Uchuu Kyoudai (Space Brothers)

On a fateful summer night in 2006, Mutta Nanba and his younger brother Hibito witness what they believe to be a UFO flying toward the Moon. This impressing and unusual phenomenon leads both siblings vowing to become astronauts, with Hibito aiming for the Moon and Mutta, convinced that the eldest brother has to be one step ahead, for Mars.

Now an adult, life hasn't turned out how Mutta had pictured it: he is diligently working in an automotive company, whereas Hibito is on his way to be the very first Japanese man to step on the Moon. However, after losing his job, Mutta is presented with an unexpected opportunity to catch up to his younger brother when the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency, commonly known as JAXA, accepts his application to participate in the next astronaut selection. Despite self-doubts about his prospects, Mutta is unwilling to waste this chance of a lifetime, and thus embarks on an ambitious journey to fulfill the promise made 19 years ago.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Related Anime

Adaptation:	Uchuu Kyoudai
Side story:	Uchuu Kyoudai: Apo's Dream, Uchuu Kyoudai: Itten no Hikari, Space Dreamers: Uchuu Kyoudai Nanba Mutta ga Yattekita!
Prequel:	Uchuu Kyoudai: Number Zero

More characters

Characters & Voice Actors

Nanba, Mutta

Main

Sawashiro, Miyuki
Japanese

Nanba, Hibito

Main

Sanpei, Yuuko
Japanese

Apo

Supporting

Sawashiro, Miyuki
Japanese

Itou, Serika

Supporting

Sawashiro, Miyuki
Japanese

Makabe, Kenji

Supporting

Katou, Masayuki
Japanese

Young, Deneil

Supporting

Ishida, Tarou
Japanese

Bold, Vincent

Supporting

Tsuda, Kenjirou
Japanese

Nasuda, Shigeo

Supporting

Aoyama, Yutaka
Japanese

Kaneko, Sharon

Supporting

Ikeda, Masako
Japanese

Jay, Brian

Supporting

Ootsuka, Akio
Japanese

More staff

Staff

Nagai, Kouji

Producer, Planning

Watanabe, Ayumu

Director

Kobayashi, Katsuyoshi

Sound Director

Ishii, Toshimasa

Episode Director, Storyboard

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Opening Theme

	1: "Feel So Moon" by Unicorn (eps 1-13)
	2: "Eureka (ユリーカ)" by Sukima Switch (eps 14-26)
	3: "Yume Miru Sekai (夢見る世界)" by DOES (eps 27-38)
	4: "Small World" by Fujifabric (eps 39-51)
	5: "Kienai E (消えない絵)" by Magokoro Brothers (eps 52-64)
	6: "Crater (クレーター)" by Merengue (eps 65-75)
	7: "HALO" by tacica (eps 76-87)
	8: "B.B" by THE Yatou (eps 88-99)

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Ending Theme

	1: "Subarashiki Sekai (素晴らしき世界)" by Rake (eps 1-13)
	2: "Kokuhaku (告白)" by Angela Aki (eps 14-26)
	3: "Tete (テテ)" by Akihisa Kondou (eps 27-38)
	4: "Goodbye Isaac (グッバイ・アイザック)" by Motohiro Hata (eps 39-51)
	5: "BEYOND" by Miho Fukuhara (eps 52-64)
	6: "Yozora no Taiyou (夜空の太陽)" by Flower Companyz (eps 65-75)
	7: "New World" by Kasarinchu (eps 76-87)
	8: "Anata ga Ireba OK!" by Serena (eps 88-99)

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Reviews

Feb 10, 2014

xspookydarknessx

Recommended

At first glance Space Brothers seems to be an anime about two brothers that just go space and do astronaut things, but oh ho, dear reader, it is so much more than that. It is a realistic journey delving into one of the most difficult professions ever conceived by man. Now that the series has concluded [for the time being], a proper review is in order. But first, we better shake hands.

STORY:
Space Brothers cleverly depicts the pursuits of Mutta and Hibito, converging their storylines at some times and following them separately at others. This structure is beneficial to the flow and progression, and earns ... top marks from me. It also uses an intriguing method of linking the past to the present, showing the audience how the brothers' upbringing helps them with the challenges on the path toward fulfilling their dreams.

This leads me to the most notable aspect of Space Brothers – its insanely realistic plot. The amount of research that author Koyama Chuuya had to have done is mind-boggling. In fact, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) actually helped out on it, which is noticeable throughout. Plainly stated, you just can't make some of this stuff up! Which brings me to an important question potential viewers always ask: why is it so long?? It takes a lot of time and effort to become an astronaut, and it is quite clearly portrayed in this anime. To condense any of what is shown would be an insult to real astronauts. As a rare "long seinen," I approve.

Additionally, it's difficult to NOT be impressed with immense detail that the mangaka put into the setting. For instance, whenever the main characters travel to the United States, American fans are simply blown away by the accuracy of the places illustrated, such as the John F. Kennedy Space Center in Florida and the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Texas. Though I've never been to either of these locations, it almost feels like I've been on a virtual tour, just by watching an anime.

This leaves me with the literary brilliance of its themes. As is evident from the title, family plays an important role, and not just the Nanba family; though it is crucial to note that "family" is not limited by blood. Although this is a comedy [and it can be pretty funny at times], it is well balanced by its serious moments. Furthermore, this is an anime about going to space.. which is a very scary place where the consequences of failure are colossal. This anxiety gives the experience an even keener flavor. Of course it deals with moral issues and other difficulties in life as well. Sacrifice and the test of friendship is a prevalent theme as the journey to the top requires leaving many behind – not everyone can be a winner. The anime also tackles psychological and neurological hardships, in addition to exposing the stress put on the families of the astronauts. However, the theme that Space Brothers always comes back to is that hard work and guts [and a lot of luck] will always pay off, even if the immediate results appear unfavorable.

ART:
Though there isn't very much "action" in this anime, A-1 pictures does a great job in the animation department. Movements are fluid and expressions are believable, to say the least. In terms of art style, Space Brothers uses an interesting blend of intrinsic "anime-ness" along with the natural proportions and appearances of.. well.. real life. Something that caught my eye was the attention to heredity. Characters of the same family tended to look like each other and/or their parents, which is an uncommon trait in anime. It's a nice addition to the realism this seinen provides. Hair is also quite interesting. Each character's hair style/color stays within the bounds of reality while still remaining unique from other shows. Bonus points to Serika's hair for somehow making me smile every time she's on screen.

SOUND:
Now, I feel this is the weakest part of the show. Don't get me wrong, it's still good, just less so in comparison to its strengths. The music is used to enforce and empower the displayed emotions and elicit the intended feels from the viewer, but the anime reuses the same songs... over and over. I actually made it a game to see how many episodes it could go without playing the same "feel this now" song. I guess you get used to it after a while, but it is worth mentioning. The last third of the anime gets better at diversifying its music. The OPs and EDs are pretty good though, my favorite being ED5, "BEYOND" by Miho Fukuhara [yea, the same Fukuhara that did Brotherhood ED2].

CHARACTER:
My favorite part of this anime is the incredible characterization! Practically every character is memorable due to the depth in which each is described. Their motivations and actions logically follow the person that they've become. You can easily fall in love with any number of them, and palpably feel heartbroken if things don't go their way. Viewers with weaker hearts be wary, though I never cried myself, I acknowledge that much of the anime can bring you to tears. There are several instances in which a character's reactions and facial expressions deliver far more emotion than any amount of words could. This attribute alone makes Space Brothers stand out from other anime. Simply put, the entire cast is a rainbow of personality. I don't really want to go much further into detail.. that would ruin the magic!

ENJOYMENT:
This is a great show, easily one of my favorites. Whenever I found myself in an anime rut, I just sat back and watched a couple episodes. Another thing that's worth noting is that the anime is very inspirational. Seeing Mutta go through so many tribulations gave me hope for my future, and that my efforts in the present will yield fruit down the road. Maybe that's just me though.

CONCLUSION (TL;DR):
Space Brothers is an excellently constructed anime that combines a heartwarming story with delightful comedy, using realistic characters to show the audience just how difficult it is to become an astronaut.

Oh yea, we can end that handshake now.

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Jun 25, 2013

Kynov

Recommended

"An older brother must step ahead against his younger brother" - Nanba Mutta.

Lately, i haven't found any good anime to watch.. then i meet Uchuu Kyoudai/Space Brother, at the first i was like oh just an average anime which have sci-fi and bla bla bla. since i didnt have any anime to watch, i thought i could try it for just one episode. and then seems like i had learned my lesson.

"Dont ever judge anime by its cover, genre, or anything else before you watched it" - Me, after watching this.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
STORY

The story was simple, its about Nanba Mutta as the older brother who had promised ...

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Jun 28, 2014

kaeeeeee

Recommended

This show is a hidden gem. Having always avoided shows with lengthy and seemingly boring settings, I found some extra time on my hands during the summer break. So I decided to use it and pick up the first few episodes of Space Brothers without expecting much. I was immediately proven wrong, thinking again and again that you should truly “never judge a book by its cover”. (I try not to but it still happens. I can’t help it when there are too many choices ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Story
My first thought after reading the synopsis was why the hell are 99 episodes dedicated to these random siblings trying ... to go to space. Not to mention the fact that one of them has an afro. Is this entire series a joke? The sci-fi genre with “space” in it is so commonplace that we often associate it with aliens, laser beams blasting out of gigantic humanoid robots, or imperial planetary empires attempting to take over galaxies; we often forget that astronauts/cosmonauts in reality are one of the most dangerous and strenuous professions in the world. As a requirement, all astronauts must be genetically and physically healthy all around, have to dedicate their minds to proficiency levels of engineers, and have to work long hours to maintain the fitness ability of athletes. Even then, only the very few with exceptional abilities are the ones that are accepted as those that are able to go to space. Forget the ridiculous afro for now. This is a truly inspirational journey about the challenges that the siblings overcome to fulfilling a persistent passion (mostly just about the guy with the afro though).

Characters
It’s always very challenging to express characters realistically in anime but this one has particularly done an outstanding job. The depth of the characters continued to grow and develop throughout the series. The background stories of every character along with the inflections of tones and conversations entwines into their personalities and career pursuits as astronauts or engineers. The mini-stories also added gravity to each character's dedication.

Sound
La di la di la. Amazing classical music when needed :)

Enjoyment
Some pretty good comedy alongside the inspiring story of our friendly afro dude.

Art
The scenes and color are framed well and appropriately montaged, giving decent mis-en-scene. Symbolic coloring and framing or artistically beautiful shots are not the highlight of this show. I would say this has a lot more going for it in the story and character development than anything else. The style of art is “meh” but that is largely subjective.

10/10 Overall a hidden masterpiece.

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Poll: Uchuu Kyoudai Episode 35 Discussion ( 1 2 ) amginex - Dec 1, 2012	62 replies	by Shikkakku »» May 26, 1:31 AM
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Characters & Voice Actors

Nanba, Mutta

Nanba, Hibito

Apo

Itou, Serika

Makabe, Kenji

Young, Deneil

Bold, Vincent

Nasuda, Shigeo

Kaneko, Sharon

Jay, Brian

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