Reviews

Despite everything it has going for it, Space Dandy is not a good show. Given its pedigree (animated by Bones in its heyday, directed by Cowboy Bebop's director, an amazing OST) its hard to go into this show with fair expectations but even after watching a few episodes and getting used to what it really offers you just can't shake the feeling that the show is wasting your time. Space Dandy is purely episodic (although events loosely build on each other anyway) which means its needs a solid cast and interesting situations to deliver entertainment and neither of those are present.

The three main characters of Space Dandy are Dandy, Meow, and QT and they're all extremely idiotic losers that never get anything done. Every episode is them looking for a quick way to make money so that they can slack off without being hungry, basically, and every episode is them screwing that up. This is a funny premise but because all the characters are idiots (even QT the "straight man" character) every episode is basically just random stuff happening to three not very likeable people that have almost no agency. Dumb Guy comedy works best when normal situations are ruined by poor decision making but Space Dandy is basically too wacky and random for anything to feel consequential.

Space Dandy's saving grace is that it looks and sounds amazing. The show really lays everything out in the first episode and if you think that episode is great and want exactly 12 more things exactly like that (or 25 if you're up for season 2) then go right ahead and enjoy. However, anyone that wants character development, something like a funny version of Cowboy Bebop, or an actually funny show then don't bother. Its not the worst show ever but there's just no point to it either.