What They Say:
Hibito has finally returned from the moon. He now begins the long process of physically readjusting to Earth’s gravity. Meanwhile, Mutta is preoccupied by Amanti’s warning.
The Review:
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
With Space Brothers having brought the two men back together on the same planet again, an amusing aspect when you really think about it, the show can take on a different dynamic as it progresses. While Mutta and Hibito have spent time together in the last year or so as Mutta began his journey, the two are in a very different place now, not only because Hibito made it to the moon and back and had quite an adventure there, but because Mutta isn’t just a visitor anymore. He’s in the program, he’s gaining experience and going through the drills and more, which will lead to some fun things. Hibito, of course, makes quite the impression when he returns right out of the gate since he tosses Mutta a moon rock and it really does come across as a bit of an oblivious challenge, a way to egg on his brother.
While the returning astronauts put on a good show, we do see that their recovery process will definitely be difficult enough once they’re out of the spotlight. Readjusting to Earth’s gravity, not only the weight of their own bodies but even that of clothes, has taken a toll and it’ll take some time to get back on track. We get a good look at what they have to go through in order to rebuild their bodies and strength with a six week program of retraining that has to be dealt with, providing they can stay awake for enough of it at first since there’s just so much emotional and psychological stress being shedded after safely making it back from such a journey. Getting into Hibito’s mind isn’t a long part here, but the little nuggets of it are definitely insightful for the young man and how he views the world, and his brother, when it comes to getting into space.
For Mutta, his story here is one that involves Amanti as she’s realized more and more what her vision was regarding him, thinking that what she saw of him as being pained and sad has to do with his brother rather than himself. While this is festering under the edge of things, the show plays to a few other areas as well in good effect, as someone from the past comes to Houston to give a talk and radar and satellites and general exploration of the universe. But we also get some really nice things involving Mutta as he starts to grasp more of his training program that’s coming up which involves them flying in fighter jets to get used to pressure and g-force while in flight. But under the edge of it all, Mutta keeps getting distracted by Amanti’s presence and what her revelations mean to him, and more importantly, to Hibito.
In Summary:
Space Brothers hits a bit of a transitional episode in a way where it wants to do certain things, but it has to lay the foundations down first. Hibito’s return to Earth will definitely bring some changes and drama in the next few episodes, especially if it really does tie into Amanti’s vision and the way that Mutta is worrying over him. But there’s just the potential for an interesting dynamic now that he’s back and how it can impact Mutta with his training. For Mutta, I’m looking forward to more of his training aspects that are coming up, especially when he gets to fly in a real jet, and how that may impact him or how he may take to it. But there’s going to be some character drama first, and I’ll admit I’m not all that highly engaged with the Amanti storyline and what it portends since it’s something that you can see being reworked into far less than the tense thing it’s being built into now.
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.
