By As contentious as Netflix’s live-action Cowboy Bebop is for certain internet denizens, some recent news regarding the series will certainly be of interest to fans of the anime. In a post from the Netflix Japan Anime Twitter account, the streaming juggernaut revealed that the original cast from the anime will be reprising their roles for the Japanese dub of this adaptation. That’s rad!
原作アニメのメンバーと豪華キャストが
23年ぶりに新たな世界をお届け！実写版『カウボーイビバップ』
日本版キャスト決定✨■スパイク・スピーゲル／#山寺宏一 さん
■ビシャス／#若本規夫 さん
■フェイ・ヴァレンタイン／#林原めぐみ さん
■ジュリア／#高島雅羅 さん#ネトフリアニメ
(続)☟ pic.twitter.com/BhanodDCte— Netflix Japan Anime (@NetflixJP_Anime) October 12, 2021
For those that can’t read Japanese, it notes that Koichi Yamadera will return as Spike Spiegel. Yamadera has been busy in the years since Cowboy Bebop originally ran by voicing Beerus in Dragon Ball Super and Akiyama Shun in the Yakuza video game series. Megumi Hayashibara (Ranma 1/2, Evangelion) will reprise Feye Valentine, and Norio Wakamoto (Code Geass, Legend of the Galactic Heroes) will return as Vicious. Taiten Kusunoki (Naruto, The Prince of Tennis) will take the place of Jet as original actor Unsho Ishizuka passed away in 2018.
A second tweet includes secondary characters with many featuring the original cast members. These include the following:
- Julia (Elena Satine) – Gara Takashima
- Punch (Ira Munn) – Tsutomu Tareki
- Judy (Lucy Currey) – Miki Nagasawa
- Shin (Ann Truong) – Romi Park
- Lin (Hoa Xuande) – Hikaru Midorikawa
- Teddy Bomber (Rodney Cook) – Takaya Hashi
- Mao (Rachel House) – Masako Isobe
- Gren (Mason Alexander Park) – Kenyuu Horiuchi
While this news is unlikely to change the minds of naysayers, I think it’s a fantastic way to bridge the gap between the original and the new version. It also gives those original actors some new material to perform, which is always something to look forward to.
Cowboy Bebop is set to premiere on Netflix this November.
Source: Twitter, Siliconera
