Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Welcome to the final week of the Watanabe Arc where we take a look at Space Dandy season 2. After a successful first season in the winter, instead of making the anime on-going in the spring Watanabe decided to skip out on the spring and instead restart the show in the summer of 2014. This was mostly because Watanabe was focusing on his other project Zankyou no Terror an anime that also aired in the summer of 2014 alongside Space Dandy. So last summer we got to see the two styles of Watanabe at work. Zankyou no Terror showed more of Watanabe’s realistic, dramatic, and suspenseful story-telling side while Space Dandy gave us Watanabe’s more comedic, episodic, and creative side showing us that he’s a jack of all trades when it comes to anime. Let’s return to space and check the second season of Space Dandy, baby.
Episodes 14-17
In episode 1 or 14 Dandy and the gang discover what’s known as a cosmic thread, a thread that when pulled leads to another dimension (and to think I was gonna make a dimension portal. I could have saved money and just looked for these threads) where the group has different forms, characteristics, and occupations (basically any scenario thought up for the show becomes reality). Dandy pulls the thread and the gang gets sent to another universe where the Dandy in this universe is the greatest alien hunter that ever lived, loved by everyone, QT is an upgraded robot, and Meow actually becomes useful (scene here: //youtu.be/RBsDgIg-_B4, let’s stay in this universe I’m liking this cast more). They find another thread, pull it, and get sent to another universe where the Dandy in this universe is a good-hearted space trucker who took in QT and Meow who in this universe is a shy cat girl (scene here: //youtu.be/uFGSjiYCLqE). They continue to travel through other universes each one more ridiculous than the last like one being a cross between Dragonball Z and Michael Jackson where this Dandy is a Z fighter who dances around like Michael Jackson (as if the show wasn’t crazy enough). They even parody other popular animes like Attack on Titan and Danganronpa (I should really get around to reviewing Attack on Titan shouldn’t I?). When the group finally makes it back to their universe the other Dandys, QTs, and Meows are there with them with no idea of how to return them to their universes. At first everything seems alright but as time goes on inconsistencies begin happening all over the universe (so, the show’s already inconsistent how bad could it be?) such as laws that make no sense, bizarre illnesses and meditations, more cosmic threads popping up everywhere and probably the biggest inconsistency of them all is all the employees at Boobies being replaced with muscular guys. Realizing that the reason for all these consistencies is because all of the universes are all of whack (I could have told you that from the beginning and why aren’t any of the other Dandy’s dying? This is a universal paradox, the universe can only accept one Dandy ergo the universal will try to kill off the Dandy’s that don’t belong to their universe) they gather up all the cosmic threads and light them up believing that this will solve their problem and return everyone to their universes (that or destroy a universe in the process, //youtu.be/0A5XOIMs6D0). The plan works with the universe imploding on itself and everyone vanishes believing to have return to their universes and we getting stuck with an emo Dandy who wants to die, a human QT who thinks he’s a robot, and a Meow in a spacesuit that speaks a language nobody understands (//youtu.be/EjNBzyLqDPM?t=10s).
In episode 15 Dandy receives a letter from a rare alien who wants to meet him. Dandy, believing it’s a cute alien girl goes to the planet alone with QT and Meow going after him after entering Dandy into a contest where he won a year supply of free food but he has to claim the prize in person. Dandy arrives on the no-name rainforest planet where we meet the rare alien named Ukulele Man a puppet skull like alien with a mask for a face who considers himself to be Dandy’s biggest fan (well at least Dandy has one fan in the universe). At first Ukulele Man seems alright, he talks about how he’s lonely and has no friends because of his body and non-facial expression. You kinda start to feel sad for the guy. But then Dandy takes a walk in the backyard where we see that Ukulele Man is pretty crazy (Crazy Ukulele Man is what his name should have been). It turns out that Ukulele Man has a hobby, a hobby of collecting smiles. He goes out, finds people, and plays his Ukulele to get people to smile which also turns them into stone thus freezing them into smiling statues and putting them on display in his backyard (well he got creepy real quickly. Hard to believe such a nice guy can be so creepy). Ukulele Man has been searching for the perfect smile so that he can fuse with the body of that smile and make friends. He believes Dandy’s smile would be perfect so he setup this whole meeting just to get Dandy (you know dude you could try plastic surgery. I normally don’t suggest that but that seems to be the best solution for you). Dandy escapes with the QT and Meow statues (okay QT I can understand but why Meow, the guy is pretty much a freeloader who doesn’t earn his keep) and goes into space to the River of Time a river that flows around the planet he was just on (convenient much?) that has the power to go into the future or the past (and nobody has claimed this river for themselves why?). Dandy tosses in QT and Meow hoping to restore them back to their original forms (wow a smart moment on Dandy’s part) and fish them out. The plan works as they return to normal and Dandy is about to fish them out when all of sudden Ukulele Man shows up to pull a Dandy from the past for his collection (again, plastic surgery). Dandy won’t allow this so he punches the creepy bastard out lighting him on fire and thus destroying him (DANDY PUNCH. . .baby).
Episode 16 is probably the strangest out of all the episodes so far (and given what we’ve seen that’s saying a lot). While the crew is out looking for food Dandy buys this flashlight that teleports people to a random place in the universe. Meow accidently uses the flashlight on Dandy’s head and it gets transported to this deserted planet called Bushy Boyfriend where he meets a rare fish alien. Meow sends himself and the rest of Dandy’s body over to the strange planet where the fish tells them that he was sent from his planet to investigate Bushy Boyfriend and study it. Once he reached the planet his ship crash landed and he’s been stuck on this planet for 10 years. He tells them that a sun star burnt the surface of the planet as well as his planet and now that sun star is coming back around and this time it will completely destroy both planets (hope they got plenty of suntan lotion). The fish agrees to go to the alien register office with them but only if they can get him off the planet and allow him to warn his people of their imminent demise. The fish reveals that he has a boat and plans to ride the water pillar to his planet but the problem is the boat is too heavy for him to carry to the surface of the planet. Dandy and Meow use the flashlight to send the boat to the surface of the planet and with the fish they ride the water pillar (and I have to admit the animation as their riding the water pillar is pretty cool) to the fish’s home planet where he finds out that his people have long since stopped in their advancement of science and have become assholes who don’t believe his theory about their planet about to be destroyed. Even his girlfriend has turned on him and married some fat tuna not caring about him whatsoever. And sure enough the star sun comes around and begins incinerating the planet with the fish going crazy and allowing himself to get killed by the sun (at least he’ll make a tasty meal). Dandy and Meow use the flashlight one last time to escape the planet and make it back to their ship where they eat the burnt fish. Also, in this episode Dandy is amazingly calm and chill throughout all of the events happening. Even when his head gets teleported to the strange planet or when the blazing star is about to burn him alive he doesn’t panic or get scared he just stays calm and maintains a positive attitude that things will work themselves out in the end. This shift in personality is most likely due to Dandy’s motto throughout the episode: Slow and steady wins the race and good things come to those who wait.
In episode 17 the group is on the hunt for a rare alien known as the Clipponian (I think that’s how you spell it) an alien that seems to go to high school at Baberly Hills High School a school for all those rich kids (where’s the phone? I just thought of a good reality show for E! Entertainment). Dandy enters the school undercover as a transfer student (scene here: //youtu.be/1jPQ3gX_0xU?t=6s, so nobodies gonna question the 20-something looking high school student?) where he discovers that popularity in this school is determined by one’s ability to sing and dance (and they tell us this in the form of a song. Better not be too long or I’m having Seras kick someone in the groin. Scene here: //youtu.be/FvISu8UMbUo, oh shit its high school musical in space. Or if you wanna go further back its Galaxy High combined with Hull High. Google them). So the Queen B (the B standing for bitch by the way) slams Dandy and puts him at the bottom of the pyramid with the rest of the anime freaks who can’t sing and dance (we may be at the bottom of the pyramid but we’re the ones you should look out for. For one day we shall inherit the Earth. Until then, enjoy your songs and dance). On top of being at the bottom Dandy finds out there’s only a week left until graduation so the chase is on to find the Clipponian while balancing the hardships of high school. QT and Meow sneak into the school posing as janitors and tell Dandy that the Clipponian is a girl who has a flower that grows on her head and it’ll bloom when she’s fallen in love. Dandy decides the best way to find her is to become the prom king so he trains with the nerd girl he befriends in school (who you will easily figure out is the Clipponian) and they do a Rocky montage to get prepared for the prom. The night of the prom comes where Dandy takes the nerd girl as his date and sings about how even though she’s not big on looks she’s got a nice butt (and she’s also a nice person who amazingly was able to put up with his stupidity). His song gets everyone on his side even the Queen B switches side and Dandy and the nerd girl become prom king and queen (scene here: //youtu.be/nh5fziONXYU). Graduation comes and Dandy leaves totally forgetting why he went to the school in the first place and of course the Clipponian girl has fallen for him. On top of being a parody of past music shows and movies this episode also featured cameo appearances from Slimer, ET (whose on steroids apparently), The Fly, and shout outs to Marvel’s X-Men and The Hulk. Sing wise in English it’s not really all that bad, it’s not great but you can tell the cast is trying their best to make their singing sound tolerable and they’re having fun with it. However, the person they got to voice the Clipponian girl can sing.
Episode 18-21
In episode 18 when the group is fishing Meow talks about a rare fish known as the Unagi a fish said to be worth a fortune for whoever catches it. Dandy takes an interest in this and decides he wants to catch it to collect the bounty on it. As the group tries to reach the planet the Unagi is on the ship gets trapped in space kelp (so space is like one big ocean). Dandy teleports down to the planet where we see the planet is mostly ocean with the water being muddy and dirty but fish still live in it and people still fish (a subtle view of the way we treat the ocean. Haven’t seen an environmental message this subtle since Miyazaki’s Princess Monoko and Dr. Seuss’ Lorax. The book, not that shitty movie). On the planet Dandy befriends a small child who has an interest in fishing (well it’s the only way to survive on this planet) and a grumpy old fisherman who also wants to catch the Unagi. Dandy stays on the planet for quite sometime but still hasn’t caught or seen the Unagi. In fact, most of the other young fisherman don’t think the thing exist, it’s just a ghost story passed down by senile old men. Finally, on a stormy night when a blue comet comes pass the planet we see the Unagi (and it is fucking huge~. It’s like the ultimate fishing challenge). The fight to reel it in begins with Dandy, the old man, and the little girl managing to spear it but they’re not strong enough to pull it in (obviously, that thing is the size of a flippin’ white whale). Even with QT, Meow, and all the other residents of the planet they still can’t pull this freak of nature in and the Unagi manages to escape with smaller Unagi on the comet which is actually a big ball of clean water and Unagi’s home (again, nice and subtle). This episode is paying homage to the Unagi which is a real thing, it’s a freshwater eel that’s a very popular delicacy in Japan. That is until 2013 when the Japanese government added the Unagi to the endangered species list because of Japan’s over-consumption of the eel. This episode is not only a subtle message against the pollution of the ocean but is also a message to Japan showing them that if they don’t control their over-consumption soon they’ll risk losing something else just like the Unagi.
In episode 19 (filmed in front of a live studio audience. Talk about reliving the 90s, they got the laugh track and everything) Dandy and the gang are looking for a rare alien known as the Cloudian an alien that searches the universe for knowledge and then keeps that knowledge in its self-made cloud that is visible for everyone to see and is a part of him. Dandy and the gang have been searching for the Cloudian for 6 months and have had no luck finding it. Morale is low, the crew has gone hungry, and Dandy has gone crazy from the hunger (which is hard to tell because was he ever sane in the first place?). They arrive at a planet where they find an all you can eat buffet that’s reserved for all the single women (feeling their loneliness with food. They need some TLC and I’m the guy to give it to them). Dandy, Meow, and QT get in by saying they’re women (these guys have no shame do they?) where they see Scarlet also filling up her belly with food and just ignore her. As she’s leaving she gets stopped by the Cloudian named Gentle voiced by the ever popular and always awesome Vic Mignogna (from transmutating alchemy circles to charming rich high school girls as the rich idiot prince to charming intelligent alien who has a love for knowledge and women. Well it took a while but Vic finally found the one anime character that pretty much sums up his whole career). Gentle takes an interest in Scarlet and invites her to his ship for a good time (man he moves fast) followed by Dandy and the gang where he welcomes them onboard the ship letting Meow rest in front of a fireplace, QT recharge, and has a drink with Dandy and Scarlet (man this guy knows how to treat his guest. Remind me to go to his house). Their chat gets interrupted by Dr. Gel who has kidnapped Honey and has used her to track down Danny’s whereabouts. Gentle sees this and rushes his ship to rescue Honey because (get this) the two are brother and sister (//youtu.be/th_RCCGVoW4). Yep, it turns out Honey is a Cloudian a half Cloudian mind you but still a huge shocker nonetheless. They capture Dr. Gel’s ship but Honey uses her feminine charm and smarts to use the teleporter and get away. A fleet of the Gogol Empire shows up and begins bombarding both ships (uh do you know you’re attacking one of your own right? (Admiral): Screw him! (Nitsuj): Okay). Dandy and the others manage to escape using the escape hatch but Gentle’s cloud of knowledge has been destroyed with only a little remaining (sucks). Dandy tries to take him in but Scarlet tells him without the cloud he’s just an average alien worth nothing.
In episode 20 we meet Johnny commander of the Jaicro Empire and an aspiring young musician who wants to be a rock star. Also, he’s voiced by Johnny Yong Bosch (Yu from Persona 4 the animation) who in real life does have his own band (man, first Vic Mignogna and now Bosch. Talk about an all-star cast of guest voice-actors. Just get Mark Hamil in there and you’ll have all the fanboys going crazy). After getting into a fight with Dandy in a bathroom (oh God please say you two washed your hands) the two quickly become friends and decide to start a rock band called Dropkix with Dandy on vocals, Johnny on guitar (again just like in real life), QT on drums, and Meow on bass. While Dandy and Johnny are both into this all they do is fight with each other and goof off practicing for interviews and autographs instead of practicing music (hey they are a real rock band). Somehow their one and only song reaches the ears of a big shot record company CEO and he signs them to a contract where they’ll make their debut at a con. Johnny receives news that the Gogol Empire is planning something on the same day of the concert and now Johnny has to decide on whether he wants to rock out at a concert with his band or start a galactic war that will get millions of people killed in order to stop an evil empire from taking over the universe (this should not be a hard choice). Johnny chooses to ditch the gig and go off and fight the Gogol Empire (this was shockingly not the choice I was expecting. Not to mention it’s the wrong choice. Millions of people are going to die. Come on Bosch, what happened to love and peace?). Johnny realizes his mistake and abandons the attack fleet to attend his concert where he and the rest of Dropkix figuratively burn the stage down (scene here: //youtu.be/kq1HLmitkrc, I knew they should have gone with the bat instead). This bought an end to their rock career but there is an upside to all of this. For starters by Johnny abandoning the fleet the rest of the fleet got cold feet and retreated thus preventing a war from engulfing the universe and their song became a one hit wonder (or O.H.W for short. Basically who spelled backwards) topping the sell charts and being the number one song on the radio.
Episode 21 is just a bizarre and weird episode (and given what we’ve seen so far that’s saying a lot). Dandy wakes up on a mysterious planet wearing a black cloak not knowing how or when he got there (alcohol mixed with ruffies will do that to ya). He explores the planet seeing that almost everything there is weird and alive (it’s like what would happen if The Nightmare Before Christmas met Alice in Wonderland). Dandy finally finds out that he’s on the planet known as Limbo the planet of the dead (well this is an interesting take on the idea of limbo) where apparently he’s dead. We find out that while trying to reach the planet Dandy’s ship got sucked into a dark nebula where Dandy hit his head and died instantly (man of all the ways to die in the universe he went out on the most basic one. Such a shame). The residents of Limbo tell Dandy to stay saying that he’ll never experience sadness again but Dandy refuses to stay saying that sadness comes with happiness and vice-versa so without sadness there can be no happiness. He makes it to a trolly where a beautiful white-haired girl is waiting to lift him off the planet. The girl reveals herself to be Limbo’s curiosity materialized (and she’s an amazing musician. Scene here: //youtu.be/cQpEnN6bxxw) and tells him that long ago the planet was a rich and lively planet until war broke out killing everyone and now all that’s left is the spirits of the inhabitants (stuck between the world of life and death. A fate worse than death itself). Limbo says she can’t send Dandy back to the time before he died but she can send him to another time where he either missed the dark nebula or never came to Limbo to begin with (the alternate timeline theory). She uses up all of her powers to send Dandy back saying she loves him (man Dandy sure has a lot of young girls falling for him. It’s like me back in high school, I had a lot of middle schoolers who liked me). So she sends Dandy back and we end with Dandy returning wearing a white suit to pick her up. Is this the same Dandy or a different Dandy entirely I do not know but I will say this. Limbo has got to be the cutest planet I have ever seen.
Episode 22-26
Episode 22. . .I’m not really sure how to explain this episode. All I can say is dance party that leads to the universe being reborn (Scenes here: //youtu.be/HYVyOoRGuN0, //youtu.be/auqtrk_z–U, and //youtu.be/epOWxxXD5m0. I’m starting to think Watanabe was smoking something when he greenlighted this episode).
Episode 23 is a love story episode between Dandy and Scarlet (well that’s a couple I didn’t expect to see in the anime). Scarlet is being stalked by her Gundam pilot ex-boyfriend Dolph who is completely obsessed with her in a scary unhealthy way. Scarlet decides to fake date Dandy for a week believing that if Dolph sees how she’s moved on with her life Dolph will do the same (doubt it, the insane don’t move on, they get more insane). So Dandy takes her to the planet Trendy the hotspot for couples, if you wanna show your girl you’re all that and a bag of chips this is the place to prove it. As you would expect the two don’t really start off on the right foot, Scarlet is a mature, serious, and beautiful lady while Dandy (God bless him) is Dandy. But the two do start to find common ground such as finding out that they both are huge fans of Chuck Norris and this opens the door for them to really start getting into the date and start developing feelings for each other forgetting that their on a fake date (but reality sets in and reminds them of their situation. Damn you reality. Damn you to hell). Dolph no longer able to take it anymore finally attacks Dandy but Dandy fights back and tells Scarlet that the only way to get this guy to stop is to be direct with him (and there’s only one way to be direct with an insane stalker. Scene here: //youtu.be/8m-XKb4-2fo). Dandy kisses Scarlet right in front of Dolph which causes him to go berserk and cause damage to the resort which results in him getting arrested on multiple charges and a restraining order filed against him from Scarlet. With this, Scarlet and Dandy’s fake date comes to an end and they go their separate ways but the two start to remember all the fun they had and realize that maybe just maybe dating each other might not be such a bad thing. Dandy decides he wants to give her a rare Chuck Norris DVD movie so he runs out to the café where they were supposed to have their last date but he just missed her and decides to give up (scene here: //youtu.be/TSf_IA78eMw, and I have to admit I really felt a little sad for him here, you can tell he really did want to possibly start a personal relationship with her). So after this the two go back to their professions and back to their daily business relationship, Dandy brings in an alien he thinks is rare and Scarlet has to explain to him that the alien isn’t rare and is an idiot for wasting her time. But, near the end it shows that Scarlet still has a few leftover feelings for Dandy.
Episode 24 is in interesting and cool episode. Dandy’s universe is under attack by the 2-D universe (man first console wars now dimensional wars). Dandy figures out that the person behind this is a guy by a name of Paul a resident of the 2-D universe who used be an acquaintance of Dandy from 10 years ago. He, Paul, and a girl by the name of Katherine were trying to figure out the secret to warping (there is no secret to warping). Dandy and Paul both fell in love with Katherine and in the end she chose to go with Paul instead of Dandy (aww, sorry Dandy). While on his way to Boobies, Dandy runs into Katherine who we find out is a resident of the 4-D world so in our universe she appears to look like a heart inside of a floating square blue box. She employs Dandy’s help in sending Paul back to where he came from before his universe gobbles up the 3-D universe (where we’ll be horrible pixilated people who can only move up, down, right, and left). Knowing where Paul is but too afraid to go into the 2-D world themselves Honey makes the suggestion they just cut through the universe to reach Paul (good idea). They attach a large pair of scissors (which was mysteriously on the ship for some reason) and begin cutting through the universe to reach the 2-Ds warp drive which should return the 2-D universe to its own universe. The warp drive gets destroyed by Dr. Gel who got sucked into the 2-D universe which releases the 1-D universe (1-D!? NOOOOOOOOOO~) which was absorbed by the 2-D universe to power the warp drive. With the 1-D universe gone the 2-D universe returns to its universe and Dr. Gel gets absorbed by the 1-D universe and becomes a line (oh~ that 1-D universe thank God). As Katherine is preparing to go she ask Dandy what’s the secret to warping (I told you there is no secret). Dandy tells her there is no secret (thank you) because it doesn’t exist. He goes on explain that we travel through the space between universes yet for some strange reason the universe thinks this is warping. He then goes on to say that there are multiple dimensions out there where there’s another Dandy and the two Dandy’s will for one brief moment sense each other but the two Dandy’s can’t be switched between each other. Katherine says he’s right but for her it’s another story. From her perspective the Dandy before warping and the Dandy after warping are two completely different people meaning the Dandy she’s talking to now isn’t the one she fell in love with (scene here: //youtu.be/61qvDjcEZsM).
Dandy is on trial in episode 25 for the murder of a rare alien. Dandy was seen at the scene of the crime of the dead alien who was killed by a bat to the side of the head with a baseball at the scene as well. The rare alien’s wife and Boobies worker Rose saw Dandy accusing him of the murder and everything (this anime always finds a way to work in Boobies it’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen). Dandy’s attorney accuses Rose of killing her husband to get insurance money while the plaintiff says Dandy is the murderer who took the ball and bat from two kids from a distant planet and used it to kill the rare alien. Both sides continue to argue and plead their cases to the jury while Dandy just sits there not saying a word. When it’s time to give the verdict we find out that Dandy didn’t commit the murder it was the kid who owned the baseball who was going to kill his friend because his friend blocked him on Twitter (oh boo-hoo. Get over it. Now that I think about it why are you even using Twitter? You’re in the 5th grade what are you gonna tweet about?). The kid’s killing intent was so powerful that when he hit the ball it shattered his bat and as the shards of the bat and baseball were flying to his friend it opened up a warping portal to that rare alien’s house and smacked him in the head because Dandy was there (and as we know Dandy is a magnet for randomness. He’s like the Little Engine of randomness). Speaking of the rare alien it turns out he was alive this whole time, he just went into a state of hibernation only to wake up a few days later (so what was the point of this trial?). As for Dandy he was asleep this whole time (no one bothered to check and see if he was wake throughout his trial?) and as he and the others are leaving the court building they find a group of aliens waiting for them to end the episode (and shockingly we had no Phoenix Wright reference mentioned in this episode. I’m actually quite shocked by that).
The final episode starts off where the last the episode ended (ahh~, episode continuity! Woah sorry, it’s just so rare to see that in an anime like this). The aliens are soldiers of the Gogol Empire, they capture Dandy (wow, it took them 26 episodes but they finally caught him), and take him back to their home planet (which looks like a puffer fish) where they wish to hardness Dandy’s power to fuel their new secret weapon which will allow them to take over the galaxy (//youtu.be/X8u7px_GzWQ). QT, Meow, (and strangely) Honey and Scarlet plot a rescue mission to save Dandy and to aid them in their fight Johnny and the Jaicro Empire find out what the Gogol Empire is planning and launch a full assault on their home planet (for one episode only it’s the return of Dropkix). As the armies are fighting B shoots Dr. Gel revealing himself to be a spy for the Jaicro Empire (what a. . .obvious realization) who takes Dandy hostage and betrays the Jaicro Empire saying he’s going to use Dandy to become the new god of the galaxy but Dr. Gel still alive chokes B to death at the cause of his life. After an impressive climb to the top of the tower where Dandy is QT, Meow, (and again strangely) Honey, and Scarlet reach Dandy and save him where they find out that the Gogol Emprie’s weapon threatens to destroy all life in the galaxy and the only person who can stop it is Dandy (we’re doomed). Dandy borrows Dr. Gel’s ship and flies to the weapon getting pass the red and blue dragon (Avatar reference much) and destroys the weapon which breaks the fabric of space and time (scene here: //youtu.be/Ux80KNz5c6o) and Dandy gets to meet God (aka the narrator aka R Bruce Elliott). So God tells Dandy that he’s a being who has the ability to be one and the same while simultaneously existing in other universes (in other words he can freely pass through dimensions any time he wants). God goes on to explain that the galaxy and it’s parallel universes that he has been watching for 14.8 billion years have begun collapsing all because of Dandy (//youtu.be/sk85lYvLdjQ). Luckily the galaxy will be reborn however someone else must assume the role of God and God wants Dandy to be God (and on the 6th day Dandy said let there be Boobies and Boobies came to exist). Before assuming the title of God, Dandy wants to know if he’ll still has his body to which God says no and Dandy decides not to take the title of God because without a body he can’t grab boobs anymore (a man’s gotta have his priorities. Scene here: //youtu.be/sLRfat6K0UU). So because of this decision the universe gets reborn 14.8 billion years later with no god watching over it and we end the series just like we began the series (so long space dandy, stay dandy).
Final Thoughts
So that was Space Dandy, how does it rank among the other Watanabe animes? Well to be perfectly honest this is Watanabe’s funniest and weirdest anime he’s done to date but at the same time it’s his weakest anime to date. Now that doesn’t mean the anime is bad far from it it’s a damn good anime that makes me laugh and at times makes me think deeply. It’s just that when you compare it to the rest of Watanabe’s animes this anime just doesn’t leave the impact they left. Dandy can be a little cliché at times but he’s still a funny character with a good heart who just wants to live life the way he thinks it should be lived. He’s kind of like a mix between Mugen and Spike. He’s got Mugen’s mannerisms, guts, and recklessness but at the same time he has Spike’s coolness and philosophical way of thinking combined with Spike and Mugen’s good heart. QT kind of serves as the conscience of the group as he’s the rational one who keeps everyone on track but he too has his funny moments. Meow was the one character everyone hated in this series and while I don’t hate him I do consider him to be a pointless character. On top of having little to no personality he doesn’t contribute anything to the anime. He’s a pretty useless character who’s a freeloader and doesn’t do anything to help catch rare aliens. If anything he causes trouble for the group. While Lisa from Zankyou no Terror was a useless character as well she at least served a purpose in the anime. She served as the human interaction between Nine and Twelve to some us that the boys are humans and not monsters. Meow, just performed a job that QT could of easily done himself. They should have added Honey to the crew. Yeah she’s our fanservice character but at least she has more personality and character than Meow and she would have contributed to the crew more. She seems like she has an interesting backstory and character worth exploring but they never really go in depth with it really wasting a potentially interesting character. Another problem I have is the Jaicro and Gogol Empire. While it’s funny that the anime completely ignores the war going on between them I really would have liked to see how this war escalated. Who fired the first shot, what do both sides plan to do once they win, were planets conquered in this war, the list goes on.
The animation is beautiful to look at. The shots of space are amazing and bright and the aliens are all creative with some being original and others obvious parodies of other famous works. Each planet was different and shows something new and innovated and were once again beautiful to look at. I’m not sure if the animation was hand drawn or done by computers but it looks amazing. This is what I was hoping Cowboy Bebop had. Civilized planets different from Earth, alien planets totally devoid of human culture, and aliens that were cool to look at. Music of course is always great to listen to. This time the music is funky and energetic as you just wanna get up and dance whenever you hear that opening or ending theme. Speaking of themes I’m actually heard a lot of critics and reviewers say the theme for this anime is different from the other Watanabe animes. Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Zankyou no Terror who seemed to be dealing with the past and the different aspects of it. In Cowboy Bebop the characters tried to move on with their lives but their past kept finding them and they can’t escape it. In Samurai Champloo the characters faced their past and were able to move on with their lives. In Zankyou no Terror the characters wanted to expose the past to change the present world that they lived in. Space Dandy seems to be more concerned about the future as Dandy never really opens up about his past such as how he met QT or became an alien hunter nor does he seemed all that concerned about events from the past. He’s always pressing forward living in the present and waiting for what the future holds for him. Whether it’s good or bad he’ll face it with a smile on his face saying: that’s the way life works but in the end no matter what I’ll still be dandy.
Final Score
Space Dandy earns an 8/10 with a must watch stamp of approval. While definitely Watanabe’s weakest anime it’s still his funniest anime as each episode will have you laughing with the antics of its characters and will make you remember just how fun space can be. There are even some deep themes in episodes that make you sit down and think about them. While Space Dandy may not be big on plot, story, and character development it makes up for it by making us laugh out loud and giving us the best dub work out of any Watanabe anime. I’m sure as speak Watanabe is working on another anime that no doubt be a hit and when he does I’ll be here to review it. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time Project Nitsuj where we’ll be starting a new arc.
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