「心にいつも万歩計を」 (Kokoro ni Itsumo Manpokei o)
“Always Have a Pedometer in Your Heart”

‘Differences’ seems to be one of the underlying themes in Uchuu Kyoudai this week. Different people, different ideals, different opinions. Perhaps most stark were the differences Vincent demonstrated between those with military training and those without. I find it rather interesting that he chooses to judge people differently based on this, but does not share Larry Bison’s (Kawahara Yoshihisa) apparent tendency towards sexism.

Of course, the differences between Vincent and Larry are stark. The former is strict, impatient, and unforgiving. It’s kind of funny that Mutta takes an instant liking to him because of his intense motivation whereas Vincent despises Mutta because he doesn’t feel he can take him seriously. Larry, on the other hand, takes a lukewarm and more laid back approach to everything. The fact that both instructors have very different personalities seems good – I see it a bit like playing ‘good cop’ and ‘bad cop’ in that both could be liable to throw different things at the candidates for a more thorough training experience.

While we’re still talking about differences, we have the super-serious Lowry who was extremely hard to take at face value. It doesn’t really suit him at all! Props to him for managing to bury his normally unserious personality beneath attempts at being stern and militant! The other difference of note is in the motivations of two of the characters to continue onwards towards their goal at the end of the day. As per usual, we have Serika eagerly anticipating the food they’ll find at their destination, but we also have Kitamura’s desire not to hold the team back. It would be interesting to hear more of the other members’ thoughts as they trudge across the desert.

I feel a little sorry for Mutta – I can imagine how it would feel to know that something bad might be on the horizon but having no idea what it could be. Paranoia really starts to kick in during those kinds of situations and we already know just how much stock Mutta puts in the supernatural after his frequent ramblings on luck and its exhaustive nature. It will be interesting to see if there really are bad things on their way or if this premonition applies only to Vincent Bold’s dislike of Mutta. Watching Nitta fail as a leader next week should be something at least. He doesn’t really seem suited for the role at times and with current events keeping him preoccupied, it seems like a recipe for disaster!

tl;dr: @MoombaDS – Differences, the supernatural, and the beginning of survival training! #SpaceBros

Random thoughts:

  • There was some pretty cool new music this week as we watched the beginning of the survival training!
  • It’s nice to see Serika look on the bright side and see trekking through the desert in military gear with a large pack as something good!
  • I kind of wonder just what questions Mutta was hoping to ask.
  • It doesn’t surprise me to see that Kenji is not entirely happy with the idea of a ranking system once again.

Full-length images: 13, 16, 28.

 

Preview

Omake

20 Comments

  1. Hehehe, this episode was fun. A slow start to an arc but it’s still fine.

    Next episode brews trouble. Nitta’s power is going in his head… but of course, if I was in the same position, I would have done the same thing. Having three girls in the team is not an excuse to be last place.

    underMebius
  2. What I have wondered since the last few episodes…

    Aren’t teamwork abilities and good social skills one of the most important character traits for Astronauts? Vincent Bold does not seem to have any of them. Also Nitta seems rather cold all the time, but I may do him injustice because the series didn’t focused on him yet though.

    SixFlags
    1. Perhaps they keep Bold as an Obstacle the others have to overcome

      Yes, for me he seems only focused only to himself. “i would not have this Guys with me, on the Rocket!”. And if he like “Military” Trained Ones, why he no go to the Army? he will be a good “Drill Instructor!”. This kind of Guy are in the wrong place. Or he should working on his Ego. Time = Money!. If he fails, he should go as equity trader

      Germanguy
      1. First: US Military officers and NCOs can and will cut you off if you don’t answer their questions concisely. This is especially true in the Combat-arms community. Keep it short, simple, and to-the-point. If we want details, we’ll ask for them.

        Second: Bold is a Drill Instructor in this capacity; he’s supposed to apply shock and stress. It’s not about being rude or polite, you’re not there to make nice or to make friends with your recruits. What was the refrain?

        “Here, you are all EQUALLY worthless.”

        It’s Hollywood, but in regards to boot camp, it’s true. And if they pass military training, they’re no longer “civilian”.

        Third: Most Commands would put up with Bold’s stoic behaviour. Gets the job done before orders have to be issued? (BTW, US Commanding Officers HATE having to issue orders). Prepares with foresight and communicates efficiently? Even curtly? Wants to let everyone go home early (when not on deployment)?

        Where do I sign up?

        Fourth: Most Commands will NOT put up with Bold leaving a CO’s office before being properly dismissed, or breaking civilian laws Stateside. You can speed at 100+ on the base runways all you want Bold. And barge into my quarters, cut me off and anticipating my answers all you want. But never turn your back on your CO without permission.

        Fifth: While the Army does have its own aviation arm and airdets, generally speaking NASA draws most of its recruits from the Air Force and Naval aviation community (which includes Marines even though they don’t think so).

        Sixth: Ben needs a shave. No US soldier would allow facial hair like that to grow out. It can prevent the seal around your face required for gas and oxygen masks.

        Seven: Bold knows how to stand at attention properly….feet were at good angles.

        Terry
  3. I suppose I was the only one realized this, but I hate this blatant censoring of anime. In the orignal manga, Larry was smoking a cigarette and telling how he was confident that he would never quit smoking. Here instead it’s a bloody kiddie-size orange juice box. I give that it’s slightly funny since it’s out of nowhere humor and it’s just a minor tidbit in the grand scheme of things, but GEEZ! “ranting alert”:

    How the flying fuck did that switch-a-roo happen?

    What is this, a bloody kiddie show? For kindergarteners? C’mon now!! This sort of ridiculous censoring by the “officials” (governments, FBI, TV/Anime studios, corporations, etc) for “people” really irks me. What, you fear somehow showing a grown man smoking in anime will make young’uns run down to local pharmacies/grocery stores and start smoking? This is so STUPID. Why stop at smoking? Why didn’t they censor drinking, eh? What about speeding on highway? A mighty selective censoring at that! It really pisses me off (yeah i am getting angrier for some reason, LOL!). A nanny state mindset at its finest. GAH~~~~~~!

    …Otherwise, everything is good. It’s one of rare occasion this excellent show pissed me off -and it’s nothing to do with materials, but the bone-headed move by some stupid anime studio suit douchebags. And I’m afraid this sort of dumb-ass moves will continue on. Not the first nor the last time (not even close) this sort thing happened. This censoring made zero sense and it didn’t add anything to the story.

    deathtogeneric/formulaicshows
    1. You have to realize the show is aired in a timeslor where 50 % of the audience are -10 year old and the other half are their parents so the option was to skip that part or to change it because it could be seen like smoking advertising. the important thing is that we get Bison’s character either way.

      Kob264
    2. i didnt read the comic so i am not sure. to me smoking is just too plain, smoking=adult kinda thing, nth special….on the other hand, the kiddie orange juice character gap is much more humorous n comedic!

      paulina
  4. Larry Bison may be blessed with what may be one of the coolest names in Uchuu Kyodai- seriously, this anime does very well with English names, like Vincent Bold- but I find difficulty on getting behind his preference for lukewarm showers and OJ. I also really like the character designs for the side and recurring characters. Each managed to look different enough but overpowering so, while being pleasing.

    Mutta, I know how you feel about scorpions. Paranoia aside, those things freak me out, too.

    The Truth is in the axe
    1. I think I see the sexism part. He doesn’t acknowledge that the women in the team could have removed the natural gab in physical strength compared to men by training or some other way.

      Chaos_Alfa
  5. It’s probably for reasons of storytelling, but isn’t it odd that they send ‘national’ teams out? Given that those space crews are international by nature wouldn’t it make more sense to mix the different groups. It also places the candidates from smaller countries at a disadvantage as they have to fit into existing groups.

    On a related note: I don’t know how Space Brothers is gonna handle it, but irl a number of astronaut spots would be reserved for the larger nations related to their part in funding the program. So it’s safe to assume that at least one Japanese would be selected, next to a couple of Americans of course. Implication for the training is that the main competitors are your fellow countrymen and not the other nations.

    dustShadow
  6. I’d love to see Bold get pulled over or even arrested for his reckless endangerment of people on the road. If he hates wasting time I’d love to see his reaction to being locked up in prison for a while. I mean it’s just ridiculous. I don’t care if you are in the military or not. I’m not going to trust my life to someone who with one minor mistake could get me and several other people killed.

    It’s no wonder Bold has never been to space and I expect will never go to space. If he’s that reckless in a car can you imagine him in a space shuttle? I know he’s set up as an antagonist, but frankly he has almost no redeeming features. No one would be able to stand going into space with that guy. Always cutting people off, not listening, impatient, etc.

    Also my condolences to Mutta. No idea what doom is awaiting him XD.

    1. Now that I think of it, an Astronaut going 100+ MpH on the road doesn’t necessarily concern me.

      And there are some places you actually can drive 80-100+ and the cops won’t care. I’ll only note that you can’t in some places like Florida, Washington and California but Houston Texas is a different breed.

      The key point is that breaking the speed limit does not necessarily equate to endangering anyone…and the cops in certain jurisdictions know that. They use the speed limit to target “reckless driving” and “delinquency”. If you’re a “safe” driver, you know it actually has nothing to do with your velocity…between an astronaut driver who knew what he was doing going 100+ MpH, over your average drivers who doesn’t know a bus-driver from a screw-driver going 20 MpH, I’ll take the astronaut going 100+ any day.

      What does piloting a space-ship or jet have anything to do with driving a car?

      Alot.

      I’ll just say that astronauts are another class of pilot. And like any pilot, they’re extremely organized, keep their machines in proper condition, and are aware of more than the simple detials of “how” to drive; they pay attention to the “flight plan”, weather conditions, traffic, local fauna and what-not. They do that with all their machines…including cars. The pilots I know wouldn’t be caught dead with so much as a out-of-date tensioner or oil-change in their cars. Even a slight tear in the seating or a scratch on the paint would be a signal to the other pilots in his detachment “If this guy doesn’t have his car squared away, what’s his plane like?”. It would also reflect negatively on his crew and his unit BTW.

      It is well understood in the aviation community that being a good driver is similar to being a good pilot.

      So if they knew what the traffic cops were like (or trusted their radar), and weren’t approaching the top of a hill or bend and knew the nuances of their territory, sure, I can see 100+…and I’d have no problem with it. Just make sure you don’t get caught in the wrong jurisdiction.

      Terry
  7. Y’know, when you think about it, isn’t Vincent clearly breaking the speed limit by far?
    Sure, it may save you an extra hour by speeding, but if you get caught by the police, you’ll waste a lot more time and money, and maybe even your license especially at that speed.

    Though we could just assume that they built something similar to autobahn with no speed limit in US too in the future… XD

    NaYa
    1. Oh, and I find it hilarious that they changed Larry saying “I’m confident that I won’t quit smoking” to drinking kiddie orange juice. Come on, of all things, kiddie orange juice?! LOL

      NaYa

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