Why was Cowboy Bebop canceled?

On Dec. 9, Netflix users were shocked to hear that the 2021 live-action adaptation of the anime series Cowboy Bebop starring John Cho, Daniella Pineda, and Mustafa Shakir was canceled under a month after premiering on the streaming platform.

Although the series was met with plenty of mixed reviews from critics and fans alike, in general, the series was favored amongst millions of audiences, all of whom hail the show for its sci-fi epicness, great comedic timing, and action-packed battle scenes that definitely cemented this particular live-action anime adaptation as one of the best Netflix has done yet.

If the series’ first season was well-received and possibly had enough material to warrant a second season, why was this Netflix original canceled, you ask? Well, we may have the answer to just why Cowboy Bebop was canceled after one season.

Why Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop was canceled

Naturally, we won’t ever know the detailed specifics as to why Netflix executives decided to axe Cowboy Bebop, but we speculate that two main reasons stand above the rest. The first being a sharp decline in viewership.

What’s On Netflix reports that, compared to the series that arrived on the streaming platform around the same time such as Locke & Key season 2 and Arcane, Cowboy Bebop‘s viewership numbers simply weren’t up to par week-by-week. See the shocking figures down below.

As stated above, the live-action series fell just short of reaching over 100 million views, which in Netflix statistics, could be a substandard outcome. However, from fans’ perspectives, these numbers are pretty impressive, especially for a remake of a beloved anime classic. Why couldn’t these numbers save the show? Our second point may answer this question.

Simply put, it’s possible that Netflix didn’t renew the series due to a season 2 just not being necessary or, most importantly, wanted.

Aside from not living up to the 1998 original, one large critique dislikers of the Cowboy Bebop adaptation had was that the show should’ve concluded the story in one season (as the 1998 series did) rather than have left the door open for a season 2 that would have potentially strayed too far away from the original source material.

With a substantive amount of fans holding sentiments such as these, the series could have been in danger of falling even lower in viewership as many may have decided against watching a second season. All in all, it seemed that a Cowboy Bebop season 2 was a gamble that Netflix wasn’t willing to take.

It’s never fun having to bid a farewell to any series, especially one that didn’t receive a proper chance to get off of its feet. Even still, as it stands now, we’ll just have to say goodbye to our Space Cowboy once more.

Cowboy Bebop season 1 is streaming right now only on Netflix.