If you finished Space Dandy and immediately thought, “Baby, now what?”, you’re not alone. This gloriously absurd sci-fi comedy blends trippy animation, jazzed-up soundtracks, and meaningless-yet-profound adventures through space. Finding anime that hits that same mix of vibesstylish, silly, and secretly thoughtfulcan feel like hunting rare aliens yourself.
This recommendations list rounds up 20+ anime similar to Space Dandy, from other Shinichiro Watanabe works to chaotic space operas, gag-heavy sci-fi comedies, and brain-melting experimental shows. Whether you’re here for the pompadours, the cosmic nonsense, the splashy animation, or the surprisingly emotional gut punches, there’s something on this list that’ll scratch that Space Dandy itch.
What Makes an Anime “Like” Space Dandy?
Not every space anime qualifies. For this list, the recommendations tend to share at least two of these traits:
- Space or sci-fi setting – starships, aliens, weird dimensions, or ridiculous technology.
- Episodic or anthology structure – each episode feels like its own mini-movie or genre experiment.
- Offbeat, meta, or absurd humor – jokes that lean into parody, slapstick, or outright surrealism.
- Stylish visuals and strong music – bold color palettes, inventive direction, and memorable soundtracks.
- A lovable mess of a protagonist – cool on the outside, chaos on the inside.
Quick List: 20+ Great Anime Like Space Dandy
If you just want fast picks, here’s the lineup before we dive into detailed explanations:
- Cowboy Bebop
- Samurai Champloo
- Outlaw Star
- Redline
- Gintama
- FLCL (Fooly Cooly)
- Level E
- Blood Blockade Battlefront (Kekkai Sensen)
- Space Adventure Cobra
- Trigun
- RobiHachi
- Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
- Nichijou
- KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!
- Edens Zero
- Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
- Planetes
- Kaiba
- Kill la Kill
- Space Patrol Luluco
- Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
- Carole & Tuesday
Now let’s look at why each of these is a great follow-up if you loved Space Dandy.
For More Watanabe Vibes
1. Cowboy Bebop
If Space Dandy is Watanabe’s wild, neon-colored party, Cowboy Bebop is his smoky late-night jazz set. Both follow broke bounty hunters drifting through space with a motley crew in a beat-up ship. Bebop leans more serious and noir, with deeper story arcs and quieter character studies, but you’ll instantly recognize the director’s love of music, genre mash-ups, and effortlessly cool framing. If you want to see where the “space cowboy” DNA that eventually mutated into Space Dandy really started, this is essential viewing.
2. Samurai Champloo
No spaceships here, but Samurai Champloo is spiritually close to Space Dandy. Imagine Dandy’s chaotic energy applied to Edo-period Japan, with hip-hop beats, graffiti-style visuals, and an episodic road-trip structure where each episode experiments with a new tone or genre. The trio of Mugen, Jin, and Fuu has the same “disaster family” energy as Dandy, Meow, and QT, and the show balances dumb jokes with sudden, surprisingly heavy emotional swings.
3. Carole & Tuesday
Set on a terraformed Mars, Carole & Tuesday focuses less on aliens and more on music. Still, if you loved the way Space Dandy used different musical styles and visual moods, this series is a softer, more grounded companion piece. Two girls trying to make it as musicians in a high-tech world end up colliding with AI pop stars, corrupt industry suits, and massive festivals. It’s a vibe-heavy, emotionally warm watch that gives you Watanabe’s trademark audiovisual flair without the boobs-and-blasters chaos.
For Over-the-Top Space Adventures
4. Outlaw Star
Outlaw Star feels like the older cousin of Space Dandy: same “ragtag crew in a spaceship” setup, same love of weird aliens and wild planets, just with a bit more 90s earnestness. Gene Starwind and his crew take dangerous jobs, fight pirates, and chase a legendary galactic treasure. Like Space Dandy, the show blends gunfights, mecha, and comedy with occasional dips into serious drama. If you want more “bounty-hunter-ish guys just trying to get paid while the universe falls apart,” this belongs near the top of your list.
5. Space Adventure Cobra
Before Dandy strutted across the galaxy, there was Space Adventure Cobra, starring a cigar-chomping space rogue with a psycho-gun built into his arm. He flirts, he shoots, he gets in way over his head. Cobra’s retro-futuristic aesthetic, pulpy stories, and womanizing lead clearly influenced later space rogues, including Dandy himself. If you’re into classic anime style, bright 80s color palettes, and that “cool-but-kind-of-a-doofus” hero archetype, Cobra’s an important deep cut.
6. Redline
Redline is technically a movie, not a series, but it might be the single closest match to Space Dandy’s “maximum style” visual energy. The film follows JP, a pompadoured daredevil racer, as he competes in the universe’s most dangerous illegal race. Think: ridiculous aliens, absurd physics, and animation so fluid and over-the-top it feels like your eyeballs are at a rave. If you loved Dandy’s bold colors and constant motion, Redline is a one-sitting adrenaline shot.
7. Edens Zero
Edens Zero is what happens when shounen adventure takes to the stars. Rather than pure parody, it mixes heartfelt friendship, big emotional beats, and classic “traveling crew in a ship” storytelling with a galaxy full of different planets and factions. While it’s more plot-driven than Space Dandy, the sense of exploring new corners of space and running into strange, sometimes hilarious situations will feel familiar. Plus, there’s a cat mascot. You know Dandy would approve.
8. RobiHachi
Perpetually unlucky guy runs from debt collectors by going on a spontaneous, half-baked trip across the galaxy? That’s RobiHachi in a nutshell. Its tone is very close to Space Dandy’s lightweight, slightly trashy adventure vibe, complete with silly gags, aliens, tourism-parody planets, and a buddy dynamic between its two leads. It’s short, colorful, and doesn’t pretend to be anything deeper than “two idiots having a road trip in space,” which is honestly part of the charm.
For Absurdist & Sci-Fi Comedy Fans
9. Gintama
Gintama is basically “Feudal Japan but invaded by aliens” and plays that premise for every type of comedy imaginable. Like Space Dandy, it juggles parody, slapstick, 4th-wall breaks, and unexpectedly emotional arcs. Gintoki is another broke, lazy protagonist who still comes through when it matters, and the show’s massive supporting cast ensures that even the most ridiculous setups eventually land with surprising weight. If you liked how Space Dandy could go from butt jokes to existential dread in one episode, Gintama speaks your language.
10. FLCL (Fooly Cooly)
FLCL is short, loud, and gloriously confusingjust like some of the weirder Space Dandy episodes. The story technically follows a boy whose life gets upended by a Vespa-riding alien girl, but in practice it’s an audiovisual fever dream about adolescence, guitars, and robots bursting out of people’s heads. The fast cuts, hyper-expressive animation, and killer rock soundtrack create the same feeling of “I’m not sure what just happened, but I loved it” that Dandy fans tend to enjoy.
11. Level E
In Level E, a smug alien prince comes to Earth, moves into a random guy’s apartment, and proceeds to cause elaborate chaos just because he’s bored. The humor is dry, the sci-fi concepts are clever, and the show loves turning tropes on their headmuch like Space Dandy does with space opera clichés. It’s less visually wild but just as willing to turn an episode into a genre parody or a long-form prank.
12. Nichijou
Nichijou takes everyday school life and cranks the absurdity to Space Dandy levelsjust without the spaceship. Explosions over minor misunderstandings, deadpan reaction shots, and joke escalation that flies right off the charts make it a perfect choice if you loved Dandy’s willingness to go from zero to cosmic nonsense in seconds. The humor is fast and visual, so it pairs nicely with Dandy’s style-first approach to gag storytelling.
13. KonoSuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World!
Swap space for fantasy RPG worlds, and you basically get KonoSuba as Dandy’s isekai cousin. A useless-yet-lovable protagonist, a disaster of a party, and constant comedic undercutting of “epic adventure” stakes give this series a similar comedic rhythm. Instead of hunting aliens, the cast undertakes quests that somehow go horribly, hilariously wrong. If what you loved about Space Dandy was “idiots failing upwards in a genre setting,” KonoSuba will feel like home.
14. Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt
Panty & Stocking is one of the few shows that might actually be more unhinged than Space Dandy. Two fallen angel sisters fight ghosts while spending most of their time chasing sex, sweets, and chaos. Western cartoon aesthetics, hyperactive editing, raunchy humor, and sudden style shifts make it feel like a spiritual sibling to Dandy’s “we’re just here to have fun” philosophy. If you don’t mind things getting crass (and then crasser), this one delivers.
For Stylish Worlds Full of Aliens & Monsters
15. Blood Blockade Battlefront (Kekkai Sensen)
Blood Blockade Battlefront takes place in a version of New York where a portal to another dimension has turned the city into a melting pot of monsters and humans. Like Space Dandy, it’s packed with monsters, cosmic weirdness, and stylish set pieces, but what really overlaps is the tone: chaotic, comedic, and unexpectedly heartfelt. The main character is also constantly broke and perpetually in over his head, which Dandy could definitely relate to.
16. Trigun
Trigun is a gunslinging western in space clothing, following Vash the Stampede, a goofy pacifist with a massive bounty on his head. He’s clumsy, loves donuts, and plays the clown… until he suddenly doesn’t. The balance of comedy, gun fights, and heavy moral questions echoes some of Space Dandy’s more serious episodes. If you want another charismatic, secretly tragic lead wandering a hostile universe, Trigun is a classic for a reason.
17. Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi
Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi follows two kids stuck hopping through parody dimensionsfantasy, sci-fi, dating sims, you name iteach episode poking fun at a different genre. This “new world every week” gimmick will feel instantly familiar if you loved how Space Dandy reinvented itself every episode. It’s wacky, meta, sometimes surprisingly emotional, and absolutely loves riffing on otaku culture.
18. Space Patrol Luluco
From Studio Trigger, Space Patrol Luluco is a lightning-fast, bite-sized series about a normal girl drafted into an intergalactic police force. Episodes are short and punchy, and the show constantly jumps between genres, visual styles, and references. It’s like watching Dandy’s most chaotic ideas compressed into snackable chunks. If you enjoy experimental animation and jokes crammed into every frame, this one’s an easy binge.
19. Kaiba
Kaiba looks deceptively cute but dives into deeply weird sci-fi territory, with memory transfer, body-hopping, and class divides across a strange universe. While it’s more melancholic than Space Dandy, it shares that feeling of drifting through a bizarre cosmos where anything is possible and identity doesn’t mean what you think it does. Fans who appreciated the more philosophical or bittersweet episodes of Dandy (yes, there are a few) will find Kaiba haunting in the best way.
For Big, Loud, Over-the-Top Energy
20. Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Gurren Lagann is mecha turned up to 11, then 12, then “the drill will pierce the heavens.” It’s not a comedy first, but it has the same “go big or go home” approach to animation, emotion, and spectacle that Space Dandy thrives on. Characters shout motivational speeches at the universe, robots grow to impossible sizes, and the soundtrack makes everything feel like the most important moment of your life. If you loved Dandy’s maximalism, you’ll vibe with this.
21. Kill la Kill
Kill la Kill swaps outer space for a murderous high school, but the attitude is pure chaos. Ridiculous outfits, bombastic fights, and very little concern for subtlety place it firmly in the “just go with it” category alongside Space Dandy. It’s stylish, loud, and packed with visual creativity. Instead of alien registration, you get sentient uniforms and a school that might as well be its own supervillain.
22. Planetes
On the opposite side of the tone spectrum, Planetes shows a grounded, realistic version of near-future space travel through the eyes of orbital debris collectors. So why is it here? Because if Space Dandy made you interested in how humanity actually might live and work in spaceminus the boob restaurantPlanetes is one of the best hard-sci-fi anime out there. It still has humor and workplace drama, but it trades absurdity for thoughtfulness and believable detail.
How to Choose Which Space Dandy-Like Anime to Watch First
With more than 20 choices, where do you start?
- Want the closest spiritual match? Try Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star, Redline, or RobiHachi.
- Want pure comedy chaos? Go for Gintama, KonoSuba, Panty & Stocking, or Nichijou.
- Want experimental, artsy weirdness? Start with FLCL, Kaiba, or Space Patrol Luluco.
- Want more Watanabe? Hit Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, and Carole & Tuesday.
- Want something more serious but still stylish? Try Trigun, Blood Blockade Battlefront, or Planetes.
Pick based on your mooddo you want to laugh, think, or just let gorgeous animation wash over your brainand work your way through the rest whenever the craving for more “dandy guy in space” energy comes back.
Extra: Experiences & Tips for Watching Anime Like Space Dandy (500+ Words)
One of the joys of finishing Space Dandy is realizing that you’ve accidentally trained your brain to expect the unexpected. Once you’ve seen entire episodes dedicated to zombie apocalypses, sentient plants, and timeline-breaking finales, “normal” anime can feel a little tame. The trick with shows similar to Space Dandy is to treat them less like a single long story and more like a playlist of different vibes.
A great way to approach this recommendations list is to mix tones instead of binging just one flavor. For example, watch a few episodes of Cowboy Bebop to get that cool, jazzy gravitas, then chase it with a couple of Gintama episodes when you want pure chaos. If you’re in a reflective mood, drop in an episode of Planetes or Kaiba, then bounce back to something explosive like Gurren Lagann or Kill la Kill. Think of it like channel-surfing through the multiverse, the way Space Dandy hops dimensions without warning.
Another fun angle is to follow creators, not just titles. Once you’ve watched Watanabe’s big worksCowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo, Carole & Tuesdayyou’ll start noticing his fingerprints everywhere: the way a scene pauses to let the music breathe, or how an episode suddenly pivots genres halfway through. That makes it easier to appreciate how other directors riff on similar ideas in shows like FLCL, Space Patrol Luluco, or Panty & Stocking, where style and music are part of the punchline.
If you watched Space Dandy weekly, you probably remember how unpredictable it feltsome episodes were pure gag comedy, while others slipped in surprisingly heavy themes about life, death, and meaning (or the lack of it). When you go into this recommendation list, keep that same openness. Shows like Level E or Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi might seem like simple comedies at first, but they often sneak in emotional or meta layers once you’re comfortable laughing along with them.
It also helps to manage your expectations about continuity. Just like Space Dandy reset the universe every other week, many of the anime here rely more on standalone stories than on tight, serialized plots. If you’re used to long, twisty narratives, that can feel strange at first. Instead of bingeing for cliffhangers, think of individual episodes as short films: some will become instant favorites, others will just be weird experiments, and that’s okay. The variety is half the fun.
Finally, don’t underestimate the soundtrack factor. Part of what made Space Dandy so addictive was its musicgenre-hopping tracks that matched the mood of each story. Pay attention to how these recommendations use sound. The jazz and blues in Cowboy Bebop, the rock in FLCL, the electric energy of Gurren Lagann, and even the goofy tracks in KonoSuba all contribute to that “I’m not just watching this, I’m vibing with it” feeling. If you find a show with a soundtrack you love, grab it, because that’s often what makes a series rewatchable long after you know every punchline and plot twist.
In short: treat this list like a cosmic buffet. Try a bit of everything. Some anime will become your new comfort shows; others will just be strange detours you fondly remember. Either way, if Space Dandy opened the door to absurd, stylish, sci-fi storytelling for you, these series will keep your journey through the galaxy of anime going strong. Who knowsyou might even find something so good it becomes your new favorite “dandy guy in space” story.
Conclusion
Space Dandy is a rare mix of dumb jokes, smart direction, and cosmic weirdness, but it’s not alone in the universe. From classic space westerns to absurdist comedies and avant-garde sci-fi, there are plenty of anime that echo its spiritwhether through style, structure, or sheer willingness to get weird. Start with the titles that match the part of Space Dandy you loved most, then explore the rest whenever you’re craving more aliens, more pompadours, or more shows that look at the cosmos and say, “Who cares, baby?”
