Space☆Dandy S2 – 07

I suppose it IS rather chilly in outer space…

No one can resist a boy band! Just put a group of hot guys together, throw some juicy gossip to the media, and immediately become a hit! The fact that someone as dumb as Dandy was able to make it to the Budokan stage in outer space with just one song should be an inspiration to all aspiring musicians. Well, if you ignore the way real life works. But don’t sweat the small stuff, baby!

If you’re a fan of Detroit Metal City, you probably liked this week’s episode. DMC makes fun of the secret lives of the members in a heavy metal band who are just regular dudes in real life and don’t believe a single word they’re singing. Despite this, the fans eat it up and they become more and more popular…even though the vocalist becomes more and more obviously at odds with his devilish persona since he just wants to sing cutesy pop songs. The commentary in DMC is very sharp and focused, so Space Dandy’s attempt to jump in on the action is a little weaker by comparison. But for what’s done in the span of just one episode, it’s impressive.

So stylish

DMC exposes more of the ludicrous behind-the-scenes aspects of heavy metal bands to undermine how much people glamorize it. Once you realize your favourite band probably drops their “hardcore” act the second they walk off the stage, you realize they aren’t quite as untouchable and amazing as they appear while onstage. Seeing the huge gap between what we see onstage and how things really are makes the whole glamorization process seem silly. I believe Space Dandy is targeting the same issue, but using a different tactic. Instead of comparing the glitzy lifestyle to a pallid reality, they show us a band that cares about being famous so much that they actually forget about the whole being a band thing. Which is…uh…pretty integral to the idea of being in a band. Instead of seeing a disparity between the glamorous lifestyle and reality, we see an oversaturation of all the perks of being in a band.

I thought is was pretty clever – and very Dandy-esque – to have the band completely zeroed in on becoming a hit sensation without doing anything. A lot of musicians want to make it big without really doing anything amazing to deserve it. It’s such an attractive lifestyle that it can be blindly chased over and romanticized to the point where you forget you actually have to learn to play instruments or sing to get anything to happen. Of course, Dandy forgets all this and gets swept away with the minor details such as promotional goods and the band name. Not that Johnny is any better. He could practically be an alternate universe version of Dandy!

Another fun part of this episode was seeing someone just as dopey as Dandy interact with him. Usually Dandy gets scolded by everyone for being so darn clueless. This time he has a buddy to join him in his oblivious pursuits. And what a perfect combination that is! We get such a nice mixture of petty catfights and true bonding between them. Plus, Johnny has a secret life that makes things just a little bit more interesting. PLUS, he’s voiced by one of the seiyuu kings (I made up that title just now), Kamiya Hiroshi. He was a perfect fit for this week’s theme.

The whole rock band thing wasn’t as epic as the high school musical parody episode, although I doubt many other things can even come close to that. I think they were aiming more for comedy and providing a social commentary of sorts instead of giving us a concert. But they must have known I’m a sucker for concert scenes so they gave us one anyways! I was worried they would cop out and not give us the full song, but in the end we got a rather nice concert with exposed midriffs, wiggling butts, and a giant robot blowing up. I don’t know about you guys, but that sounds like a pretty cool concert to me. It wasn’t mind-blowing of course, but it certainly was a great way to end the episode after only teasing a few lines of the song up until then.

And next week looks great too. Oh Space Dandy, you charm me more and more every week…

Oh baby…

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.