The classic Cowboy Bebop anime series is returning to Netflix.
As reported by Deadline, the beloved 1998 anime series will return to Netflix's streaming service on Oct. 21, about a month before the premiere of Netflix's new live-action remake of the series, which stars Star Trek's John Cho, Luke Cage's Mustafa Shakir, and Jurassic World's Daniella Pineda as the series' central trio of hard-luck bounty hunters. All 26 episodes of the original anime will be available to stream from the service, with both its original Japanese language track and its classic English dub, which is generally cited as one of the higher quality dubs of the era. Netflix also announced that the anime's original voice cast would reprise their roles for the Japanese dub of its upcoming live-action series.
In addition to the series' return to Netflix, Funimation recently announced that it was adding the acclaimed sci-fi series to its library of streaming anime. The anime distributor also announced a series of licensing deals with a number of toy, collectible and apparel manufacturers to produce new merchandise based on the original show. A crowd-funded tabletop game based on the series is also in the works.
Cowboy Bebop was originally released in 1998. Directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, who would later go on to direct similarly lauded series such as 2004's Samurai Champloo and 2012's Kids on the Slope, and produced at Gundam animation studio Sunrise, the series received a near-universal critical acclaim upon its release for its feature-quality animation, memorable characters, and jazz-inspired soundtrack. Set in a future where humanity has mastered space travel throughout the solar system but still struggles with many of the same issues that plague modern society, the series tells the story of Spike Spiegel, a laid-back bounty hunter with a violent past. The show also focuses on Spike's partner, a former cop named Jet Black, and Faye Valentine, another bounty hunter who also eventually joins their team. The professional "cowboys" are also joined by Ed, a genius hacker, and Ein, an equally intelligent "data dog" who the team rescues from a dognapper and an animal-testing laboratory. The team travels the solar system, tracking down wanted criminals to make a living, as each of them discovers that they cannot escape their past.
Fans of the classic series can see how live-action remake of Cowboy Bebop stacks up when the new show premieres on Netflix on Nov. 19.
Source: Deadline