Netflix, on September 25, released the OP sequence for itsCowboy BebopTV series, which includes Yoko Kanno iconic theme songTank,and teases a few returning characters from the anime including Pierrot le Fou and Gren.
Note that I’ll keep spoilers to a minimum for those who’ve (sadly) never seen theCowboy Bebopanime in their lives yet. True, Cowboy Bebop aired in 1998. That’s over 20 years ago now. But I’m strongly against the idea that it’s okay to spoil a series if it’s “old”. Or that “everyone must have seen it already”. So don’t worry about that. If you wanna go in the original anime completely blank though, you might wanna just skip this post altogether and close this tab right now.
Explaining Pierrot le Fou and Gren from the originalCowboy Bebopanime, now back in the Netflix live-action series
Pierrot le Fou shows up at the 00:36 timestamp of the Netflix OP. He’s a villain who appears in episode 20 of Cowboy Bebop, which is also titled Pierrot le Fou. The episode features some astonishingly well-animated fights between him and our protagonist Spike.
Mad Pierrot is one of the most iconic villains of the series, is incredibly strong, and incredibly crazy. His name is a reference to the 1965 French movie with the same title, directed by Jean-Luc Godard, and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, who just passed away at 88. Pierrot le Fou is so iconic he even makes an appearance inSuper Robot Wars TasCowboy Bebopis included in the crossover’s cast list. Note that we don’t officially know who plays Pierrot le Fou yet in the Netflix series.
Meanwhile, Gren, who shows up at the 1:03 timestamp of the OP, is a major character who appears in the first arc of the series spanning two episodes: Episodes 12-13 Jupiter Jazz. Gren is a mysterious character who first meets up with Faye, and who just like Spike, has a common past with Vicious, the series' main antagonist. All three characters eventually end up reuniting in a dogfight in Jupiter’s skies.
Gren in the Netflix series is portrayed by non binary actor Mason Alexander Park. Gren literally says “I’m neither a man or a woman” in the anime series, so this casting choice is one thing Netflix got right.
Cowboy BebopNetflix OP teases several villains and iconic characters
Several other antagonists of the anime show up in the Netflix OP. Confirming their episodes will be adapted in some way. Personally speaking, I’m not moved by how the OP is like “hey remember THIS character?” with in-your-face references like that. I don’t believe I’m the target audience for this series, but hopefully, it’ll turn out nicely.
Cowboy BebopNetflix will release its 10 episodes on August 14, 2025. It’s the first-ever live-action project that sees the light of the day after a rumor over ten years ago spoke of a movie with Keanu Reeves playing Spike. You can always catch me on Twitter to chat about anime, Japanese games, and other stuff@A_iyane07.
