Someone has revealed that “Cowboy Bebop” has been cancelled by Netflix after only one season.
On November 19, the show premiered on the streaming service. Cowboy Bebop follows a crew of misfit bounty hunters commanded by Spike Spiegel (Cho) as they searched for the galaxy’s most valuable criminals, based on Shinichir Watanabe’s cult anime series. Mustafa Shakir and Daniella Pineda co-starred as Spike’s faithful co-pilot Jet Black and highly accomplished bounty hunter Faye Valentine, respectively.
Due to Cho’s on-set injuries, the highly anticipated live action adaptation was delayed throughout production, causing the show to be delayed for seven to nine months. Shinichir Watanabe, the director of the original anime series, served as a consultant on the project, and Yoko Kanno, the original composer, returned to score the live-action version.
When the 10-episode series first aired, it was met with mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike. On Rotten Tomatoes, the show has a 46% critical approval rating and a 54% audience approval rating. “Netflix’s live-action version of ‘Cowboy Bebop’ strives to be so much at once, and appeal to so many different possible audiences,” Caroline Framke said in her Variety review, “that it ends up trying to develop an identity of its own.”
The show was part of Netflix’s bigger push to create live-action versions of popular anime characters. A live-action “One Piece” series is also in development, with the cast just announced. In July, Variety exclusively revealed that a live-action “Pokemon” series is in the works. In 2017, the streaming service released a live-action “Death Note” film.
André Nemec, Jeff Pinkner, Josh Appelbaum, and Scott Rosenberg of Midnight Radio, Marty Adelstein and Becky Clements of Tomorrow Studios, Makoto Asanuma, Shin Sasaki, and Masayuki Ozaki of Sunrise Inc., Tim Coddington, Tetsu Fujimura, Michael Katleman, Matthew Weinberg, and Christopher Yost of Sunrise Inc. were among the executive producers on “Cowboy Bebop.” The showrunner was Nemec. Shinichir Watanabe, the director of the original anime series, served as a consultant on the series, and Yoko Kanno, the original composer, returned for the live-action adaptation.
