Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop was unfortunately canceled despite only just premiering on the streaming platform. The show was highly teased, covered, and talked about ahead of its release, but now it unfortunately met its end.

Cowboy Bebop is a live-action adaptation of the popular anime series that served as the “lost episodes” of the popular show. The adaptation took its own creative freedom with some of the choices while making sure to keep some elements accurate to the classic animated version. Cowboy Bebop set up many stories for a potential season 2, but it looks like Netflix decided not to renew it.

Three weeks after the premiere, Netflix decided to not renew Cowboy Bebop and it was mainly due to the drop off of viewership after the first week. There’s always potential for a big comeback, but the drop off may have been too steep for Netflix to have faith in the show. There’s also the argument of the negative reviews the show received, which may be in part due to the changes made between the Cowboy Bebop anime and the live-action series. Immediately after the show was canceled, cast members John Cho (Spike Spiegel), Mustafa Shakir (Jet Black), Daniella Pineda (Faye Valentine), Elena Satine (Julia), and Mason Alexander Part (Gren) shared their thoughts on social media.

The critics were mixed, but of fans of the classic anime weren’t too big on the live-action Cowboy Bebop show either. One bright thing about the show is that it managed to get into Netflix’s top 10 television shows list during its debut. The finale of the show marked the introduction of Radical Ed (played by Eden Perkins), so it’s a shame fans won’t be able to see this character come to life.

Anime adaptations, like video game adaptations, have a very bad track record. On paper it’s cool to imagine the world of fan favorite shows in the live-action space, but in practice it rarely comes out the way they envisioned. The acting is rarely as good, the actors don’t often look like the characters, the arcs get shortened or axed, and the costumes look clumsly, clunky, and ridiculous. Sadly, Cowboy Bebop seems to be just the latest example.

Hopefully there’s an understanding of this concept and someone is able to figure out the formula. It may also help to understand that not every anime deserves an adaptation and some would be better suited with a 3D CGI movie rather than a live-action film.

Cowboy Bebop season 1 is streaming on Netflix.

Source: Twitter/John Cho