The latest Cowboy Bebop series on Netflix has taken many fans by surprise. Some applaud the new direction, while many others vastly prefer the style of the classic anime TV series. However, for some, a question still remains as to the origins of these characters. The Netflix series is only the latest version, clearly based on the anime, but was Cowboy Bebop a manga before that?
Was Cowboy Bebop a manga before an anime?
Cowboy Bebop began not as a manga, but as an anime series developed for television. The original animated series was created by Sunrise, and the first episode aired in Japan in April of 1998. However, it was also adapted into a manga which was serialized in October 1997, months before the first episode aired.
Ultimately, all versions of Cowboy Bebop are based around the original animated series. At the time, the production team was credited as Hajime Yatate. Now, we know the series had direction by Shinichirō Watanabe, screenwriting by Keiko Nobumoto, and character designs by Toshihiro Kawamoto. What they created is still popular to this day, as Cowboy Bebop remains one of the most acclaimed animated series ever produced. Small wonder why Netflix was interested in a remake.
However, things get tricky with regard to the manga, specifically Cowboy Bebop: Shooting Star, illustrated by Cain Kuga. The anime series was already in production, with plans to go to air, once the manga adaptation was first serialized in Asuka Fantasy DX in 1997. Technically speaking, many readers got their first introduction to Spike Spiegel and the Bebop crew months before the anime ever aired. It was an odd choice, since the manga changed a few things, like making Ed male. It wasn’t until April the following year that fans were able to watch the show the manga was based on.
This same problem isn’t held by the simply titled Cowboy Bebop manga, which debuted in April 1999. That series was illustrated by Yutaka Nanten, and follows the anime much more closely than Shooting Star.
All in all, it’s only slightly confusing. The Cowboy Bebop anime was created first, but the manga adaptation was the first to print. Everything that’s followed, including the divisive Netflix series, is based around the original anime.
