Recap

Dandy is put on trial for murder most foul.

Zigg’s Thoughts

A nicely structured and laid out episode of Dandy this week, which tells a story almost entirely in media res and therefore keeps the setting small and relatively intimate. It’s probably the most low-key outing in a while in fact, despite the fact the stakes are, you know, a murder trial. Despite that, there’s no real whodunnit aspect here, since the premise is so utterly ludicrous to begin with. Instead it’s just a chance for the prosecution and defence to bounce increasingly insane theories off of each other and for a gallery of weird witnesses to take the stand. The fast talking attorneys and some trademark utterly made-up science ensure that the pace remains high and though there’s definitely a few duff jokes we’re moving so fast that it’s pretty easy to skip over them and stay intrigued by the unfolding madness.

One interesting creative decision is to remove Dandy himself entirely from proceedings (although he’s ‘there’ he takes no active part) which almost gives this the feel of a ‘bottle’ episode or a side story. It also puts more of a focus on the witnesses, which is fun since they’re such an eclectic bunch. Meow and QT finally get to have a decent role again, and Scarlet and Honey step outside their comfort zone for a bit too. Then we’ve got Rose, who’s a near pitch-perfect impersonation of every ‘flustered wife’ character who shows up in murder trial stories, and the two kids, who are extremely funny. In fact, given the art style shift (especially during the terrific baseball sequence) it sometimes feels they’ve wandered in from an early 00’s Nickelodeon cartoon, yet another example of the artistic flexibility the show can accommodate.

Overall, it’s a neat little change of pace and acts as a good breather before the grand finale next week. Oddly enough it appears they’re going to try and payoff the ongoing plot (such as it has been) in some way, something which makes me both excited and nervous in equal measure. After all the amazing work we’ve seen though I have faith that they’ll pull it out and give the show the ending flourish it so richly deserves.

Random Observations

• I’m pretty sure that even in the far future you shouldn’t be allowed mobile phones in the jury room.
• There’s a lot of split-screen and cross cut shots in this episode, which give it a nice visual style all of its own.
• The entire baseball sequence is an outstanding display of FLCL-style deranged animation.
• Next week’s preview reveals that Johnny will be returning. Dropkix reunion!

Marlin’s Thoughts

For weeks and weeks we’ve noticed how the titular Space Dandy had mostly stolen the show away from his under-appreciated cohorts. Now that we finally get an episode where he barely speaks a word, it’s hard not to feel that’s what was weird. I do love myself a good courtroom spoof though, and this has all the hallmarks of a good homage. From the simple country alien on the prosecutor’s bench to the supposed femme fatale, there’s a lot of good jokes to go around even with the number one clown out of commission. It was nice to see a bit more dialogue from our intrepid shipmates, with Meow’s tweeting actually being useful for once. The mystery itself was obviously just a vehicle for jokes, which made the climax’s reveal a lot easier to swallow. Plus, the idea of a kid wanting to murder his friend so hard he caused a warp in space time was amazing.

It’s what we get in the final minutes that is obviously the most puzzling. I would have been fine if even the final episode of Space Dandy ended with absolutely no overarching plot resolution, but it would appear Watanabe has been playing a long con on us. As a huge fan of the freeform anthology style of this show, I’m definitely hesitant to see continuity be brought back to the forefront. I feel like any story explaining why we have such disparate Dandys would be akin to someone explaining the joke. Still, I’ve had a lot of fun with the show over the last year, and if they put their minds to it I have little doubt they’ll still be able to come up with something truly dandy.

Random Observations

• So I still don’t get Boobies. Is it like a single restaurant that somehow services the entire universe, or does each Dandy go to a specific Boobies that Honey always happens to be at?
• For once, to I imagine Iro’s eternal chagrin, a dub used the phrase killing intent without bloodlust making more sense.