Yoko Kanno, who scored the original anime, isn’t the only one returning to Cowboy Bebop. The entire, original voice cast is, too, who will be dubbing the live-action Netflix show’s Japanese language track.
That’s right, not just some of the original Japanese language cast, but the entire Japanese language cast. This is the first time the full cast has been reunited in two decades—since the 2001 theatrical feature Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, after the original anime TV series ended in 1998.
According to Netflix Japan, the following voice actors will be returning to do the Japanese language dub: Koichi Yamadera as Spike, Taiten Kusunoki as Jet Black, Megumi Hayashibara as Faye, Norio Wakamoto as Vicious, Gara Takashima as Julia, Tsutomu Tareki as Punch, Miki Nagasawa as Judy, Takaya Hashi as Teddy Bomber, Masako Isobe as Mao, and Kenyu Horiuchi as Gren. Romi Park will also dub Shin, while Hikaru Midorikawa will dub Lin.
It sure is impressive Netflix got the whole gang back together.
The live-action adaptation of Shinichiro Watanabe’s space noir about a group of bounty hunters stars John Cho as Spike Spiegel, Daniella Pineda as Faye Valentine, and Mustafa Shakir as Jet Black. Will the live-action Cowboy Bebop be any good? We’ll find out next month. But Netflix’s record with live-action anime adaptations has been spotty. For example, Death Note was not well received. Hopefully lessons have been learned, and future live-action adaptations will be better.
It’s good that Netflix got the original cast together (a hopeful sign!), and if you know Japanese, it might be fun to skip the subtitles and turn on the Japanese language option. And if the show does suck, you can just close your eyes and listen along.
Cowboy Bebop beings streaming on Netflix starting November 19.