In a recent interview with Forbes, Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe expressed his disappointment with the Netflix adaptation of his iconic anime. When the showrunners sent him the first episode for review, Watanabe could not watch more than a few minutes of it. “For the new Netflix live-action adaptation, they sent me a video to review and check. It started with a scene in a casino, which made it very tough for me to continue. I stopped there and so only saw that opening scene. It was clearly not Cowboy Bebop and I realized at that point that if I wasn’t involved, it would not be Cowboy Bebop. I felt that maybe I should have done this. Although the value of the original anime is somehow far higher now.” Netflix only brought on Watanabe as a consultant, but as early as 2019, he had voiced concerns that the changes he made to the script would likely go unacknowledged. The Cowboy Bebop series was released in December 2021, receiving mixed reviews from fans and critics alike. #CowboyBebop #ShinichiroWatanabe #Netflix #Anime