The story of the anime revolves around Dandy, an alien-hunter. His job is to seek out new aliens never
seen before, and receives a reward whenever he finds a new species. His mission is to find those new
species faster than anyone else as he travels the galaxy. Together with the bucket-of-bolts robot QT
and the dimwit alien Meow he picked up along the way, he comes into contact with new planets and their
inhabitants..
(Source: Anime News Network)
Space☆Dandy is a middle of the road anime. It tells the story of the daily lives of Dandy and his crew traveling through space searching for rare species of aliens for good money so they can go expend some time in BooBies, a intergalactic restaurant chain full of beautifully barmaids. Even with some incredible animation throughout it and an excellent soundtrack that accompanies the most memorable scenes couldn't make me love the show. But how Space☆Dandy manage to fail at engaging me in it’s story and characters? First of let’s take a look in the characters: The protagonist which is in the name of the anime is Dandy, he is the eccentric, pervert and lazy captain of Aloha Oe. He's also a bad alien hunter who wants to visit all the BooBies restaurants and dreams to buy the chain. On top of that he’s overconfident and have little consideration for the lives of his friends. Dandy is basically that, he has little to no development throughout the course of the show. He doesn’t change at all. His dream, passion and profession, besides supposedly have the key of the whole universe are all we know about him. Aside from that he’s your good-looking shallow action hero.The only time he does something that show us a bit more of his personality is in the only really good episode, but we’ll get to that. Now let’s take a look to the other members of the crew. QT is Dandy’s outdated vacuum cleaner robot. It’s main purpose in the show is to clean the crew’s trash, be the mechanic of the spaceship and make comic relief scenes. It doesn't help much in the field because it isn't made to fight, so it spends the majority of the time taking care of the ship when the place they land is dangerous, communicating with the others via the bracelet that Dandy and Meow have. Aside from the cute design and voice, QT also doesn’t have much to offer in terms of development. It gets the entire last episode for that end but have little impact on me because the episode isn't that interesting and throughout the series i couldn’t care for the robot enough to like the ending and be confident to say that QT changed as a character, even with facing its difficulties and losses in that episode. Lastly we have Meow, my least favorite character of the trio. He’s a Betelgeusian, the only alien of the crew. He’s introduced right after the beginning of the first episode and is as pervert and lazy as Dandy. He claims to have information about the rare aliens and join them in the hunt. Meow stays with Dandy the majority of the time outside of the spaceship but he doesn’t add much to the series. Like QT, he serves as comic relief and not much aside. His backstory episode develops his character a bit more than QT’s but even with that i couldn’t care about him. He just doesn’t do enough, he's kind of just there to have another character in the show. Before continuing to the next part i will quickly speak about some minor aspects of the anime. I believe that the Aloha Oe deserves a quick mention in this review because it's hawaiian decoration is memorable and unique, besides the spaceship with its colorful and inviting design helps with Dandy's characterization, and his room exemplifies even more so. Also, something that bother me in the course of the series is the insertion of a narrator. Apart from a joke here and there and the breaking of the fourth wall that happens a few times, his inclusion is just plain stupid and adds nothing to enhance the series. Lastly, speaking of breaks of the fourth wall, in some episodes the narrator and characters makes jokes about the situation the crew is in using this feature for good effect. It's a small detail and show up very little but it's an interesting nonetheless. So with all that out of the way we can talk about the plot. Well, there is no plot. This is a episodic series and the closest it gets to introduce a plot is with it's terrible villains, Dr. Gel and admiral Perry. They are members of the useless Gogol empire, one of the two great powers fighting for the control of the universe. Aside from the cool spaceship designs the empire is a joke throughout the show. Admiral Perry sends Dr. Gel to chase Dandy because he states as I said before that Dandy has the key of the Universe. All the scenes that involve this guys are useless.They serve as another source of comic relief but none of your jokes are fun, nothing they do works and nothing they say is interesting or meaningful. They could be removed entirely from the show and nothing that matters would be affected. One more thing about this plot issue is that some of the episodes don't matter. For example, in the first episode something happens that would affect the anime permanently, but in the next one that fact is ignored. Same thing happens in episode four, which brings me to question if there’s tension at all in the series. In an interview, director Watanabe Shinichiro said he wanted his team to be free to do whatever they wanted without being limited so they could be free to use their imagination and create something unique. I understand the intentions of the team but even if the anime is more of an experimental project and so we as an audience aren't supposed to take the show seriously, the vast majority of boring and uninteresting episodes indicated to me a failure of execution and undermined my enjoyment of the series. Now let’s talk about some of the episodes, i humbly ask of you to forgive my preferences in this segment, you may had enjoyed other episodes and that's fine. If you want to avoid as many SPOILERS as possible feel free to skip through to the conclusion. The best episode for me is five, where Dandy goes out alone to capture a rare alien, whose name is Adélie. Her species has the ability to transfer the minds of their target into dolls they carry with them. It’s a fun little adventure episode in which we, together with Dandy, get to know more about Adélie. We see the progression of their friendship while they have fun together and we discover the serious and kind side of Dandy. The other interesting episode is the ninth. It's a different experience from the rest of the show, the visuals and music are interesting and the epilogue, the way it is directed, might get you to think for a moment, but not too much. Likewise episode eleven is visually interesting but tells another boring story. We have some fun episodes like episode six, ten and twelve, the potentially emocional ⅔ of episode eight and episodes like the first which delivers fantastic animation worth to seeing just for that fact alone, but really that’s about it. Space☆Dandy isn't particularly bad but it isn’t consistently good or fun either. Space☆Dandy is a middle of the road anime, it has some good moments but overall there’s nothing special about the first season. Although i look forward to see if the second season manages to deal with the problems of the first, expand the world as the setting needs some work, and to develop their characters.
# __Space Danny __ --- __Overview __: Hey, this is going to be a review on anime that is not commonly watched on the side of anime so it's going to be difficult to have others agree with me but that's why I want to see what people agree and disagree on. Meaning what I should be focusing on when I write my own review time by time. Also, this is a warning my grammar and English should be doubted on so beware when reading this review. :< img220(https://media1.tenor.com/images/560d374d61ca648643993fde618c3007/tenor.gif?itemid=14914056) # __Introduction__ : I'm going to talk about why __Space Danny__ is not watch compared to most anime commonly that are watching in today's society, this would be pinpointing at the cool animation it has and how empty the story can be without a story, to begin with. Though the anime is something different, so I'll start with my first point : __Story__ Now I watch this anime only once and I recall it being really different when watching other anime. As I go on I consider it very funny as dialogue goes through with the randomness that occurs in the anime it didn't really make sense (till the end) although it does use its comedy greatly keeping the viewer keeping on track. I can say that not all anime a terrible without a story. Although it does bore me sometimes with its randomness as it progresses. I don't see any reason to say that the anime is bad yet. Good, it has its own cool parts of scenes though the story isn't a strong point for it. I love how they use space as its theme which isn't use that much, many times they just use Japan or something but that's just really cool they use space at the time. __Animation/Characters__ The animation is quite entertaining at times and can be considered alright when the time comes. It isn't that sloppy but it's wonderful at the time. Impressing my enjoyment and creativity into the show. I don't really have anything to say about the animation but I do have a lot to say about the characters. The characters are somewhat boring and aren't use to talk to the characters. Although that isn't that bad if you think about looks, they are highly awesome and different which is nice. It changed up my views on anime in a whole when I first saw a different type of aliens and such. It gave me amazement upon watching the different characters. __Theme/Genre __ Now, this is one of the strong points about Space Danny. It uses its theme Space and during its time it was Harem Simulator which can be boring at times when it really shows. But this show didn't take the root of Harem but fun and funny show. Trying to be different on compared. Chooses a different route which made it really different on a story base and theme type of anime. __Conclusion __ The animation itself is astonishing but on compared to the characters and story it is not used well... Although it makes it up for being different using a Space Theme and not being a harem. Which was amazing and a change of paste. The characters look really were the next step giving me hope in the light in the darkness showing that there are potential in the future that other anime can replace their weakness, instead of what mistakes Space Danny did I think there are other anime that fill the holes to make a whole great anime. __ Last bit!__ I thank you for reading this... I put my time into it and effort to express what I think about the anime. Please consider trying to give me feedback by adding (Roses#4073) This would further help me improve on my skills in writing on reviews in the future. img220(https://media2.giphy.com/media/ErZ8hv5eO92JW/giphy.gif)
####_~~~A spoiler free look into~~~_ #__~~~Space Dandy~~~__ ___ img(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/425610213127749634/851613734790496266/35481.jpg) ___ Shinichiro Watanabe is considered a mastermind by many. He is behind two of the most legendary anime out there, Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. Of course, he's done more than that. Kids on the Slope and Terror in Resonance were both directed by him, but these were not as big, so I'll refrain to mention them for now. Both Champloo and Bebop were revolutionary, thanks to their amazing characters, music, animation, and overall vibe and aesthetic. Champloo and Bebop have a very chill and laid-back feel to them, being episodical shows with little continuity, that sometimes devolved into more somber themes. Mugen and Spike are iconic. You can see their similarities in their demeanor, and once you get to know them more, you realize more of why they are alike, but their differences as well. Both absolutely bad-ass, but with this obscure and mysterious aura. Analyzing these shows you start to notice what makes a Watanabe work. Then, there is one question that many people started to wonder about... What the hell was Watanabe thinking when he directed Space Dandy?! I mean, a show about an extremely flamboyant alien hunter, who is fixated on women? The vibe of the show is vibrant, it heavily fixates on comedy rather than the introspective nature of his earlier works, the music choice from the chill and calm tunes of jazz in Bebop and hip-hop/lo-fi in Champloo to the disco tracks in Dandy. This must have been some sort of mistake, right? I mean, how can you go from two top-notch, well thought and structured series to a simple-minded show based on boob and ass jokes? Well, let me tell you that Dandy offers a lot more than what meets the eye. Dandy is also a very Watanabe-style anime in its own way. Let me tell you why this is one of my favorite anime, and why it stood out among the rest. ___ img(https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/425610213127749634/851628687560146965/04SPACEDANDY-jumbo.jpg) At its core, Space Dandy is a show about a crew of three alien hunters and their misadventures through space. But in reality, one could say that this show is about directors having fun doing whatever they want with the characters and simple plotline they were given. Every episode (or almost every episode) is directed by a different director, for which, every episode is a different experience on all different levels. And that is one of the coolest parts of this series, its originality. The aliens often break the norm of what you'd expect, the rich world is beautifully built and expanded on, and with so much to offer, it is bound to have an episode that is your cup of tea, whether it be for where it takes our main crew, what themes they decide to expand on, what side characters we encounter, or even what type of animation style they use. It uses to its advantage the simple idea of three dudes going through space with the fact that the writers vary so much, to put Dandy and friends through all types of scenarios, from absolutely unique, to scenarios full of tropes but with that Dandy touch that is inherent to the aura of this series. One reason people don't seem to be interested in checking out Space Dandy would have to do with the fanservice. For some, of course, it's bonus points, but for others, it just feels like it's way too over the top and will taint the watching experience. Before watching Dandy I also felt this way, because let's be real, the promotional art and teasers do not help. But, in reality, it is not as bad as one would imagine. I'd say that the first half of the first season has some noticeable fanservice, but after that, it's never really prevalent, though it doesn't disappear altogether, which is not a bad thing because there is actually some meaning to it. I never really thought about this while watching, but after I read a post about it, it makes sense. The absurdity of the fanservice is ridiculing how we, in real-life, may use it as a selling point for marketing or something to get traction with little to no effort for whatever it may be. Heck, one of Dandy's main motivations is a bar chain called "Boobies" which is just giant breasts floating on space served by voluptuous women from all kinds of species. It's truly ridiculous. But even then, when you may see Dandy as a series with purely comedic episodes which mostly center on boob jokes, that is not really the case. It may surprise you, but one of the things that Dandy does the best is how it manages to maintain and change its tone, and never feeling forced at all. It knows exactly when to get serious. Going from really goofy episodes to heartwarming tearjerker episodes, or stories that talk about very somber or existentialist topics. Season two tends to do a better job at doing this, but season one has its few shares of episodes that go way off from what you'd expect Dandy to be. Some episodes are just comedic for the sake of it throughout, sure but you'll be surprised with the outliers of the comedy and immature formula some episodes seem to have. And the fact that the comedy for the sake of comedy is prevalent in many episodes just makes all that much better those clever and thought-provoking ones. The comedy as well is something that for me hit every or almost every episode. It's never something you'll die laughing at, but it consistently made me chuckle or smile while watching it. In a similar fashion to Bebop or Champloo, it also has its Watanabe style to it, with the vibe being setting this series to be absolutely memorable. And the little continuity between episodes makes it all that more special considering the bizarre nature of it, that later on becomes much more impactful in how the episodes are interconnected with one another. ___ ~~~img(https://www.slugmag.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/11/maxresdefault.jpg)~~~ Dandy, well, he's just a dandy guy in space. But he's also a very interesting character, nothing like what the stereotype of the protagonist could portray. The guy's a jerk, for sure. He is self-centered, selfish, bratty, and incompetent at most things. He's downright flawed. But for that, he's very human. He undergoes many struggles, and he's not always like he portrays himself to be. I really like characters that actually feel real and human, and Dandy is an easy-going and chill guy that could actually be out there. And despite all of his flaws, he is also a very considerate guy, who actually cares for those around him even when he may be too proud of himself to admit it. When he wants to, he is actually a very nice guy that I'd actually appreciate as a friend. His two companions Meow the Beetlejucian (he's basically just a cat), and the vacuum cleaner QT. Meow has a very is very similar to Dandy, but they often differ in their ideals. They are a great pair together, and he likes Boobies, so bonus points for him. As for QT, he is the only competent member onboard. I never really loved QT but he is a great and necessary addition to the crew, and he has his moment which I very much liked to see. Apart from Dandy, for me, the character aspect of the series shines in the side characters we meet along the way. It is easy to fall in love with them and hope that they eventually come back down the road. All the aliens have something meaningful to add, and sometimes they just downright steal the spotlight in a single episode. It is easily one of the things that makes this show so memorable. You grow to miss 'em as the series carries on, and there never is one that feels out of place, especially because the world in Space Dandy is that rich and vast. ___ ~~~img(https://theglorioblog.files.wordpress.com/2014/08/sd2111.jpg)~~~ Art and animation-wise, it's fantastic. The backgrounds are stellar, and the art differs from all kinds of styles going from abstract levels of animation to vivid cheerful and colorful, or even dark and pale when the episode calls for it. The movements are incredibly fluid, and actually feel real. The action is super well done with the most simple of moves being animated incredibly, it really shows how much passion went into making this show. I love how it's animated, and even though I know nothing of animation or drawing, I can still see the beauty and the conquered ambition to create a vibrant atmosphere through its fluid motion and stunning views. What I can't seem to understand, however, is how godlike the soundtrack is. I can't begin to explain how amazing it is, you should listen to it for yourself, but the music hits every single time. Having pure disco and funky tracks, rock, melancholic tunes, chill, and everything in between, the OST for Space Dandy is absolutely on point, and it's always used at the right time. There are songs like [Hoshikuzu no Pipeline](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrrMlOs-Sw0) or [I want to know](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DZyl6HdKQD0) that just really accentuates the emotion on the scene, and leave you with a distinct feeling of pleasure, whether sad or upbeat. The opening is an absolute banger and a song I'll never get over, and the ending not content with only being an amazing song, it is also very meaningful to the story. You'll see what I'm talking about when you finish watching it. ___ All in all, Space Dandy is a misunderstood piece of media that I very deeply fell in love with. Although not everyone will actually share that emotion, I know it, and I can live with that. But I hope that I made my point across on why I found this show to be one of my favorites. With all of these seasonal anime that look like I've seen them before hundreds of times, Dandy is a series that definitely tries a lot harder than most, and I'll always appreciate that. ~~~img(https://pa1.narvii.com/5588/c54d5c85fb105fbf1a186833667ba59113578cee_hq.gif)~~~
~~~ --- I feel like Space Dandy is an anime that got under most people's radar. And its a shame tbh, because it's easily one of the best shows I've ever watched and here's why: --- Now let me start off by saying that this anime isn't for everyone as it is very episodic and some episodes have absolutely 0 connection to each other. But if you watched Samurai Champloo or Cowboy Bebop that shouldn't be a problem for you. Because I'm not a fan of reviews that just sum up the entire plot of the show I'll keep it short: Space Dandy is about a dandy guy in space whose job is to capture rare aliens for reward money. He visits different planets together with his robot companion "QT" and a cat-like creature called "Meow". Actually it's Mymyamo but nobody really cares. Well the problem is, they rarely succeed in actually capturing an alien and when they do, something almost always goes wrong. The way each and every planet has a totally unique atmosphere and most of the time they don't even know what they'll find when landing on a new planet is what makes it interesting. Now, because it's very episodic the anime can start fresh each episode without having to explain much so it almost never gets boring. I honestly can't remember a single actual __boring__ episode. The art and animation is one of the best I've ever seen, only second to Redline. Some episodes have a completely unique look and feel to them and combined with the amazing animation, it's just a piece of art: img520(https://c.tenor.com/0VH3u08Ut_4AAAAd/space-dandy-anime.gif) img520(https://c.tenor.com/T65hVEachGQAAAAd/space-dandy-anime.gif) img520(https://64.media.tumblr.com/49cb4e8c875b9db95c834579b7600aea/tumblr_naycirgFPh1tiilbdo3_640.gifv) The music also doesn't disappoint, quite the opposite actually. The opening and ending is a banger and some of the OST's like "Lonely Nights" are so good I actually listen to them outside of the anime. The characters are also great. Dandy is a genuinely cool guy that I'd love to hang out with irl. Character development is on point and the side characters also don't lack in personality and of course I can't forget the best thing about the anime: the dub. Damn it's good, probably the best dub I've ever had the pleasure of hearing. Dandy has such a memorable voice that perfectly fits his character and the robot's VA is using autotune it's actually hilarious. --- Now you might have noticed that I haven't mentioned a single bad thing about Space Dandy and that's just because I can't come up with anything even if I wanted to. It's one of those shows that's pretty much perfect, but not quite and I honestly can't make out what it is exactly. Still, it's an amazing anime nontheless and one that I'd absolutely recommend if you want to take a break from the mediocrity that gets produced every month nowadays.~~~
**Overview:** Where to begin, there is an overall background plot, but does it advance, or does anything really happen throughout the entire show? Eh, not really. Each episode is basically, A day in the life of Dandy and the 2 other crew members if you can call them that. Its more about the comedy and interactions with this cast and the situations they somehow find themselves in each time. In all honesty its hard to tell if any time has passed from the beginning to the end except for probably a week or so. Some eps did show extended periods of time and months pass by but the way its shown from one episode to the next, one could say no time actually went by. The main plot revolved around Dandy who is a Space Rare Alien Hunter who goes around trying to find rare aliens to register. The rarer they are, the higher pay he gets. With the background plot being he is being hunted by one of the factions that is warring for control over the galaxy. **Visuals/Music:** The visuals are a bit different than a normal anime and the style they went for looks very good imo. The way the animation feels for its flow works perfect with the style and type of show it is. There are no downsides to it especially in its bd format. The background music is placed accordingly and suits the situations and doesn’t feel out of place, not very good but good enough. Onto the opening and ending, both songs were great and had an old school type of feel to them matching with dandy’s character quite well. The ending though, it’s very addicting, I skipped it the first ep but left it playing as the second ep ended as I was doing something else. Knew immediately I wasn’t going to skip it for the remainder of the show. The singer, Etsuko Yakushimaru, has a soft voice as she is singing it. It reminds me a lot of Daoko (for reference she did the vocals for me!me!me! -Teddyloid). Both artists I find very good and have listened to hours of Daoko over the past year or 2. The softness of their voice that they can sing with just keeps you coming back for more lol. **Final Thoughts:** There are 7 different episode directors in just a single season. That is pretty insane to me. Basically, every episode was just another director flexing a bit to put it simply and each did a good job I think. I do not know if they all worked simultaneously at the same time, possibly on the eps together or not but id highly doubt it. I find it more likely they worked separately on their own ep with one or so of the directors getting 2 or more eps. This is speculation on my part but makes the most sense to me. I’m not sure where id look for background information regarding what each episode director played what role and in what episodes to confirm or not though. The only way I would be able to explain the series is that every ep is an alternate dimension, hence the reasoning behind every ep feeling like nothing has happened or that marginal to no time has passed since the first ep where we are introduced the 3rdcrew member. Its fun to watch nonetheless and for anybody looking to watch a more comedy based with plot on the low end of the scale check this out as I do not think it will disappoint. The later episodes I found better than the beginning ones but that could mainly be due to only watching it once, growing more attached to the characters and understanding their personalities better. If a person likes or liked Cowboy Bebop or Samurai Champloo, you’ll like this one as one of the directors oversaw the script on those 2. Then we also have the director directly involved in both of those plus FMA:Brotherhood and some other big named show. There are some big names involved in this. ```Overall Rating: 3/5```
There is no anime creator I struggle more with than Shinichiro Watanbe. Intellectually, I understand why his work is so acclaimed, and I respect the immense talent and craft that goes into everything he produces. But time and time again, his shows just fail to connect with me. Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, for all their impressive qualities, always seemed to keep me at a distance, admiring them like art pieces behind a thick glass window instead of welcoming me into their beating, bleeding heart. They’re whirlwind showcases of some of the most technically gifted artists working in this medium, yet very little of that talent struck a chord in me beyond “Well, that was interesting.” And when his work _does_ capture something that speaks to me, like the fatalistic beauty of Zankyou no Terror or the heartfelt whimsy of Carole and Tuesday, it’s marred by a messy script that fails to do justice to such immaculate vibes. Watanabe is a man of many talents, but he’s never been able to truly win my heart. Maybe one of these days, he’ll finally make something I can wholly love the way I want to. But it’s not gonna happen today, and unless the second season is significantly better, it’s not gonna be with Space Dandy. Okay, calling Space Dandy a Watanabe show may be a tad misleading. The _actual_ director is Shingo Natsume, who would later become famous for the fantastic first season of One Punch Man and the immensely captivating art-house masterpiece Sonny Boy. Watanabe’s role on this show is more as a creative overseer, bringing together as many talented people as he possibly can and letting them loose to do whatever the hell they want. Which, yeah, that collaborative freedom has always been a big part of his creative process, but Space Dandy takes that concept farther than anything else he’s worked on. The only consistency is the premise and core cast: it’s the far reaches of outer space, humans and aliens live side by side, and our protagonists, similar to the Bebop crew are a bunch of down-on-their-luck bounty hunters, though in their case, they’re only hunting rare and undiscovered alien species. Dandy is a lecherous slacker who goes with the flow and wants to spend all his money and cash at a restaurant chain that’s essentially just Hooters in space. Meow is a cat-like alien loser who’s basically freeloading off Dandy’s ship. QT, the ship’s sentient robot vacuum and engineer, acts as the straight man to the other’s antics. There’s also some purposefully poorly defined big galactic war going on somewhere in the background, and a team of recurring villains from one of those armies are pursuing Dandy for reasons neither we nor he are aware of. I imagine this will become more relevant in season 2, but for now, it’s just an excuse to have a Team Rocket-style bumbling villain squad pop in every now and then to spice things up. They’re my favorite characters in the show, and I always enjoyed seeing them pop up. Aside from that, though? The name of the game is _freedom,_ baby. Each episode is helmed by a different creative team, and those teams are given free reign to take that cast, setting, and premise in whatever direction they damn well please. The first episode even ends with the main characters _dying_ in a planetary explosion, only for them to show up next episode like it never happened. If nothing else, it’s a very effective way of setting expectations: this is not a show you come to for tight continuity or lasting consequences. This is a show you watch to see how each different team of talented anime artists chooses to interpret the broad strokes of Space Dandy as a concept. What kind of story will they tell? What animation style will they use? What kind of tone will they try to set? The universe is a big place, after all, and there’s no telling what kind of wild and imaginative situations this crew might find themselves in. The only limits are what the people behind each episode can dream up. And to its credit, Space Dandy really does showcase that diverse creativity. No two episodes feel exactly the same, and each creator puts their own unique touch in ways both subtle and obvious. Some episodes lean into the goofier, cartoony side of Dandy’s world, all ridiculous alien designs and exaggerated character animation. Others lean harder into extraterrestrial awe and existentialism, with evocative camerawork and heavily stylized animation. Some are relatively normal affairs, while others are completely off the walls. At one point, Dandy literally surfs the dust of an exploding planet. At another, he and his entire crew, robot QT included, turn into zombies and grapple with the question of how to keep living once you’re dead. Then there’s episode 9, directed by future Science Saru producer Eun-Yeong Choi, which dives full-tilt into Masaaki-Yuasa-style abstraction in animation for one of my favorite episodes of the bunch. And just to drive that sense of diversity home, my _other_ favorite episode, episode 10, is one of the series’ most grounded episodes, using the classic “stuck in a time loop“ trope as a metaphor to explore the apathy and wanderlust of growing up in some backwater town where every day is the same anyway. That willingness to experiment with mood and style is Watanabe’s strongest skill, and honestly, Space Dandy’s freeform world is probably the best fit for it yet. Unlike with Champloo and Bebop, no episodes feel tonally dissonant, because _every_ episode is equally free from expectations of any sort. The creators can all just go in whatever direction they want, and the universe is easily big enough to handle all those different visions at once. Unfortunately, this is also where the problems come on. Because with any anthology series, especially one with as loose continuity as Space Dandy, your enjoyment is gonna come down to how much you enjoy each episodic story on its own terms. And to be blunt, there’s a lot of episodes in Space Dandy that are just kinda “meh” at best. Episode 3 is a mostly uninteresting take on the “sexy alien lady is secretly a bloodthirsty monster” trope. Episode 5 is an even more paint-by-numbers “Dandy travels with a feisty kid and becomes her surrogate dad for a time” story. Episode 7 is about Dandy getting jealous over a narcissistic pretty boy getting all the girls and entering in a spaceship race to try and beat him. These storylines were already getting trite back in Bebop’s time, and they’ve only become less interesting since then. And that’s probably my biggest issue with Watanabe’s work as a whole: for all his visual and cinematic imagination, he rarely applies that same level of imagination to his actual storytelling. I’ve seen so many versions of the stories he chooses to tell, and he never tells them in an interesting enough way to make them fresh again. Maybe it reads less chiche to Japanese audiences who aren’t as familiar with the Western storytelling tropes Watanabe likes to draw on, but they mostly just leave me cold. Of course, Champloo and Bebop at least had effortlessly cool main characters to try and pick up the slack where the storytelling fell short. Which brings me to Space Dandy’s other critical flaw: Dandy himself. Remember when I described him as lecherous a few paragraphs ago? Yeah, sadly, that comes with all the baggage you might imagine. He’s never an outright sexual harassment lawsuit waiting to happen, but my god, I didn’t even last two episodes before I wanted to slap the shit out of him. It is _exhausting_ spending time in his meathead mind, listening to him wax poetic about boobs and butts while dreaming about going back to that titty restaurant again. it’s the equivalent of being stuck at some obnoxious college party with a drunk frat bro spewing chauvinistic slop at you like he thinks it’s “funny” and assumes you’ll find it funny too. Which maybe wouldn’t be as frustrating if there were some interesting female characters to offset Dandy’s piggishness, but nope. Basically every female character in this show is either a brainless bimbo, a walking pinup, a damseled maiden, or that one evil temptress who seduces men to kill and eat them I mentioned earlier. So the show basically treats women the same way Dandy thinks of women, and that’s just not a pleasant thought stream to be a part of. At least Faye Valentine and Fuu got to kick some ass every once in a while. I don’t hate Space Dandy’s first season. Frankly, I don’t even dislike it. But it’s the weakest of Watanave’s work I’ve seen thus far, and it’s representative of why his stuff just keeps bouncing off me. Hopefully the second season, as with Bebop and Champloo, will bring it to a strong enough finish that I still find it an overall worthwhile experience. But until then, I'm once again left wishing that such an incredibly talented artist was able to connect with me the same way he seems to connect with everyone else.
~~~img220(https://i.imgur.com/QdQKf45.png) Nothing transcends the anime medium like Space☆Dandy. And after accumulating many space operas under my belt, my high opinion of Space Dandy hasn’t faltered. Infinite Ryvius, Legend of the Galactic Heroes, Mobile Suit Gundam, SDF-Macross, all rank as some of my all time favorite shows, yet none of them feel like an out of body experience in the same way Dandy does. You see, many space operas do a great job at being just that, space operas. An epic story with grand battles and more intergalactic love-drama than one could muster. However, few of them go beyond feeling like just another space opera, even if it’s told in a spectacularly unique way. “Space☆Dandy”’s title alone, I mean just look at that star in its official title, already gives it more flair and finesse than your average intergalactic saga. Space Dandy isn’t concerned with being a true to life war drama, having the grandest mecha battles, or grasping for your attention with melodrama between competing love interests. Space☆Dandy only has one goal in mind, and that goal is to blow your goddamn mind and to have a fun time doing so, baby. So what is it about Space☆Dandy that makes it one of my all time favorite shows? One of the reasons I hold it in such high regard is because of how well it manages to execute everything it does. One of which is that above all else, it has a signature style. Which is partially but exquisitely conveyed through its extraordinary use of colors. During the opening alone, setting a spectacular precedent for what lies ahead, it makes excellent use of neon colors, detailed stills, and gorgeous background animations that compliment the black silhouettes of members of the Aloha Oe. Couple that with the bombastic funky party music, a narrator hyping you up for what’s to come, and the array of polished visual styles making marvelous use of the neon color spectrum so visually pleasing that even a rainbow could shed a tear. I may say it often, but this is one of the best openings for a show, ever. On impulse, I might even call it my favorite. I can say with certainty that this show’s opening does a miraculous job conveying this show’s unique larger than life, space-disco, chic to the audience. Warning them to strap on their seat belts for the journey that lies ahead. And “space disco” sounds more appropriate for Space☆Dandy instead of space opera. Speaking of Space Operas, what comes to mind when you think of one? For me, I think of Die neue these, or Legend of the Galactic heroes (LOGH for short). Another impeccable series might I add, but I’m not here to talk about that. I’m here to talk about Space☆Dandy, but I bring up LOGH because you need to imagine that show’s visuals for a second. What do you picture? I think of still characters, regal attributes, and the stiffness of a wooden 2x4. You cannot get any further from LOGH’s visuals than Space Dandy. Though funnily enough both have well polished and detailed stills of moments, usually an important scene, throughout. Though LOGH uses stills as a means of beefing up its dramatization, Space☆Dandy typically uses it to enhance a scene’s comedic value. img220(https://i.imgur.com/2uiJU5y.gif) The last bit of visuals I wanted to touch on was the animation itself, which again, is the utter inverse of LOGH’s animation. From Dandy’s gait, to the movement of whatever space arachnoid he might be encountering, the animation can go from being smooth, swift and so satisfying to watch, to being as slappy, weighted, and bouncy like an action taken straight out of Looney Tunes. Everything else as well is given just as much polish in how it’s animated. From a mech with so much swag that it wears a Hawaiian t-shirt, to the vast array of facial expressions and body distortion each character makes in a scene of dialogue. The animation is always more than on point and does an out of this world job at conveying the looseness, tightness, and general weight of any given scene. And detailed praise aside, the cartoonish movements of the characters in general are simply just a blast to watch. Speaking of characters, they are the backbone of this anime made by studio bones, heheh. But this show isn’t called Space☆Dandy for nothing. The titular MC is possibly the most pivotal aspect to this show’s atmosphere. We follow a space hunter named Dandy, who makes his living by finding unknown alien species to be identified and recorded into a database. Dandy himself is an overly charismatic, confident, dashing, cocky, and somewhat sleazy human being with a pompadour and style that’s straight out 50s America, minus the shoes. He’s accompanied by his fellow compatriots of the Aloha Oe including QT, a robot who resembles a vacuum cleaner that tries his best to keep Dandy focused, and Meow, a cat-like alien who sleazes about the ship, but occasionally provides Dandy with intel regarding where rare aliens could lie. They are on a life-long journey to travel to planets and galaxies across the universe in search of unidentified alien life forms, and “boobies” (a restaurant) to stop at. All the while an evil syndicate is on their tail, unbeknownst to our main characters. Aside from the main characters were introduced to an amalgamation of characters of all life forms and types throughout the show. Sometimes these non-main characters develop such a bond to the story or an episode’s plot that I wish this series wasn’t as episodic as it is at times. Because you’ll meet love interests, dogs, aliens, villains, ghosts, and planets themselves that will either tug at your heart strings or desire for more information about them only to disappear after their arc has concluded. And I mean it has a gigantic cast, the amount and variety of characters this show and their personalities that embodies this world is too broad of a scope to cover in this essay alone. And yet, despite such a large cast it never gets messy, too convoluted, or that it’s not in-line with the show. That’s thanks to both the writing and the show being mostly episodic. With each episode having a different writer and director. Every single episode is distinctly unique from the last. Yet each director respected and took great care of the foundation they were given to work with to make sure it still felt like Space☆Dandy. Dandy and the way he interacts with the situation he’s presented, the characters he’s surrounded by, and the places he finds himself in never feels out of character. His wit and charm that plagues the series also never falters even in the most dire of circumstances. Even in such cases as dying himself, or losing someone who’s close to him. The episode that best articulates the scope of imagination and beauty of the show is episode 21 where the tone of the show takes a dramatic turn. Dandy finds himself in the afterlife on a planet only inhabited by ghosts. The episode touches on the philosophy of death and the after life. As well as the acknowledgement of its inevitability. Not only is the episode much more somber and solemn, but it still manages to use the same methods used to create a fun filled wonderland in previous episodes to convey one with a darker tone. One that’s drabbed in heavy use of gray and pink haze in an environment that is as messy, convoluted, random, and decrepitly disturbing as its inhabitants. With even Dandy himself having a grayish outline for once. Though every episode feels like an adventure that’s larger than life, episode 21 in particular evokes an existential feeling the series hadn’t touched thus far. The director and writer of the episodes were Yasuhiro Nakura and Shinichirō Watanabe respectively. So huge props to them for crafting a masterpiece that not only went against the norm of the show, but benefitted the anime’s eclecticness as a whole. Speaking of eclectic, the music of the anime is beautifully composed and varied to say the least. I’ve already stated my love for the OP as well as the ED. But beyond that the soundtrack presents the listener with a soundscape that’s as vast as the galaxy the show takes place in. From somber synths, to grand boogie numbers, this soundtrack has it all. Interesting tidbit about the soundtrack, but from episode 20 onwards there is a new ED presented unique to each individual episode and they’re all stellar. The way the show is able to use the music to enhance the viewing experience is almost bar none. In fact some of the most powerful moments of the show come from an absence of music in favor of atmospheric whisps and winds that make you as entranced in an episode’s landscape as the characters themselves. And I can’t end this review without commemorating the voice actors for both English and Japanese dubs. I recently found out that the English dub aired in America a day before it was released in Japan. How odd, and I wouldn’t berate anyone for only having experience with the English dub. Ian Sinclair’s performance was my first impression of Dandy before eventually watching the original dub where Junichi Suwabe stole the show. Nothing transcends the anime medium like Space☆Dandy. What is it about this show that gets me to make such a bold statement? I consider it the pinnacle of episodic anime. Each episode excels in managing to make me feel as if I’ve been transported to another world. It nails every genre it touches and makes each adventure feel like an out of body experience. Every episode is treated with dignity and could very well be its own feature length ova/movie. The humor is timeless. Its flashy, aesthetic flair is so off the cusp that you’ll never forget it. And lastly, the show is filled with so many pieces of advice and morals unique to each episode that makes the experience that much more engrossing and fruitful to watch. I cannot recommend this show enough, there’s truly nothing quite as dandy, as Space☆Dandy. img220(https://i.imgur.com/QHbPt44.gif)~~~