Geek of Oz

Let's be honest. There was no way I wasn't going to love Space Dandy  after those opening credits. Longtime fans of Shinichiro Watanabe's magnum opus Cowboy Bebop  will find a lot of familiarity from the get-go with Space Dandy . That's not necessarily a bad thing, given how amazingly super-fantastico Bebop  was back in the day, and its balanced by Dandy  being as to Bebop  what a mango is to a dragonfruit. Set in a future strongly evoking  Firefly by way of Futurama  with a dash of Evangelion 's more-than-meets-the-eye plot, Space Dandy  follows the titular space-faring main character on his spaceship along with his space-crew as they complete missions...in space. Dandy is accompanied by QT, the kind of robot I imagine  Portal 's GLaDOS might be if she stopped taking crazy pills, and Meow, a catlike Betelgeusian almost as lazy and lady-obsessed as Dandy. Together the three search for new alien life across a galaxy rife with possibility, ...

Having recently scored COWBOY BEBOP a 10 out of 10 , we here at Geek of Oz are over the moon that Madman will be streaming SPACE DANDY at the same time as it airs in Japan. This is incredible news for fans of Shinichiro Watanabe but to make it an even better deal, it'll be FREE! Check out the full press release and teaser trailer after the jump.

Every now and again a series comes along that blows everything out the water, combining elements from various genres into one outstanding, well-rounded, and polished series. Cowboy Bebop is that series. This fan favourite anime series is considered one of the greatest ever created and now, 15 years later, this timeless classic is available in high definition Blu Ray.

Way back in July 2012, I attended the Sydney Manga and Anime Show (SMASH) and reported on Hanabee's very first acquisition panel. At that time they announced titles Toradora, Dream Eater Merry and Red vs Blue before taking some questions from the audience. It was at this time that I asked Hanabee President, Eric Cherry, whether they would be pursuing Kids on the Slope. After umming and ahhing he finally said something to the effect of "I'd love to, it's a really great series and one that we'd be interested in releasing". In no way am I insinuating that I had anything to do with this decision but instead am of the belief that Hanabee were well and truly on the case even back in July. Thank goodness for that.

You liked Cowboy Bebop, right? Of course you did! Who didn't. Well, just in case you didn't know, Shichiro Watanabe, the writer and director of Cowboy Bebop also made a little series called Samurai Champloo, a re-imagining of Japan circa Edo period. "Mugen's a buck wild warrior: violent, thoughtless and womanizing. Jin is a vagrant ronin: mysterious, traditional, well-mannered and very strong. These two fiercely independent warriors couldn't be more different from one another, yet their paths cross when Fuu, a ditzy waitress, saves them from being executed when they are arrested after a violent swordfight. Fuu convinces the two vagrant young men to help her find a mysterious samurai "who smells of sunflowers." And their journey begins."