What They Say:
Damian and Hibito leave Moonbase in search of a missing unmanned probe. However, an accident occurs, stranding them inside a ravine.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With the previous episode giving us quite a good bit of time on the moon where we got to see how some of the things out there work, it ended with a pretty nasty cliffhanger in terms of what was going on with Damian and Hibito as they went on an excursion in order to check out a missing probe. There was some good information handed out in an engaging way about how the lunar landscape works, which you just knew was going to go into something dangerous as it went on. What you didn’t expect though was for the vehicle to go flying off the edge of a ravine. Surely there must be some Lunar GPS set up by the time we have a moonbase there…
With the crash having happened and the two men sent sprawling into the darkness of the crater, we do get some good flashback material brought in that shows some of Hibito’s training earlier, some very useful bits at that. Hibito’s time in training has been sporadic from what we’ve seen, but it’s something that often gives us some really good glimpses into how he views things. His approach to survival is definitely good, though there’s some panic since Damian isn’t responding and he can’t radio out due to the depth of the ravine. It’s a frightening situation in a place where a single mistake can end everything and it really seems like they made several here. But even as there is that sense about him, a very natural one, he’s still performing as he was trained for and thinking things through as logically as possible, both in trying to find a way out as well as trying to find Damian.
The dangers that they face in the ravine are varied, especially with the amount of time they’re likely to have to spend there until someone can get close enough to perform a rescue. But like any dangerous situation like this, more and more dangerous elements will come into it. Figuring out how to survive is something that you see in many shows and this isn’t all that different, but it’s treated really well with the seriousness of it and going by the book in figuring out the mechanics of surviving. There’s a lot at stake beyond just their lives and they’ve had specific training on situations like this. But it’s seeing how Hibito interprets it, and the things they learned from Brian years ago, that makes for some engaging scenes here.
In Summary:
Space Brothers works though a Hibito storyline here and that’s definitely a bit plus. We’ve had similar stories in the series so far but now that he’s on the moon, I admit that I want more and more stories about him and his adventures there. This one is a definite challenge as it’s filled with so much danger and it’s not something that’s resolved here. In fact, it gets worse and worse for Hibito and Damian as it plays out as they do their best to find the right path to survival. There’s a lot to like here in seeing how the various agencies and those on the moon are pulling together to do what needs to be done and going through the logic of it all. Space Brothers rarely disappoints and this is certainly doesn’t fall into that category.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Crunchyroll
Review Equipment:
Sony KDS-R70XBR2 70″ LCoS 1080P HDTV, Dell 10.1 Netbook via HDMI set to 1080p, Onkyo TX-SR605 Receiver and Panasonic SB-TP20S Multi-Channel Speaker System With 100-Watt Subwoofer.
