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The series comes to an abrupt ending, with typesetting saying "next chapter". It never arrives, and I don't know if it was canceled or the author simply felt satisfied with what they wrote and called it quits.

That next chapter phrase is all lies, but the series ended on a high note for me. It started slow, and Yuiko-san was annoying as fuck because she really reminded me of my ex who was super possessive and nothing was ever enough to satisfy her. But then "BAAM", we got the gist of what the story wants to achieve, with little by little Yuiko-san changes for the better. ... She is early portrayed as this "don't touch me" type of girl who has that air of superiority, but in fact, she is just an awkward teenager who is self-conscious about people not approaching her out of fear and intimidation due to her harsh personality. She is too serious, annoying, wants everything to be done properly, but all of that is because she doesn't know any better, she is just another kid trying to figure out life as a teenager.

Yuiko-san never really learned how to open up to others until Tadano/Tomoya comes to be part of her life. He is portrayed as your average teenage boy, which means, he is a little too childish at first, he is not really into studying that hard even though he goes to a cram school, and he doesn't take things too seriously. I actually was pitying the boy at the start of his relationship with Yuiko-san. She can be beautiful, however, her personality was hard to swallow early on, especially on how she tries to hide their relationship from others, even when it is so obvious to those close to both.

Interestingly enough, Tomoya's development as a character is slow but steady. He tries his best to keep up with Yuiko's expectations. He does fail a lot, especially with kinship, just like any other teenage boy, he can't hide the fact he wants to go a little more and advance their relationship, however, he does his best to hold on for the sake of a healthy relationship and because he really knows Yuiko's san can't deal well when pressured, meaning that, if he really wanted to force her to do something against her will, out of fear of losing him or being hated by the person she likes, she would go that far. The boy really becomes more mature as the series goes on, as he already knows how to deal with Yuiko's personality and awkwardness.

I can tell with confidence that despite the stereotypes that our main cast falls into, this is a really good depiction of how a relationship develops (at least from what you can expect from your typical high school teenagers' first love). Of course, there are some highs and lows with the series, one of the lowest points of it are the first 2 volumes because of Yuiko-san being insufferable at times, to the point of you asking yourself "why does Tomoya pull through all this shit on a daily basis. How can he deal with her?". Coincidentally enough, the High points of this manga are pretty HIGH. Getting to see both of them developing as they get to know each other better is enough to justify the slow and boring start.

As the title says, Yuiko-san grows as a person on a daily basis as she gets more experience in life, and all of that is thanks to Tomoya. The Yuiko-san from the final volume is basically a totally different person from Yuiko-san of volumes 1-3, and that is for the better. I loved every minute of the manga and the Finale was incredible. It felt like a little journey back to my teenage years and seeing a close friend grow into adult life. If I could give it a specific score, I give it an 8.5 out of 10.

It's something really special despite feeling that the author wanted to do a lot more with it.

ATTENTION! THIS IS A REVIEW FOR BOTH SEASONS SINCE I WATCHED BOTH OF THEM BACK-TO-BACK AND THINK THIS IS THE WAY THE ANIME SHOULD BE WATCHED TO GET THE MOST ENJOYMENT OUT OF IT

THERE ARE MAJOR PLOT POINTS SPOILERS BECAUSE THE STORY DOESN'T POINT IT OUT IN AN OBVIOUS WAY! THEY ARE MARKED BUT BE WARNED!

So, here I'm back from watching the two seasons to finally give my opinion of the show. I first thought it would be just an episodic acid trip show coupled with lots of Gundam, the 80s, and pop culture references. Boy, was I wrong!


Here is the thing. Is Space Dandy ... an episodic anime with no continuity or determined plot? Yes (Dandy is a space hunter looking for unknown alien races in return of making a good profit, he is not that good while doing his job. But he is Dandy while doing it!) and No.

[SPOILERS START HERE]
If you pay attention to all the episodes' undertones and vague dialogue sequences between The Gogol Empire Admiral Perry (Space Skeleton looking thing) and Dr. Gel (Gorilla Doctor) there is a reason why they are looking to capture Dandy for their purposes to tip the power scale of the war between the Gogol Empire and the Jaicro Empire. It's stated multiple times that Dandy has (for a mysterious and unknown reason until chapter 8 of season 2) some energy inside him that can make all the difference and help the Gogol Empire to win the war.


What is this energy and plot McGuffin thing about Dandy? To explain in simple terms, Dandy is special since he is the main character. Did you notice that in some episodes Dandy and the crew simply die in some space catastrophe but in the next episode everything is back to normal? Yes, it was not just made for comedic purposes. As the anime spouts some mumbo jumbo quantum physics terms left and right like it was nothing, it is explained in Chapter 8 of the Season 2 (which in my opinion is the best animated, best directed, and psychedelic episode of the series) that Dandy really died all those times, but even Space Death (who is a chick that falls in love with Dandy because of his visits to the space afterlife, and being the only other living being in the afterlife) can't understand because he is not actually dead and must be returned to life every time, BUT in a parallel/different universe (if you stay to listen to the ending lyrics, it states this too) as nothing had happened, and so, life for Dandy simply keeps going on. Dandy is in other terms a UNIVERSAL CONSTANT THAT NEEDS TO EXIST, so killing him is pointless as he will come back because the universe itself wants it to be that way (in other words the creators of the anime itself hehe). That's why The Gogol Empire wants Dandy and why he has this mysterious energy inside him, even though they don't really get how he got a hold on an energy of this magnitude.
[SPOILERS END HERE]

Oh, and a little trivia: The Gogol Empire is a parody to Google, where they have their Gogol Streetview to search for dandy throughout the Galaxy, and their catchphrase used by a Yahoo member in the forums where Meow asks a question is just "Gogol it". Then, who the hell is the Jaicro Empire? It is said to be based on the JAIRO, which stands for Japanese Institutional Repositories Online. It's a web-based search interface that provides aggregated open access to Japanese academic content, including journal articles, theses, research bulletins, and reports. It is administered by Japan's National Institute of Informatics, and if my research is not mistaken, it seems it was discontinued in April of 2019.


Space Dandy can be a super hit and miss comedy show (niche for a lack of better words) because it has some jokes that if you have no previous knowledge of what it's trying to parody then you will not see through it, and said jokes will become bland. I can't see my 15 or 17-year-old selves enjoying it as much as I did while I'm 26. And if you never saw Watanabe's works (Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo), it probably won't have the same impact as it did to me. With all that said, it is understandable why Studio Bones had to cancel the series (which Watanabe was working on a movie for it). The show didn't turn out to be revolutionary anime they wanted to be, especially when Shonen is so strong lately and the audiences aren't interested in a more deep yet comedic anime.


I give a 9/10 if you understand what is happening under the hood of the show and is familiarized with Shinichiro Watanabe's work. If not, this isn't like Rick and Morty, who has similar premises but has more crude humor to help it if the audience isn't smart or mature enough to get everything that the show wants to transmit, then it turns out to be a 7/10. For the animation, music is 10/10 (subjective), artwork, character design, it is a consistent 8/10 (the general slice of life episodes), with some 9/10 and 10/10 animation in the deeper, psychedelic episodes (the first episode, the zombie episode, the space pororoca episode, the life-death of Dandy episode, the multiverse episode, the giant fish episode, and final episodes).


Give it time, but Space Dandy could get to be recognized as of the hidden gems of all anime out there. It really lives up to the quality of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, but the anime was released in a time where it won't get much traction as its predecessors got. If let us say, the anime was really today (2020), amidst all the COVID-19 pandemic and people being more at home, where introspects of life are happening more (global crises, and all), then this anime would get a lot more traction and be one of the best of the year.

ATTENTION! THIS IS A REVIEW FOR BOTH SEASONS SINCE I WATCHED BOTH OF THEM BACK-TO-BACK AND THINK THIS IS THE WAY THE ANIME SHOULD BE WATCHED TO GET THE MOST ENJOYMENT OUT OF IT

THERE ARE MAJOR PLOT POINTS SPOILERS BECAUSE THE STORY DOESN'T POINT IT OUT IN AN OBVIOUS WAY! THEY ARE MARKED BUT BE WARNED!

So, here I'm back from watching the two seasons to finally give my opinion of the show. I first thought it would be just an episodic acid trip show coupled with lots of Gundam, the 80s, and pop culture references. Boy, was I wrong!


Here is the thing. Is Space Dandy ... an episodic anime with no continuity or determined plot? Yes (Dandy is a space hunter looking for unknown alien races in return of making a good profit, he is not that good while doing his job. But he is Dandy while doing it!) and No.

[SPOILERS START HERE]
If you pay attention to all the episodes' undertones and vague dialogue sequences between The Gogol Empire Admiral Perry (Space Skeleton looking thing) and Dr. Gel (Gorilla Doctor) there is a reason why they are looking to capture Dandy for their purposes to tip the power scale of the war between the Gogol Empire and the Jaicro Empire. It's stated multiple times that Dandy has (for a mysterious and unknown reason until chapter 8 of season 2) some energy inside him that can make all the difference and help the Gogol Empire to win the war.


What is this energy and plot McGuffin thing about Dandy? To explain in simple terms, Dandy is special since he is the main character. Did you notice that in some episodes Dandy and the crew simply die in some space catastrophe but in the next episode everything is back to normal? Yes, it was not just made for comedic purposes. As the anime spouts some mumbo jumbo quantum physics terms left and right like it was nothing, it is explained in Chapter 8 of the Season 2 (which in my opinion is the best animated, best directed, and psychedelic episode of the series) that Dandy really died all those times, but even Space Death (who is a chick that falls in love with Dandy because of his visits to the space afterlife, and being the only other living being in the afterlife) can't understand because he is not actually dead and must be returned to life every time, BUT in a parallel/different universe (if you stay to listen to the ending lyrics, it states this too) as nothing had happened, and so, life for Dandy simply keeps going on. Dandy is in other terms a UNIVERSAL CONSTANT THAT NEEDS TO EXIST, so killing him is pointless as he will come back because the universe itself wants it to be that way (in other words the creators of the anime itself hehe). That's why The Gogol Empire wants Dandy and why he has this mysterious energy inside him, even though they don't really get how he got a hold on an energy of this magnitude.
[SPOILERS END HERE]

Oh, and a little trivia: The Gogol Empire is a parody to Google, where they have their Gogol Streetview to search for dandy throughout the Galaxy, and their catchphrase used by a Yahoo member in the forums where Meow asks a question is just "Gogol it". Then, who the hell is the Jaicro Empire? It is said to be based on the JAIRO, which stands for Japanese Institutional Repositories Online. It's a web-based search interface that provides aggregated open access to Japanese academic content, including journal articles, theses, research bulletins, and reports. It is administered by Japan's National Institute of Informatics, and if my research is not mistaken, it seems it was discontinued in April of 2019.


Space Dandy can be a super hit and miss comedy show (niche for a lack of better words) because it has some jokes that if you have no previous knowledge of what it's trying to parody then you will not see through it, and said jokes will become bland. I can't see my 15 or 17-year-old selves enjoying it as much as I did while I'm 26. And if you never saw Watanabe's works (Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo), it probably won't have the same impact as it did to me. With all that said, it is understandable why Studio Bones had to cancel the series (which Watanabe was working on a movie for it). The show didn't turn out to be revolutionary anime they wanted to be, especially when Shonen is so strong lately and the audiences aren't interested in a more deep yet comedic anime.


I give a 9/10 if you understand what is happening under the hood of the show and is familiarized with Shinichiro Watanabe's work. If not, this isn't like Rick and Morty, who has similar premises but has more crude humor to help it if the audience isn't smart or mature enough to get everything that the show wants to transmit, then it turns out to be a 7/10. For the animation, music is 10/10 (subjective), artwork, character design, it is a consistent 8/10 (the general slice of life episodes), with some 9/10 and 10/10 animation in the deeper, psychedelic episodes (the first episode, the zombie episode, the space pororoca episode, the life-death of Dandy episode, the multiverse episode, the giant fish episode, and final episodes).


Give it time, but Space Dandy could get to be recognized as of the hidden gems of all anime out there. It really lives up to the quality of Cowboy Bebop and Samurai Champloo, but the anime was released in a time where it won't get much traction as its predecessors got. If let us say, the anime was really today (2020), amidst all the COVID-19 pandemic and people being more at home, where introspects of life are happening more (global crises, and all), then this anime would get a lot more traction and be one of the best of the year.