Good News, Cowboy Bebop Fans – All 26 Episodes Of The Original Anime Are Coming To Netflix
See you, space cowboy ... on Netflix! The streaming service is gearing up for its highly-anticipated live-action adaptation of the series, starring John Cho as the bounty hunter Spike Spiegel, and it is now setting itself up as the one-stop shop for all things "Cowboy Bebop" with the addition of the streaming rights to the anime series. All 26 episodes of the beloved original show will be made available on Netflix starting on October 21, which leaves a little less than a month for fans who are keen on introducing themselves to the show that started it all (or revisiting for the umpteenth time) to prepare for Netflix's upcoming live-action series. Check out the announcement video below.
Cowboy Bebop on Netflix
Though the original "Cowboy Bebop" has been streaming on Hulu, Entertainment Weekly reveals that Netflix has acquired the streaming rights to the anime. The action/adventure space-western series was directed by Shinichirō Watanabe and written by Keiko Nobumoto, along with Toshihiro Kawamoto as character designer, Kimitoshi Yamane as mechanical designer, and Yoko Kanno as composer. Encouragingly, Watanabe is being retained as a creative consultant on the live-action adaptation and Kanno will also be returning to score the live action series, infusing the fan-favorite soundtrack with her signature jazzy tunes.
But that's not all in terms of returning artists from the original. In a neat development for fans, EW reports that the original voice cast from the anime will also be reprising their roles for the Japanese dub of the upcoming live-action series. Yes, that means Koichi Yamadera will be returning as Spike and will be joined by Taiten Kusunoki as Jet, Megumi Hayashibara as Faye, Norio Wakamoto as Vicious, Gara Takashima as Julia, Tsutomu Taruki and Miki Nagasawa as Punch and Judy (respectively), Takaya Hashi as the Teddy Bomber, Kenyu Horiuchi as Gren, Masako Isobe as Mao, and finally Romi Park and Hikaru Midorikawa as the twins Shin and Lin.
In a statement, Yamadera expressed his fondness for the original series and his optimism for the new one:
"Cowboy Bebop is an important work for me. I have long anticipated a live-action version. I can feel the strong respect it has toward the anime. I hope that viewers will see the atmosphere of the Spike character that I previously portrayed in John Cho's performance, who is skillfully taking on the role in this version. There are also many settings and developments that can only be pulled off in a live-action series. I hope that both people who love Cowboy Bebop and those who are new to the title can enjoy this new series!"
Developed and executive produced by showrunner André Nemec, Netflix's live-action "Cowboy Bebop" series hits Netflix on November 19, 2021.