John Cho is Peak Sexy in ‘Cowboy Bebop’

There’s a lot of things I dislike about Netflix‘s Cowboy Bebop, but John Cho is unassailable. The actor exudes movie star levels of charm as Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter with a tortured past. He makes kill shots balletic, laughter sound bitter, and the worst lines of dialogue flow like poetry. John Cho is utterly fantastic in Cowboy Bebop. In fact, Cho is beyond fantastic. There’s a brilliance not only to the way he fully inhabits the iconic anime character, but how damn hot he is as Spike Spiegel. John Cho is peak sexy in Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop and Hollywood needs to embrace him as their new heartthrob.

Netflix’s Cowboy Bebop is an audacious live action adaptation of the beloved 1990s anime. The original Japanese animated series captivated audiences all over the world with its bold vision of the future. Humanity had left Earth and colonized the various moons, planets, and satellites of the solar system. However, instead of these interstellar communities being futuristic utopias, they were riddled with crime, destitution, and lawlessness. Cowboy Bebop envisioned the future as being closer to the days of the Wild West or 1920s Chicago than a sleek sci-fi daydream.

Doing his best to survive and thrive in this world is Spike Spiegel. Spike is a bounty hunter with a dark, criminal past working for one of the powerful syndicates. A doomed love affair forced Spike into hiding. His old compatriots believe him to be dead. And in many ways, Spike behaves like someone not quite plugged into the land of the living. As an assassin, his nickname was “Fearless,” but Spike charges into battles with total detachment. It’s not just that he doesn’t feel fear. It’s unclear if he feels truly alive.

That John Cho understands the complex psychology of Spike would be enough for any Cowboy Bebop fan. That Cho also understands that so much of the anime character’s visceral appeal came from his look, style, and physicality is a dream. Both Cho and the show lean into the idea of Spike Spiegel being a romantic hero. After all, his backstory hinges on a doomed romance. His life is defined by catching bad guys and battling through impossible odds. Cowboy Bebop pulls all these details together and makes Spike a bonafide sex symbol.

How else would you describe a character who is shot shirtless going through martial arts moves? Or a brooding hero who pines after a long-lost lover? Or, to put it simply, the kind of seductive charisma Cho is showing off at every turn?

Cowboy Bebop as a show didn’t totally work for me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate how dynamite John Cho was in it. Cho’s Spike Spiegel is a fully defined noir anti-hero. He’s a romantic, a warrior, and a damn hot piece of ass. John Cho is super duper hot in Cowboy Bebop and no one should forget it.

Watch Cowboy Bebop on Netflix