My guess would be that's because this show and the original have basically nothing in common.
The anime was an unique mishmash of influences from all over the place - Westerns, Hong Kong cinema, hardboiled fiction, film noir, hard sci-fi, etc. - which, despite all odds, actually coalesced into a coherent whole. Perhaps even more importantly, it took itself seriously. It spent a fair deal of time detailing things like hyperspace gate tolls, terraforming techniques and the logistics of goods transportation through space for no other reason than to make the world the series is set in as cohesive and believable as possible, and though there were certainly silly episodes, such as Mushroom Samba, Toys in the Attic or Cowboy Funk, each of the main characters' main story was handled with every bit of the appropriate dramatic weight. It never once does this current-day Hollywood "LOL, look how goofy this whole thing is" bit.
This show, on the other hand, seems to live and die by it, from the over-stylized, cartoonish visuals to the incessant Joss Whedon quipping; it doesn't seem to know or care about any of the influences the original wore on its sleeve, and seems to me, quite frankly, about as concerned with creating a believable hard sci-fi setting as Guardians of the Galaxy was.
So really, it wouldn't surprise me if people who are unfamiliar with the original would be more likely to enjoy it, as it is essentially Cowboy Bebop in name only.
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