Cowboy Bebop is the latest in the long line of controversial American adaptations of anime series, which makes some huge changes from its source for better and for worse. One of the most interesting character shake-ups came to the series' deuteragonist; Jet Black.
The original Cowboy Bebop requires no introduction, Shinichiro Watanabe's genre-bending anime classic remains among the biggest names in anime. Netflix's brand new take on the narrative completely rearranges huge aspects of the narrative, characters, setting, storyline and creates a very different product overall.
Jet Black is the captain of the eponymous starship Bebop and a bounty hunter alongside Spike Spiegel, Faye Valentine, and Edward. Jet is, at least in years lived, the oldest member of the Bebop's crew and acts as the wise voice of reason for the team. Before becoming a bounty hunter, Jet was an investigator with the Inter-Solar System Police. Jet gained a reputation for his dogged determination in pursuing justice, earning the nickname "Black Dog."
In those days, Jet forged a relationship with a woman named Alisa which ended abruptly, leaving Jet to ponder for years. When he was with the force, Jet uncovered corruption within his organization, and lost his arm in a shootout with a dirty cop. Abandoned by his love and disgusted with the corrosive corruption, Jet left the force to become a bounty hunter. He later avenged himself upon his former partner, killing him in a firefight. The ending of Jet's story is unknown, the last fans see of him is immediately before Spike takes off to face his final fate. At his core, Jet is the moral center of the crew, as well as the one who keeps the operation running more often than not.
Jet is an interesting character to adapt. Among the main cast, his personality probably remains the most well-preserved but his motivations and personal storyline change substantially. Mustafa Shakir portrays the character with a solid emotional core and a fun presence in comedy scenes. The biggest change by far is the introduction of Kimmie, Jet's estranged daughter. In the live-action iteration, Alissa is shifted from enigmatic lost love to acrimonious ex-wife. The live-action series sees Jet sent to jail after his attempts to root out corruption in the ISSP, and that time away ruins his marriage and leads to loss of custody over his daughter. Alissa is also shown to be in a relationship with an old coworker of Jet's, a constant point of humiliation for the character. This element of Jet's new story completely changes his attitude and shifts the focus of his narrative into a very different context.
One of the biggest problems with Netflix's Cowboy Bebop is its constant need to reiterate and re-establish ideas for the audience. Jet's main motivation is no longer the honest desire to make a living. Instead, he talks almost non-stop about providing for his daughter. The first few episodes see Jet bring up an expensive gift he intends to buy for his daughter multiple times, in fact, it's his sub-plot for the third episode. When Spike and Jet acquire the iconic hyper-intelligent corgi Ein, Jet's plan is to give him away as a new gift for his daughter. Jet's nagging ex-wife refuses the dog, and Jet is forced to bring him back to join the team as he did in the show. These choices turn Jet into a much less original and much less interesting character.
Jet is, at least in personality, fairly close to his anime iteration. He is still the voice of reason, he still admonishes Spike for the collateral damage he causes, he still gives sage advice to his friends when they're unsure. His new motivations could be seen as adding depth to the character, but they are almost inarguably generic when compared to Jet's original iteration. For one thing, his new relationship with Alissa pales in comparison to the anime's take. Her fierce independence has been replaced with one-dimensional nagging, making her an obstacle more than a character. A detective with a difficult ex-spouse and an estranged child has been overdone for decades, and it hurts Jet Black to slot him into that easy trope.
Jet's past with the ISSP and his confrontation with his corrupt partner is executed nearly identically to its presence in the anime. Like the source material, Jet is brought to his old home planet by his former partner under the auspices of investigating the old case, discovers his betrayal, and kills him in self-defense. The only significant change in this narrative is the nature of the criminal organization which infested the ISSP. In the live-action version, the gang which turned Jet's partner against him is the same organization that once employed Spike, tying their narratives together before they ever met. This, like many of the changes in the new iteration, serves to make the story feel small, providing more information about the Cowboy Bebop narrative than was ever necessary.
The changes made to Jet Black serve to make him a generic ex-cop ripped straight from the pages of an old novel, rather than the complex character he once was. Fans will likely enjoy Shakir's performance, even if the writing makes the character less interesting.