Space Dandy First Impressions, and General Goings-On.

Hello, and welcome to 2014. I have been trying my best to cobble together a recap as well as watch some of my targets for them this year, but reading has been surprisingly busy. Another year has passed. Much more has happened in anime. There have been many series come and gone, including re-imaginings of old favorites and great newcomers. Hayao Miyazaki is retiring, with his final film, The Wind Rises, scheduled to be released in the US this year (I plan to go see it in the theater). The people from Studio Gainax have formed a new studio, Trigger, and their first major project, Kill la Kill; is the ideal successor to my favorite anime, Gurren Lagann. And yes, I still make time for my weekly new episodes of Pokémon and One Piece.

Even so, I have been experimenting with new series. One in particular caught my eye on a test run on the new Toonami: Space Dandy.

Helmed by gifted animator Shinichiro Watanabe, this science fiction comedy is similar to Cowboy Bebop in many respects (note: Cowboy Bebop is not on Toonami right now. It has been on and off the block since its inception; and I expect Williams Street will want to work out the rights again now that Funimation has gotten the license from the ashes of Bandai Entertainment's US branch); styling itself after many of the sci-fi anime of the 1970s. However, while Spike Spiegel is very down-to-earth and realistic, the eponymous Dandy is full of himself and parodic to the degree of Zapp Brannigan proportions. The only real similarity between the two is that they're hunting bounties to get their next meal.

He also favors a bar and grill known as "Boobies", and wants to visit every single one in the known universe; despite the dubious quality of their food and their waitresses of every known race and species.

Over the course of the first two episodes, Dandy comes across a Beetlejuician; who he dubs Meow for his catlike appearance. He also has a robot named QT, who is essentially C3P0 if he was not merely knowledgeable and whiny; but may even outright hate Dandy. He somehow survives a planet being destroyed by his own volition, but also sets out a new quest for phantom ramen.

So, as you can tell, the story is strange, but quite hilarious. I will have to see where it goes, but it looks to be very much an anti-Cowboy Bebop. The animation is very colorful and fluid; as per its director's credentials. I am also quite interested to see where this woman, Scarlett, in the second episode goes with the story. I just hope that nothing too bad happens.

I think I will try to finish taking the screencaps and write the recap for "The Ultimate Paper Test." Just something that will suit the mood. See you space cowboy.