If “get everybody and the stuff together” means “get Yoko Kanno and her amazing musical talent,” then yes, it’s time to jam.
Hollywood has been showing a renewed interest in adapting hit anime franchises to live-action, and whenever a new project gets announced, the first question on fans’ minds is whether the source material’s director or original creator will be involved. But when Netflix let it be known that they’re giving Cowboy Bebop the live-action treatment, there was one other member of the 1998 anime’s staff that everyone wanted to know if an invitation was going to be extended to: soundtrack composer Yoko Kanno.
Netflix has now definitively answered that question, posting a video to Twitter that boldly asserts:
“There’s no Bebop without Yoko.”
The news comes as part of Netflix’s Geeked Week virtual event, and the video shows the cast members who’ll be playing the core cast of space-faring bounty hunters Spike, Faye, and Jet: John Cho (sporting a lengthy hairdo meant to evoke memories of Spike’s untamable style), Daniella Pineda, and Mustafa Shakir. As the three take their seats for interviews, the unmistakable opening of “Tank!”, the Bebop opening theme, starts playing, triggering all sorts of fond memories for anyone who’s watched as much as a single episode of the anime.
However, as enjoyable as the trip down memory lane is, the real excitement is Netflix’s declaration that Yoko Kanno “will be creating the soundtrack for the new Live Action Series,” implying that its live-action series won’t just be reusing the anime’s existing music, but instead will be accompanied by brand-new sounds from Kanno, whose work on other franchises such as Macross and Escaflowne have proven her deep and varied talents in everything from jazz to pop to orchestral pieces.
Netflix made an identical announcement through its Japanese-language anime-focused Twitter account, where reaction to Kanno’s return to Bebop has gotten an overwhelmingly positive reaction, even if a number of commenters aren’t happy about the idea of a live-action Bebop itself.
“Yoko Kanno doing the music, as it should be.”
“What a relief! I was so worried about who was going to do the music.”
“I’ve never seen the anime, but I’ve heard its soundtrack, so I’m looking forward to this.”
“OK, time to restart my Netflix subscription!”
“This is why I can’t cancel mine.”
“Don’t need a live-action Bebop at all.”
“Not liking the casting. It would have been better to go with original characters instead of Spike and Faye.”
A number of commenters also said they have their fingers crossed that when Netflix announces the voice cast for the live-action Bebop’s Japanese-language dub they’ll be bringing back Koichi Yamadera and Megumi Hayashibara to voice Spike and Faye, as they did in the anime. For right now, though, they can already look forward to the Netflix series being a treat for the ears in the music department when it premiers this fall.
Source: Twitter/@NetflixGeeked via Hachima Kiko, Twitter/@NetflixJP_Anime
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