New Netflix series, Cowboy Bebop, features some seriously cool cars.
The show is a live-action adaptation of a classic anime series, and has had the internet buzzing.
Warning: Mild spoilers ahead.
The show features a weird mix of vintage cars and futuristic space vehicles, which is interesting for a show set 150 years in the future and across a number of planets and asteroid colonies.
Described as “neo-noir space western,” the Los Angeles Times explains the show like this: “Set in the not-too-distant future after humans have had to colonize other planets and moons within the solar system, Cowboy Bebop follows a misfit crew of bounty hunters who operate out of the spaceship Bebop. This includes the ship’s hard-working captain, Jet Black (Mustafa Shakir), his laid-back partner with a mysterious past, Spike Spiegel (John Cho), and — eventually — the scrappy and determined Faye Valentine (Daniella Pineda).”
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Fans of anime will be familiar with the show, as it's beloved fan favourite. And like the anime original, the Netflix remake shows protagonists engaging in hand-to-hand combat in odd places that look like America’s Wild West, orbital casinos, and the likes.
Did we mention that the show is also shot entirely in New Zealand?
There are also some seriously cool cars, car chases, and crashes. The whole universe seems to be populated by people who actively drive old American muscle cars and European commuter cars. It isn't explained what the cars run on (petrol, electricity, or something else entirely), but Cowboy Bebop has always been full of anachronistic technology.
The first episode features a 1950s Pontiac, which sets the tone for what's to come. Later in the episode, Spike and his target stand next to a yellow 1970s Chevy Camaro. It's then seen speeding away when things go awry.
In another episode, we meet the former partner of ex-cop Jet, who drives a late 1950s Buick Roadmaster. And we also get a glimpse at a stylish 1970s Mercury Cougar convertible in the series.
Two women in another episode are seen trying to get an old Fiat 500 to run, and there's a burnt-out Citroën DS behind it too.
In the season finale, Jet's drives a '60s Oldsmobile Toronado in the lead-up to a big shootout, and there's a lot more good cars where that came from.
You can check out Cowboy Bebop on Netflix now.
