「かぺ!けんじ!」 (Kape! Kenji!)
“Roo-ra! Kenji!”

Another week, another day of the astronaut tests and another set of problems caused by JAXA’s devious hand! It’s been pretty clear so far just how much damage the green cards have been doing to Team B (although I blame a lot of it on Mizoguchi being an S Class douchebag), but in a sense it does appear to have done a little good too. Remember way back at the start of the tests when Teshima seemed to be always a hairs breadth from panic? It’s amazing to see how much he’s grown since then (mostly off-screen). That he would actually stand up for both himself and Kenji against Mizoguchi shows some real development that might not have come about if not for the extreme pressure he’s been subjected to.

But of course, the green cards exist primarily to sow discord amongst the teams and see how well they cope. Despite Mutta’s original excitement at finally receiving one, he’s managed to end up with one that obviously makes him look bad in front of the others. While, as Kenji said, it’s unlikely that the two candidates chosen by each team will actually have any bearing on who goes on to become an astronaut, it would still feel pretty bad not to be chosen on the grounds of appearing completely insane. I speculated last week that Mutta would be given a task to specifically damage his relationship with Serika. It turns out this was wrong… partially. His constant random shouting will undoubtedly result in some odd looks and the general consensus that Mutta has gone stark raving mad under the pressure. I feel kinda bad for the guy! Makes for great comic relief though…

The focus on Team B this week, and particularly on Kenji, gave us a bit more insight into his character. I was slightly surprised to discover that he sees himself as a killjoy and a devil’s advocate, but I guess it makes a lot of sense given how logically he approaches most situations. It’s that very logic that led him to realise that most of the disturbances are JAXA’s doings and resulted in his shaking the faith of some door-to-door representatives of a crazy space-religion! Not only this, but it led him to finally reason out exactly what the ‘ka-pe!’ his daughter has been spouting actually means, resulting in a somewhat touching scene accented by great music usage. Thanks to his newfound resolve, I think we may see things pick up for Team B during their final day! At the very least, Kenji will give it his all to unite them. How he could possibly tame the ever disagreeable Mizoguchi is beyond me though…

tl;dr: @MoombaDS – A bit of a look into Kenji’s nature and poor Mutta finally gets his green card! #SpaceBros

Random thoughts:

  • I really admire Kenji’s desire to experience everything for himself, even down to seeing what the completion of an entirely white puzzle feels like!
  • As always, Mutta’s character provides a great source of comic relief, whether through falling for simple mind tricks or failing to disrupt a game of air shogi!
  • Those reactions are brilliant.
  • Trust Mutta to be the only one not using his recreation time for serious pursuits!

Full-length images: 01, 07, 13, 32.

 

Preview

Omake

11 Comments

  1. Well, ever since day 1 when he met Mutta, Mizoguchi has been an S class douchebag and with his attitude during this test he demonstrates he’s not qualified to work in a team much less as an astronaut. Show Spoiler ▼

    As for Mutta, as expected he always goes for the most ridiculous solution. Instead of shouting in frustration during the task, like if he was giving in to stress; which wouldn’t be as suspicious but still effective to distract the other members, he goes for imitating Micheal Jackson and Bruce Lee -_-‘.

    Kamui04
  2. Mizoguchi is a douchebag. Why does he find pleasure in blaming Kenji in everything!?

    Kenji realizing what Ka-Pe means was very very touching. Typical Mutta to go with the Michael Jackson and Bruce Lee approach!

    So it must have been Serika to spill the bag of rice, right? I feel bad for her. Serika already consumed the food and now she has to spill that bag of rice too. Oh well.

    Next week is the end of the third exam. I don’t want it to end but at the same time, I want it to. I really like Team A’s relationship with each other and I’m going to be sad to see it go. Oh well, at least more Mutta + Kenji + Serika!

    underMebius
    1. I suppose Mizoguchi wants to be the team leader (or thinks he deserves that role more than anyone on the team) and because of that he sees Kenji’s attempts to pull the team together as as attempt from Kenji to steal his leadership role and i suppose that’s why he looks down on him and tries to blame everything on him and sees him as a rival .. that guy is quite self-centered and has some Alpha-male blood in him (i.e wants to become leader of the pack XD)

      HunterWulf
    1. It’s getting plenty of attention in Japan. When my friend visited japan earlier in the year it was hard to avoid the advertising for it. Also the manga is still ongoing so don’t even suggest the concept of an anime original ending!!!!

      Scruffy
      1. That’s great to hear!

        But if the manga is not going to end some time soon, then isn’t an anime-original ending the only way to go? Unless both the manga and anime are going to end at the same time like FMA Brotherhood…

        Anonymous
  3. Mutta’s green card was definitely JAXA’s way of getting back at him for spilling the beans about the Green Cards. It’s good to know JAXA has a decent sense of humour.

    Joking aside, it’s nice to see Kenji finally regaining his composure and stop letting his insecurity get the better of him. And here I always thought “Ka-pe” meant “Kampai”

    Kentaiyoshimi

Leave a Reply

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