Adult Swim Senior Vice President Jason DeMarco addressed rumors that he turned down a sequel to Space Dandy in favor of something more serious, like Lazarus. This followed a question about his experience of working with Lazarus director Shinchiro Watanabe. DeMarco told the Toonami Faithful podcast (5:21):
“I had been talking to Watanabe about doing something together for almost a decade—going to different dinners, talking to him about projects, waiting for the right time to come along where he was free and I had the opportunity. And by the way, I want to use this opportunity to just say: No, he did not suggest to me to do Space Dandy Season 2.“
“If he had suggested it, I would have said absolutely yes, let’s do it. That article was a mistranslation of what he said in that article. I did not prevent Space Dandy 2 from happening. If ever he were to come to me and say, ‘I want to do Space Dandy Season 2,’ I would kill myself to try to make that happen. He asked me, ‘Do you want a comedy or a drama?’ And I said, ‘A drama.’ So I’m guilty of that, but I’m not guilty of killing Space Dandy, and I refuse to take [responsibility!]“
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The interview that sparked controversy over DeMarco’s ‘rejection’ of something like Space Dandy was this Mantan Web interview from April 2025. While the nuance seemed to be that Watanabe asked DeMarco about whether something like Space Dandy was what he was looking for, Google Translate gave the following:
“When I asked if something like ‘Space Dandy’ would be okay [『スペース☆ダンディ』みたいなやつでいい？と聞いたら], he said, ‘No, something more serious. [ノー、もっとシリアスなやつで]’ The only thing that mattered was that the order was ‘serious,’ so we were given freedom in our production.“
DeMarco also defended Adult Swim as a supporter of the anime from the beginning. Instead, he argued that it’s the fan perception of Space Dandy that has changed significantly over the years. Addressing sentiments at the time of ‘You should’ve just let Watanabe do what he wanted!‘, DeMarco said that was “hilarious to say because it’s like, yes, everyone seems to consider Space Dandy a classic now, but when we originally premiered it and spent money on it before anybody else, it flopped really hard in Japan. In fact, Watanabe considers it a big failure, because it didn’t do well in Japan. Now, creatively, it’s absolutely not a failure. It was wonderful, and obviously, I’m really happy to see it get its flowers years later.“
“But it took like 10 years for people to understand that was a really good show. When it came out, the same kind of thing that I see some people saying about Lazarus, they said about Dandy, which is, ‘It’s no Bebop,’ you know. And I think to some degree, his work is always going to be plagued by that expectation. But for real, nobody thought Space Dandy was any good until about 5 years ago. I did—clearly! But yeah, I didn’t prevent Space Dandy from Season 2 from being made, and if ever he changes his mind and we could make it happen, I would absolutely attempt to do that, because I love that show.“
On the prospect of working with Watanabe again for Adult Swim/Toonami, DeMarco said it’s too early to say, but knows that Watanabe definitely has ideas for future works and that other production companies would also be interested. You can check out the full interview where DeMarco also discusses his role at Adult Swim, Uzumaki, challenges of licensing manga and anime from Japan, the success of Lazarus, and more.
Studio Bones was responsible for Space Dandy‘s animation production. The series aired across two split cours (referred to as seasons). The first aired from January to March 2014, while the second aired from July to September 2014. Adult Swim’s Toonami block broadcast the series as it aired in Japan. Crunchyroll streams Space Dandy in the United States, describing it:
Space Dandy is a dandy in space! This dreamy adventurer with a to-die-for pompadour travels across the galaxy in search of aliens no one has ever laid eyes on. Each new species he discovers earns him a hefty reward, but this dandy has to be quick on his feet because it’s first come—first served!
Featured image © 2014 BONES/Project SPACE DANDY
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