Space Brothers (Uchuu Kyoudai)

(?? episodes – some sources say 48+)

What’s it about ?

In 2006, two young brothers vowed to become astronauts after seeing an UFO. Flash-forward to 2025…

(Adapted from an award-winning manga.)

Characters

Hibito, the younger brother (29). He did become an astronaut, and is part of an international effort to set up a viable colony on the Moon (as a tryout before they go to Mars). He’s the successful one, then, and thus a bit boring. Fortunately, the series isn’t really about him so far.

Mutta, the older brother (32), is our actual protagonist. He didn’t become an astronaut, instead making a career in designing cars. Which has just collapsed after he headbutted his supervisor for badmouthing Hibito. He’s having a bit of a midlife crisis, to put it mildly, especially as he’s now basically blacklisted from the automobile industry. It’s time for a drastic career change…

We also see their parents, who do let Mutta stay in, but will only let him wallow in self-pity for so long.

Production Values

Perfectly alright. This seems well-documented (NASA is mentioned in the credits) and the near-future feels real enough.

Overall Impression

Hard SF ? The token series with actual adult protagonists ? There’s no way I’ll skip this.

It helps that it’s actually quite good. Sure, the characters aren’t quite well rounded yet, but I’m willing to give it time ; and Hiroaki Hirata nails once again the dude going through mid-life crisis. And it looks like we’re going to see the realistic process of being selected as an astronaut, which was fascinating when Planetes did it.

via [In which I review] New anime, Spring 2012 – Page 2.

Published by

Jhiday

I've been kinda blogging about anime for years... but mostly on forums (such as RPG.net's Tangency) and other sites. This site is an archive for all that stuff, just in case.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.