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!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
I was super excited for Space Dandy this week, after hearing that it would be directed by Sayo Yamamoto, one of my favorite anime directors, and one I’m exceptionally familiar with. I can’t say I’m disappointed either, because this episode ended up with a lot of Yamamoto’s signature flourishes, as well as a funny and yet somehow poignant script from Dai Sato, who worked with Yamamoto on her Woman Called Fujiko Mine series.
The story this time is that Dandy and crew are… wait, aren’t they all supposed to be dead? Never mind that: The episode starts up with Dandy and Dr. Gel completely unharmed, and Meow as part of Dandy’s crew as if he wasn’t just an alien he met in a breastaurant. We see Dandy in an alien registration center, trying to turn in a specimen for money, but the woman who works there, Scarlett, isn’t having any of Dandy’s generic aliens. He’s going to have to find an actual rare species, or he can’t expect any money.
Despondent, and hungry, Dandy goes to the pantry for some ramen, but finds that Meow, that freeloader, has already eaten it. As he’s being thrown out of the airlock, Meow tells Dandy that he can find him better ramen, transdimensional ramen, that will be the greatest he’s ever tasted. Intrigued, Dandy allows Meow to drag him from restaurant to restaurant until Meow can recognize the gourmet noodles by taste. Meanwhile, Dr. Gel tries to track Dandy down for his own nefarious purposes, and with Meow consistently posting restaurant check-ins to Space Foursquare, it’s not particularly hard to do.
Sayo Yamamoto has several trademarks, and this episode features just about all of them. She storyboarded an episode of Galaxy Angel A where the girls visited a sushi bar run by a surly octopus, and I’ve heard she worked on the Redline restaurant sequence as well, so there’s plenty of weird, wriggly food that looks uncomfortably appetizing. There is of course a badass woman who kicks ass without mercy, here in the form of Scarlett, who shows up a second time in one of the ramen joints when Dr. Gel’s soldiers attack. Dandy is absolutely helpless, but Scarlett is able to dispatch all of the attackers with stylish karate moves. And we have some fantastic animation sequences where Dandy and Meow melt into another dimension at the conclusion of their search, as Yamamoto also enjoys distinctive, flowery visuals.
The episode concludes on a somewhat somber note, as Meow and Dandy discover the chef that makes the ultimate ramen lives alone in another dimension, flavoring it with tears for a lost love, and lost way of life. In entering this other dimension, however, Dandy may have done more damage to space-time, continuing the potentially catastrophic damage he started in episode one. This sets up a very real plot thread where worlds could collide, or reality itself might break down, something I’m sure Masaaki Yuasa would be excited to explore.
All in all, Space Dandy’s second episode really felt like a more comedic episode of Cowboy Bebop. Given that Watanabe promised a series that was 80% Mushroom Samba, and only 20% serious, Space Dandy looks like it’s going to deliver on that promise.
In Summary
Sayo Yamamoto turns in a great signature episode of Space Dandy with much stronger writing and a much more cohesive plot. While still somewhat aimless in terms of plot, it seems likely that the series is setting up a series of stand-alone auteur episodes by favorite anime directors, that will all be tied together in a neat bow at the end, likely involving multiple realities crashing together due to Dandy’s irresponsibility. I’m hungry for more.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Toonami
Review Equipment: Sony Bravia 32″
I couldn’t get into the first episode at all. This was much more enjoyable to me. Something odd does seem to be going on with space-time, maybe as a result of Dandy’s ship warping in that one weird psychedelic place in the first episode.
The director is Shinichiro Watanabe of Cowboy Bebop fame! How did you get that wrong???
@Spike Shinichiro Watanabe is the Series Director. He oversees the entire production. As with all anime, there are Episode Directors in addition to the Series/Chief Director. Sayo Yamamoto was the Episode Director here.