The Cowboy Bebop Anime Episodes That Inspired Netflix's Live-Action Show
Does your "Cowboy Bebop" experience have you hungering for more?
The first season of Netflix's live-action adaptation of the classic Sunrise series may have only just hit the streaming service as recently as November 19, but fans who have already burned through its 10 episodes may be wondering — what's next? With Season 2 being something of an open question at this point, after mixed reviews, your best bet if you are hungry for more "Bebop" is to go straight to the source material — that is, the 26 episodes and one movie that make up the original "Cowboy Bebop" anime's canon.
After all, while John Cho might have worked really hard to make sure Spike Spiegel's signature walk (not to mention his hair) transitioned just fine to the realm of live-action, there are always going to be some wonders that just have to be experienced in their original form. Fortunately, Netflix is already on the case. Netflix Geeked, the streaming service's content hub for its science fiction and fantasy properties, has shared some episodes from the original "Cowboy Bebop" anime that it calls "a guide to some essential episodes ... that inspired the new Netflix show," one that helps fans new and old pinpoint exactly where the live-action version of the series drew its inspiration from, and the places where it might have diverged a bit.
Netflix has put out a list of 'essential' Cowboy Bebop anime episodes
It's not really too hard to draw the connections between the original episodes on the list Netflix Geeked posted to Facebook and their live-action scions. "Cowboy Blues," the first episode of the live-action series, sees Spike and Jet (Mustafa Shakir) tracking down Asimov Solensan (Jan Uddin) and his partner Katarina (Lydia Peckham), just as the first anime episode, "Asteroid Blues" does, after all.
Then there is "Venus Pop," which finds the pair battling the Teddy Bomber (Rodney Cook), who came from the anime's 22nd episode, "Cowboy Funk." Spike and Jet cross paths with their faithful Corgi companion Ein after facing off with the bounty Abdul Hakim (Cali Nelle) and join up with Faye Valentine (Daniela Pineda) after battling ecoterrorists on a planetary moon (Ganymede in the anime; Callisto in the live-action series).
That said, fans of the original were quick to take to the comments to nominate their favorite episodes for "essential" status, whether they inspired episodes of the live-action series or not. The two-parter "Jupiter Jazz," "Ballad of Fallen Angels," and "Waltz for Venus" were all specifically shouted out. Others reminded people that if the Netflix series really had piqued their curiosity about the anime, they'd be best off just watching the entire thing, straight through, instead of cherry-picking select moments. As usual, those who were less pleased with the adaptation — or just more inclined to be purists about their "Cowboy Bebop" content — advised against watching the adaptation at all, and instead going straight to watching the anime.
The new "Cowboy Bebop" series is currently available to stream on Netflix.