Review of Space Dandy

An outrageously fun, hilarious sci-fi with a lovable crew and their bizarre space adventures. ★★★★ (This review covers both seasons.) Space Dandy was the most fun anime I’ve seen in a long, long time. It’s been a while since I’ve been so motivated to marathon a show. I finished the 26 episodes in 3 days. It’s hilarious, always leaving me with a smile. The characters are very charming and loveable. The plots are absurd and over-the-top, but even through the silliness it manages to settle down sometimes to make you feel at peace, even melancholy and lonely. I’ve said before, but entertainment—no matter what form—whether it’s anime ormovies or books are really just about giving you that emotional experience. Don’t worry about the details. Don’t worry about the logic. If you love it enough just go with it.

First, the animation is absolutely amazing. It’s so full of life and details it's worth re-watching. This is a show that demands to be seen in true Blu-ray quality. You would be hurting yourself to watch it any other way. You have to see this in full 1080p to experience the incredible imagination. There are bizarre aliens, exotic planets, and beautiful cosmic scenery to witness.

The show is about a crew of three and their space adventures trying to find and capture rare aliens. These aliens are then registered for a cash reward. Your hero is a care-free slacker who loves women and going to a space Hooters. At his side is an adorable, outdated vacuum cleaning robot that puts up with him. Then there’s a space cat that’s just as lazy.

The dub and its writing are fantastic. I strongly recommend watching that version. It’s obvious the translation team took liberties to westernize the material, but it’s very well-suited. If I didn’t know this was an anime, I’d swear it was western made because so much of the humor feels western. Even the dialogue feels very modern with slang like “sketchy” and references to Twitter.

Every episode is something different because they each have a very strong emotional theme. There’s a lot of variety to the plots. Everything from a zombie episode; a galactic space race; going on a date; meeting parallel dimensions; even something as simple as a road trip. There’s even touches of continuity as the they refer back to older plots and items. When the show takes a break from its wacky adventures to settle down the music really adds a surreal, distant, almost lonely mood. Other times the episodes are just plain weird and abstract.

I’m reminded of Futurama: another sci-fi show that makes stories and jokes out of scientific concepts. Space Dandy was a blast to watch. It's like no other anime I can think of. Without a doubt it's my favorite of 2014.