Space Dandy Season 1

I’ve seen a fair split in the anime community when it comes to Space Dandy. There is a fair bit of disappointment. Expectations were high. Space Dandy is directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, the creator of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo. Many fans expected something similar to Cowboy Bebop. Space Dandy is not Cowboy Bebop by any stretch. The series is a comedic romp through space. Each episode is richly animated and disjointed. Space Dandy seems to go out of its way to avoid anything resembling an arching plot, at least in the first season.

Space Dandy aims to poke fun at tropes and conventions. Space Dandy (is a Dandy guy, in Space) loves a space restaurant called Boobies. He lives for the place and every Woolong is spent there. His job? Scour the universe for new aliens. QT (his vacuum cleaner robot pal), and Meow (a space cat) join him in misadventures to collect bounties on unknown alien species. He promptly cashes in (which isn’t very often!) by taking a trip to Boobies. Dandy’s goal in life is to visit every Boobies in the universe. Meow and QT are just along for the wild ride. Behind the scenes is a villain (?) called Admiral Perry and the Gogol Empire. Dr. Gel acts under Admiral Perry’s orders to capture Dandy who is somehow the key to the future of the universe. Dr. Gel’s spaceship is the head of the Statue of Liberty, complete with a ball gag.

Space Dandy is stuffed full of sexuality. Many aliens look….like certain female areas (see above). Boobies waitresses are pokes at fan service. I mentioned the ball gagged Statue of Liberty. Not to mention the series pokes fun at ramen, dating sims, lolita complexes, mecha, and just about everything else found in anime. It also provides interesting, subtle commentary about modern life. Meow is constantly messing around with his smart phone and his blog. QT is behind in his software updates. The show had me when QT displayed a battery icon on his face after plugging himself in for the night.

Each episode has a different art style. Aliens are designed by different artists. Every episode is spectacularly animated. Often psychedelic, Space Dandy is an animation feast. Rich, bold colors characterize most of the episodes. While the episodes sometimes fall flat, I found them all amusing.  Season 1’s best episode was “A Merry Companion Is a Wagon in Space, Baby.” This is where Dandy meets a young orphan named Adélie who is a cute handful. She will appear again.

Meow is the stand in otaku if you haven’t noticed.

I watched Space Dandy without expectations. Sure,it was directed by Watanabe and animated by Bones. But, I wasn’t expecting another Cowboy Bebop or Samurai Champloo. Honestly, I would have been disappointed if Space Dandy was similar to either. I found the first season amusing, funny, and pleasantly satirical. Space Dandy had some surprising insights about the ridiculousness of modern culture hidden beneath its hijinks. Meow’s compulsive blogging caused no end of trouble. In fact, Meow is a good representation about our obsession with modern technology. He almost always has a phone, game, or other piece of technology in his hands…er…paws. The sexual elements of Space  Dandy are also poking fun at our hyper sexual societies. The first episode has Dandy philosophizing about which is better: a woman’s bust or bottom.  The trivialization and objectification of females in the series lands Dandy into trouble. It is a satire about female objectification in our own time.

Despite how dumb it appears on the surface, Space Dandy (is a dandy guy, in space!) is a series that has many layers to peal away. It is a amusing, richly animated romp through Space that touches on satire and relentlessly pokes fun at anime tropes. It revels in what it is. Stirring controversy with anime fans almost seems to be the show’s intention.