“Gateway Shuffle” is perhaps best remembered by fans of the series for for its pulse-pounding finale where Spike and Faye Valentine, aboard their respective ships Swordfish II and the Red Tail, desperately attempt to shoot down a barrage virus-touting missiles launched by Murdock before beating a hasty escape through a hyperspace gate only seconds away from closing. As calculating as she is deranged, Murdock makes for a dangerous enemy for the Bebop crew whose ambitions are nothing short of cataclysmic. The menacing-looking woman in the floppy hat flanked by gas mask-wearing gunmen is Maria Murdock, the leader of an extremist animal rights group in the fourth episode of the series, “Gateway Shuffle.” Murdock, being a noted criminal with a substantial bounty on her head, is taken in by Spike and Jet after she and her underlings inadvertently kill the target they had originally been tracking. As for the episode itself, “Asteroid Blues” is an excellent introduction to the universe of Cowboy Bebop and series’ lead characters Spike Spiegel and Jet Black, establishing the series’ characteristic blend of suspense, intrigue, and action. It’s unknown how early in the live-action series the pair will make their appearance, but given that their bounty in the series isn’t a particularly high one, one imagines they’ll be introduced relatively early on. Asimov’s proclivity for violence, exacerbated by his personal use of Bloody Eye, drives a wedge between him and his wife Katerina, who wants to do only what is necessary to build a better life. “Asteroid Blues,” the first episode of the original Cowboy Bebop anime, is alluded to with the appearance of Asimov and Katerina Solensan, a couple fleeing an unnamed crime syndicate after stealing an experimental performance-enhancing drug called “Bloody Eye.” Looking to sell enough of the new drug to their contacts on the asteroid of Tijuana (aka “TJ”), the pair inevitably cross paths with bounty hunter Spike Spiegel and his partner Jet Black as they flee to Mars in hopes of starting a new life. Then again, you could always just watch the series in its entirety it’s still amazing even after all these years, and streaming on Funimation, Hulu, and on Netflix starting Oct. Poring across the trailer with eagle-eyed attention, we’ve come up with a list of eight must-see episodes of the original anime series that you should watch before the live-action adaptation premieres on Nov. Replicating the distinctive visuals of the series’ iconic opening title sequence with a new orchestration of composer Yoko Kanno’s theme song “Tank!,” the live-action series’ title trailer dropped several tantalizing visuals of some of the original anime’s most memorable characters and storylines. The original 26-episode series is hallowed ground for a generation of anime fans who came of age around the turn of the century, and has been widely hailed as one of the definitive gateway titles to the medium of anime. The sci-fi neo-noir series directed by Shinichirō Watanabe centers on the misadventures of a band of bounty hunters with an infectious soundtrack that combined jazz numbers with scintillating rock ballads and melancholic acoustic guitars. Premiering on Japanese television in 1998 before airing in the West during the late-night animation block Adult Swim in 2001, Cowboy Bebop is regarded as a cross-cultural milestone in the history of Japanese animation. And if the opening credits sequence, which premiered during Netflix’s Tudum fan event in September, is any indication, the show will introduce audiences new and old to John Cho, Mustafa Shakir, and Daniella Pineda’s mirror renditions of Spike Spiegel, Jet Black, and Faye Valentine, along with a host of supporting characters. This November, Netflix will unveil its long-gestating, live-action adaptation of the Cowboy Bebop anime.
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