Netflix acquires streaming rights of Cowboy Bebop anime ahead of live-action adaptation's debut

All 26 episodes of the Cowboy Bebop anime series will be available to stream on Netflix from October 21. This news comes right before the debut of the anime's live-action adaptation on the platform.

Netflix made the announcement on social media via a brief teaser featuring montages from the original anime. Comicbook.com notes that it is unclear whether this is an exclusive deal as the anime is also streaming on US platforms Hulu and Funimation. 

Shinichirō Watanabe directed Cowboy Bebop, which was written by Keiko Nobumoto. The character designer was Toshihiro Kawamoto, mechanical designer was Kimitoshi Yamane, and the composer was Yoko Kanno, according to Deadline. 

Cowboy Bebop follows three bounty hunters Spike Spiegel, Jet Black and Faye Valentine as they travel around the galaxy catching criminals in a spaceship called Bebop. 

The live-action series, which will star John Cho as Spike, is set to premiere globally on November 19. Mustafa Shakir, Daniella Pineda, Alex Hassell, Elena Satine, Tamara Tunie, Mason Alexander Park, Jay Uddin, Lydia Peckham, Adrienne Barbeau, Rodney Cook, Josh Randall are among the other cast members. 

The synopsis released by Netflix reads: "...a rag-tag crew of bounty hunters on the run from their pasts as they hunt down the solar system’s most dangerous criminals. They’ll even save the world…for the right price."

The show along with its title sequence was unveiled at Netflix's Tudum event in September. 

Deadline also mentions that the Japanese voice cast will return to dub the live-action show. Koichi Yamadera is Spike, Taiten Kusunoki is Jet, Megumi Hayashibara is Faye, Norio Wakamoto is Vicious, Gara Takashima is Julia, Tsutomu Taruki and Miki Nagasawa are Punch and Judy, Takaya Hashi is the Teddy Bomber, Kenyu Horiuchi is Gren, Masako Isobe is Mao, and Romi Park and Hikaru Midorikawa are Shin and Lin.