My brother asked me the night before last which anime I considered to be the finest example of the genre. Assuming he was referring to series, not film, I answered – without hesitation – that it was Cowboy Bebop. I stand by that assessment.

With that in mind, when I first heard Keanu Reeves was up for the role of Spike Spiegel, I was cautiously optimistic. I will not defend Reeves as a high-caliber thespian. But he is competent in a narrow range of roles, namely those that require him to stand around and not say too much. Neo in the Matrix worked well for him in this regard, and I believe that Spike Spiegel will do the same.

Now that Aint-It-Cool-News has confirmed this rumor,  I am doubly optimistic. Reeves’ onscreen martial arts credentials are pretty solid, having trained under Yuen Woo Ping on the Matrix films – and I am curious who they’ll bring in to give him some Jeet Kune Do chops. Plus, Reeves looks really good for the role – although its’ worth noting that Spiegel was modeled after Japanese actor Yusaku Matsuda…who is currently dead and hence not available (though that didn’t stop him from appearing in Capcom’s Onuimusha 2).

So – to summarize: Keanu Reeves in Cowboy Bebop gives me warm fuzzies.