The problem with Cowboy Bebop The Series and why a good series feels bad:
The original Cowboy Bebop anime is a masterpiece, one of the best pieces of animation ever made, with its unique style, great animation, memorable characters and great writing, it won its place on the list of the best entertainment to ever exist, the problem with the new netflix series is that it is... Good, just good... when you make something based on a masterpiece and that something turns out to be only good... You failed.
The minimum fans were expecting and the minimum they would accept is something either exceptional or unique, being good is just not enough.
I would say that because it is a live action series and not an animation, it is impossible to make it truly unique and to stylize it, but Blade Runner 2049, Mad Max Fury Road, Altered Carbon and many others would prove me wrong on that statement, so its just a matter of what does this series lacks, and i think i narrowed it down to a couple factors:
1 - The characters: One of if not the most important thing about the original Cowboy Bebop is its characters, and while the characters in the netflix series are not bad, they are not as good.
Spike feels like he is just an asshole with good intentions, he doesn't feel like the laid back guy with a broken heart who hides away his pain with witty remarks and justified violence.
Jet feels too stiff with his movements and line delivery, he feels like the actor is trying his best to look tough and invulnerable, even when he talks about his daughter he feels more like he is angry about it instead of desperate to make her happy, the original Jet is a really tough and imponent figure, yes, but he also has a heart made of butter and is always caring and kind, even when he jokingly insults someone it is always followed by his trademarked laugh.
and finally Faye, she feels so distant from her original character... The Faye we get here seems really lost and desperate, seems like she is making joke after joke trying to look cool and not trying to hide her feelings and worries like the one from the original anime, Faye in the original sounded much smarter and more grounded, while still emotional and witty, this one feels more like the secondary character that is there to make the others look cooler.
2 - The styling: The sceneries in the series are really good, and the clothing, weapons and everything else also look ok, the problem is... Nothing feels unique, the camera angles look boring and used a million times before in any other series, the color grading is very normal and bland... nothing really tried to be unique, they only tried to reproduce the places and clothes from the original on the real world, but they completely forgot the styling that makes it unique.
The series would be vastly improved with more bold color grading and more creative camera angles and photography direction, maybe even some creative uses of vignettes, ANYTHING that would make it feel more unique and memorable.
So, after all that what is my verdict? How i feel about the series? Its a good series, i had a lot of fun watching it, but i cant help feeling like i just want to go back and watch the original for the 100th time after finishing this... And deep down i know that in some years, maybe even some months, my only memory from this series is that it exists, and not anything more than that, in the end, its not unique enough to be great or memorable, is just a good show based on an absolute masterpiece, a new forgettable version of a series that most of us will remember and love for the rest of our lives.
No Spoilers at all.
So, i just finished first season of the series, and having watched this far, i dont really know how this series got an 8 here... its a "kinda good" series, it makes use of a lot of good characters from british literature and has a good cast of actors, really good actually, and they kinda put together a good "ambience" for these characters on a good plot, the problem here is, the plot moves too slow, so slow you actually lose interest in the middle of the episode, i start watching it, and around 20-30 minutes i am already picking my phone and doing something else and not even paying atention, which is a shame, cause the series has everything to be good, another problem i find with it is the way the characters are "connected" everything sees so random that it doesnt seem random at all, its like, every character find each other from time to time with no reason whatsoever besides advancing the plot, its too much of a coincidence.
Its not a bad series by any means, but if you are like me, and like a little bit more action packed and not so "wait for the plot to happen" series, this is not for you, my personal score for this would be 6, cause of this point in question, but since this is a review for other people and not myself, i am confortable with giving it a 7, but i dont find it deserving any more than a 7.
