Notes of Space Dandy Season 2 Episode 4

In the future, you don’t need a high school diploma to operate a freaking spaceship

Last time on Space Dandy Season 2, Dandy teleported to a strange planet that was occupied by a single talking fish.

Summary of Space Dandy Season 2 Episode 4

• In an attempt to capture a social media savvy rare alien, Dandy must enlist in high school. However, there is a “pecking order” at the school where popularity is determined by song and dance abilities. Dandy then takes this personally, and makes it his new mission to become the most popular guy in the school. As the semester comes to an end, Dandy decides to mix things up at the prom and tries to take over the school and become the most popular guy. After singing an infectious song that the whole student body eventually started singing, Dandy became the king of the school before blasting off to his next adventure, completely forgetting to capture the rare alien at the school.

My Take

• If you told me that an episode of Space Dandy that’s essentially just a musical would be good, I would have been skeptical. Now, if you said that Space Dandy was looking to spoof the world’s easiest punching bag, then I would have immediately laughed in your face and written off the episode right then and there. After watching this one… I almost want to say that it’s my favorite episode in the entire series.

Now I want to see an episode where the otaku rule the school

• The idea of sending someone as self-centered as Dandy to high school, even for something pertaining to his job, is a great one. The idea that Dandy would adhere to his job of hunting rare aliens while attending the school is unthinkable, and exactly that happens when he gets so offended by being bunched in with the “lame” students, so his entirety of being at the school turns into a plot to become the most popular student. Under normal circumstances, Dandy would probably have no trouble being the coolest guy in school because of his blatant self-absorption, but at this school, popularity is actually dictated by song and dance. Basically meaning that actual talent is required to be cool. I like that concept.

• After about 10 minutes, you then start to realize that you’re watching a musical. Not only that, but it’s not a bad musical. In fact, it’s pretty fun. Granted, it’s not the greatest musical ever made because of its lack of diversity in the songs (all the songs are pop songs), but they’re short, catchy, and have lyrics that are almost exclusively about self-absorption and butts. Just like with most other Space Dandy episodes, they entire episode was just incredibly stupid, but it was probably the most fun episode in the entire series.

• In the true Space Dandy form, Dandy’s lack of situational awareness made it impossible for him to find the rare alien he was transferred in to the school to find to begin with, despite the fact that she was literally right in front of him for the entirety of the episode. It kind of sucks that Dandy didn’t have the common sense to ask the alien to come with him to get registered. I mean, one of the last shots shows her watching Dandy’s ship fly off into the mystic. She obviously would have said yes!

Well, at least it’s a paying job

• The ending song was just fantastic. “Viva me! Viva, viva, viva me! VIVA ALL! VIVA,VIVA,VIVA ALL!” Dandy helped turn the entire song into an inclusion of everybody in a glorious example of the randomness that encompasses the entire series. Everyone had some good bits, and the whole thing was funny as hell.

• The one problem with this episode is how it doesn’t really delve into the alien that Dandy is looking for. We don’t really know much about her other than she’s nerdy, quiet, and has a great ass (according to Dandy). We don’t know why her race isn’t registered in the system, and we don’t know that much about the girl herself. That was kind of lame, but other than that, I had a lot of fun watching her interact with Dandy. Those two had some genuinely great moments.

I feel like I got this at the absolute right time

• “The Transfer Student is Dandy, Baby” probably shouldn’t be as entertaining as it is. I’m no fan of musicals, but when they’re done right, I can’t help but tap my foot and bob my head with a big, dumb grin on my face. This musical was amazing, and it’s probably the most entertaining episode in the entire series. How a musical could be this fun, I don’t know. However, I don’t care; this episode was just magnificent.

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Ben

20 year old university student studying economics by day, snooty anime blogger by night! I have high standards for anime, but I also keep an open mind when it comes to shows outside my comfort area, which usually includes dialogue-heavy drama. Always happy to have a discussion.

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