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Space Dandy (TV) (both seasons).


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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2014 12:14 am Reply with quote
Season 2, episode 8:

Whoa, the latest episode was quite something. I think spoiler[death] was a theme but I really like the artistic style and direction of it. The way Dandy expresses himself seems a bit different.

Also, it looks like Shinichiro Watanabe was the general director and wrote the script for the episode.
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danilo07



Joined: 25 Dec 2011
Posts: 1580
PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2014 6:13 am Reply with quote
Season 2, episode 8:

Holy damn, is it safe to classify second season of Space Dandy as a masterpiece? Because this episode is brilliant on every single level possible.
The writing is quite clever take on a question whether life in heaven makes our life on Earth meaningless. This episode investigates that question through two different idea.
First idea is that everything in life requires duality in order to be meaningful.This was reflected when spoiler[ Dandy said that happy life isn't possible without sadness. Meaning that heaven, which is defined by continual and non-stopping happiness, is entirely paradoxical. However this conclusion gets overturned by the ending, where Dandy apparently chooses to stay there. Because love is something that eludes the duality rule. So life after death can be meaningful if there is a love.]
The second idea is tangentially ties into themes of episode 9 ( also written by Watanabe). The idea tries imagine what would become of our earthly desires in afterlife. spoiler[ If you look the episode you will notice how all of the characters that despise their current state, are also consuming either food or liquid. Even Dandy himself tries to enjoy food, but he simply can't enjoy it anymore. Why is that? Well, that is because our earthly desires ( such as food consumption ) exist to prolong our life. If there is nothing prolong, than the food itself becomes unnecessary.We enjoy eating food without thinking of that survivalist background , but that is only an evolutionary trick so that prolongation of life becomes easier. For a person like Dandy that must be hard fact to accept. But the ending ,to an extent, also overturns that idea. It doesn't reduce the idea of unnecessity of earthly desires, but it focuses on spiritual element of human being. Our inner, deep desires have become detached from their evolutionary purposes and they now exist by themselves for themselves. This is reflected in this episode when Dandy says "in life or death Dandy is always Dandy". If you can develop yourself as a person there will always be meaning.]
At the end I think that Watanabe used his initial question to just tell us what constitutes actual life by itself.
The episode was directed by an amazing talent called Yasuhiro Nakura. I primarily know him for his Moomin work and his work there was very reminiscent of his work here. Just like a lot of Moomin episodes, this episode was abundant with serene, dreamy and slightly melancholy moments. The subtle autumnal worked perfectly to evoke that feeling of melancholy and it tied into a theme of passing life. Continuing my Moomin connection, the design of aliens who sing about death very closely resembles that of Hattifatteners. Surreal background art by Santiago Montiel is absolutely amazing, there is a sort of dream logical to architecture of those buildings. The music used in this ep was specifically composed for it and it was done by a band ingeniously called Ogre You Asshole.
Anyway, today is also the day when the new Ikuhara show is announced, so screw me I am glad to be alive.
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15433
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2014 9:53 am Reply with quote
Season 2, Episode 8

Some might think of this episode as too random, but personally I found the episode to be really good, maybe one of my favourites for reasons other than comedy. For the record I took the end of the episode to be spoiler[Dandy having a dream of maybe spending his eternity with the lovely planet who would sacrifice herself for him], but it is vague enough for another interpretation. I absolutely loved the wonderland like designs of this episode, it was great to look at and listen to.

In an overarching plot sort of way, I think that this episode ties into a larger plot of the series which you might mistaken into thinking there is none, well in a way there is. See in the first episode the leader of the Gogol Empire states that Dandy is the key to something big, and through the series we have seen different forces kind of take interest in him. Mainly I can remember back to that alien book was studying something to do with Dandy using Doctor Gel that caused him to accept death when he realised what it was, which is definitely reminiscent of spoiler[planet Limbo saying that she loved him]. I was kind of putting Honey in the same corner. Also it felt like Dandy and co spoiler[being brought back alive] was also something addressed here.

A dandy episode, baby.
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L'Imperatore



Joined: 24 Mar 2014
Posts: 821
PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2014 10:37 am Reply with quote
If anything, I thought Watanabe is trying to tell us that the spoiler[afterlife] is actually a planet. Laughing

Ahem, joke aside... when spoiler[Limbo says that she'll have to "use" the entire planet to send Dandy back to life (and subsequent scenes), it gave me idea that the process costs the planet's existence itself. The last scene, however, made me rethink the idea...

This last scene where Dandy ultimately chooses to return and stay with the personified, lonely Limbo]
is also a bit creepy at first, giving me this "real ending" vibe. But then... bah, this show is episodic after all. Next one, please! Laughing

Echoing people above me, yeah, this is one amazing episode. Every aspect is done right. And Limbo is just adorable. Wink

By the way, spoiler[is this the first instance where a "girl" openly declares her love for Dandy?]
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12skippy21



Joined: 25 Nov 2008
Posts: 785
Location: York, England
PostPosted: Sun Aug 24, 2014 4:48 pm Reply with quote
DuskyPredator wrote:
In an overarching plot sort of way, I think that this episode ties into a larger plot of the series which you might mistaken into thinking there is none, well in a way there is. See in the first episode the leader of the Gogol Empire states that Dandy is the key to something big, and through the series we have seen different forces kind of take interest in him. Mainly I can remember back to that alien book was studying something to do with Dandy using Doctor Gel that caused him to accept death when he realised what it was, which is definitely reminiscent of spoiler[planet Limbo saying that she loved him]. I was kind of putting Honey in the same corner. Also it felt like Dandy and co spoiler[being brought back alive] was also something addressed here.


This is the point I am interested in.

Again, I was not entralled by the episode as the messages it were portraying were rather obvious but at least it had a good atmosphere. spoiler[I see a lot of commonality with multiple dimensions. I wonder if he has the Steins Gate ability or he is somehow entwined with the life force of the universe? The curiosity is whether he would be aware of said ability and how others are aware of it.]

I think the show would benefit from having a good overarching story as you could then rewatch past episodes from that viewpoint. I still find this show to be very vapid; other than good animation but I am coming to the conclusion that the show is good itself but I just cannot like the main character, he is way too goofy. Guess I am just not dandy enough to understand. Smile [/spoiler]
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Akane the Catgirl



Joined: 09 Oct 2013
Posts: 1091
Location: LA, Baby!
PostPosted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 1:10 am Reply with quote
On this episode of Space Dandy, our hero spoiler[is dead!]

Well...that was something.

As you can see, I have a really weird opinion on this episode. It was certainly well-made. Given that this episode was written by Mr. Director himself, I do appreciate how much effort he put into this. I actually really love this episode a lot. So what's so weird about my opinion?

I think this should have been released as a stand-alone short film instead of as a Space Dandy episode. While I did enjoy watching this, I have to admit that this episode has huge problems fitting into the Dandy mood. What I mean is that it is so tonally different and that most of the elements of the series are just not there, that it might as well be it's own unique thing. Think of it as the "Pierrot le Fou" episode to Dandy's Cowboy Bebop.

So, overall? It was a good episode, but not a good Space Dandy episode. I would have preferred it to be a separately made short movie instead, but that's just me. Anyone else?
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danilo07



Joined: 25 Dec 2011
Posts: 1580
PostPosted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:29 am Reply with quote
Quote:
So, overall? It was a good episode, but not a good Space Dandy episode. I would have preferred it to be a separately made short movie instead, but that's just me. Anyone else?

It's impossible define what is a Dandy episode, there are a lot of these weird, experimental auteur episodes just like this episode. Of course they are always balanced with Kimiko Ueno episodes, that give SD some sort of comical unity and recognizable brand, I will give you that. But I would say that weird, experimental films are a big part of what what makes Space Dandy Space Dandy.
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Akane the Catgirl



Joined: 09 Oct 2013
Posts: 1091
Location: LA, Baby!
PostPosted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 4:19 am Reply with quote
^ Good point. Still, considering that Space Dandy is mostly a light-hearted comedy, it threw me off when we got an episode like this. My opinion still stands. Like the episode; just wish it was a stand-alone short film.
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Jacquipuff



Joined: 02 Jul 2014
Posts: 274
Location: Silver Spring, MD
PostPosted: Mon Aug 25, 2014 3:28 pm Reply with quote
I really loved the visuals, and the atmosphere overall, of this episode. I also enjoyed seeing Dandy with his hair down for most of the episode (sorry, Dandy, I'm just not a big fan of pompadours!).

So I guess this could be the explanation of why spoiler[it never seems to stick whenever Dandy, Meow, and QT die.] Although thinking about it, that hasn't really been happening as much in the second season, has it?

At the bottom of the page here you can see the artwork for some of the backgrounds found in the episode. I wish I could take the first one, blow it up to a giant size, and stick in on the wall opposite my bed, so I could continuously stare at it...it's so pretty...
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Stark700



Joined: 30 Jan 2012
Posts: 11762
Location: Earth
PostPosted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 11:09 pm Reply with quote
The latest episode sure had some funky music and dancing. Not as good as the previous episode but was kinda funny to watch.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 4:50 am Reply with quote
Next ep Scarlet has got Dandy whipped. *whippish!*
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DuskyPredator



Joined: 10 Mar 2009
Posts: 15433
Location: Brisbane, Australia
PostPosted: Sun Aug 31, 2014 10:34 am Reply with quote
Season 2, Episode 9

Some funky beats, baby.

And Scarlet next episode, yay.
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Akane the Catgirl



Joined: 09 Oct 2013
Posts: 1091
Location: LA, Baby!
PostPosted: Mon Sep 01, 2014 1:02 pm Reply with quote
OH MY GOD THE ANIMATION.

*ahem* So yeah, this episode was purty. Best part was the animation and aesthetics. I loved looking at the artwork and fluid animation for this. It makes me wonder how much effort and time they put into this.

The only other thing I can comment on is the ending. Eh...Gainax ending? Really, there's not much to discuss this time because while the story is kind of average (Keiko Nobumoto episode number 4), the animation is just perfect. Then again, last episode was so good that this one is going to pale in comparison.

Next time, we get...hmm...well, I'm not a fan of romance, but Kimiko Ueno is writing this, so yeah.
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Jacquipuff



Joined: 02 Jul 2014
Posts: 274
Location: Silver Spring, MD
PostPosted: Tue Sep 02, 2014 1:44 pm Reply with quote
spoiler[So QT really is a vacuum cleaner after all!] Laughing

After last week's surreal episode, this week we're back to the regular kind of Space Dandy weirdness. Can't say I was expecting to see spoiler[everyone get aged into old age, then de-aged into babies.] And the dance that Dandy and that alien did at the end, spoiler[the one that caused the planet to...cease to exist, I suppose,] had me laughing.

More Scarlet next episode. Looking forward to it.
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enurtsol



Joined: 01 May 2007
Posts: 14746
PostPosted: Sun Sep 07, 2014 12:02 am Reply with quote
For a guy calling himself Dandy, that wasn't a very Dandy way to act in the end.
(Thought being Dandy was being honest with yourself throwing caution to the wind no matter what.)

Now Catherine deserves him.

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