Acclaimed Flop: Bones and Toonami had high hopes for the series in the Western market, to the point it premiered on Adult Swim the day before it aired in Japan. Sadly, it didn't meet those expectations. Most critics and fans love it, but it's never obtained the popularity of Cowboy Bebop or even Samurai Champloo. Here's a whole article speculating why it wasn't a bigger hit. It doesn't help that, unlike Watanabe's previous shows, this one only had three known foreign-dubbed versions: English, French and German, the latter two were only dubbed because it's mandatory by law in France and Germany.
Acting for Two: In Episode 14, all of the alternate Dandys, QTs, Meows, Honeys and narrators are voiced by their respective voice actors. It gets pretty elaborate.
Playing Against Type: None of the actors so far, but Shinichiro Watanabe himself. His previous works are more seriously-toned and, with the exception of Kids on the Slope, mostly stay within the action genre (though granted, Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, two of his most famous works, do have their comedic moments). Space Dandy is more of a wacky action-comedy, throwing the serious tone completely out the window.
Given the traditional repertoire of Bryce Papenbrook (such as Rin, Kirito, and Eren Yeager), playing a stoic nutjob like Ukeleleman is a bit of a departure.
Elizabeth Maxwell as Poe.
Short Run in Peru: A very minor example, as the show made its world premiere on Toonami in the U.S. a few hours before it aired in Japan.
Funimation actually loved this, because it let them monitor internet reactions and see just how many "The Japanese Version Is Better" people were complaining about shows they don't watch.
Word of God: Shinichiro Watanabe confirmed in a 2019 interview that Samurai Champloo, Cowboy Bebop, Carole & Tuesday, and Space☆Dandy all exist within the same universe, and in that chronological order. This is really nothing much more than flimsy justification to make self-references to the other series, but he said it.
Episode 10, which focuses heavily on a mobius loop and the number 8, aired on March 8th, and at the end of the episode, it was time for the east coast of the US to lose an hour due to Daylight Savings Time.
a whole article speculating why it wasn't a bigger hit. It doesn't help that, unlike Watanabe's previous shows, this one only had three known foreign-dubbed versions: English, French and German, the latter two were only dubbed because it's mandatory by law in France and Germany.