Kevin Thelen

I don't know how to feel about this show. I don't know if it's the writing, or if I am suppose to dislike every single character in the show. Every character makes bad decisions, repeatedly, not learning from their mistakes. Moreso, the storytelling is inconsistent, every time something important happens the show ends or just... skips ahead to next day. All the kids lie to each other constantly, and basically just cause more problems by not telling each other incredibly important details or information. I understand kids are kids, but the whole show hinges on people not communicating. There are some interesting ideas, but the whole show just frustrates me to no end. Real people demand answers when crazy stuff happens, and everyone in this show just dismisses things all the time. I just find myself hating practically every one of the kid's decisions and reactions. There is nothing clever about how they handle any situation in the show at all. (Spoiler) They have complete access to any written knowledge in the world with the head key, they could even access and try to repair their mom's mind, or use the ghost key to learn the secrets of key house from their dead great grandfather... or try to fix their uncle's stolen memories with the flower key. They instead focus on high school drama, abusing the literal magic powers they have, while casually dismissing a demon attempting to murder their little brother and get these magical items. They repeatedly dismiss his warnings, and treat him like he's imagining the harm the "well lady" could cause, even having seen her in a circle of fire in their own front yard. And all the kids are stupid enough to not understand that just because she cannot directly "take" a key she can doesn't imply she can't interfere in their lives in other ways, like killing their friends. But again, the show skips past consequences in every serious situation. Am I the only one who thinks the premise is interesting but can't handle all the miscommunication?

I have to preface my review with the understanding that I really enjoyed the original cowboy bebop series, the film, and the graphic novels. However, I must also be clear that I am welcoming of change and new adaptations, so long as they keep the spirit and tone of the original material. To that end, this is likely going to be a rather scathing review, with explanations as to why. I would like to give credit where credit is due. The show has some gorgeous visuals and really great modern interpretations of the environment, technology, and space scenes in Bebop. Secondly, I applaud the show for trying to capture the quirky, often coincidental nature of the relationships depicted in the show, there are a lot of weird little side-gags and references in the original and the new show attempts to harness some of that weird energy. While many bit characters and bounties that show up are supposed to be overly dramatic and comedic, the show goes a bit overboard and allows that comedic nature to spill over into the crew of the bebop itself. This is a major problem, because the _tone_ of bebop is what made it a great show. So let's discuss the tone, what it was in the original and what it is in the new adaptation. The original was overall a rather somber show, focusing on a theme of how humanity always struggles to escape the past, and how in the end it catches up to all of us. We either attempt to abandon our own pasts and become someone new, or we obsess over the past and our own regrets and inability to build the life we so desperately want. While the crew of the Bebop end up going through many silly situations to catch a bounty, often verging on slapstick comedy, the overall theme of loss and an inability to fix mistakes of the past takes hold. The characters don't wear their feelings on their chest, the keep their motives to themselves much of the time, and they don't entirely trust one another. The dialogue is kept to a minimum to express how their relationships change as the show progresses. It's witty, there are some commiserations and introspective bits, even some deeper philosophical discussion, all toward the end goal of building the characters up to fill their role. Jet is the ex-cop who has seen too much corruption and filth, trying to get justice where he can while hiding how much he cares, Spike is a lone wolf ex-mafia enforcer who sees the world in black and white, trying to save those who deserve it from the same mistakes he has made, searching for meaning while hiding his compassion from the crew like a weakness, and Faye has a tragic story of loss and debt, compounded by a desire to know who she is and where she came from. The adaptation, by contrast tries to force a sense of comradery and playfulness on these characters. Jet constantly complains about supporting his daughter, Spike dodges responsibility and gives off this feeling that he lacks confidence while taking a cavalier attitude toward murder, and Faye is cartoonishly nonchalant about life or death situations while running around dropping F-bombs all the time. I feel like the show runners have had a misinterpretation of some of the slapstick portions of the original material and translated that tone to the rest of the show. Overall, the show ends up feeling like a cheap soap opera with a very high CGI budget. Ultimately it's the dialogue, the scene composition, and the change in tone that renders the show sub-par in my opinion. Characters are overly dramatic in completely unrealistic ways, jokes fail to land but everyone still chuckles, and the main characters end up feeling hollow.