OP4 Sequence

OP4: 「Small World」 by フジファブリック (Fujifabric)

「月の錯覚」 (Tsuki no Sakkaku)
“Lunar Illusions”

It looks like Uchuu Kyoudai is starting to move into uncharted territory in comparison to what has come previously in the series. For the majority of the episode, we have some stark juxtaposition between Mutta’s relatively mundane introduction to the life of an astronaut candidate, filled with dull lectures and training, and Hibito and Damien’s suddenly treacherous journey across the surface of the moon. After their first narrow miss – it was certainly more excitement and danger than I’d expected to see in Uchuu Kyoudai – I kind of had a feeling that something would go horribly wrong. With Hibito and Damian apparently trapped in the chasm and the earlier ‘preparation for death’ theme coming back into the picture, I have to wonder how the whole thing is going to be handled. Will Mutta find out and lose some of the drive he feels about going into space? Or will it be kept from him until the situation is resolved? While I doubt Hibito is actually going to die, the accident itself could have a negative effect on both of the brothers.

One thing that Uchuu Kyoudai always likes to point out is how strikingly different people can be, even if they’re now following the same path. It’s always entertaining to see just how much the personalities of the various astronauts contrast each other – as Mutta said, these are all people from very different walks of life, none of whom would have met each other without their shared desire to become astronauts. We already know the core astronaut candidates quite well and the lecture once again points out their individual quirks – Nitta remaining cool and collected through anything and Kenji always doing the right thing (in this case asking the lecturer to speak up). It’s the other astronauts that are great to learn about – the prankster Murasaki, the energetic show-off Buddy, and Karen’s distaste at eating silkworms (I certainly don’t blame her for that!).

In almost every industry, there are those who support, and those who are supported. This is especially true in any line of work with people who are in the spotlight. Those who provide support from the background are generally overlooked by all but those they support, but without that support astronauts, film stars, rock stars, idols, and many more, would never manage to stand where they do. Taking pride in being one of those who helps propel others towards their dreams can be tough, especially if you wish you were the one at the forefront. But it can also be rewarding, knowing that you were a part of their success – that you had an impact upon something much larger.

tl;dr: @MoombaDS – While Mutta continues along his path, Hibito’s takes an unexpected turn. #SpaceBros

Random thoughts:

  • I love that slightly evil laugh from Serika!
  • Nasuda always manages to make me laugh!
  • I had hoped this investigation of the Gibson would finally reveal what the mysterious light Hibito spotted was, but sadly this was interrupted by the accident. I’m becoming more and more curious about the light and whether it might have some connection to what we saw in the very first episode – it’s constantly being hinted at but kept just beyond reach so I feel it has some special significance.
  • The new OP suits Mutta surprisingly well… I would totally watch a show based entirely upon it!

Full-length images: 10, 13, 17, 20, 26.

 

ED4 Sequence

ED4: 「グッバイ・アイザック」 (Goodbye Isaac) by 秦基博 (Hata Motoharu)

Preview

Omake

31 Comments

  1. For a series that goes slowly (in a positive way, I like this series a lot), this episode put me at the edge of my seat. That sure was tense (almost shouted Nooooo when the rover flew off the crater)!

    Flanders
      1. Because the Moon have always the same “Face” to Earth, their is no need of “Radio Relay” Satellites on the Moon for this kind of case. Except they want to go on the “Dark Side of the Moon”

        Germanguy
      2. …and you cant go out there, and “install” a GPS System on the Moon for “Autonomous” or other Travels on the Moon Surface. Looks like you need an PC Powered Map, that “calculate” your Position from your Speed and such, to avoid these “Cliff”

        And, if we someday reach Mars, we would need this “GPS” System there, too. No Atmosphere “Sight Tricks”, not because of Rotation or “Distance” from Earth

        Germanguy
    1. well, because of the “low” Gravity they can survive. Depends of the Deep of course they fell. But the last “Picture” on the Preview suggests me, that at last he are Fine.. Just hope they find a Way there out, and the “Car” still working… Running in foot back after climbing back..? Well, you get my Gist

      Germanguy
  2. When I saw the dunce driving look down to see what Hibito was doing I knew instantly (like a death flag) they were hosed (especially after what happened a few minutes ago). There are only a few more episodes to go (10-11 maybe) so I know Mutta will never get to be with Hibito in space. I’m sure there will be some drama and eventually they will be saved. Would be really weird and out of character for them to die now at this point in the series but you never know…

    Karmafan
  3. WHY WOULD THEY RAISE SILKWORMS!? That was my biggest question throughout the episodes. I can’t stomach it… it’s not like i’ll become an astronaut anyways.

    ANYWAYS, I really like this episode! A good episode after 2 weeks of break. Everything went fast smoothly. The preview dialogue is very ominous and really well done.

    underMebius
  4. This episode totally shocked and scared me — especially with Uchuu Kyoudai — to raise such a death flag. It’s not that we were not exposed to the concept of death before, but it’s just that it’s Hibito this time, and the creator made it feel so real… What a cliffhanger for the audience to crave for the next episode…

    I got interested in the idea of support as presented in the episode. It seems like the astronauts are supported by staff, but then if we can look beyond the surface, the staff is also supported by the astronauts for realizing their dream — it really depends on which side of a coin that you are looking at.

    ronbb
  5. Putting any vegetarian/vegan diet discussion aside. We humans have evolved as an omnivore species and need animal protein. If you need animal protein, pound for pound bugs have the highest protein content and a better conversion rate from plant matter into “meat” thank other animals. Silkworms are edible and you can find them in some asian cuisine, but they could rise any other kind of bug or worm for food as long as they deem it easy to raise in an space environment.

    Kamui04
    1. Those astronauts may need to eat those worms because their work is not easy. But, we humans, in general, we don’t need to eat animals anymore. We needed that in the past, when everyone had to hunt and try to stay alive because there were lions all over the place. However, now all we do is to sit in front of a computer and start flame wars on Facebook. We don’t really need all the energy that comes from animals. Humans nowadays can live just fine eating plants.

      But, animals taste good, so I think we should eat them anyway.

      André
      1. Hate to tell you, but humans still need a good source of protein in their diets in order to be healthy. Whether that source of protein is nuts or meat, it is still nessacary, especially for those with medical conditions that leave them with an increased need for extra protein.

        Saying that humans don’t need to eat meat anymore is wrong for the majority of the human race. (Although the majority of the human race certainly do eat too much of it 😉 )

        Skins Thunderbomb
    2. You can’t really put veganism/vegetarianism aside that easily when you’re claiming that people absolutely need animal protein because we’re omnivores. That would only be true if we were carnivores. Loads of people are just fine on vegetarian diets.

      What you say about silkworms being nutritious and a good choice for space is true though.

      Jay
    3. Chinese, for example, have a long history of eating silkworm. However, some people are allergic to it. And it is general not recommended for pregnant women. There is a reason why silkworm (and many creatures that appear to be easy to farm) never made into mainstream cuisine in the past 5000 years. Eating bugs is an intriguing thought. But I wouldn’t bet on it being the future for space travel.

      Matroid
  6. That “support” conversation… I didn’t buy that. It was actually pretty strange because JAXA, NASA, etc are not organizations made to support astronauts in going to space and becoming popstars sensations (I think that real astronauts would be really pissed in seeing someone comparing them to singers and actors LOL). Space Brothers makes it look like this because the main characters are astronauts, so they are focusing only on the astronauts dreams and ignoring everything else; but the reality is nothing like that. These agencies are all about developing technology and astronauts are just part of that. In fact, the astronauts are the supporting characters here, they’re the beta testers. The main goal is to develop space technology. The International Space Station is an example of that. Hundreds of people go there and come back, and nobody even talks about it anymore. When we got a new spaceship, everyone talks about the spaceship and the organization/company who build it. Nobody talks the scientists or the guys who gonna go inside to test the thing. The star of the show is the mission and the technology itself.

    André
    1. Space Brother isn’t making anything up .. astornauts are like pop-stars and actors in the sense that they get all the fame and attention and that everbody working to get them to space usually gets non of that.

      It’s so obvious i’m shocked you don’t realize it, everyone around the world knows the names of Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong, who knows the names of the people in the control room who guided them into space, who knows the names of the people who built the rockets, or the lecturers who taught them, or the public relations staff who managed their interviews .. almost NOBODY among us normal people knows who they are or even remembers them because they played the support role .. but the ones who got all the glory and fame were Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong who both carried the dreams and hopes of their nations into space.

      Sorry .. but the analogy that Space Brothers made is spot on.

      HunterWulf
  7. Yep, that steam punk “mad scientist” Mutta was classic. I wouldn’t mind a spinoff or short OVA series. I really enjoyed Méliès’s “A Trip to the Moon” when I saw it in class once. For a movie from 1902, it had revolutionary special effects and mise-en-scène. As for the silkworms, I tried them once when I was drunk with friends at a Korean bar. Whether I could eat them everyday is a different story….. And yeah, Serika was pretty damn cute this episode, from her agitation at the sakura to her classroom antics.

    Namzor
  8. This definitely was an uncomfortable episode– for a show that has a focus on personal drama this ending was uuncomfortable. And the ED didn’t make me feel any better in spite of its charm.

    Love the OP for invoking a classic film and Jules Verne.

    sgl
  9. Oy, my sole solace at RC at the moment seems to be this show, this show only. By sole solace, I mean a show that could do no wrong in my eyes. Man, a good seinen is so darn hard to come by these days.

    I wonder Dr. NDT have heard of this show; it’d be interesting if he has since he’s the biggest advocate of manned space mission in USA in the past 3-4 years.

    deathtogenericshows
  10. I would rather like to know, how far along is the source material? Is it a manga or novel? And is it still ongoing? Would be nice to know if we are suddenly seeing anime original story.

    Rex

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