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Junichi Suwabe, 9nine's Uki Satake Lead Space Dandy Cast

The official website for Space Dandy, the upcoming science-fiction comedy series from director Shinichiro Watanabe (Macross Plus, Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Kids on the Slope) and studio BONES, confirmed the main cast on Thursday. The cast was also announced in the November issue of Newtype magazine.

Junichi Suwabe plays Dandy, a human male who works as an alien hunter. His age is unclear, but he is most likely in his late 20s. He does not care about little things, and believes that his dream is somewhere in the world. He frequents "Boobies," a restaurant known for its voluptuous waitresses. (As Bones producer Masahiko Minami observes, Boobies is not to be confused with the Hooters chain.)

Fashion model and 9nine idol group member Uki Satake plays QT, a vacuum cleaner robot. QT says that she is high-powered, but she's actually just a bucket of bolts. (Minami: "It's a Roomba.") She's very serious and her pride is a little big. She likes tidiness.

Hiroyuki Yoshino plays Meow, a dimwit alien. Contrary to expectations, he's not a genetically advanced cat, but he's actually an alien that lives on the star Betelgeuse. Meow is very carefree, as if he were raised with no constraints. He already knows how to use a cellphone.

Finally, Masaaki Yajima will be the narrator.

The story revolves around Dandy, an alien-hunter. His job is to seek out new aliens never seen before, and receives a reward whenever he finds a new species. His mission is to find those new species faster than anyone else as he travels the galaxy. Together with the bucket-of-bolts robot QT and the dimwit alien Meow he picked up along the way, he comes into contact with new planets and their inhabitants.

Staff members include:

• General Director: Shinichiro Watanabe
• Director: Shingo Natsume
• Scriptwriters: Dai Satō, Keiko Nobumoto, and Kimiko Ueno
• Character Design: Yoshiyuki Itō
• Spaceship Design: Thomas Romain
• Theme Song: Yasuyuki Okamura
• Animation Production: BONES

Yasuyuki Okamura (City Hunter 2) is performing the theme song "Viva Namida" and another song, "Healthy Merci."

Watanabe officially revealed the series at Otakon on August 10. The series will premiere in January.

Images © 2014 Bones/Project SPACE DANDY