Sunday 16 February 2014

Space☆Dandy - Episode 7

If you want to get on Dandy's bad side, there's probably no better way of doing it than usurping him while making an appearance at Boobies.

It's certainly just such a scenario that puts a young man named Prince onto Dandy's radar - no, he isn't a pop star but a rather dashing space racer.  Thus, there's only one thing for it in Dandy's eyes... to take on this new nemesis in the Redline... err, sorry, I mean the Magellanic Nebulae Grand Prix.  Dandy might not have a ship that boasts high speeds, or a talented crew (as the race's announcer goes to great pains to point out), but he does have a number of secret "last resorts" up his sleeve...


...last resorts that almost universally entail Dandy blowing up his ship in some shape or form.  As is typical of the man however, all of these plans seem to work perfectly, much to the disbelief of Prince who finds himself pushed to the limit in his quest for victory.  Even the presence of some decidedly unusual fuel in the tank and the threat of an opponent who isn't even registered for the race fail to stop Dandy as he makes for the finishing line - an event which ultimately transcends mere victory or defeat entirely.

Although I mentioned Redline in jest earlier, there is a certain sense of Redline meets Wacky Races about this week's episode of Space Dandy - mind you, I kind of like to imagine that Redline occupies the same universe as this series anyhow.  The result was another riot of colour and imagination which was fun far more than it was outright funny - a few laughs aside, it was pretty typical fare all the way through to the now almost expected bonkers ending to the episode, meaning that its visual flair was perhaps more important than its contents.  In a sense, this is part of what Space Dandy is all about - it wants to be a feast for your eyes more than your brain, and it often feels like that's the primary goal of the show over and above its comedy, and although I will admit that I'd rather laugh heartily throughout while marveling at its animation, I'm not averse to just soaking in its colourful universe to the exclusion of most other things.

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