Space Dandy

Space Dandy is simply awesome. It manages to stand out by focusing more on being entertaining than anything else. Most anime these days focus each episode on continuing an ever-evolving story that spans the whole series. Space Dandy, however, spends each episode telling a self- contained, stand alone story. The basic premise, which is explained in the pilot episode, is that Space Dandy is searching the universe for new aliens to register and earn a reward. Each following episode just shows the crew's encounters with different aliens and situations. Like I said, there isn't much episode-to-episode continuity, but each episode is meant to be extremely enjoyable, and it succeeds there.

As of this writing, the series still isn't over. If anything drastically changes throughout the course of the series, i'll update this review.

Hilarious and highly original animation. It's basically a parody of all those old, campy western cartoons, but with literally no restrictions on the content. In the first episode alone you'll see giant space battles, utterly absurd and colossal alien wars, supernovas, planets getting blown up... and huge floating boobies with also happen to be space stations. I was amazed at how much things escalated on the first episode - seriously the most trippy episode i've seen in any animation.

Lots of references to great western sci-fi's (especially in the excellent English dub), lots of silly humor, and some golden dialogue to pair up with the great character designs. I can tell this will be a fan favorite for many anime watchers.

One minor downside I was slightly disappointed in was the quality of the animation. It's not bad, but in certain scenes it gets extremely choppy. I am unsure if this was intentional or not, but for 2014, i'd expect smoother animations.

Overall, 8/10 - must watch.

I'll be honest, the show has remained largely episodic so far. But that isn't a bad thing. I'll make this short:

Art: The art in this show is absolutely incredible. Colors are trippy, vibrant, and stand out. Character designs are flawless and a treat to look at.

Sound: Equally interesting techno/jazz soundtrack that in no way takes away from the experience. Watanabe continues the trend of top-notch soundtracks for his works.

Story: As psychedelic, funny, and nonchalant as it's main character, Space Dandy. Stories don't go too deep, but are usually jam packed with crazy, sometimes logic-defying stories that combine humor with a bit of gold old Bebop-style action and some self-ridiculing satiric "fanservice" that says a lot more about the industry of fanservice itself (on purpose) that the overall quality of the show itself.

Overall:

Hilarious (the English version is even funnier, more culturally aware, and better flowing than the Japanese version), beautiful to look at and listen to, and a real ride from start to finish. No direction or overarching story overtly detectable so far, but honestly, none is needed.

Visually stimulating. Catchy opening sequence with an equally upbeat theme song...really puts you in the mood for an adventure. Very fun characters. Doesn't take itself too seriously, though at least two of the episodes I've seen were rather somber if not sad at times. You never know what you're going to get. Dandy is just a typical testosterone-laced, over-sexed but under-serviced young man. The cat guy seems to have about six ears...or maybe it's just his hat. The little robot has a girlish voice that squeaks; she is usually the voice of reason.

I've read a few people who bash this as a sub-par "Cowboy Bebop" ripoff. I wouldn't know, since I don't watch much anime.

But I do know if you're in the mood for something that's funny, visually energizing, and a bit thoughtful at times, there are worse things you could do with the 30 minutes you'll spend watching an episode.

Not sure how long it will last, but I am looking forward to more seasons.

Fingers crossed.

Yeah... it's a 10... the creator of cowboy Bebop always provides.