“The universe is a mysterious and strange place, full of even stranger and more mysterious aliens. Dandy’s job is to hunt down unclassified aliens and register them for a reward. It sounds easy enough, but something weird always seems to happen along the way, like chance meetings with zombies, mystical ramen chefs, and adorable orphans. Hunting down aliens may not be easy, but it’s definitely never boring.
With the help of his sidekicks, the adorable robot vacuum QT and cat-like alien Meow, and his slightly-used ship the Aloha Oe, Dandy roams the galaxy searching for new alien species. What he usually finds, however, is adventure, danger, and romance, and no two journeys (or universes) are ever the same. This is Space☆Dandy, baby!” – MAL Synopsis
Toonami’s impact is crazy. For me, it opened my eyes to a world of anime beyond the stuff that would come on regular Cartoon channels and Dragon Ball Z and Naruto. I have very vivid and fond memories of staying up late at night to watch whatever the current slate of anime was airing. I have very vivid memories of watching Space Dandy and just being confused yet somewhat amazed at the sheer ridiculousness of what was on screen. So on a personal note, I needed something relaxing and fun to consume at this point in time. So I decided to give Space Dandy a full watch. It fit the bill perfectly.
I’ve been doing this for about a year and a half now. All my reviews are pretty structured and this paragraph is usually the one where I talk about the story. Space Dandy doesn’t really have a story though. It’s three alien hunters getting whacky, often completely ridiculous, and nonsensical situations all around space. While there is some minor ongoing plot point in the background, this is the most episodic anime I’ve ever watched. Every episode is its own journey and just about stands completely on its own. And it works. The show plays into that fully and it just allows even more nonsense to take place because the next episode is a completely clean slate. Anything is possible in these episodes and anything happens. What shocked me the most was beyond the spectacle of all the different worlds and aliens that are encountered and just ridiculous plot points and convinces. Among the goofiness, the references, and parodies. This anime has a lot of heart. Way more heart than I would’ve imagined. There are some episodes that really hit for me (my favorite being the Noodle shop one) but pretty much everyone had its moments. It was all very welcome and really made me appreciate the show.
The crew is a bunch of fun and lovable goofs that all get an episode or two to really lead the story and shine. Dandy is definitely the most interesting of the bunch. He reminded me of Spike if Spike was in a way goofier show (Fun fact, this takes place in the same Universe as Cowboy Bebop). They carry some very similar traits and I hope there’s more backstory on him next season. But as a whole Dandy, QT, and Meow were really good characters. Also, the side characters and every one of a character they encounter is great too. I can’t forget the narrator either, I loved the 4th wall breaks and jokes.
This animation is so good and the art style switches up from time to time which was always great. I was actually shocked at how good and smooth this show looked at all times. On top of that, the music selection is great. Covering a lot of genres, the intro and outro are groovy, then there are also some moments backed by heavy synthy futuristic music, among others. It all fits the bill, this soundtrack is definitely one of my favorites. And the voice acting was great. I watched the dub and there were a lot of voices I recognized and they all sounded great to me.
So Yeah, if Space Dandy is anything, it’s a damn good time. Fun characters in a setting that allows for really anything to happen and anything does happen. It’s ridiculous, goofy, and makes no sense to the point where I wouldn’t be shocked if most of these episodes were written on the fly or people just throwing darts at a board of crazy ideas. What’s not lost in all of that wackiness, is the heart that this anime has and shows constantly. This is really something I can see myself just randomly putting on and enjoying from time to time. Space Dandy is ridiculous and a lot of fun.
Space Dandy – 8/10
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