
On November 19, Netflix is set to launch a live-action adaptation of iconic anime series Cowboy Bebop starring John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Daniella Pineda. As part of its recent Tudum event festivities, the streaming platform showed off its brand new, surprisingly good opening credits sequence for the series. Well, “brand new” might be overselling it, because the reason the Netflix intro is such a pleasant surprise is because it retains the original theme song (series composer Yoko Kanno’s “Tank!”) and the aesthetics are pulled straight from the original anime.
In another unexpected move, the new intro features direct references to a bunch of episodes from the original anime, meaning those episodes are either being directly adapted into live-action or are at least informing the kinds of stories that Netflix and showrunner André Nemec are aiming to tell. So, for Cowboy Bebop newcomers curious about where to start and experienced bounty hunters who are rightfully a little wary of yet another live-action anime adaptation from Netflix alike, here are eight Cowboy Bebop episodes referenced in the Netflix intro (in chronological order) and what they can tell us about the new version of the show.