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ZanraiKid
Joined: 10 Apr 2013
Posts: 102
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 12:47 pm
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"We are not rotting. WE. ARE. FERMENTING."
This line from the zombie episode absolutely killed me.
Watanabe do what he do. This is not Cowboy Bebop. This is not Macross Plus. This is something more akin to Samurai Champloo, with less backstory and drama. I'm okay with that, so long as the series remains that way. It is a show based solely on a joyous cavalcade of good ideas. This is something Watanabe has been due a long time coming.
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maximilianjenus
Joined: 29 Apr 2013
Posts: 2907
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:18 pm
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I am still hoping this will have a koji kumeta style last arc, where all the nonsense suddenyl makes sense and it's sad and hard hitting.
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Thatguy3331
Joined: 18 Feb 2012
Posts: 1799
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:25 pm
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Even though I watch the dub on Adult Swim more than I go back for the subbed, I always groan at the fact that instead of hearing viva namida I have to hear some boring cheesy 70's style opening jingle. Same goes for the ending theme.
I've enjoyed Space Dandy much more as time goes on, my favorites being the zombie episode and the recently aired episode 7. Even though the others haven't been as good as those two there's still some nice content in them that makes me remember them, like the mecha fight in episode 3 or the glorious ending to episode 6. Episode 5 I solely appreciate because it actually helped flesh Dandy out a bit, which for me was great because before hand I was having trouble liking anyone on the crew aside from QT. Now I'm just waiting for the show to make some actual use of the other characters it has, especially scarlet since there could be some possibilities for more entertaining episodes. It's definitely become something I look forward to every week but I'm not going to bank on it becoming a favorite of mine.
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walw6pK4Alo
Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:49 pm
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I can only wonder at how much lower the praise and scores would be if nothing at all about the series was changed aside from Watanabe's name.
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penguintruth
Joined: 08 Dec 2004
Posts: 8503
Location: Penguinopolis
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 1:56 pm
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The zombie episode is no less than brilliant. First it takes the joke too far to where it's no longer funny, and then so far it becomes funny again by momentum. A tricky thing to do.
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belvadeer
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 2:05 pm
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Up to this point, I've really been enjoying this show. It's quite creative in its setup of each scenario and the best part is spotting or identifying those "it just does it right for me" moments, such as the shoutout to George Romero in the zombie episode or the "conclusion" of the space race in the most recent episode. I also personally love Alison Viktorin's voice all autotuned for QT.
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danilo07
Joined: 25 Dec 2011
Posts: 1580
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 2:36 pm
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The real discovery in this show is Kimiko Ueno,her scripts were better than those of experienced and accomplished writers like Dai Sato or Ichiro Ookuchi.I will keep an eye on her in the future.
Quote: | I can only wonder at how much lower the praise and scores would be if nothing at all about the series was changed aside from Watanabe's name. |
Seeing how everybody has been comparing Space Dandy to Cowboy Bebop solely due to Watanabe,I believe that the praise for this show would have been bigger if his name was erased.
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zeo1fan
Joined: 02 Sep 2011
Posts: 1016
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 2:36 pm
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Quote: | and the ramen episode deflates its loony silliness with an unexpected shard of melancholy to end on a surprisingly gentle note. |
It has a sad tone. But it's too convoluted and pretentious to actually result in anything meaningful.
From your description, Space Dandy is bad, but pretty. You said there's a good episode to match every bad one, but that's clearly not the case, here. Most of them are bad. You actually seem to be sugarcoating your assessment of Space Dandy based on your own affinity for Watanabe and his crew.
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Zac
ANN Executive Editor
Joined: 05 Jan 2002
Posts: 7912
Location: Anime News Network Technodrome
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 2:38 pm
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walw6pK4Alo wrote: | I can only wonder at how much lower the praise and scores would be if nothing at all about the series was changed aside from Watanabe's name. |
Quick man keep the stupid tribalism going, we need it so badly in our lives
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Wyvern
Joined: 01 Sep 2004
Posts: 1601
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 2:51 pm
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walw6pK4Alo wrote: | I can only wonder at how much lower the praise and scores would be if nothing at all about the series was changed aside from Watanabe's name. |
The show would have gotten a lot less attention at first (but if it were still a Toonami world premiere it would probably still be the most talked-about show of the season) but it probably would have even more acclaim in the long run. Most of the negative reaction I've seen to Dandy comes from people who expected it to be Cowboy Bebop 2.
As nice as that would be, Watanabe has said many, many times that he's not interested in rehashing Bebop. Which is admirable: he'd probably make a huge amount of money if he brought it back, but he'd rather move forward as a creator. Good for him.
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zeo1fan
Joined: 02 Sep 2011
Posts: 1016
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 2:58 pm
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Wyvern wrote: |
walw6pK4Alo wrote: | I can only wonder at how much lower the praise and scores would be if nothing at all about the series was changed aside from Watanabe's name. |
The show would have gotten a lot less attention at first (but if it were still a Toonami world premiere it would probably still be the most talked-about show of the season) but it probably would have even more acclaim in the long run. Most of the negative reaction I've seen to Dandy comes from people who expected it to be Cowboy Bebop 2.
As nice as that would be, Watanabe has said many, many times that he's not interested in rehashing Bebop. Which is admirable: he'd probably make a huge amount of money if he brought it back, but he'd rather move forward as a creator. Good for him. |
I've never seen Cowboy Bebop. I have no real standard to which I can hold Watanabe. Most of the praise I see heaped on Dandy is about how pretty it is, and how 'fun' its tone is, but not much for its content. Even this review, though benign, makes it clear how sparse the story quality is for most of Dandy's episodes.
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SouthPacific
Joined: 24 Oct 2013
Posts: 689
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 3:04 pm
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Space Dandy is pretty good, but I don't think it's amazing. It's just pretty good. I'm really liking the art & animation, and i'm also digging the characters, but the show as a whole isn't something spectacular.
Although I do feel that I have to mention that Dandy's Japanese voice actor has a good voice. Like, ridiculously awesome voice...
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MasterKingJC
Joined: 21 Dec 2010
Posts: 380
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 3:22 pm
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Thatguy3331 wrote: | Even though I watch the dub on Adult Swim more than I go back for the subbed, I always groan at the fact that instead of hearing viva namida I have to hear some boring cheesy 70's style opening jingle. Same goes for the ending theme. |
They're actively working on trying to air the full opening and ending.
It should come sooner or later.
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merr
Joined: 11 Dec 2004
Posts: 488
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 3:28 pm
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zeo1fan wrote: |
Wyvern wrote: |
walw6pK4Alo wrote: | I can only wonder at how much lower the praise and scores would be if nothing at all about the series was changed aside from Watanabe's name. |
The show would have gotten a lot less attention at first (but if it were still a Toonami world premiere it would probably still be the most talked-about show of the season) but it probably would have even more acclaim in the long run. Most of the negative reaction I've seen to Dandy comes from people who expected it to be Cowboy Bebop 2.
As nice as that would be, Watanabe has said many, many times that he's not interested in rehashing Bebop. Which is admirable: he'd probably make a huge amount of money if he brought it back, but he'd rather move forward as a creator. Good for him. |
I've never seen Cowboy Bebop. I have no real standard to which I can hold Watanabe. Most of the praise I see heaped on Dandy is about how pretty it is, and how 'fun' its tone is, but not much for its content. Even this review, though benign, makes it clear how sparse the story quality is for most of Dandy's episodes. |
You do realize that "story quality" is not the be all and end all of television artistry, right? Space Dandy is an episodic comedy. It's not supposed to have a strong narrative. You might as well argue that Seinfeld is terrible because it lacks a story.
And why is it that the only people who keep bringing up Watanabe are the ones accusing others of heaping undue praise upon this show simply because the man's name is attached to it? The weird defensiveness is mind-boggling.
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JacobC
ANN Past Staff
Joined: 15 Jan 2008
Posts: 3728
Location: SoCal
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Posted: Wed Feb 19, 2014 3:50 pm
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maximilianjenus wrote: | I am still hoping this will have a koji kumeta style last arc, where all the nonsense suddenyl makes sense and it's sad and hard hitting. |
Maybe not the sad and hard-hitting part, I think this'll be a comedy with a few sweet moments thrown in 'til the end, but given Watanabe's penchant for painting foreshadowing into his projects with an extremely thick brush, I will be absolutely shocked if the ED song for Space Dandy isn't meant to be taken literally.
For those only watching the [adult swim] broadcast, the ED song features dozens of Dandys, Meows, and QTs popping out of a galaxy of interdimensional cubes over and over, traipsing over different literal "time lines" that are drawn and redrawn in space. The song's pretty much the same thing, with lyrics like "once again, twice again, thrice again, Hi Dandy, How You Doin?, Hello Again," etc.
So chances are pretty good that the story resets after every episode not purely because these are supposed to be vignettes, but because the "string of time and space" that the gang yanked in episode one has created billions of Dandy universes to irrevocably scramble, whether that be by turning everyone into zombies or making Dandy the new Buddha and ushering the universe into an age of enlightenment, along with all the other dumb stuff that's happened.
I don't think it'll be real sad and heartbreaking (although Dandy does have a few closet skeletons by his own admission,) but before show's end, those bazillion Dandy-verses are probably going to converge in some way. That should be fun to see!
danilo07 wrote: | The real discovery in this show is Kimiko Ueno,her scripts were better than those of experienced and accomplished writers like Dai Sato or Ichiro Ookuchi.I will keep an eye on her in the future.
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Same. The zombie episode and the great space race are the two best episodes so far. Her sense of humor and timing seems like the best fit for Space Dandy and I wouldn't be surprised if she was doing most of the episodes in the run, similar to Keiko Nobumoto's tone-dominant writing role in Bebop or Shinji Obara's in Samurai Champloo.
Watanabe seems to like giving relatively fresh blood showrunner status on scripts. (Although for Nobumoto that'd be for Macross Plus, with Bebop a few years later.) I like this and wish it to continue.
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