With “One Piece,” Netflix repeats history, and there isn’t much evidence that it paid attention to what happened the first time around.
“Cowboy Bebop” was a cult-favorite Japanese animated series that fetishized cool American jazz and film noir and Hollywood westerns, and in 2021 Netflix returned the cultural homage by making an American live-action adaptation.
It wasn’t a disaster, but it quickly fell from sight.
The original “Cowboy Bebop” and “One Piece” are very different creatures, but they have something important in common: They are propelled by style.
Texture, composition, sound and movement engage us and trigger our emotions; the moody revenge plot of “Bebop” and the rousingly affirmative coming-of-age story of “One Piece” are just serviceable scaffoldings.
Persons:
”, Buster Keaton, Blood ”
Organizations:
Netflix
Locations:
American, Hollywood