Netflix’s ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Star Daniella Pineda Calls On Hollywood “To Do A Better Job” When Adapting Anime
Speaking from first-hand experience, Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop star Daniella Pineda believes that Hollywood needs to start treating the popular anime IPs they’ve become so obsessed in adapting with the proper respect that not just the source material, but also its fans deserve.
Pineda, who appeared in the disastrous live-action adaptation of Shinichirō Watanabe’s seminal work as its version of Faye Valentine, offered her thoughts on the American film industry’s ongoing ignorance as to the ‘heart’ of what makes various anime so beloved to their given fan bases while speaking to The Direct on the red carpet for The Account 2, which she stars in alongside The Punisher star Jon Bernthal and returning lead Ben Affleck.
Asked by the outlet as to whether or not she had any thoughts on Cowboy Bebop‘s swift cancellation – Netflix announced its decision just three weeks after it premiered – the actress asserted, “I feel like those animations, they mean so much to people, and they’re so personal, and I think people really connect to when they watched it and the point of their lives. And so, I just feel like, and I’ll say this, having been in one, I think that those studios, they need to do a better job at valuing that IP.”
“It’s really special,” she added. “And people on [Netflix’s] Bebop, they worked very, very hard, but [the original anime] is just a special thing.”
Continuing her thoughts, Pineda then acknowledged “And I understand why the fans felt the way that they did, but I also think that there’s a lot of really cool, wonderful things that we did.”
“And I also wish that we could have gotten the second season,” she told her host. “You know, sometimes you just need one season to get things going, and then you prove yourself.”
Admittedly, while it seems like Pineda’s heart is in the right place (whether or not she actually means it or said so under advisement from a PR coach will understandably be a matter of debate), given just how badly the live-action series mangled the source material, it’s unlikely that, even given an infinite amount of season to do so, Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop could’ve righted its ship.
Sure, more episodes could have allowed the writing team to bring the characters’ personalities more in-line with their anime counterparts, but that’s ultimately just a surface level (albeit important) aspect of the series’ identity.
In the end, short of either starting over from square one or messily attempting to ‘get everything into place’, the damage is already done – thanks to such ‘creative decisions’ as overtly showing Vicious as being abusive towards Julia or Jet having a wife and daughter, the series already lost sight of the core ‘space Western’ story that captured fans of the original.
Oh, and not to mention that the first season with Spike’s clock-tower-set final battle against Vicious – an event that actually served as the conclusion to the original anime.
In other words, thought Pineda thinks a second season could have ‘proven’ itself as a worthy adaptation, one wonders how that’s possible when its would have been composed of largely new – or at least heavily-modified – material.
Capping off her time with The Direct, Pineda ultimately asked if could take a moment to “clarify” her infamously aggressive video response to those critics who were unhappy with the reveal of Faye’s live-action appearance.
“So, years ago, when the franchise came out on Netflix – I was shooting a movie in Puerto Rico, and I was goofing off, and I made some — I’m not used to anyone watching my videos—And I made this, dumb video, kind of poking fun at myself, because I was getting all of these DM’s from people saying, like, ‘You’re terrible and you’re fat. Go away.’ Just like, awful, awful messages,” she explained.
“So I just made this, like on-a-whim [Instagram] Story, just joking about the fact that, like, ‘Sorry, guys, I’m sorry I was cast,'” said Pineda. “And I used the word ‘fans’ when I meant to say ‘trolls,’ and then it caught wind. And everybody was like, ‘She’s hating on the fans.’ And I was like, ‘This is getting lost in translation. I’m responding to trolls, not fans.’ And it got really swept up anyway. I just had to put that out there.”
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