Uchuu Kyoudai – 24

「最悪の審査員」 (Saiaku no Shinsain)
“The Worst Possible Interviewer”

As it so frequently does, Uchuu Kyoudai presents us with yet another series of parallels between the two ‘space brothers.’ It turns out both Hibito and Mutta are very quick, kinaesthetic learners – they learn by doing things themselves rather than any of the other types. Before this revelation, I had actually pegged Mutta as more of a reading learner based on all the books he had his nose in while preparing for the exams. This seemed like it was going to be a good opportunity to contrast the two of them again, but perhaps the parallel was a more effective choice. Not only do they both learn very quickly, they seem to enjoy it too. Or maybe it was just riding mowers and moon-dust-spreading buggies that they found enjoyable. Either seems fair.

This week we have the introduction of Azuma Takio (Nomura Kenji), an astronaut with a lot of firsts to his name. I guess it should be no surprise he’d be a little bitter over missing out on that greatest of firsts to a newcomer like Hibito. It seems there even used to be something akin to friendship between Azuma and Hibito before that decision was made. This actually brings up a question for me. There’s a general assumption here that Mutta is going to be at a disadvantage being interviewed by someone who so obviously holds a grudge – that because his brother ‘won’ and was selected, he’s now going to ‘lose.’ But will Azuma actually take it out on Mutta? Isn’t it entirely possible that, given the ‘cool’ exterior he’s always given off – the exterior that presumably resulted in Hibito being selected over him – he’s the sort of person who operates on logic and wouldn’t actually hold something so trivial against a candidate? It’s not like I can believe Mutta won’t be selected at this point, it’s just a case of wondering how they’re going to get over this latest hurdle.

In complete contrast to what I just wrote, I can’t help but think that maybe the desire to avenge Brian and Eddie Jay by standing together on the moon might have an element of foreshadowing to it. Hibito is embarking on his launch fairly soon… what if he meets a similar fate to Brian Jay, the guy whose footsteps he’s been trying to follow in all this time? It seems kind of unlikely, but something about the way it’s being handled keeps nagging at me. Maybe I’m just paranoid! On the other hand, it seems like two brothers walking together on the moon could be a good place for the series to end, so perhaps that’s the goal it’s working towards. I guess we’ll find out eventually!

tl;dr: @MoombaDS – Kinaesthetic learning, grudges and obstacles. Just another day in the world of #SpaceBros.

Random thoughts:

• As effective as it seems to be, I can’t say I’d want Apo as an alarm clock.
• Poor Mutta, how must mowing the lawn just outside look to the people he’ll soon be working with? But seriously, 2025 and NASA doesn’t have fully robotic mowers?
• Hibito had to undergo so much training… and to think we’re still on the exams.
• They’re making fun of Japanophiles again aren’t they? Oh god. He even uses chopsticks while the real Japanese is using a fork.

Full-length images: 10, 11, 23.

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