Recreating anime doesn’t always go as planned, since obviously there are elements of anime that can’t be replicated that easily and there are a lot of common reasons why. It’s about the same with any cartoon that someone might want to recreate using live-action since there are limitations that those in the real world have to deal with that animated characters don’t, such as the laws of physics and anatomy that are sometimes broken in animation. But thankfully this live-action version of the Cowboy Bebop title sequence below isn’t taken to an extreme and it’s pretty accurate and spot-on. Thankfully the title scene of Cowboy Bebop isn’t that difficult to replicate since there’s not as much to it when one really looks at it from a few different angles. Obviously, a couple of elements would be easy to transfer from animation to live-action since they don’t require a lot of movement or maneuvering, but the images of the ship were bound to be the same since it would have been a good deal of work to recreate the ship in CGI, even if it could have been made to look pretty cool in the process. Overall the effort was definitely worth it since the clip came out so nicely.
Live-action is becoming a big deal when it comes to transitioning animation, and while some people tend to love it, others are a little less impressed since there are stories that are better suited for animation than live-action for a number of reasons. One reason among many is that animation allows for more fantastic feats that practical effects and CGI can take care of, but tend to look better when they’re not being hampered by various factors that CGI and practical effects have to take into account. The switch from animation to live-action is something that has to be done with a great amount of care since there’s a lot of stuff to consider when it comes to making the switch. For one, the look of the animation, from the coloring and style to everything that goes into the characters and the setting is likely to change since there are some things about animation that just don’t translate that well to live-action. Sometimes the transition is quite simple since there’s not a lot of outrageous things to worry about in the story, but with anime, there is a lot to think about since it’s easy to notice that the genre features styles that aren’t normally found in the real world.
The live-action clip does a pretty good job of handling the material and giving a good presentation, which makes a person wonder if someone is giving thought to coming up with a live-action version of Cowboy Bebop at some point in the future. It wouldn’t be a terrible idea, but it’s definitely something that would need a lot of work and a lot of people involved in order to keep the story as true to the anime as possible. If such a project did come along it feels as though fans would definitely support the effort, but that there would be at least some trepidation that might come from the attempt since it would be something that might be a bit uncertain until the fan reaction was gauged.
Looking between the two clips it’s easy to see that there isn’t a lot of deviation, at least not enough to think that a live-action version would be that off the mark. If it did happen then it’s very likely that it might be more of a straight to video effort or at least a streaming effort that would be announced and possibly hyped up just enough to get it noticed. While enough people know about Cowboy Bebop to make it quite popular, it’s fair to say that as another streaming project it’s bound to be one that is picked up by plenty of fans but is otherwise left to sit unnoticed by a lot of people that either don’t get into anime or haven’t experienced it enough to really know that much about the story. One has to remember that despite the rise and appreciation of manga and anime that there are many people that still don’t know much about it and aren’t inclined to learn unless someone can convince them that it’s worth the effort. But if one show can convince anyone, it’s likely to be something like Cowboy Bebop, especially since among the many anime shows this is one that feels as though it might be different enough that people can feel a real connection with it.
If a live-action attempt is made it does feel as though it might be worth the effort, but it also feels that it might be a risk simply because such movies are usually better when they’re animated.
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