3/24/2023 0 Comments Space dandyWithout the momentum of the word of mouth as those fans fell away from the anime, the show then suffered in the long run, in spite of a strong critical reception. Space Dandy, for all its positive aspects, suffered from poor communication in the build-up to its release which impacted audience reactions to the show after expecting something different. When considering the beloved names collaborating on this project, from the likes of Dai Sato to Masaaki Yuasa and Yoko Kanno, it’s no wonder people were salivating over the prospect of what this anime could potentially deliver. The excitement that surrounded this reveal was immense. An English dubbed version of the anime would air at midnight every week on Toonami, before the initial broadcast in Japan, pioneering the now-common process of simul-dubbing. Not only was the initial announcement geared more towards fans in the US than it was for fans back in Japan, it was also revealed that the anime would receive a simultaneous television broadcast within the United States on the then-recently revived Toonami block on Cartoon Network not long after this event. ![]() It was against this backdrop that Shinichiro Watanabe used a panel at 2013’s Otakon to announce a brand new anime production predominantly targeted at international anime fans known as Space Dandy. Aside from the occasional international premiere, guest appearance at anime conventions around the world and a delayed home video release, the international market was mostly shunned. Almost every production at this time still heavily relied on domestic revenue in order to turn a profit, and with the era of simulcasting through services such as Crunchyroll only just beginning to take off, it was understandable that Japanese companies would turn a blind eye to international audiences. Figures from the Association of Japanese Animators place 2012 overseas revenue from anime at around 240 million yen, a notable yet small amount when considered within the context of an industry whose revenue topped 1.3 billion yen in that exact same year. While many anime, including the majority of Shinichiro Watanabe’s previous anime productions, had found success internationally, the market was still a secondary priority for Japanese animation companies due to its relatively smaller size in comparison to the domestic market. A Major First Impressionįirst, let’s cast our minds back to 2013, to an anime landscape in many ways unrecognizable to the industry today. From the animators it elevated to success to its impact on the international anime industry in the years which followed, Shinichiro Watanabe’s Space Dandy is perhaps one of the decade’s most influential anime productions. The anime fandom may have largely moved on, but Space Dandy was a revolution for anime upon its release, and its legacy can be felt in many of the biggest anime airing today. While it may be gone, it certainly hasn’t been forgotten. The Space Dandy project masterminded by Shinichiro Watanabe, Studio Bones and others aimed to replicate the international success of some of the director’s previous work, however, this, unfortunately, didn’t happen. The anime was a wonderfully-animated anthology of stories that brought together talent old and new from across the industry to put their own episodic spin on this basic premise. Upon its announcement excitement for the anime was astronomical, and the anime was seemingly destined for greatness. Space Dandy, from a commercial standpoint, was a failure not only that, the anime faded from public memory in a way that’s admittedly unusual for a show from a director like Shinichiro Watanabe, known for works like Cowboy Bebop and, most recently, Carole and Tuesday. While this may be true, he does still look out for his friends, a robot named QT and a Betelgeusian (a cat) named Meow, alongside many of the one-off characters encountered throughout the show. He’s a pervert with an eye for the finer things in life (boobs, apparently), on the hunt for undiscovered aliens across the galaxy in order to make a living, often cutting corners as he does so. ![]() While this gives us a good idea about what to expect from their personality, if we’re being honest, he’s a pretty terrible person. Eight words are all you need to be introduced to the main character of Shinichiro Watanabe’s 2013 anime Space Dandy.
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