![]() Everyone has unfinished business they'd rather not have to think about, people they wish they could see one more time, and actions they wish they could take back. In the anime, though, Spike's feelings are universal. ![]() At one point, Spike literally says "I'm the orphan," a detail that can be inferred but is never confirmed in the original show it thus becomes unmistakably his story, with no room for interpretation. In the live-action show, Spike's history is explained so thoroughly that it's difficult to relate to. Spike's feelings of guilt with Vicious and Julia in the anime are perfectly expressed through dream-like imagery when the viewer watches Spike beat himself up over decisions long since made, the vagueness of his regrets encourages them to see their own pasts in his. What it does miss, though, is much more important: why the original show chose to keep the specifics of Spike's backstory so vague in the first place, and what is lost by over-explaining it. The intricacies of anime Bebop's story are vague, but not unknowable, and choosing to center this adaptation on the corners of the story that were previously unexplored goes some way to making it feel like it has a purpose beyond simply translating the cartoon to a new medium. And it's not like the ways the Netflix show chooses to elaborate on his backstory are without reason Spike's history is up to interpretation, and Netflix's choices feel like reasonable elaborations on what we're given to work with. Since Spike's tumultuous past is such an important part of his character and the show's ideas as a whole, wanting to explore that part of him more thoroughly is a natural inclination. Every character in Cowboy Bebop is running from a past they don't want to acknowledge in their own ways, and between all the heists and chases, that thematic throughline keeps the series feeling like the same show with the same characters no matter what mood or setting it might choose that week. In fairness, it also doesn't come from a place of misunderstanding the original show's intentions. Where the rest of the cast feels somewhat tied down by expectations that they look and act like their anime counterparts, Vicious has so little in the way of characterization in the anime that Hassell's version of him is allowed to be emotive and, frankly, entertaining beyond what might have been thought possible before. In addition, Hassell's Vicious absolutely steals the show, at least in part because of how much freedom he has to interpret his character. ![]() It requires inventing a whole lot of lore where there was once none and, by forcing everything to be connected, erodes the original's celebration of life's fleeting joys and losses, but it does the job of making it more bingeable. Placing Vicious into every corner of the plot gives viewers a motive to binge, to find out more about Spike, Vicious, Julia, and the Syndicate. Cowboy Bebop doesn't come pre-packaged with an easy-to-grasp hook that would keep people's eyes glued to the screen, letting Netflix's autoplay go on until it runs out of episodes. It's understandable why the writers of Netflix's go at this story would feel inclined to bring Vicious more to the forefront. RELATED: Alex Hassell Says Replicating the Church Fight Scene in 'Cowboy Bebop' Ended Up Making it More Difficult ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |