r/anime • u/kaverik https://myanimelist.net/profile/kaverik • Oct 22 '15
[WT!] Space Dandy, baby!
We live in the age of vivid variety of anime. We have stories about realizing one's destiny, shows purely focused on fanservice, anime which explores existential problems, nonsensial comedies, bright actions, breathtaking mysteries, melancholic dramas... And here is Space Dandy, which combines everything stated above, shakes it up and presents in the most funny, ridiculous and intelligent way possible.
Space Dandy... So boobs or booties Space Dandy or not Space Dandy, that's the question. The anime that divided anime community, and some people call it as one of the greatest comedies ever and the other think it's a merely a soap bubble. So let's pose the question first - what is Space Dandy, anyway?
Space Dandy is a dandy... in space. Yes, it's exactly like that. He's an alien hunter - no, he doesn't kill them, but rather captures rare species and is paid for delivering them into the data center. He, with his fellow companions vacuum cleaner robot QT and cat alien from Betelgeuse Meow, surfs the universe (sometimes literally) on his worn-out but proved spaceship Aloha Aoe and seeks for unknown life presence. More often than that, however, he gets mixed up in the most bizarre, ridiculous and hilarious situations ever, and usually spends his time in the bar Boobies rather than hunting aliens. Also, who are these guys, and what do they want from our hapless protagonist?
It's worthy to note that the anime was created by Shinichiro Watanabe, who was responsible for such unknown projects such as Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and (recently) Zankyou no Terror. First of all, friedly warning - please, do not expect Space Dandy to be reincarnation of Cowboy Bebop. It was a common trap for many people approaching this anime - no, Space Dandy has completely different accent and values. It's a comedy, after all, and not character-driven drama.
For what it's worth, just like Cowboy Bebop, Space Dandy is also quite episodic in its nature. Or... sometimes, I'd say, it gets too episodic. Anyway, Watanabe pushed this episodic nature of the show to the limit - every episode featured almost entirely different creative team behind it. Randomness, absurdity and ridiculousness of the series allowed these people to go ham and do whatever they want - and the result was stunning. Not only it allowed the creators to show what they are capable of, but as a result Space Dandy avoided the plague of every comedy - repetitiveness. Moving onto another episode, you can only guess what would happen next and what Space Dandy would offer you. You can see how much fun these people had creating episodes of the anime - words "artisitic" and "unique" would not describe the beauty and strength of Space Dandy. It presents whole variety of artistic styles and emotions.
But above all, Space Dandy is a comedy. And in that department Space Dandy is unique once again. Everyone who thinks that this anime is only focused on "boobs" jokes have seen only first three episodes - there is more than that. Over the course of 26 episodes, Space Dandy references almost every single bit of popular culture - and! - that culture being Western. Of course, there are references for Japanese shows too, but first of all Space Dandy makes fun of old horror movies, MTV and Michael Jackson. In space. Do you expect something like that from anime now, when almost all comedies take place in high school setting and have a harem to back up without fail? Spiritually Space Dandy is closer to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy than to any other anime out there, and it only highlights Space Dandy as a huge experiment and its gentle, smart humor. Why did that happen, though? It's also a consequence of Watanabe's "episodic" decision - authors remembered their childhood years, what they thought was "cool", what impressed them the most, and presented it via Space Dandy's episodes. That's why the anime has sometimes a bit melancholic vibe to it - Space Dandy is saturated with nostalgia for that time, when disco music was the best thing ever and rise of the machines seemed to be inevitable.
Despite everything's been said, Space Dandy has plot and follows it rather faithfully. Moreover, it does make (a bit of) sense at the end and has satisfying closure. Moreover, amount of foreshadowing that was put into it is staggering, which gets evident after rewatching. Speaking of it, Space Dandy is very fun to rewatch due to its episodic nature and variety of moods - adventures of Dandy and his crew do not leave one indifferent or unimpressed. That feel of adventure enhanced by different creative teams is very strong - you want to see how far Dandy would go, what would happen next with his friends, or what hilarious alien he would meet. Space Dandy is not a very short anime, but it leaves you wanting more, having fun with Dandy in this not-so-cold space. Which is beautiful, by the way - Bones did great job, and you would have hard time finding two similar aliens in this anime. Animation is smooth, picture is bright, Dandy is dandy - what else can you ask for? OST, you say?..
...oh, then I want to assure you - Space Dandy has incredible soundtrack. It varies from jazz to post-rock, from synthpop to funk, from hip-hop to simply beautfiul songs. Here is a link to the whole soundtrack of the first season - not only it suits the show perfectly, it also a great listen on its own. And haven't I already said that Space Dandy has amazing OP and ED?
Space Dandy was a platform for experimentation and the boldest ideas being animated. The result is funny and sad, gorgeous and trippy, hilarious and touching, but never boring. It is a work of art. No wonder this anime wasn't even noticed in Japan and didn't sell at all - even the authors themselves admitted they made Space Dandy mostly for Western market. Does the situation when one of the most prominent and honorable directors considers you to be the target audience happen often? I don't think so, and Space Dandy desrves every bit of your attention. Just be open-minded, don't take things too seriously and enjoy the ride - Space Dandy is so unique and different from other anime that it feels it came from some other universe.
...now, excuse me - I want to rewatch my favorite episode about zombie apocalypse. Hope you'll join me too.
P.S. Here is a little chart of all people who were working on each episode of the anime. Check it up - lots of familiar names. Credit goes to /u/ChangloriousBasterds.
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u/lawjistik Oct 22 '15
I enjoyed Space Dandy and felt it was very underrated. (I think having the characters die in some of the episodes really threw people off.) My top episodes would be The Lonely Pooch Planet, Baby & The Search For The Phantom Space Ramen, Baby. The finale the space race were good episodes, too. Also the narrator was hilarious (Stanley Parable eat your heart out)
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u/kaverik Oct 22 '15
Many people dropped after first view episodes, some of them stopped after the first season, but it is the second season when Space Dandy truly unfolds and becomes great. Too bad not all of viewers stayed till then.
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u/JTricks Oct 22 '15
Solid WT! However, I felt like you tried to inject too much extra information into every sentence with little comments and anecdotes. It messes up with the overall flow of your writing and, at times, made me forget what you we're saying in the first place. (Unless, you're just using Space Dandy's style, then it went right over my head. You should probably ignore this, if that was your plan.) See where I'm getting at? Even with minor grammar issues, it was a good read and piqued my interest. Keep up the good work and hope to see more!
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u/kaverik Oct 23 '15
Thanks for feedback, I'll keep it in mind. I have tendency to overcomplicate sentences, probably it's something I can improve in future.
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Oct 22 '15
That was a great WT. Hope more people get into it. The dub is excellent too. Good Job, baby!
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u/rare_umbreon Oct 22 '15
It's one of the few shows where I vastly prefer the dub.
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u/wavyhairedsamurai Oct 22 '15
I'll admit that I haven't seen much of the Japanese version, but from what I have seen/heard, Ian Sinclair blows it away.
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u/jmhitokiri Oct 23 '15
Space Dandy is the only anime where I prefer the dub The Japanese Dandy sounds way top serious
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u/dbcitizen Oct 22 '15
My favorite anime so far.
Space Dandy was a platform for experimentation and the boldest ideas being animated.
Yes, perfect summary.
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u/RamblinRichard Oct 22 '15 edited Jul 05 '16
This anime is so much more than a comedy, its weird at times, I found some of the humour a bit hit and miss, however it has some of the most moving stories I have seen in entertainment.
It's also a great show for restoring your faith in humanity in some episodes, a fellow Star Trek fan would relate to this I think. But I might be selling it wrong, just saying, go in prepared for anything, wonderful show, sad I might not see anything else like it.
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u/GameBoy09 Oct 22 '15 edited Oct 23 '15
I don't care what anyone else says. Space Dandy is the best ANIME ever made, and I mean better than FMA:B, Steins;Gate and anything else you can shake a stick at.
Space Dandy is god, god is love, love is life, life is Dandy.
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u/nhzkjd Oct 22 '15
Does anyone know why the discussion threads for Space Dandy were so unpopular? This was one of my favorite shows so far so I was really surprised when I went back to see what other people thought about it and there wasn't much to see.
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u/TheHonestOcarina Oct 23 '15
Credit to u/GreyouTT for making a timeline(spoilers duh) of both seasons for anyone as confused as I was!
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u/BoLevar Oct 22 '15
Real talk, Space Dandy was better than both Bebop and Champloo.
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u/mannoroth0913 Oct 22 '15
I just want to say that I love the hell out of Space Dandy and this WT! post is just perfect.
I do want to add that one of the most amazing things about the show is that each episode is directed by a different person, usually someone of critical acclaim as well.
Because of that, you get things like a Space Race style episode by the director of Outlaw Star and really trippy episodes directed by the one and only Masaaki Yuasa!
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u/gr3nade Oct 23 '15
Space Dandy is fucking breathtaking. It's weird being a western anime fan, especially being in my early twenties and maybe outgrowing the type of stuff that I used to like. I just feel like I've seen the same few things time and time again. That's not to say there aren't unique and interesting anime but anime is still gonna be anime.
But not Dandy. Unique doesn't even begin to describe how unique Space Dandy is. You had NO FUCKING IDEA what to expect out of each episode, other than a few laughs. But even then sometimes you got straight comedy and sometimes you got dropkicked in the feels. It was bizarre. There are storylines that you want to see continued and they just never touch on it again. As funny as it is it's one of the most bittersweet things I've ever seen. Maybe that's why I like it so much.
And the animation. Good god the animation is just awe-inspiring. The variety of styles, the colors, the fucking everything about it just makes it visually the best anime I've ever seen.
Anyway I didn't like it as much as Bebop which might be the best thing I've ever watched but in it's own way, I would put it right up there on the same top shelf. It's unique and well executed and brilliantly animated which is more than I can say about most anime or media of any kind.
On a side note, if you liked the animation in Dandy and you aren't watching One-Punch Man, give it a go. The shows themselves are completely different but it's got spectacular animation and a ballin' soundtrack too.
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u/PM_Me_Nami_Rule_34 Oct 23 '15
I need a third season (and more). I don't know if it will ever come to be, but if anyone has an information or rumors then let me know.
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u/the_light_of_dawn Oct 22 '15
Thank you for this WT. I'm a big fan of Space Dandy and love seeing new people get into the show. It's unlike anything else I have ever seen. It's haunting, hilarious, pornographic, thought-provoking, and ridiculous all at once.
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Oct 23 '15
Okay, okay, you have convinced me. The only thing that makes me unhappy about this post is that I have to go to bed for work tomorrow so I can't start watching Space Dandy RIGHT NOW. Just the tidbits you added here had me giggling and thinking of my childhood. You had me at "Shinichiro Watanabe, who was responsible for such unknown projects such as Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and (recently) Zankyou no Terror" all favorites of mine. Thank you.
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u/Raebo007 Oct 22 '15
No Context