Last week’s episode was an utterly amazing display of great body language and visualism on display, coupled with some great human drama. This week’s wasn’t a big step down, as we got a lot of characterization for Serika and Sharon in addition to the titular brothers.
Well, Devil Survivor 2 is over now. That was a very standard cookbook ending, and only a few things happened that were really worth commenting on.
“I’m betting the aforementioned stab will cost Kadowaki a lot in the way of mental stability, so his next clash with Arata should be prime-time viewing. Bonus points if he butts in in the middle of a face-off between Arata and Yorunami.”
-Me, 6 days ago
Just wanted to point out that I got a prediction right for once. Added some enjoyment to an episode that was already good for other reasons.
I really wish Fuji and her giant boobs were out of the cast. They represent one very weak link on an otherwise strong chain of comedy. A jealous female friend isn’t out of the question in a comedic cast, but it kind of feels like she’s just an excuse for the show to not be worksafe.
The reason this episode post took so long is that there was so much brilliance in this episode I legitimately had to watch the episode a good 4 more times, take my reaction notes from different runs, organize them, and edit in some shot-for-shot analysis for the past two days. There was too much stuff both important and sublimely executed that I couldn’t not talk about all of it. Short version: It takes some effort to parlay one character’s death flags into development for another who’s never met her before. This is one episode I’ll be coming back to along with Dear Hibito and Brian as go-tos for why Space Brothers is the best anime of the decade to date, easily the best episode of anime to air since I started this blog, and probably one of my all-time favorites. Like its main character, this show has no ceiling.
Early on in this episode, it seemed like Hibiki was inching a bit closer towards the position of “win by default” protagonist – one whose ideals are upheld because he happens to be the one not to die off. Systematically killing off the supporting cast (even more of them this week) has served to increase his chances of winning without him doing anything. Kind of like how Russel Westbrook’s season-ending injury cleared the Western Conference field for the Spurs this year. However, it’d be a lie to say that Hibiki’s done nothing, and that’s not the only narrative surrounding him heading into the finale.
Halfway through this episode, I got the feeling that this was going to be the last semblance of a lull episode in the show before it ran down climax alley. And it did a good job, at both being a lull episode and fooling me into thinking not much else was going to happen in the b-plots. Boy, was eye ever wrong there.
This show really does love to depend on new character introductions to provide a weekly hook. At first I was doubtful as to whether or not it was really feasible for a small-world type of show with only a few characters shown in the opening/on the boxart to maintain this approach for a full 13 episodes. This week was going to be critical, since every character from the opening had finally been introduced. So the makers this show faced a choice; if they didn’t want to lose their momentum, skim the bottom of the barrel or start building deeper relationships around the current cast.
Or do both at the same time, what do I know?
So Hibito got right back to Earth, greeted the crowd, then collapsed onto a hospital bed due to gravity fatigue. Not much to say about the scenes where Hibito was readjusting to Earth’s gravity. It’s a real part of what astronauts go through, so of course Space Brothers handles it realistically. The writer was fun enough to approach it from a few different angles, the best of which was of course ultra-heavy Apo.
That bit does make one feel sorry for those with German Sheperds
I typically haven’t been interested in the battles this show has had. And this episode wasn’t really an exception. Still, it was more enjoyable than previous ones because it toyed with my expectations a bit more.
Animetics 