Space Dandy Review

Full Review

Pro: Great animation and sound, english dub all the way, creative

Con: Not all episodes are worth watching, the randomness can sometimes hurt more than help the story and characters

Final Thoughts: Space Dandy is essentially a cornucopia of creative anime creators all trying to make a fun even if random series. This both works and hurts the series in the end. The only consistent thing in the whole series is the great animation and sound as well as our three main characters Dandy, Q-T and Meow appearing in every episode. I can understand why a lot of people (especially here in the West) enjoy this series and put it in their top 10 favorite anime, but for me personally the randomness often worked against the series more than helped it. Space Dandy is simply not "dandy" enough for me.

Story: It doesn't really have one it’s a lot like Johnney Bravo where the only thing that stays consistent is our three main characters appearing in each episode and an occasional visit to the restaurant Boobies. The comedy is pretty good, but at many times falls flat as we wait for a mood the episode is trying to give us. Often times this makes for a unique experience as some people might find a certain scene funnier than others. There are defiantly some episodes that provide more interesting possibilities than others for sure. A few of my favorites was the speed racer "space race" in episode 7, the Q-T love story, the high school musical parody in season 2 and the first episode of season 2 was a ton of fun.

Characters: I could not really get into Meow the cat and Scarlet is kind of the standard smart secretary older woman type who falls for the goofy guy. Dandy has a definite swag to his personality even though he still accompanies the standard traits of a goofball protagonist. I find very few people who could really hate him. Q-T works well as a foil to Dandy's crazed ideals and often provides a lot of the comedy acting as the straight man.Honey is a character I particularly enjoyed and wish I saw more of. She comes across as the standard dumb blonde but is a smarter person than she appears and actually has the means to accomplish her goals unlike Dandy.

Art: It’s Studio Bones and it looks glorious. No seriously if you are going to watch Space Dandy for anything let it be this. It’s colorful creative and extremely fluid. It shows off the best of today's anime animators.

Sound: Techno and space sounding music fits well to the overall dandy package. The first opening theme "Namida" is fricken great as well. Did I mention you should only watch Space Dandy in english? Not only did each episode air in english first but Ian Sinclair plays a fantastic Dandy. Plus Q-T is attuned for your hearing pleasure and often adds the comedy. Seriously watch it dubbed.

Final Score: 2 stars

Recommendations:

Panty and Stocking/Coyboy Bebop/Dirty Pair

#spacedandy #review #2stars #winter #2014