Posted in: Netflix, Opinion, streaming, TV, TV | Tagged: Alex Hassell, anime, cowboy bebop, Elena Satine, netflix, opinion

Cowboy Bebop – Julia, Vicious & More: Moving from Anime to Live-Action

As an expanded live-action series, Netflix's Cowboy Bebop was afforded the opportunity to expand the franchise's storyline threads & overall mythos in ways that the anime didn't. It's no question that Shinichiro Watanabe's 1998 classic stands the test of time as one of the biggest crossover successes in Japan and America. The collaboration between Christopher Yost and André Nemec in their live-action adaptation is amazing in many ways even with its flaws from retelling classic stories to expanding roles for supporting characters. In our previous entry, we focused on the core trio of Spike (John Cho), Jet (Mustafa Shakir), and Faye (Daniella Pineda). This time, we'll look at some of the supporting characters with more expanded roles. But before we go any further, consider this a fair spoiler warning for the series.

Cowboy Bebop "Battered Housewife" Julia

Elena Satine plays the focal point of the love triangle between Spike and Vicious (Alex Hassell). In the anime, much of Julia's story is seen through flashbacks as Spike reminisces shades of his former life as a member of the Syndicate. They do share some brief interactions in the few serialized episodes, which the live-action series faithfully recreated for the most part within its initial release, particularly the anime's "Ballad of Fallen Angels". Both series have Spike and Julia trying to escape the reach of the Syndicate, but understand Vicious is the dangerous X factor of the imploding love triangle. One thing the live-action series was able to accomplish within its hour-long format per episode is expand each dynamic the way the anime never addressed. Julia has feelings for both men and she was certainly trapped in fear within Vicious' grasp. Unfortunately, she never really escaped it by the end of the anime as viewers witnessed in the finale "The Real Folk Blues"

The live-action series provided a twist at the end of Episode 10 "Supernova Symphony" where Julia was put in a rare position of power aside from her rise as headlining act for Ana (Tamara Tunie). The singer not only turned Spike away by shooting him out a church window (instead of Vicious in the anime episode "Ballad of Fallen Angels"), but also managed to turn the tables on her abuser husband locking him up following his coup of the Syndicate and taking over herself as a proxy. Yost and Nemec managed to make Julia a better character by allowing her to shed her battered housewife mold into something far layered.

Vicious

Vicious was a brooding vengeful rival of Spike in the anime. We never really got a sense of their bond as brothers in the Syndicate within their flashbacks. It's merely a few frames of them not trying to kill each other. We never really got much on the jobs they pulled together. Both do interact with each other in the present day and we saw his rise and takeover on both shows. Netflix's take on Vicious makes a genuine attempt to explain the character's motivations outside of his hatred of Fearless/Spike. The live-action series introduced Caliban, played by John Noble, as Vicious' father, who stoked the abusive cycle trying to toughen his boy. Obviously, as the son of the head, he gets extra pressure to succeed and resentment from his peers of presumed favoritism. For anyone who complains that the melodrama takes away from his anime counterpart, then honestly, you're probably among those who never had any intention of giving the new series a shot.

Hassell gives Vicious extra dimension and it gives better context to why he hates Spike outside of trying to steal his love. The Netflix series, again, actually does a far better job explaining the love triangle than the 26-episode anime series if we honestly judge it on its own merit. I also can't stress enough that if you want a 1:1 copy, then stick to the anime. There's literally no point in having a remake be the exact same as its source. While flawed at times, Netflix's Cowboy Bebop wants to be much more than that, and it succeeds in many ways.

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