I am seeing some reviews here that are not talking enough about the most notable thing about this series: The imagination and immersion.
Visuals: This is possibly the most visually arresting TV show I have ever seen.These are some of the only visuals that have ever satisfied me. They are colorful and psychedelic, but never confusing or hard to look at. The designs, in addition, are very well-thought- out. There is so much energy here. The characters have varying degrees of cartoonishness in their designs, taking full advantage of the wild future. The machines, aliens, and worlds are all really interesting. The show is worth watching just for its designs. There are times when the animators could take the cop-out direction and give us something cliché with their worlds and character designs, but they refuse to. When Dandy goes to a plant world, the plants look unique. When he meets his alternate selves, they all look completely different from him and are well-designed enough to be characters in their own shows. It's a spectacle. There are also occasional moments when the movement, for a few seconds, will look almost film-quality. Occasionally, I'll look at something in the show and as myself "how did they even put a design like that together?" It's certainly the some of best you'll see in an animated series.
Characters: The characters here are not as good as the ones in Watanabe's other anime. They could be a lot worse than they are, though, so I give them credit for that. I can't get particularly attached to anybody here. Most of the characters are pretty simple, reflecting the "fun" nature of this show. The cheesy sexual content is very grating at times. It's the show's main reoccurring problem. They hold the show back from being perfect, but few of them come across as annoying, and they all have good visual characterization and moments of humor.
Writing: This show is creative and spontaneous, often following what I call "Narrative logic". Nothing has to make much sense as long as it completes the story, and give us something cool to look at. This show is episodic, which I find very refreshing, as it forces the writers to tell a complete story in every episode and throw things at us with no reservations. They keep coming up with entertaining stuff, and a lot of it is actually very clever in a Douglas-Adams- ish sort of way. This show does not take itself seriously, so if you want that, go elsewhere.
Audio: The music here is very nice, and combines a few different elements. Influence comes from jazz, funk, techno, and others, and it fits the show pretty well. The soundtrack improves in season 2. The dub here is good. Nothing spectacular, but its functional and fits the show. There are some odd musical numbers that are dubbed from Japanese into English, and that is about as awkward as you might expect, but they can at least sing pretty well.
All in all, this is highly recommended for anyone who wants a spontaneous, wild, visually stunning experience. The show has some annoying fetishes with its characters and designs here and there, mainly due to Dandy and his frequent trips to a hooters-parody restaurant, so I'm warning anyone who wants to stay away from that right now, but anyone interested in animation should check this anime out. Especially if you're tired of watching slower-moving plots and want something fast-paced and non-continuous.
