Space Dandy is back! And back! And back, and back, and…
What They Say:
Space Dandy is a dandy in space! This dreamy adventurer with a to-die-for pompadour travels across the galaxy in search of aliens no one has ever laid eyes on. Each new species he discovers earns him a hefty reward, but this dandy has to be quick on his feet because it’s first come first served! Accompanied by his sidekicks, a rundown robot named QT and Meow the cat-looking space alien, Dandy bravely explores unknown worlds inhabited by a variety aliens. Join the best dressed alien hunter in all of space and time as he embarks on an adventure that ends at the edge of the universe!
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
So, Dandy is back. Three months have passed, however, and I wasn’t particularly certain I cared enough to do in-depth reviews of the new episodes. Sure, it was amusing enough, but where is it headed? Well, this first episode has put any doubts to rest: Dandy is a show worth watching.
What’s most surprising is that this episode goes with what I thought the entire series was building up to: Dandys from multiple universes all meeting up and wreaking havoc. But rather than an ending point, this is where the season starts. Script is once again written by Kimiko Ueno, who is more or less the main writer of Dandy at this point. Storyboard is by Goro Taniguchi, who you may remember from episode 7 and Code Geass. Head director is Masahiro Mukai, director of last year’s Hyperdimension Neptunia anime. Animation directors are Yoshiyuki Ito, character designer of Space Dandy, and Kazumi Inadome, key animator on Dandy and Fullmetal Alchemist. There are too many guest designers to even list, so pay attention to those credits!
The episode opens with Dandy and crew trying to turn in a crew to Scarlet at the Alien Registration Center. She’s not having it, though, and sits the gang down to explain to them they’re not cut out to be alien hunters. As Dandy and company leaf through the career brochure that Scarlet so kindly gave them, they wonder what other potential paths they might take. Just then, Dandy notices a stray hair that he tries to pull out. But this is no mere hair: It’s a cosmic string, much like the one in the first episode, and pulling it out throws them into an alternate dimension, where Dandy, Meow, and QT are not only different people, but animated in a completely different style. Alternate universe Dandy wants to capture our heroes to take in for alien registration, but QT sprouts a cosmic string as well. When it’s tugged, they again escape into another dimension, and so on, over and over, until the multiverses collide and all of the Dandies end up on the Aloha Oe.
Spoiling the designs and the jokes for this episode would be criminal, and selecting a picture for the review was tricky. But all of the different dimensions allows for all sorts of animations styles, character designs, anime in-jokes, and lets the voice actors go wild to boot. It’s exactly the kind of dynamic start the second series needed, and it’s one of the strongest Dandy episodes to date.
In Summary:
After some initial skepticism, I’m happy to see Dandy is back. Next week promises a horror-themed episode, so I’m particularly excited. We still may not know the ultimate point or destination of Space Dandy, but we still have some entertaining sights to see on the way, including work by Masaaki Yuasa and Katsuhiro Otomo. I can’t wait.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Funimation
Review Equipment:
Sony VAIO 20″