I don’t get it; he couldn’t get into it because he didn’t like those characters, or because he thought Bebop was being derivative? If it’s the latter, then that’s missing one of the main points of the series. One of the things I like about the series is that they took the “jazz” theme and carried it through everything – it’s basically “anime jazz.” Just like jazz musicians took traditional instruments and melodies and used them to create something new, Bebop takes well known characters (Lupin et. al.), character types (the hacker, the martial arts expert, the cyborg), settings (sci-fi, westerns), and anime standards (robots and spaceships, barely-dressed women), throws them all together, and makes something new out of them.
As for the Spike == Lupin thing, one of the creators/character designers of the series said as much in an interview. Their nature isn’t the same, obviously, and Spike is 1000 times more interesting a character than Lupin, but the inspiration is there.
Charles is always “looking for something new.” I think he felt that he had already seen Bebop because he was familiar with Lupin III.
Still, strangely enough, he was a vast ever-increasing anime collection, yet only actually watches and enjoys a small portion of it. You’d think he’d get Cowboy Bebop in there accidentally by now.
I find Lupin just as interesting as Spike, if not more so - do we need a new thread on this?