Space Dandy Review

On January 4th, 2014 history was made. For the first time ever a Japanese anime had a world premiere on American TV…with English voices.

That brave new explorer was none other than Shinichiro Watanabe’s (Of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo fame) newest project  SPACE☆DANDY!

Space Dandy is an adventure story of a space explorer who collects rare alien species for profit. He is joined by his ragtag crew of QT, a robot and Meow, a Betelgeusean or basically a space cat.

This review is an average based on the first 7 episodes.

Plot:☆☆

The show has yet to settle a progressive plot. It randomly jumps around from story to story with little to no connection to other episodes and often ends with the crew dying. Only episode 5 has carried the same level of writing that the crew behind Space Dandy is known for.

Characters:☆☆☆

Space Dandy, and Meow have instant chemistry. The voice actors really embody the goofy nature of the Aloha Oe’s crew but overall while the characters are play goofy well, they are not deep or realistic. Sometimes static nature of the characters cause the lack of plot progression.

Visuals:☆☆☆☆1/2

Visuals and Music are really the only carry overs from the crew’s previous work. The colors and pulp style(similar to that of Buck Rodgers) make the show look great and can sometimes distract from the lack of quality plot. Yoko Kanno, famous for the Jazz music in Watanabe’s Cowboy Bebop and Kids on the Slope brings an eclectic mix of jazz, pop, and electronica that feels space age, which creates a great atmosphere. Sadly Dandy and the crew shatter that with the lack of dynamic story telling.

Overall EAO gives Space Dandy 3.5 pompadours out of 5.

While no one out out-dandies Space Dandy; several anime out-write, out-think, and out-entertain Space Dandy. But don’t take our word for it check it out every Saturday Night at 10:30pm only on Toonami from Adult Swim