First Impressions – Space☆Dandy S2

The booty-hunting bounty hunter returns!

Space Dandy is back! …As you no doubt could tell based on the title and content of this post. It’s just so exciting to see Dandy, Meow and QT again! It’s even more exciting than usual because we get to see them and all of their alternate universe selves. That’s…a lot of Dandy to make up for lost time.

This is more of a continuation than a second season, so we dive right into the action again. Space Dandy likes to take a concept then basically run with it until all possible avenues are exhausted. Then, it moves onto something entirely different for the next episode. It’s really unpredictable and exciting that way. This week’s concept was traveling to alternate universes to see various versions of Meow, QT, Dandy, and even Honey. They look like a mix of what were rejected designs and blatant parodies (such as Attack on Titan Dandy) with a dash of fanservice mixed in. The female space trucker Meow was ridiculously sexualized…and still voiced by the same dude! It was a great mix of fanservice with absurdity.

I really, really don’t want to know what she’s holding onto

This whole predicament begins when Dandy pulling at a thread and ending up in another dimension. He progressively meets all the other Dandys without really interacting much (aside from running away or chatting for a few minutes). So the list of possibilities becomes shorter when you’re just running from dimension to dimension so quickly. Normally, you’d end the episode with them going back to their original dimension. But no, it continues past there to having all of the Dandies co-exist and deal with the inevitable contradictions that occur from messing with the space-time continuum. It’s best not to be fiddled with, as Dandy learns when his precious Boobies breastrant becomes…boobless. Funny how that’s the final straw for him despite all the other big changes. No actual boobies in Boobies? Enough is enough!

Dandy for days

The alternate universe thing continues until the new hero of the story is the most lame rendition of the trio imaginable. Who wants a listless Dandy, a Skeletor knock-off Meow and a creepy QT? They really ran with the alternate universe theme and did everything they possibly could with the concept before exhausting it. I’m not so sure if that’s always a good thing though because I feel they were drawing at straws a bit towards the end as they just kind of made stuff up with increasing desperation. Seeing all the different Dandies was cool, but it was a bit of a messy story to follow as they seemed to run out of ideas for how to make this stretch out for an entire episode.

Final Thoughts

My expectations for Space Dandy are pretty high. I liked season 1 quite a bit and I actually missed it. I always say “oh, I’ll miss this anime when it’s gone” but I never really do. I always forget about them as quickly as a goldfish when they’re done airing. But Dandy was a little different, and I found myself waiting eagerly for this continuation. This first episode was good, but it still fell a bit short of my expectations. As much as I thought it was neat, I didn’t actually feel anything from it. I think once they start interacting with other aliens (which will happen next week based on the preview) then things will start getting more emotionally involved. For example, the very brief encounter with Schrodinger-like alien Meow was adorable. It was only for a few seconds, but I loved it. The aliens in this show have really cool and crazy powers that can actually keep things interesting for a full episode without getting weird towards the end.

I just know Dandy is too focused trying to peek up her skirt instead of listening

About Overcooled

A neuroscience graduate, black belt, and all-around nerd. You'll either find me in my lab or curled up in my rilakkuma kigurumi watching anime.