What They Say:
Mutta and the other astronaut candidates have finally finished their Japanese training. Before they head to Houston, they receive a gift from Director Nasuda.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
While it was a very long arc overall, the time spent showing the dangers on the moon and how everyone dealt with it, from Houston to JAXA to everyone on the moon, and of course including Hibito as the main player, the results of are definitely some of the best anime one can see out there. The reveals are small but the character growth and discovery has been strong and we got to see a lot of how Hibito handles many different things, more of his past and feelings towards his older brother. The only thing the storyline was missing for me was an exploration of how the general public on Earth was handling the situation since, at least according to today’s standards and practices, would have been huge, huge news.
With that storyline effectively over, things shift back to planet side as we see different things going on to help expand the characters just a bit more. Some quality time is spent with Sharon, who we haven’t seen too much of for obvious reasons. Her collection of articles and news items about the two brothers has her adding some fun new things to it since there’s such a history with all three of them. Timing it to Mutta coming to visit as he’s getting set to head to Houston means some quality time together. Not that it’s all happiness and smiles as Mutta reveals a lot of what really happened to Hibito on the moon and it’s pretty scary for her since she has an almost parental nature when it comes to the boys. We get to see a bit more of sharon’s past overall and that helps to flesh her out a touch more, dealing with her husband before he died, and it helps to show a little more why she has such an interest in both of the boys.
While this does dominate the episode and we really get to feel like we know Sharon more, both past and present, we also get time with Nasuda back at JAXA getting ready to send everyone off to Houston. He has some comical words to say to them in his own odd way, such as how he draws them up as color rangers as a team from Japan, and Mutta comically gets green which makes him feel a little less than pleased about it. Of course, all of that is washed away as the group gets their actual uniforms, their blue JAXA suits that denote their position, and it completely changes their level of confidence and presence. This is one of those moments that just shows to them that all their efforts have paid off to this point and the pride that they feel oozes off the screen, both for those that were once just applicants and those that have overseen their journey to this point.
In Summary:
Space Brothers pivots pretty heavily from the arc we just had on the moon that lasted quite awhile to something a bit simpler and more character driven in a different way. Focusing on the new group of applicants who have achieved astronaut candidate level is welcome, though it’s primary focus is on Mutta as he deals with friends and family before getting ready for his trip to Houston. Which thankfully brings Apo back into play, as I’ve missed that utterly adorable dog. The time spent with the professor, Sharon, definitely hits some good notes as it expands the boys time with her and keeps Hibito in the picture in some form after his story while still serving as a transitional moment to let Mutta take center stage again as they all get ready for Houston. There’s some big moments for the cast here and it comes across beautifully. Space Brothers continues to be one of my favorite series of all time.
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.
