The next anime to receive the live-action treatment is Cowboy Bebop, a show considered to be one of the greatest anime ever made.
For nearly a decade, fans have flocked to this community to post their thoughts on Spike Spiegel and his past, funny memes, cosplay pics, and fantastic fan art.
Anime gained popularity in America during the 1990s and the 2000s with the introduction of Toonami and Adult Swim, programming blocks on Cartoon Network dedicated to airing anime and mature shows.
It only had 26 episodes and a movie but managed to maintain a huge online fanbase in the two decades following its release, thanks to communities like r/cowboybebop.
Alwaqas is from the Middle East and joined the subreddit two years ago but has been a fan of Cowboy Bebop since he was a kid.
The show pulls from so many influences that it’s able to attract an international audience.
“In 2018, the sub was barely stepping above 20,000 subs; it was pretty much dead at that point,” said -WakaJawaka-, one of the subreddit’s other moderators.
“I think after I joined, we tried to give it some life again with some small redesign, a new series rewatch discussion, and creating our Discord server, which gave a new breath of life into the community,” said -WakaJawaka-.
No_Mathematician2251 believes that YouTube video essays are the cause for this growth, while NChamars believes the answer is much simpler: the show is popular.
The negative commentary hasn’t been too common on the subreddit, stemming mostly from a vocal minority, but it has still been disappointing for SonicFrost.
There’s always an enlightening conversation to be had and fan art projects and cosplay to admire.” For Alwaqas, his favorite aspect is how welcoming the community is.
After the Netflix show debuts, the subreddit will no doubt grow larger, meaning even more people will get to experience how this welcoming feeling.
There seems to be an expectation that the Netflix show will bring in new users.