Space Dandy can be aptly described as Acid Trip: The Anime. It follows the exploits (or lack thereof), of the crew of the Aloha Oe: Dandy, QT, and Meow.
There is no real plot in Space Dandy. The crew works as kind of bounty hunters. They try to find rare aliens and turn them in for money. You quickly find out that they are very bad at this, or just get caught into comedic bad luck. Each episode is stand alone for the most part and there is no real sense of continuity between any of them. Actually some of them are so bizarre that the endings would end the show if continuity exited.
This episodic basis is both a blessing and a curse to the anime. For one it allows them to do almost anything the writers want to. At its best it creates some of the best single episodes in anime. They are funny, passionate, and sometimes even thought provoking. However, it also limits things like character development, a cohesive feeling of the world, and also makes the show feel somewhat unbalanced at times.
However, don't let you think that this makes the show anything less than good, very good even. Some episodes are weaker, but the good ones more than make up for it. It's an anime that hits a few singles and then suddenly unleashes that grand slam at the right moment.
The cast is, okay. It's honestly one of the weaker elements of the anime. When I was asked what do I think is keeping Space Dandy from becoming one of the great anime and not just a good one, I said "I can't relate to the cast at all." They are far too simple and the format of the show really doesn't help them either.
Even so, don't let that stop you from watching the show, the cast is really secondary to the overall feeling of the show. Space Dandy, to me at least, never felt like an anime you're supposed to compare to other ones, it's a comedy, but the type of comedy will vary, and it's not beyond tossing in some serious moments from time to time. It's like Dandy is in his own little world here.
I do have to address Boobies, the show equivalent to a Space Hooters. It's in just about every episode. Dandy and his crew frequent the place. While they do visit it a lot there is very limited fan service in the show as a whole.
The music is spectacular. It's hard to say if it's even better than the actual aesthetic the anime creates but it's close. It really helps to enhance the journey.
Space Dandy ends up being an anime that has some of the the most entertaining episodes I've seen. It does have some flops too, but even then they are just so close to being great that they still end up being entertaining. Be patient with this one, it'll surprise you before you know it.
