Space Brothers Episode 89 | TFP Review
GingaDaiuchuu: This series has been full of big steps for Mutta, but getting the final confirmation that he will be the next Japanese person to go to the moon, which will finally validate the title this series has had for going on two years now, should definitely not be undervalued. I was surprised to see that Kenji and Nitta were both told that they won’t be going to space for the foreseeable future, but that makes it that much more significant for Mutta. They could’ve spelled out the metaphor of building something up and having it broken down a little less, but it still worked pretty well.
Now time for Hibito to finally take his test. Lots of big things happening lately. I’m sure he’ll succeed, but it looks like things won’t go quite as smoothly as he might have idealized.
Sly05: I was surprised that NASA didn’t make an exception for Kenji. I was really expecting Mutta and Kenji to continue training together and be on the same moon mission. More realistic this way, but part of me suspects that may still happen as Mutta himself is only serving on a backup crew right now so there is still a lot of time for assignments to change.
Sensuifu: I thought Kenji and Nitta handled the situation pretty well considering all the effort they put in. Kenji did have that inkling feeling he’d be denied, but the previous episodes made some slight hints indicating that was likely going to happen.
I was also curious about Butler’s last word’s that were running through Kenji and Nitta’s heads…if anything, it probably hints to the ‘long term’ goal that NASA has for their astronauts. Remember what Mutta had said in the very early episodes? That he’d surpass Hibito? Go beyond the Moon and instead to Mars? That’s probably why they had Mutta selected first..he’s advancing the playing field much quicker than they expected. This gives NASA a chance to use his skills in developing assignments for Mars training. This might also allude to ‘Supandaman’ maybe not going directly to the Moon, but to Mars, and what Butler suggested ‘could take some time’.
Though on second thought, that’s probably getting way ahead of their capabilities. They’ve yet to ‘master’ the Moon projects and the technology isn’t anywhere near realized for them to make a trip to Mars. The story may take place a decade or so after our current time, but they haven’t advanced in technologies that would be viable enough to do a Mars mission. Who knows…but I’d be pretty surprised if they even mention Mars again.
Perhaps the real reason behind NASA’s decision is what I suggested earlier…that having a new, growing family has some role in determining what ‘assignments’ are given. Kenji has a young family to care for (with another baby yet to be born) which does coincide with Butler’s message. Not sure how it applies to Nitta’s case though, but maybe they determined that his involvement with his younger brother was enough to convince them he was also a special case. On the other side, you have Mutta, Hibito, Serika and the rest who don’t have any immediate family to directly attend to. This is all conjecture, though it seems the most likely since the show kept framing Kenji’s family with hints that he’ll miss going to the Moon with Mutta.
Sly05: Yeah, I’d forgotten about the talk of aiming for Mars since it’s been so long since it’s been mentioned, but you are probably right. That would seem to make the most sense for a big, long term mission and would also provide an opportunity to reunite some of the main characters. It would also provide a chance for both Mutta and Hibito to go up into space together.
