「あと80分の命」 (Ato 80 Pun no Inochi)
“Eighty Minutes to Live”

It’s these kinds of moments that really bring out the best in people. When there are lives on the line – when inaction could lead to the deaths of comrades – people discover a desire to go above and beyond what’s normally required of them. This extends beyond Hibito’s decision not to leave Damian behind, even though it would increase his own chances of survival. Hibito wouldn’t be Hibito if he sacrificed another to save himself. It also extends to the entirety of NASA and JAXA, to Azuma suggesting sending out the drones to start the search, to Hoshika and his team’s 3D map, to Mutta’s suggestions based on his familiarity with his brother, and even to Eddie Jay’s prayers when there’s nothing else he can do to help. It’s when everyone pulls together to try and solve these problems that magnificent things begin to happen, and it’s a joy to see characters we haven’t seen in a while reappear to join in.

Uchuu Kyoudai always manages to impress me in how no man is left behind, and not just in the sense of Hibito’s attempts to save Damian. Even when it seems their role in the story is long over, characters will resurface to deliver lines and add to the impact of the scenes. It never feels like a throwaway cameo – never feels like these characters are just appearing for the sake of appearing – they always work extremely well and contribute something profound. Eddie Jay in particular is a good one. It must be extremely hard for him to face this after the loss of his own brother. He’s one of the few people who can actually understand how Mutta feels at this point and it must be extremely frustrating to be unable to contribute anything tangible to the rescue effort.

With Claude rejecting Mutta’s suggestion, things are left a little murkier than I was expecting. Uchuu Kyoudai sure loves its cliff-hangers! Had he agreed to send the crew to the exact location Hibito would be heading, it would be quite safe to make guesses as to how things would turn out. It would, in fact, be a little too perfect in the grand scheme of things – too many convenient coincidences in the choices made by NASA. Azuma’s suggestion that they send out the oxygen generating drone is enough of a helpful coincidence. I’m almost positive that it will prove key in saving the day by providing Hibito with much needed oxygen before his reserves run out.

tl;dr: @MoombaDS – With all of NASA and JAXA working to save the astronauts, things begin to fall into place. #SpaceBros

Random thoughts:

  • That dramatic fall, assisted by the moon’s lower gravity, was almost worthy of something out of Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure!
  • With how frequently discussions of the flash and alien life are coming up, I can’t imagine that it’s not going to play a large role once these current events are ironed out.
  • There was something rather touching in seeing how worried the crew (particularly Buddy) is about Hibito and Damian.
  • The music towards the end of the episode was magnificent. Possibly one of the best cues I’ve heard in Uchuu Kyoudai to date in terms of how it fit the scene.

Full-length images: 19, 26, 27, 31, 34.

 

Preview

Omake

14 Comments

  1. The Oxygen Drone is following the Buggy Tracks. To give Hibito the Oxygen, he has to do a 20Km Detour.

    So to achieve that, Probe “Gibson” must send a Signal back to Earth. Saying he is there. And Hibito need to be in front of “Gibsons” Eyes. Or someone on NASA see that “Gibson” is back on Surface and in “Manual Drive” Mode. So they assume that someone is driving it, and redirect “Brain-03” (Oxygen Drone) to them.

    Hibitos only change is to somehow show NASA trough “Gibson”‘s Eyes, that he is very Low on Oxygen. Because they still dont know his loss of the Main Tank. and as a result they send “Brain-03” to him.

    Other way i dont see, around. Bettle is to far away.

    Germanguy
    1. and Hibitos is doing right. Control his Panic or “override” it. Becasue running Headless around and in Panic, dont help you survive. it only make you Die, if you lost to it

      i know, smooth talking is easy. But Fight “Panic” before it take your Mind over with “Fear”

      Germanguy
  2. Doesn’t Hibito still have a flare, since the first flare was Damien’s? He should realize that the rescue team wouldn’t go toward where he’s going since they’ll assume he stayed where the original flare was shot from. So at some point he has to shoot the other one to show them that he’s on the move.

    Tre
    1. I assume that Hibito has not set off his flare because he’s saving it for when Buddy and Freddy arrive with the buggy, which will allow them to pinpoint their location much faster. It’s an interesting situation; should Hibito set off the flare now to show that they are moving, or should he save it later for the actual rescue from Freddy et al.

      Kentaiyoshimi
  3. How fast can all the vehicles and drones move anyways? I have the feeling Azuma wants to ask them to move a drone to the shallow point. Kind of bothering me how we have no idea where anything is or their ETAs. I guess neither Hibito or the rescue teams have any idea how the others are moving either. Maybe Hibito can use his samurai skills and hold his breath 10 mins or something lol.

    Either way it seems like this series has a nice way of showing teamwork based off of individual strengths, trust, and cooperation.

    shin
  4. Frankly, I think this was the best episode of Space Brothers yet. And that’s saying a lot since it’s been having an amazing run for almost a year now. The atmosphere created by the total emptiness of anything (full darkness), the direness of the situation and how Hibito is doing everything in his power to not only save himself but also Damian, it’s impressive. Because you know that in the end, all these geniuses are making their best projections to prepare for the worst and yet, it’s still a total crapshoot! If Hibito doesn’t get oxygen soon, he’s done for. If help is delayed, Damian might die too. Their fates are intertwined and man… that soundtrack at the end was terrific.

    Nic
  5. fdjskfjdskfjskjskj!!! THESE CLIFFHANGERS FFFFFFFFFF!

    Azuma’s suggestion that they send out the oxygen generating drone is enough of a helpful coincidence. I’m almost positive that it will prove key in saving the day by providing Hibito with much needed oxygen before his reserves run out.

    I thought so too! While I’m worried about Hibito and Damian, I see this as a feel-good show, so I doubt they won’t survive.
    Still… fjdskfjdskfjsfj *cries on Moomba’s shoulder*

  6. You see, this is the kinda problems that people get into when NASA cheaps out and gives the navigation system over to Apple and their *brilliant* maps.

    I was struggling to like this series after episode 10 but i kept downloading every week. I marathoned the last 30 or so episodes and i’m glad i kept it up. brilliant show!

    Ebbicake

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