It’s like this show is making up for lost time in the recaps by showing off its high gear constantly. In addition to the conclusion of a great flashback, we got an absolutely killer stinger for the engineering competition. This is Ayumu Watanabe’s natural rhythm.
This week’s episode yielded a number of enlightening gems regarding Vincent Bold’s worldview. The most amusing of which is that he’s anti-Webb, but his animosity towards other groups which work on different aspects of space exploration is something not at all uncommon in the astronomical community. Fortunately, Mutta was there to remind him that we’re all really on the same team. And keep the entire episode from being just a (great) October Sky homage.
Space Brothers continuously comes off as an incredibly well-researched show. That’s not just in the macro sense (knowing which NASA agencies handle what, and the order in which astronaut training proceeds) but in the very micro sense as well; this episode was a great window into the minds of people smack in the middle of a design process trying to solve five problems at once.
You know you’ve made a good point when Nanba Mutta repeats the statement almost word for word on an episode of Space Brothers airing two days later. This episode was great, and it was great because it built around dialogue that established Pico and Mutta as serious-business engineers.
It’s time to welcome back one of the best anime currently airing from a 3-week recap break. This break was entirely forgivable in my book for 3 reasons:
1. The series had not had a recap previously.
2. The move to a new timeslot means there are a lot of people just tuning in who have no clue what’s going on. Recaps serve to fill them in so that they keep watching.
3. Spring 2013 has brough with it pretty crowded Saturdays (Attack on Titan, Muromi-san, Hentai Ouji), so Space Bros’ being on break made it easier to blog those intros.
If it had gone for a fourth week, though, it would’ve started to count for something. It came back not a moment too soon, really.
I’m really convinced at this point that Ayumu Watanabe can fascinate with literally anything. In the latest bit of proof, this week he made a guy surfing the internet gut-wrenchingly engaging. What’s more, he did it without even needing to resort to the *ahem* stylized approach.
Space Brothers has a fairly impressive, but not top-tier soundtrack. Like, the songs are good, but not on the level of something like Wish or Dance of Curse in terms of show compatibility. The reason why the audio performance in this show *is* top-tier is something that left its prints all over this week’s episode: Katsuyoshi Kobayashi’s sound direction.
The drama surrounding Nitta’s family situation, as well as Bold’s rationale for his training methods, are beginning to become clear. The former was somewhat depressing, though enlightening, the latter was surprisingly pie-in-the-sky.
If the past two episodes were about making Vincent Bold a huge jerk, then this one was all about making him a great, well-rounded character with surprising charm and principle. I’m impressed to the extent that Space Brothers always impresses me.
Episodes of Space Brothers generally fall into 3 categories. First, you have the ones detailing Mutta’s progress as an astronaut. Second, you have the ones dealing with Hibito’s career and missions. Lastly, you have the interlude episodes which serve to establish and build the series’ diverse, while introducing ideas that will become important later. This episode was of the latter variety, and raised some interesting specters lurking in the series’ future.
Animetics 