Episode three hit the air this weekend, and it did not disappoint. Space Dandy delivered more of the strange spectacle that was introduced to us in episode one, only this time, there are boobies. Alright, I know, there were boobies in the last two episodes too. Lots of them. And there will probably be boobies in the next episode too. After all, its Dandy’s mission in life to visit every Boobies in the galaxy, remember? But there probably won’t be anything in Boobies like these boobies. Oh, and there are giant monster aliens too. And maybe a super robot.
Broke and out of food, yet again, Dandy sets out on a quest for a free lunch. How, you ask, will he acquire said meal? Well, with his hologram Boobies point card of course, a reward for his leal patronage. The only problem is the card expires at the end of the day, and according to QT, that fount of lovable robot wisdom, they have two hours to reach their destination. Forced into a corner, Dandy does what Dandy has to do. He activates the broken warp drive.
GIF byZimfan/ Reddit
Next thing you know, the Aloha Oe crashes into a mysterious planet, with no life forms to be found. At least, according to QT’s scanners and unreadable paper print out. Not one to be deterred, Dandy sets out to find his Boobies, and ends up saving some mysterious space babe by the name of Mamitas (slang for hot women in Spanish, but literally translating to small mothers) from a swarm of some pretty nasty nasties. The Gogol Empire makes an appearance too, but who cares about those guys, am I right?
Then, all hell breaks loose. The nasty nasties, called Rageians, end up being not so nasty, trying to warn Dandy of his impending doom. Then Mamitas turns out to be a giant boobie monster that devours everything, and ends up eating Meow. That’s right. A giant boobie monster eats Meow. But lucky for him, “Space Dandy doesn’t abandon his friends!” Enter, Hawaii Yankee, Space Dandy’s pompadour sporting, Hawaiian shirt wearing super robot. And as it turns out, Dandy is a pretty ace pilot, managing to actually land a shot and hold his own against the Deathgarian (boobie monster), and eventually, with the help of some luck, defeating it.
So, what started out as a quest for a free lunch ends up turning into Dandy’s first time successfully registering a new alien, and earning some cold hard cash. “But what happened to Meow?” you might be asking yourselves. I have no effing clue. But hey! They all survived a supernova, and flying through space without a helmet, so I’m pretty sure we have nothing to worry about (I mean, they just added Meow to the title sequence!).
GIF by leasonthomas/Tumblr
Now there is one thing that has been bugging me as of late, but allow me to elaborate.
I’ve read in a few episode discussions for “Occasionally Even the Deceiver is Deceived, Baby” and apparently people are feeling very put off by the shows overabundance of “fanservice” and its general lack of plot. Sentiments like “I have to make sure all of my roommates are asleep before I watch each episode,” and “Ok, we get it there is a restaurant called Boobies, enough with the boobies,” seem to be pretty frequent among anime fans. Along with “This show is not serious enough, it’s not Cowboy Bebop,” and “Still waiting for the plot to kick in.” Well, let’s talk about that.
Yes, the show is loaded to the brim with ginormous chesticles - this episode in particular - and scantily clad waitresses. Oh yeah, and freaking breastaurants. Obviously, Bones studio is just full of perverted mofos who have no shame in their over the top booby filled animations, right? Or maybe, just maybe, there is something else going on here. Brace yourself, baby. Mammoth sized mamos and revealing outfits are par for the course when it comes to anime, and I get the gripe so many people seem to have with that. Believe it or not, I find the overabundance of breasts and teenage level eroticism in anime off putting. A tired, lazy and overused attempt to make female characters sexy, so all the little boys and grown ass men around the world will watch your show. The kicker here is that there is no façade hiding the outrageous fanservice, Dandy’s animation crew don’t give two shits about “subtlety." And quite frankly, I applaud them for it.
GIF by megazarak/Tumblr
Space Dandy is a satire. It is a comedy that at no point in its three episodes (so far) wanted to be taken seriously (asides from its animation quality, that shit is the bee’s knees). It’s not trying to be the next Cowboy Bebop, I mean, why the hell would it? Shinichirô Watanabe already played that noise, spectacularly I might add, and now he wants to bust out something with a little more funk to it.
I get it; it’s hard to consider something satire when it just does more of the same, and Dandy definitely lays down a heavy dose of typical fanservice. But notice, how the girls who fit the typical anime mold usually work at Boobies, you know, kind of like Hooter’s girls? Meanwhile, the only female character that I consider sexy is Scarlet, the no nonsense, ass kicking, glasses wearing, agent who checks all of Dandy’s alien finds. I think the crew at Bones studio is just having fun with this series, paying homage to animes of old, while poking a whole lot of fun at them and the people who obsess over them.
Maybe, now I know this is a long shot, but just maybe, Space Dandy isn’t about the typical anime srs business "les sayv the world guis" storyline. Maybe, now stay with me, it’s more about the fantastic animation quality, the brilliant voice acting, the music, and the actual craft of making a damn good piece of animation. Oh, and knowing how to laugh at yourself and not taking yourself, or what you do, too seriously.
The love behind this series really shows, in each and every episode, boobstorm and all. Sure, things get a little awkward at times, and there is not a shred of sense in the twenty two minutes and thirty six seconds of each episode. But when the music starts pumping, and the animation gets going, the boobies are soon forgotten, and the real show begins. Yes, there are a lot of boobies, an embarrassing amount of boobies, but there is also a lot of other stuff. Some really freaking good stuff. That’s why I’ll keep on watching. After all, when you love something, you have to take the good with the bad, right?
Then again, that’s just my take. If you disagree, then that’s cool. Let’s talk; there is a comment section below.