Koichi Yamadera, the Voice of Spike Spiegel, Rejects the Idea of a ‘Cowboy Bebop’ Spin-Off

For many anime fans, Cowboy Bebop is the ultimate anime experience. The one-season series became a massive hit and a proper cult classic, with basically everyone citing it as one of the best anime series ever made. And while a movie was released and we also had Netflix’s failed attempt at a live-action revival, Cowboy Bebop is more or less a thing of the past as the original series has been untouched and unfazed by the recent revival and reboot craze. And while there has been some activity there, with merch coming out and even a remaster of the original OST, the 25th anniversary of the anime once again raised the hopes of those hoping for another Cowboy Bebop work, but it seems that this is not going to happen.

As part of the anniversary celebration, voice actor Koichi Yamadera gave an interview in Japan, discussing his relationship with the role of Spike Spiegel while revealing his thoughts on the future of the series.

Yamadera actually revealed that he was quite satisfied with the original ending but also expressed his concerns that he would never be able to surpass the role of Spike and that while he wanted to give the role another go, he did not think it was a good idea at this moment. Here is what he said:

I’m sure all the staff think so too [on surpassing the series]. It’s hard to list many series I can say I’m truly proud of, or are my most important work, after all. I have a lot of feelings about Bebop.Following the series’ release, they indeed decided to produce the Heaven’s Door movie set during the events of the latter half of Cowboy Bebop — so I do think there were several spin-off ideas — but I don’t think we should do that given the passing of Unsho Ishizuka and Keiko Nobumoto.

(Source)

In case you don’t know, Unshō Ishizuka voiced Jet Black in the original Japanese anime, while Keiko Nobumoto was the original screenwriter of the anime series. Ishizuka died in 2018 due to an infection caused by cancer, while Nobumoto died in 2021 due to cancer. They were 67 and 57 years old, respectively.

As you can see, Yamadera confirmed that there had been plans to expand the Cowboy Bebop universe, but it seems that the cult classic series is going to remain as it is, and we can only agree that it seems like it would be for the best. Cowboy Bebop is a fantastic series, and the legacy of the show speaks for itself, which is why there really is no need to revive it again. The original series did end with a cliffhanger, and Spike’s fate is still up in the air, but it is how it should be, and it feels quite natural.

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