Barring any ridiculous, tone-shifting subplot, I’ll likely watch this show from start to finish. To those still unfamiliar with Uchuu Kyoudai, it stars two siblings, Mutta and Hibito, and their boyish dreams of one day becoming spacefaring astronauts. Now that they’re both adults, however, only the latter seems to have realized his goals. Still, with the encouragement of both his brother and his mother, Mutta might have a second chance of reaching space after all.
Yes, Uchuu Kyoudai will probably be one of those human drama anime series that bloggers can’t help but pontificate over (see: Usagi Drop, Chihayafuru), but there are worse fates we could resign ourselves to. I won’t swear up and down that Uchuu Kyoudai‘s first episode will blow you away, but it’s a solid introduction to a story whose storytelling, I think, merits discussion. The following will be my loosely-organized thoughts on the first episode.
The story really begins by linking the brothers’ lives with three major sporting events. On the 28th of October, 1993, Japan had a chance to qualify for the 1994 World Cup only to stumble at the last minute. The narrator mentions that “a certain old man groaned [as] the entire nation sighed in exasperation.” On the same night, the older of the two brothers was born. Was the Japanese football team’s failure a sign of things to come?
To take stock, Mutta and his brother both wanted to be astronauts, but the former fell short of the mark somewhere down the line. He instead became another suit in a sea of salarymen. Don’t get me wrong–it’s not like Mutta’s been a chump by any means while his brother’s high-stepping it like a Japanese Buzz Aldrin. Mutta actually has a glowing resume. He even helped design a car that won the “Good Snazzy Car” award! But when your younger brother’s a freaking astronaut, I guess losing your job (albeit for a good reason) won’t really endear you to your folks. Remember how “a certain old man groaned” when the Japanese football team lost that qualifying game? Compare that to how Mutta’s father currently treats him (I can’t wait for the tearful reconciliation episode!).
Like the 1993 Japanese football team, Mutta fell short, but if history is supposed to parallel life, then perhaps Mutta will have something to look forward to. The Japanese football team may have failed to reach the 1994 World Cup, but they’ve qualified for every World Cup since then. And thanks to Mutta’s mother mailing in an application to the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Mutta gets a second chance to realize his dream. Even more telling, Mutta now gets to follow in his brother’s footsteps.
From perhaps the very day Hibito was born, Mutta was told that big brothers have a duty to stay ahead of their younger siblings. It isn’t surprising to find such a sentiment in Asian societies in which the social structure tends to be very hierarchical. We can only speculate whether or not Hibito’s success has, in an indirect way, shamed Mutta, especially in light of the older brother’s recent employment woes. Shame plays a big part in Asian culture in regulating behavior, but is there really anything wrong in being outshone by a younger brother (especially when he’s an astronaut)? Mutta, if he succeeds, will arrive in space second to his younger brother, but so what? Uchuu Kyoudai, as the series progresses, has an opportunity here to decouple the binary that older has to necessarily mean better, but will it?
Anyway, we return to the sporting events and how they foreshadow and parallel the two brothers’ lives. Fittingly, a happier event accompanied Hibito’s birth. On the 17th of September, 1996, Hideo Nomo pitched a no-hitter for the Los Angeles Dodgers against the Colorado Rockies. Nomo was the first Japanese-born baseball player to enter the MLB, but not only did he reach the big stage, he was actually a good pitcher over his long career in the ‘States. Plus, accomplishing a no-hitter in the thin air of Coors Field (even now) is no walk in the park. The feat is doubly impressive considering it occurred during the infamous juicing era of baseball, where offensive stats were elevated as the result of illegal steroid usage.
When I first saw Hibito sitting alongside the American astronauts at a NASA event in Houston, I initially wondered why he wasn’t with JAXA instead. But thinking back to the beginning of the episode, it just made sense: the Nomo no-hitter foreshadowed everything. But will simply joining NASA be Hibito’s no-hitter, or are there be bigger things in store for him? I just hope it won’t be something as corny as encountering intelligent extraterrestrial life.
The final major sporting event would be Zinedine Zidane’s infamous red card incident in the final game of the 2006 World Cup. An opposing player said something disparaging about Zidane’s sister so Zidane headbutted him. So as a result, Zidane could not participate in the penalty shootout that ended up deciding the game (in Italy’s favor). Later in the first episode, Mutta would lose his job for headbutting his supervisor. Why? His boss had insulted Hibito. Still, I wonder if the Zidane event will end up being more meaningful than a humorous parallel of sibling loyalty.
It isn’t profound or revelatory that an anime actually employs foreshadowing, but it does add a layer of depth to Uchuu Kyoudai, a story that won’t likely feature hyper-kinetic battles and eye-catching fanservice. And for me, that’s just fine. At this point, I’ve pretty said most of what I wanted to say about the first episode. I’ll just end with the sentiment that I look forward to next week’s showing.
Haven’t got round to watching this yet, but synopsis-wise it definitely shone out amongst the rest. Glad to see it didn’t disappoint, I look forward to giving it a watch.
Yeah, it’s solid. The first episode won’t blow you away or anything but it sets the stage for something potentially special. And this is what anime should be about: doing stories that wouldn’t be as feasible or common in other formats. After all, when’s the last we’ve ever seen a TV drama about spacefaring?
Interesting analysis on the connection between history and the brother’s future. One can easily relate to a protagonists’ endeavors when there’s historical events to compare it to, and I couldn’t help but laugh when Mutta headbutted his supervisor. .
I myself am interested in how Space Bros will handle future technology and, eventually, space travel. These days it wouldn’t be surprising to see significant advances in science if given thirteen years (2012-2025). If it’s Japan, though, I’m guessing robots and other commercial electronics.
I’m no expert on what JAXA is up to, but I just heard recently that the Russian space program will soon develop a rocket that works off of nuclear propulsion. They’re shooting for a trip to Mars by 2025, I think. Sure, it still won’t be anywhere near the speed of light so intergalactic travel remains a pipedream, but to quote a movie I’m dying to see, i.e. Prometheus, “Big things have small beginnings.”
This was one of the animes I was most looking forward to this season so I’m glad it’s off to a solid start. Sibling rivalry and childhood dreams are themes that loads of people can relate to (myself included!) and hold lots of potential for drama. I didnt’ realise until you pointed it out that Mutta will be second in space either way – I wonder if that will be significant? It’s apparently going to be a year long series so they’ve got lots of time for development. I personally think we’re now in an era where simply going to space (although very cool) isn’t enough, and the focus is now on what you do once you get there. Mutta is clearly a talented engineer so I hope that his skills come into play with realising his boyhood dream. (I was a bit surprised that he wasn’t required to write some sort of personal statement for his JAXA application though. Unfair!)
I like the show’s quirky sense of humour (ZIDAAAANE) and the warmth of the characters. I can’t wait for the awesome spacey stuff.
Whoa, eesh, I’m not keen on stories dragging themselves out to such an extent. We’ll see, though.
I don’t know how the anime will handle it, but current astronauts are doing a lot of important stuff in space. Everyone dreams about the sexy stuff like space colonization and finding extraterrestrial life, but simply put, there’s a lot of research, especially biomedical research, that can only be done in a zero gravity environment. It’s such a pity, therefore, that space funding has been cut repeatedly in the U.S. Yeah, yeah, I know there are starving people to feed, but we seem to have no problems wasting money elsewhere… but don’t get me started on this particular soapbox.
More than anything, I smiled at Mutta’s description of his home life, specifically his mother’s waning enthusiasm for his presence as time wore on. I can totally relate to that.
Ohh, how I missed E minor’s posts….anyway
Interesting point, in how the past event’s were a foreshadow of the future. I’ve watched the episode (a few times) but I’m not knowledgeable in sports so I only looked at them in a very superficial level. Perhaps the Zidane incident was the only one I was well aware of, and could see the relation between Zidane’s insulted sister and Mutta’s insulted brother and how both events were the last of their careers.
Thinking more about it, combining this “important” sports events with the story telling added more depth to it, and might leave room to speculation, which is always fun.
Also, for a first episode, the characters (even the mother that acts like a teenager sometimes) already look very interesting, and likeable.
I was blown away by this first episode.
Yeah, I watch too much sports. But anyway, space is just really cool. In the spirit of the anime, I offer this:
Yes, Uchuu Kyoudai will probably be one of those human drama anime series that bloggers can’t help but pontificate over (see: Usagi Drop, Chihayafuru),
Unlike Usagi Drop and Chihayafuru though, Space Brothers doesn’t feel excessively sentimental which is a major plus for me.
Back when the live action film was announced some people speculated that this project was green lit due to the regained interest in outser space in Japan when JAXA’s spacecraft Hayabusa returned successful from its mission.
I loved reading your analysis of how the birthdates of the brothers coincide with specific events in sports history. I don’t follow sports so that whole bit was very enlightening.
In before copious bro love.
Hm, maybe I should dig up the film (is it out yet?). For whatever reason, I tend to prefer the live action adaptations over their anime counterparts. Maybe it’s the hammy acting…
Hibito’s mission may be organized by NASA but he’s got a JAXA patch on his jumpsuit during the press conference. The space shuttles (all the space shuttles) operate through NASA (or did until recently). If someone needs to send a man into space they pretty much have to do it through NASA. The Japanese astronaut they idolized in the show Mamoru Mohri was a member of NASDA before it became JAXA but his two space shuttle missions were with NASA.
Also…somewhat on or offtopic: do you have any siblings?
Well, it’s 2025. I would have expected things to change by then. But your overall point is well taken.
No.