The final episode of Cowboy Bebop has aired, and the cast is off into the sunset. One of the writers, though, isn’t quite ready to say goodbye just yet.
On Thursday, less than a month after the first season appeared on Netflix, the sci-fi anime adaptation was canceled. Despite Netflix spending years producing the show and receiving positive reviews, the show was canceled after receiving mediocre reviews and no attention. John Cho appeared as an interstellar bounty hunter.
The eighth episode of Bebop’s debut season was written by co-executive producer Javier Grillo-Marxuach, who also made it clear that there were still more tales to be told. “I truly loved working on this,” said in his tweet. “It came from a real and pure place of respect and affection. I wish we could make what we planned for a second season, but you know what they say, men plan, god laughs.” He also added the signature Cowboy Bebop sign-off: “see you, space cowboy…”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Netflix has canceled Cowboy Bebop, an ambitious, highly anticipated, and ultimately wildly disappointing anime adaptation.
‘Cowboy Bebop’ Canceled By Netflix After One Season https://t.co/OOpV9awDHo
— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) December 9, 2021
According to insiders, Netflix renews scripted programs with two or more seasons at a rate of 60%, which is in line with industry statistics. As with all Netflix renewal decisions, the choice was reached by considering the cost and viewership of the program. The streamer takes pleasure in taking risks with works like Cowboy Bebop and has a ton of other genre shows in development or already airing.
Following films like 2009’s Dragonball Evolution and 2017’s Ghost in the Shell and Death Note, the project is the most recent attempt to remake Japanese anime as live-action. The year 2019’s Alita: Battle Angel, which brought in large international grosses ($319 million), though not local grosses ($85 million), was likely the most successful thus yet.
In the series Cowboy Bebop, John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Daniella Pineda played three bounty hunters (also called “cowboys”) who were all trying to get away from their pasts. From what it says about the show:
“They form a scrappy, snarky crew ready to hunt down the solar system’s most dangerous criminals — for the right price. But they can only kick and quip their way out of so many scuffles before their pasts finally catch up with them.”
