Space Dandy
Space Dandy is a hard show to describe because each episode is so wildly different and unique. It’s meant to be a crew of three going around the galaxy looking for unidentified aliens to bring to the Space Alien Registration Center for a cash reward, though they rarely succeed. In one episode, they participate in a race in space; in another, Dandy goes fishing for a giant sea creature; in another he starts a band; in another he attends a high school where everyone is constantly singing. There appears to be no continuity between episodes; sometimes everyone dies at the end of an episode, and then in the next episode, it’s as if nothing happened.There are a few things that make this show so special and underrated. First, the humor is good; the show is silly and amusing and just good fun. Second, several episodes have beautiful stylized visuals. Third, the stories range from funny and absurd to beautiful and meaningful. This show is completely unpredictable, as if there were too many writers working on the show, but they were all so skilled, they made it work.
My only complaints about the show are the ending and the last few episodes, where it seems they may have run out of budget/time due to making all the other episodes so good. The action scenes are highly animated, which couldn’t have been cheap. But my biggest complaint is that there isn’t a season two after a decade. This show is categorized as a “comedy space opera”—whatever that means—and I recommend it to anyone who likes good, sometimes raunchy, comedy and/or amazing visuals.
—Gage Wilson, Anime Editor