Funny enough, I had just started re-watching the anime when this news dropped, and was about to come in here and admit that the Live Action thing wasn't quite as good as my initial excitement made me ... I don't know, want it to be?
Then this happened and I said, "Well, Johnny, you went and talked a whole bunch of junk. Better get your fork knife and bib, you got some words to eat."
You guys were right. I re-watched "Asteroid Blues" and "Stray Dog Strut," and came away feeling like "Oh right... this was all drawn by hand, and that's **fucking unreal.**" It's silly at times, but also full of heart and soul and mysticism, none of which are present in the adaptation. Just the silliness and action, and that's about it.
John Cho was delightful as Spike, for sure, but at the same time, ...That's really not who Spike is. Cho is affable, sometimes goofy, and of course can do the kung fu necessary for the role, but...
Spike has a certain deathly calm, mixed in with his whimsy, which you find out almost right away in Ep 1 (of the anime) hides quite a bad temper.
Spike: "You called this 'bell peppers and beef...'"
Jet: "Yeah."
S: "There's no beef in it. So you really wouldn't call it 'bell peppers and beef,' would you?"
J: "Yeah, I would."
S: "...WELL IT'S NOT"
I don't feel like the show captures this "loud-soft-loud" dynamic all that well. Live Action Spike is just too nice.
The rest of the show looks like a very expensive stageplay, intercut with some fairly well-done CGI footage. That's really not very good for a show that apparently cost quite a bit of money to make. It's relegated to the ages, now.
We watched anime because it didn't look cheap and stupid like Disney Cartoons. If you try to skimp, anime fans will know.
And that's what we call, "Learning the lesson the hard way."
So uh, are my words ready yet? ?