Uchuu Kyoudai

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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"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.

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STORY

The story was simple, its about Nanba Mutta as the older brother who had promised with his younger brother, Nanba Hibito. to become an Astronaut together. But, then the life changes them. Now, Nanba Hibito is on training for becoming an astronaut and as for the older brother, he is just being fired from his company. And until then Mutta as the older brother have a motto that older brother must take a step ahead against his younger brother, luckily, there was an audition for becoming an astronaut. and so Mutta without hestitate sign for the audition.

Simple? yeah... its kinda remembering me about Bakuman. and so, whats make this so special?
first of all, is the story itself. like bakuman does, the story was father kinda in slow paced. we're not just gonna see the Nanba Mutta struggle for being an astronaut, but we're gonna see too the flashback about him and her younger brother, boring? I dont think so, since all that flashback was really touching. You cant help to shed your tears (that was what i feel). Well, its not all about melancholic situation, Uchuu Kyodai have great jokes too. Usually when Nanba Mutta mumbling or speak with himself, he always comments on what he feel or what he see. It just feels so natural, you cant help to not to laugh when he does that.

and not just that, the detail of the way they tells us about space, NASA, and the outer things was really perfect. when i watching this anime, i cant help myself to google some of the fact in this anime, like "did you know that Moon's sand was so sharp as a shard of glass?" and not just that, the details about space and NASA is really increasing our knowledge about it.

CHARACTER

Second, the character. what makes appeal me a lot was all of the character in space brother. i am not exaggerating. because in this anime, there isnt any bad guys with a weird reason to do something bad. they're just people like us, who do something for some reason, behind every act they made, they have a reason. I think thats the good point, since as far as i have seen, rarely any anime made this thing (act) so naturally. They're just doing by what they're believe.

And what surprise me a lot was the each character have a scene to develop. either by flashback or by their experience. and its kinda lame to said that the story was so slow (because of the flashback), YES its slow but the slow itself because they want to the viewer knows "what kind of character it is?" and surely, to make us, being attracted by the character.

ART

Third, the art. i am not gonna said to much on this section. but, if you see it carefully, you will see why this anime was so appealing, like how many anime that have a male lead which have an afro hair? then, the draws for the character was well made, yet is so slice of life anime. Not excessive on the background coloring neither the character does. When usually some anime use so many gradient or shading in coloring to make more appealing but not in space brother, they make it simple but yet its charming. Its really the style of Sentai Filmworks

SOUND

The Last, Sound. honestly, when i heard the opening songs (especially the first OP, "Feel so Moon") i am really attached to it, not just attached it, i realize that the OP was really fit with the anime, its about outer space. not just the first OP, the other OP was really - really well made. Even i had to replay the OP, just for hear the song. The background song or BGM is also perfectly fit with every scenes that appears. Like when there was something amazing happen, "Sora e No Michi" songs plays and its really hyping up the atmosphere and makes the scenes twice more epic!

Not just the OP and BGM, the seiyuu voice was really deserves an award. They really fits with each character that being voiced. especially when Nanba Mutta talking to himself or when he sighing about his life, its like they (the seiyuu) really put their feelings into it. Of course not just seiyuu for Nanba Mutta, but all the character.

CONCLUSION

When everyone focus and talk about Shingeki no Kyojin or any anime that airing in that season, They forgot to bring this anime as topic to be discussed. Oh, poor you Space Brother. But well, honestly i am happy that not many people to know this anime. I can be a hipster! lol Anyway, this anime was still airing. until i write this review, the anime had just airing their 63 episodes but it has been on my top 5 anime,Yeah, so why i had to risk on my top anime place for this airing anime? as for me, its too early for judging anime if you havent watched the whole episodes, but who cares? this anime was awesome. and its enough reason for me to put this on my top anime.

if you're looking for a motivational , then you might try this anime... and one message for me, CATCH YOUR DREAM!

*Thanks for reading my review! If you found this review was not helpful or doesnt good enough,please message me. I really appreciate any feedbacks*

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This show is a hidden masterpiece. I have always managed to simply ignore it because of its length and seemingly mundane type setting. But during the summer vacation, I unearthed this anime from my long watching list. My reaction was 'Meh, why not?' When I watched the first episode I was completely mesmerized.

Yes, you will not find aliens and fantasy. You will not find some crazy sci-fi anime with lazer beams blasting out of gigantic humanoid robots. But you will find the passionate story of two brothers that aim to become astronauts/cosmonauts, one of realities most dangerous and strenuous professions. You will also find great comedy kicking at you for a few good laughs. (Comedy and sentimental moments are always at good timings without disturbing the flow of the show)

10/10 Story
As many people might have already said the story is about the life of siblings trying to go to space. It is a character based story so you will find that the anime follows mostly on the life of Nanba Mutta and his amusing and romantic encounters with others that have the same passion for space.

8/10 Art
Although many may disagree, I wouldn't say this art was a down-side of the show. I thought the art style fit fairly well with its theme. However, I did notice that the art of a few characters were a bit unconventional. But art is largely personal preference, so don't let my tastes push you away.

9/10 Sound
I never listen to classical music or orchestra, but I have always thought they fitted with anime the best. Almost all my favorite series or all-time masterpieces, like this one, have used classical music. This anime doesn't lose in sound to any of the masterpieces I have seen. Great music always follows the mood of great scenes.

10/10 Character
The characters of this anime were all amazing. Its very hard to express characters realistically in anime but this one has particularly done an outstanding job. The depth of major characters was just great. The background stories show the personal lives of all the main characters and how it entwines into their careers as astronauts or engineers. The mini-stories also added gravity to the the character's dedication. Everyone aiming to become an astronaut has a passion. But in order to fufill their ambitions, they will be tested, casting their values, skills and determiniation into the dangers of space.

10/10 Enjoyment
I enjoyed watching this anime with laughs, inspiration and good food.

10/10 Overall
A hidden masterpiece.

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Space brothers is about two brothers' journey to space. Its a feel good comedy about reigniting your passions in life and chasing dreams you thought were impossible.

Namba Hibito is cool, carefree and about to become the first Japanese person on the moon while his older brother Mutta is down on his luck, having been fired from his job designing automobiles. He gave up on his dreams years ago but a little nudge from his little brother starts him on the journey to realise his childhood dream of joining his brother in space.

So first off this is not a show about adventures in space. There is of course some space travel but it is more of a character driven comedy that showcases a lot of training as well as the grueling selection process on the road to becoming an astronaut. But even though that may sound boring it does manage to keep interesting plots happening most of the time, and its a pretty funny show so I think that makes up for it. It has a bit of a lull around the 25 episode mark but if you keep going it ramps up again, it is a very fun series and will make you (in the words of the opening song) feel so good.

So as I mentioned this is a character driven show. There are a lot of great characters. I particularly enjoyed the cringeingly awesome parents, and Lowry the American Weeaboo astronaut who is always misusing Japanese phrases but the whole cast is pretty colourful. Our hero Mutta is a loserish 30 something year old with hidden talents. He is the perfect hero for people in their thirties (or late twenties like me) who want to start dreaming again. It is a bit more mature that a lot of the anime out there but still has those awesome Japanese elements I love like a celebration of lofty dreams and the determination and resolve to realise them.

As for the art I felt like this wasn't a focus for the creators. The individual pictures are a bit more on the realistic side and while they mostly look ok on their own the animation itself is often stilted and awkward. After a while I stopped noticing it most of the time but every now and then there would be some really awkward movement, for example there is a particular dance scene that looks borderline creepy. But for the most part you are just watching simple animation and it does the job.

One negative thing I will say for this show is that although the ending is good it kind of ends in an unsatisfying place. The last episode was exciting and resolved stuff and didn't feel rushed, but you will see when you get there (if you watch it) that it doesn't end where you want it to end. I do sort of hope they start the anime again because even though I liked the ending there were some things I wanted to see happen.

This show is incredibly feel good. It has some more real moments but overall its the kind of show that is always a bit warm and fuzzy. They are basically a bunch of lovable space nerds fulfilling their dreams, and triumphing thanks to determination and hard work. So yeah if you are turned off by things that are too happy, or where things work out too well for the cast you might find that annoying. Personally I found it suspended disbelief really well. However it did have the unfortunate side effect of making me wish I was an astronaut. So be warned.

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