@movie_nazi said:

I don't really mind that they made Jet black. After all, the VO actor for the anime series is black but why make Spike Asian and Faye white? In the original series Spike was white and Faye was Asian. I was wondering how they were going to explain how an Asian guy has a European-Jewish name but the trailers shows that he changed his name to hide his identity. Anyways, I hate the ethno swapping. I get if all the characters were white before and they wanted to add some color but this swap makes no fkn sense.

Maybe they couldn't get an Asian actress at the time? Maybe Cho paid them off? And the actress who plays Faye is Hispanic.

@bratface said:

@movie_nazi said:

I don't really mind that they made Jet black. After all, the VO actor for the anime series is black but why make Spike Asian and Faye white? In the original series Spike was white and Faye was Asian. I was wondering how they were going to explain how an Asian guy has a European-Jewish name but the trailers shows that he changed his name to hide his identity. Anyways, I hate the ethno swapping. I get if all the characters were white before and they wanted to add some color but this swap makes no fkn sense.

Maybe they couldn't get an Asian actress at the time? Maybe Cho paid them off? And the actress who plays Faye is Hispanic.

Yeah right. I am sure there is a line of well qualified Asian actors who could have filled that role. Hispanic is white BTW.

@movie_nazi said:

@bratface said:

@movie_nazi said:

I don't really mind that they made Jet black. After all, the VO actor for the anime series is black but why make Spike Asian and Faye white? In the original series Spike was white and Faye was Asian. I was wondering how they were going to explain how an Asian guy has a European-Jewish name but the trailers shows that he changed his name to hide his identity. Anyways, I hate the ethno swapping. I get if all the characters were white before and they wanted to add some color but this swap makes no fkn sense.

Maybe they couldn't get an Asian actress at the time? Maybe Cho paid them off? And the actress who plays Faye is Hispanic.

Yeah right. I am sure there is a line of well qualified Asian actors who could have filled that role. Hispanic is white BTW.

Some Hispanics consider themselves 'people of color'.

@bratface said:

@movie_nazi said:

@bratface said:

@movie_nazi said:

I don't really mind that they made Jet black. After all, the VO actor for the anime series is black but why make Spike Asian and Faye white? In the original series Spike was white and Faye was Asian. I was wondering how they were going to explain how an Asian guy has a European-Jewish name but the trailers shows that he changed his name to hide his identity. Anyways, I hate the ethno swapping. I get if all the characters were white before and they wanted to add some color but this swap makes no fkn sense.

Maybe they couldn't get an Asian actress at the time? Maybe Cho paid them off? And the actress who plays Faye is Hispanic.

Yeah right. I am sure there is a line of well qualified Asian actors who could have filled that role. Hispanic is white BTW.

Some Hispanics consider themselves 'people of color'.

Hispanic is just a label to point out that their origins are of a Spanish speaking country. You can be hispanic and be asian, black, indigenous or white.

According to some things I have read, the author stated in the third manga series that Spike was Oriental (an outdated term for asian).

@bratface said:

According to some things I have read, the author stated in the third manga series that Spike was Oriental (an outdated term for asian).

According to Wantanabe, the anime's director when asked if Spike was Jewish (as the surname implies), he replied with a "Sure, why not":

https://screenrant.com/cowboy-bebop-anime-spike-spiegel-jewish-coded-explained/

There are so many different statements by the people who are connected to this. Here is a statement by Wantanabe from 1999 (bolding mine):

"At Otakon 1999, Watanabe stated at the anime panel that the name Spike Spiegel was chosen because he liked the sound only, not because of Jewish origins. Kawamoto based the Spike's hairstyle and appearance on the Japanese actor, Yusaku Matsuda. The concept of Spike was created months before Kawamoto was hired and had input from Watanabe on designing the character."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Spiegel#Characteristics

@bratface said:

There are so many different statements by the people who are connected to this. Here is a statement by Wantanabe from 1999 (bolding mine):

"At Otakon 1999, Watanabe stated at the anime panel that the name Spike Spiegel was chosen because he liked the sound only, not because of Jewish origins. Kawamoto based the Spike's hairstyle and appearance on the Japanese actor, Yusaku Matsuda. The concept of Spike was created months before Kawamoto was hired and had input from Watanabe on designing the character."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spike_Spiegel#Characteristics

Yep, that is actually totally what I suspected. He had no idea that the name was a common ethnically Jewish name and he just thought it "sounded cool" . That is so Japanese. 😁