Space Brothers Episode 69 | TFP Review
bctaris: The T-38/Deneil arc (as usual for the show’s method, running simultaneously with the Sharon/ALS arc) was excellent, and right at the heart of the show with its detail of the training involved in all of this. But I get the feeling the show, using the Sharon arc as impetus, is trying to wrap up, maybe even this cour. That all that attention to training and smaller character relationships will be given short shrift, or left behind altogether as it continues to jump and jump ahead in time to Mutta’s goal. Too much seems left behind here, even as it wraps up Deniel’s part nicely. The rest of the Japanese team, besides Serika briefly in regards to Sharon, have been reduced to muted, cardboard background characters. As nice as the T-38 arc was, I didn’t realize that it seems to have been a break from the wider character focus back to just Mutta–something that has been an agreeable pattern through the show (JAXA training transitioning to Mutta’s Houston adventures, then back to the group setting, etc.), but I get the feeling it may stay on this closer focus to the end, if indeed an end is coming soon.
Sensuifu: We’re missing a lot of the bits and pieces that would’ve made ‘Mutta’s journey’ more complete and interesting, but if we’re to look at it from the technical side of things…if the story continues to detail every step Mutta takes in training, it might lose its attraction at maintaining some ‘interest’, at least to what the target audience is hoping to see. In a sense the Deneil arc was conveying that there’s ‘heart’ in all of Mutta’s experiences/accomplishments and without it, none of the technicalities involved with training really matter if you lack the character to make it work. The transition of Hibito’s space time, to his homecoming, to his ‘civilian’ life on Earth, kind of felt that way too. So although Mutta will finally go to space, the narrative’s shifted to a more personal (the central focus that started it all) perspective, despite losing the mini stories of the supporting characters. Maintaining that emotional level (which they’ve done nicely with Deneil’s retirement) throughout an extended training period that involves the other characters, would be tough given all the circumstances both Mutta and Hibito have already encountered. Any longer could make the show feel like it’s losing its focus on the two titular characters.