” debuted on Friday and stars John Cho as the lead character, Spike Spiegel. Spike’s fellow bounty hunters Jet Black and Faye Valentine are played by Mustafa Shakir and Daniella Pineda respectively.
Adapting animated stories like “Cowboy Bebop” into live action is no easy feat. Anime especially, since it has a pretty unique visual and storytelling style that doesn’t necessarily translate well to live actors. That’s according to Shirley Li, staff writer covering culture for The Atlantic. The Takeaway recently spoke with her andJeff Yang, cultural critic and co-author of the forthcoming book Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now, about the new live action “Cowboy Bebop” series.
