Should I watch Space Dandy?

[ThinkMinty]

I've been thinking of watching Space Dandy, because it looks fun. Can anyone recommend it, possibly with reasons for doing so?

[Lethologica]

Why wouldn't you want to see more from the director of Bebop/Champloo? And Bones is a quality studio, too.

[Rodin]

Why wouldn't you want to see more from the director of Bebop/Champloo? And Bones is a quality studio, too.

Well, if the rest of the season is like the first episode, I actually don't understand why anyone would want to see more of it. I turned it off after getting hit by a barrage of simplistic boobs jokes that were of the quality of "HAHAHA BOOBS!!!". There may be more to it but they lost me on first impressions.

[Lurkmoar]

Keep in mind that it's got a more humor bend then Bebop.

Still bust a gut thinking about the season 2 opening episode...

[Yanagi]

I've been thinking of watching Space Dandy, because it looks fun. Can anyone recommend it, possibly with reasons for doing so?

I'd provisionally recommend it, but I'd note that it's tonally entirely different than its antecedents (Cowboy Bebop, etc.) It's not really a show with a serialized plot or even a thematic arc, though there is *technically* an event progression that means the later episodes incorporate stuff from earlier ones. It's also primarily comedy, with individual episodes often being takes on common fictional tropes--if not outright parodies famous scifi/anime plots--and broad comedy as often as not.

And the characters don't get any deeper. Indeed, there's a kind of meta-funny to Space Dandy in that it tweaks audience expectations of Shinichiro Watanabe/BONES show. It aggressively refuses to settle down and be complicated and nuanced; it hints there's a giant space opera plot that could be happening, but then goes back to idiots being idiots. The anti-climax is intentional.

What kind of comedy varies a great deal from episode to episode...which actually segues to what was interesting about the show: quite often, the basic frame of "three idiots travel space looking for rare aliens" exists to give minimal structure to a director and art team, who then go wild. Since the tone and plotting varies by episode, it's hard to nail it down as just "good" or "bad." But it succeeds more than it fails.

There were episodes that were super funny...one is a love letter to George Romero zombies, which is what committed me to sticking with the show. There are episode with gorgeous art and design..."Plants are Living Things, Too" and "That Big Fish is Huge" are worth looking at independent of anything else. And there's at least one completely unanticipated sad episode, and several ones with sappy-sweet finishes that nonetheless worked.

The crappy, vague narrator is the best, though. Never stops being funny.

[Zaydos]

I watched the first 7 episodes and I'd say they were about half bad and half good. I intend to go back to it again sometime, but I can't really say "You should watch it".

[cobaltstarfire]

I think it's worth a watch, the first batch of episodes were kind of bumpy though I'll agree to that.

If you want something like Bebop, I guess watch episode 5 at least? There's a few others too that stuck with me most of them in the second half of the series, but none as much so as 5 does.

I tended to think of each episode as pieces of art/writing experiment with a lot of off color silliness mixed in, many episodes see where things can go if taken to a particular conclusion without worrying about continuity. Many episodes had guest designers/artists/animators/directors, and some have an extreme dreamlike feel to them.

I think I really enjoyed the obtuseness of the thing once it got going.

[smuchmuch]

Most episodes are amusing, some are downright funny, others are just ... kind of artsy (the one with the flowers...). But mostly, yeah it's worth at least a watchthrough if you have the time.

[Berserk Mecha]

I'll vouch for Space Dandy. He's a dandy guy... in space. The whole show is very much a mixed bag. The whole thing is a collaboration of a bunch of different people and it shows. There's some episodes that I consider really damn funny. This includes the zombie episode, the time loop episode, and the alternate realities episode. There are others where you can tell had some really neat ideas behind them but fall flat for whatever reason. This includes the episode with the sentient plants and the library episodes.

I cannot guarantee that you'll like the whole thing but you'll certainly remember it.

[BWR]

I enjoyed it. some episodes were better than others (the zombie and the race episodes are the ones that really stick out as the best), but they were on the whole quite worth watching.

[Reddish Mage]

I found it to be awful rubbish and not even faintly amusing. The overtop 70's look, breastarant jokes, and lack of continuity from episode to episode, don't connect for me. Nor the fact that the series main villain is an incompetent toady (or very unlucky mega villain) whose attempts at attack isn't even noticed by the main character.

[Milo v3]

It just seemed pointlessly crass when I watched it.

[HandofShadows]

I say yes. It's a bit uneven at times. But the good parts are good.

[Arcane_Secrets]

I've been thinking of watching Space Dandy, because it looks fun. Can anyone recommend it, possibly with reasons for doing so?

Yes, because some of the episodes are hilariously funny. My personal favorite is the zombie infestation satire one which I won't spoil beyond just saying that zombies are involved.

[DoctorFaust]

Do you want to watch Cowboy Bebop, but with a lot more comedy, more PLOT, and less plot? If so, yes. If not, maybe still. It's got great directing and music (including a few songs by Yoko freakin' Kanno), but, like a lot of comedy anime, the humor can be hit or miss depending on what you find funny. I'd say it's worth it, though.