Cowboy Bebop anime is a masterpiece, but few can make the same claim about its live-action counterpart. Although it may seem like Cowboy Bebop the perfect anime to get used to doing action on paper, the truth is that there is a lot to do Bebop specialism is not something that can be easily replicated in real life.
Because of its more realistic approach than most anime, Cowboy Bebop It certainly seems like it could be easily changed at first glance. The series, however, still makes a lot of use of the fact that it's an anime, it's not always as obvious when it does it as it is in your typical shonen anime. Actually, Cowboy BebopThe reliance on its animated nature is what makes it impossible to adapt well to a live-action series. The first episode of the series is a perfect example of this, as it shows everything anime can do that live action can't.
The first episode of Cowboy Bebop It's Not About Plot, It's About Tone
The First Episode of the Series Sets the Tone for Everything That Comes After
In the first episode of Cowboy BebopSpike and Jet are chasing a dangerous money master, Asimov Solensan, who uses a drug known as Red Eye, which greatly enhances his strength and pain tolerance. Instead of going in guns blazing, however, Spike approaches the situation undercover, and meets Asimov's girlfriend, who helps him smuggle the drug. The actual action of the episode is mostly contained in the last few minutes, while most of it is made up of scenes designed to get over the mood and tone of the series.
Bebop finds out many important facts about the series indirectly in this episode. The “peppers and beef” scene, for example, makes it immediately clear that Spike and Jet are short on money, and that this is a normal situation for them. This episode is also filled with continuous images of nature, as seen just after the episode's title card, showing how different the world they live in is; Floating above Mars and surrounded by spaceships and stations, this world has a bustling planetarium. However, recent shots of asteroid Tijuana feel inseparable from Earth.
A combination of these lasting images BebopYoko Kanno's iconic score quickly conveys the tone of the series, showing elements of the Western genre inspired by sci-fi to create something unique. It takes its time to get to the plot, it's more than half the episode before Spike runs into Asimov.
Cowboy Bebop Uses Animation In Ways That Are Hard To Replicate In Live Action
Even Cowboy Bebop's Establishing Shots Are Hard To Pull Off
These long, long shots not only establish where the events take place, but set the mood of the piece; they are important to the flow of the episode. In anime, just scenes, it's not more difficult to draw them than any other. However, in a live-action series, these can be very expensive special effects shots, requiring a large portion of any episode's budget to be captured accurately. The live-action series went a long way in this by leaving it out and shortening it to the point where it couldn't be removed completely, thus changing the mood these scenes help establish.
The same goes for the action scenes, like the epic spaceship chase at the end of the episode. These are insanely expensive to make, especially to do them justice and match the anime. While anime action scenes may cost more than your average dialogue scene, the difference is more significant than a live-action production. With both the moody photography and the intense suffering of the action, there isn't much left for live action to do well.
Cowboy Bebop Animation Destroys Any Live Action Practice
No Live Action Adaptation Can Compare Original Animation
Beyond the first episode, there are also scenes like the zero gravity space walk in episode 3, or basically any shot of Bebop or other ships in space. Recreating these scenes can be difficult and expensive, and many times adapting them to live action… Despite its grounded feel that makes live action seem possible, Cowboy Bebop it can only be what it is because it is animated. Trying to adapt it to live action is to ignore this fact, and that leads to problems with predictability.
Cowboy Bebop it's not as limited to a live-action adaptation as it seems, and it's better if it's left as the incredible anime it is.
(tags You can translate)Anime