HammerOfJustice
Since: Apr, 2013
09/07/2018 00:00:00
Season 2 is a bit weaker, but it had some really standout episodes, like the musical, and of course, the finale.
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Fun, with a somewhat forgettable 2nd season.
Space Dandy is another solid series from the culture-crossing Shinichirou Watanabe. This is not one of those series that is going to win awards for having great character, a meaty/moody plot, or even being particularly intelligent. And yet, I still think it's a lot of fun as a palate-cleanser.
Its art is very slick, colourful and pretty. Thomas Romain's mechanical designs also give an "alien" look to the setting, and overall are pretty imaginative. The way the human characters are drawn is very clean, but they look a lot older being drawn in a style that hearkens back to 80s and 90s styles (this is not a negative in my view). The soundtrack's mix of electronica, neo-funk, and rap doesn't fail to disappoint either. Dandy himself is also amusing to watch; it's almost as if he's trying to be as cool as Cobra the Space Pirate, and yet is so hilariously bad at it he's forced to parlay that disappointment and resignation into recurring visits to Hooters. The comedy other than that is a mix of situation comedy and slapstick isn't bogged down obsessing over puns or general Japaneseness.
The episodic plot is both a plus and a minus. I think most episodes of this show are good, but the quality is inconsistent from week to week. Also, the first season is the strongest; some of the magic really begins to wear thin by the second season, which has a number of throwaway episodes. That said, it's easy to step into the show if you missed the last week's episode, and it's a nice pick-me-up from moodier shows. In that regard, it really reminds me of Cartoon Cartoons and other episodic shows I used to watch when I was younger. The one open question is, though, whether or not it would make a good DVD. These types of shows tend to be a fun watch from week to week, as you never know what you're getting, but can be excruciating to marathon, or forgettable as a complete work.
As I said, this show is never going to win any friends from academia, or be called "avant-garde." But sometimes that doesn't matter. If you want something astonishingly pretty, sometimes transgressive, but consistently fun, you'll enjoy watching this series.