Space Dandy

Author: Masafumi Harada

The idea for Space Dandy is one of the silliest, and most impressive, of any recent anime series. An affable alien hunter, Dandy, and the crew of his ship, the Aloha Oe, are out having cosmic adventures. Dandy finds himself in weird locations, like the Hooters-analogue BooBies, or surfing on time, or just hopping between planes in the Multi-verse. The Aloha Oe crew, QT, a robot, and Meow, a cat-like thingee from Betelguese,are excellent assets, including managing things like keeping peace and order, or monitoring social media. Space Dandy is one of the funniest anime series ever made. Diving deep into the rich history of science fiction media, from classic 1960s live-action Japanese series to contemporary American popular culture, Space Dandy kinda feels like Elvis' Day Out in the Multi-verse, but it's so much more, playing on tropes of timeline-hoping and weird romances between inanimate objects. It's one of the smartest, post-modernist works of anime ever, and Dandy might be the most likeable superhero of all time! Why it's on the list: The series rewards multiple viewings with nuanced gags and background bits where if you blink, you miss it!