Review of Space Dandy

::THIS INCLUDES MY THOUGHTS FOR THE ENTIRE SERIES, CONSIDER THIS A REVIEW FOR BOTH SEASONS:: Space🌟Dandy is easily the most visually impressive anime of the last couple years, excluding the Monogatari Series. And seeing as Studio Bones is responsibly for this, it's a pretty reasonable assumption to make when you haven't seen it. And if you have, like me, then you'll understand completely. Space🌟Dandy is a show all about free will and free expression, all the way down to its very framework (or should i say... "bones" haha). When looking at the people who worked on this show, you'll come to notice a broad range of verytalented animators and directors including its main director, Shinichiro Watanabe, who you should know as the director of Cowboy Bebop AND Samurai Champloo. Space🌟Dandy also boasts the involvement of Shingo Natsume (director of One Punch Man), Sayo Yamamoto (Director of Yuri on ICE), and various script writers, including Sato Dai and Ichiro Okouchi (the original creator of Code Geass).

What this is is a pool of talent from all over anime, coming together to create this strange show known as Space🌟Dandy. When watching the show, you'll notice just how distinct Space🌟Dandy really is. Unbound creativity really all you can expect from any given episode of the show. It really is quite dandy.

The Visuals:
This is where the show is not only the strongest, but also crosses the line into being groundbreaking. There is no shortage of times when I was completrly blown away by some of the animation in the show. A good example would be one of the later spisodes of season 2, where there are 4th dimensional beings and 2nd dimensional beings interacting eith the 3rd dimension (ours), and the way the show is able to visalize this already awesome idea is very interesting to look at.

Space🌟Dandy utilizes many different, yet similar methods of animation and color design. the show makes full use of the entire visible color spectrum across both seasons. Many times, the outlines of the characters will be blue, or red. And that always makes for a cool effect. The character designs are all very distinct from each other and have enough detail in the, to tell you something substantial about the characters, but also simple enough to where it can be animated easily and doesn't ever look awkward.

The talent that was put into this series is never wasted, and it feels asmif the show is constantly in a state of evolution. Nothing ever gets stale, and there is no real hardline status quo in terms of visuals. But it still has cohesion, and each episode is identifiably Space🌟Dandy without a doubt.

The Sound Design:
Space🌟Dandy proudly exhibits great voice acting both in the english and japanese versions. I personally watched the dub, and I can vouch for its quality. Ian Sinclair plays Dandy, and he does an amazing job! I have liked a few Sinclair roles in the past, but this is easily his best. The dub has many other good voice actors and actresses including Alexis Tipton, who does a surprisingly good job. There is also noteworthy a minor role in season 2 played by Johnny Young Bosch that was infinitely more amusing when i realized he was playing a character with the same first name.

The series has a really kickass opening theme with a catchy beat and lyrics that are fun to sing along to. The OP feels like an explosion of color, which feels very appropriate for the series, even when an episode might be in monochrome.

The Story & Characters:
When it comes to characters, there are mainly three core cast members. Dandy, Meow, and QT. There are other recurring characters like Dr. Gel and Honey. But none pf the episodes are ever really about them. Each character has a distinct personality thatmaffords for all kinds of interesting and fun interactions between them.

Alright so first off is Dandy. He's a dandy guy in space. He's characterized as a normal dude, and really all he lives for is to just go to Boobie, his favorite restaurant. While what he literally is described as is quite simple, what he represents is far more fundamental to the anrrstive of the series. Dandy represents free will. And the show is a celebration of free will and free expression. And the finale of season 2 is the best literal example to give (but i won't spoil it for you, you'll just have to see for yourself!)

Then there is Meow. I love Meow. A catperson after my own heart. Not only do i love cats, but I also love Meow's personality. He just kinda slacks off and chills and does his own thing. And what he does mostly consists of stuff I would do. I love his easygoing attitude and how he is always looking for the most convenient way to accomplish the various missions he, QT, and Dandy go on. There is a really good episode in season 1 that characterizes him more, but i'll let you experience it for yourself!
Some of the best jokes involve him too.

Lastly there is QT, an intelligent vacuum cleaner robot thing. He is basically the straight man of the trio. While i dont like him as much as Dandy or Meow, QT is still a really fun character. He is often the voice of reason, and the one who is constantly dragging Dandy and Meow down the muddy dirt road of responsibility. He has a pretty interesting personality considering the nature of his being, and he has some pretty witty lines and some good jokes.

Now let's talk about the most interesting element, The story.

Space🌟Dandy is about a Dandy guy in Space. And that's really the most consistent thing across every episode. Yeah sure Dandy and his crew are alien hunters and they often are hunting rare aliens, but not every episode is about that. Some episodes start off with that being the main motivation, but it quickly evolves into something else. While some episodes are better than others, they all have some interesting element to them that is unique to THAT episode. One particularly strange episode is set on a plaent compeltely populated by plants that are not technically alive, but clearly are when you talk to them. It's stuff like this that made me go "whoa, wtf is this?" very often.

The setting is a very unique blend of Science Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, and Fantasy. So there really is no restriction in what the series can portray in any given episode. One episode will take place in a high school and be a musical, but then another episode will be about a zombie apocalypse, or it'll take place on a world where the life is so alien to what we understand as living that it's hard to describe as alive, yet it is.

That is another one of Space🌟Dandy's best elements. The fact that any episode could be about anything makes the show unpredictable. Some episodes are just goofy comedy, others are touching and sentimental, and others explore some really out there sci fi concept.

Space🌟Dandy is like a box of chocolates, you never really know what you're gonna get. And the chocolate is always tasty no matter what.

I give this entire series a 9/10. I would recommend this to anyone looking for some cool, inventive, often trippy animation. Or if you like episodic adventure shows, or just shows that are strange. Really anyone could watch Space🌟Dandy and appreciate it. Either way, WATCH IT. WATCH IT NOW.