Cowboy Bebop anime creator Shinichiro Watanabe wasn't a fan of the Netflix adaptation

The opening scene mentioned by Watanabe is an abridged version of the opening of the film "Cowboy Bebop", "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" (Watanabe directed said film). In both scenes, our anti-heroes Spike Spiegel and Jet Black capture a gang with bounties on their heads. Spike enters the scene, wearing headphones and cool as a cucumber, before they get caught in a bind.

In the movie, the setting is a convenience store, but in the Netflix version, it's Watanabe Casino — the director didn't notice or ignore the compliment. The scene includes some text dialogue from the movie, but that makes it look weird, not faithful. Rather than the anime's fluid fight choreography, with often uninterrupted coverage, the Netflix show has frequent cuts and close-ups to hide the obvious staged action.

Poverty and corrupt corporations were the themes of the original "Cowboy Bebop," but in the Netflix version, the bounty boss repeatedly says out loud how much he hates big business. Rather than trusting his audience to pick up themes, Netflix's "Bebop" tries to hold his hand and spell it out with dialogue (more on that later).

The scene diverges when one of the crooks blows a hole in the hull of the casino. From there, the scene pays homage to the heyday of "Aliens," with the characters clinging as the emptiness of space grips them. Apparently the "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" scene wasn't sci-fi enough.

By shutting down the show after this scene, Watanabe avoided the worst the show had to offer.