The cross-connected stories also make this new series much easier to follow than its anime counterpart. Faye (Daniella Pineda), Spike (John Cho), Jet (Mustafa Shakir), and EinĪ flashback of Julia and Spike (a.k.a. And Daniella Pineda as Faye works perfectly for how this series has evolved that character, making her more grounded and sensible than her anime counterpart. Mustafa Shakir as Jet is perfect, with Jet’s character being the most faithful to the anime. John Cho absolutely rocks as Spike Spiegel, and his performance is easily my favorite part of the series. The music sparks nostalgic feelings throughout each episode. While I’m still only about 80% happy with how the story has evolved from the anime, the overall experience has me enthralled. Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop hits all the right notes for me. The result now that I’ve seen it? I’m in love. It freed my mind to experience the new creation as its own experience that’s inspired by the original work but not seeking to duplicate or replace that work. That’s the approach I’ve taken with Dune recently, too. But, it will be its own thing, and its quality and value should be evaluated independently, not held in comparison to the anime. It may tell some of the same stories and have many of the same characters. If Spike Spiegel is indeed Jewish, as viewers can potentially decide, then Cowboy Bebop includes one of the few instances of tasteful Jewish representation in genre fiction to date.I adopted the mindset that the live-action Bebop would be an evolution, not a retelling. While his potential Jewish identity is unintentional, the interpretation of Spike as being Jewish makes him a rare breath of fresh air in the science fiction/noir genre. Still, the idea of Spike Spiegel being a non-stereotypical Jewish protagonist in a science fiction series is important for its own reasons.Īlthough genre fiction is, refreshingly, becoming more diverse in recent years, Jewish characters are still often overlooked, played by non-Jewish actors and actresses, and depicted with outdated and harmful stereotypes. In the case of Cowboy Bebop’s live-action adaptation, Spike Spiegel’s name is an alias, making his potential Jewish background highly unlikely, unlike the anime version. Instead, Spike Spiegel’s name and appearance are simply meant to look and sound “ cool,” as described by the creators. Spike’s background as a mobster-turned-bounty hunter, his love for Julia, his relationships with the rest of The Bebop’s crew, and his rivalry with his former friend Vicious are what truly matter for his character. In this way, Spike Spiegel’s seemingly Jewish identity in Cowboy Bebop appears wholly unintentional on the creators’ parts. If one interprets Spike Spiegel as Jewish, however, he becomes a rare and refreshing instance of a Jewish protagonist in genre fiction who isn’t depicted as embodying harmful stereotypes, as is often the case. What this ultimately means is that Spike’s ethnic background isn’t particularly important to Cowboy Bebop’s creators and is up for interpretation on the viewers’ parts. Although Spike’s appearance is modeled after Yūsaku Matsuda's character in Tantei Monogatari, Shinichirō Watanabe gave a noncommittal “ sure, why not” when asked directly if Spike Spiegel is Jewish. Yet Cowboy Bebop’s co-creators have never been too concerned with Spike Spiegel’s ethnic background. Related: How Cowboy Bebop’s First Episode Secretly Has A Major Villain Reveal Even Spike’s English voice actor, Steve Blum, is Jewish, making it reasonable to infer that Spike Spiegel is as well when combining all of these elements. Spike’s hair and skin tone suggest that he’s of Levantine heritage, and his surname, Spiegel, is common among Ashkenazi Jews, who are a Jewish diaspora group. Jewish identity can be based on ethnicity or religion, and while Spike is most likely not a religious character, he could be Jewish by ethnicity.
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