Season Two Review: Space Dandy

 

Spoilers Below

Well, now that Space Dandy’s second season (and the TV series as a whole) is over it’s time to look back and reflect on what the season provided for us as a whole.

As I mentioned way back at the season’s beginnings, the first season of this show really suffered from its own hype and advertising. At least in America, it was heralded as the successor to the extremely popular Cowboy Bebop, even featuring several members of that show’s staff.  It also featured director Watanabe Shinichi, or Nabeshin as he is also called, who, years ago, was known primarily for his high energy and often slightly perverted shows like Excel Saga, Nerima Daikon Brothers, and Tenchi Muyo: GXP, but had seemed to stray away from those shows in recent years. A lot of build up and hype went into the show’s premiere.

And I was disappointed.

The show was completely different from Cowboy Bebop in every single way. The episodes didn’t seem to have anything connecting them together (hell Dandy and QT DIE in the first ep of the series) and the series just didn’t improve for me as the season went on. I largely had given up on the show by the time the first season finished.

But that was last season. This second season was a fresh start for everybody. The fans, the crew of the show, and the English production staff all had a chance to step back and start new without the misdirected and ultimately disappointing hype behind it. This time around the show could work on its own merits instead of trying to live up to the hype of what someone said it was supposed to be. Free of those chains it could go out on its own and see what it could become.

And it did rather well for itself!

Sure, it had its low points. As I’ve been harping all season the use of the “Naruto” action style of animation where the detailing and outlining are reduced, more often than not to save time and money, popped up a number of times during the show and often times it was a distraction for me. I think the only episode that used that style the right way (other than none at all) was the finale as they used it mostly for some scenery shots and a brief scene with the little Ahola. Beyond that though the series I think really did some interesting work animation wise. Right off the bat I can think of all the different things they did in the first episode of the season as well as the fishing episode that really took the animation somewhere different but didn’t make it bad. Although continuity in a show’s look during the season means a lot, for the tone they were trying to set in those episodes the changes in style (seemed to be done in tribute to other animation styles) worked very well.

The pacing of this show was much better than it was during the first season. A big problem with many of the eps in the first season were they didn’t really do anything plot wise until halfway through the show. It was almost similar to some of the episodes from The Simpsons where Dandy and his buddies would dick around for 15 minutes before actually getting to the point. This season really didn’t have that problem. Each show had a point and was spaced out rather well in delivering the plot and story of each episode. The only real offender here was “There is music in the Darkness, Baby” where they cut back and forth between scenes so quick it was hard to keep up. Thankfully it was the only offender in that case that was that severe.

Story-wise there were some hits and misses. For a show that didn’t have much connecting the episodes together (Well at least until the finale anyway) the stories had to stand on their own. The show did very well with that. They didn’t just do 13 episodes of “Dandy tries to get alien and screws it up” formula. They told some really interesting narratives in each of these shows. Some worked out well and some not so much. Mt favorites in this season were the premiere, The high school musical, The fishing episode, and the finale. Hell, I’ll even throw in the death episode in there just for telling such a trippy and unusual story. The worst of these though I still have to go with the episode debuting Johnny. I know this ep had a big part in the finale and introduced a pivotal plot point, but it just did not work for me. Dandy’s involvement in that episode was almost token and it felt more like a back door pilot than a Dandy episode. Sure it led to a bigger things, but that doesn’t mean it was good.

Character-wise I love what this season accomplished. While Season 1 put a spotlight at some point on both QT and Meow, this season we got to see a lot of what makes Scarlett and Honey tick. This season showed they weren’t just comic foils set up for gags and laughs, but were actual characters that did have thoughts and desires and just how much of a connection they had with Dandy. Looking back, I don’t think the finale would have meant as much if they hadn’t have done that. Speaking of the finale it too had a lot of character building for Dandy and hell, even the NARRATOR had character development in that episode. They did well establishing other characters as well and each of the episodes did well in getting their motivations across, even if ultimately they only mattered in that one window of 30 minutes. However I think the weak point was with Dr. Bea and Dr. Gel. Sure the finale gave them a lot and shown a big spotlight on them, but other than their adventure in the 2D universe, there was pretty much squat on these guys. These guys needed more development big time. Granted their scenes in the finale were strong, but it would have been even stronger if they had been given something to work with earlier in the series.

Now the fun part, wrapping up the season in a nice little package with a bow and slapping a final grade on it. I could just do the simple thing and just average out the ratings for all the episodes this season, but a series really should be more than the sum (and division) of its parts (yes, that was a math joke). I will state right off that this season blew the first season away. Space Dandy this season was more engaging and fun than it was in its first outing. The stuff this show did right this season was very well done and noticeable, while the things it truly did wrong being an once and again issue. The show’s two biggest offenders (the “Naruto” animation and the lack of depth for Bea and Gel) really didn’t kill the show for me and were more annoyances than were deal breakers. Is it a pivotal anime series that helped bring new dimensions to what animation can accomplish? Not really. It doesn’t have the impact that some anime shows even now running have, let alone something like EVA, Sailor Moon, or Dragonball. But is this show a steaming pile of shit? Not at all! This show had a style about it exemplified by the character of Dandy itself. It didn’t take itself to seriously, but at the same time didn’t just screw off and totally waste your time. Each episode had something unique and different to add to the series itself, be it either development of character, tribute to animation that has come before, or something artistically the show had never done before and made great use of. All and all it made a for a damn good season of a show and really upped the show’s stock from its first season. This season really helped carve out Space Dandy’s niche in the anime pantheon of all time.

Now give me my Honey spin off!