(L+CR) Uchuu Kyoudai (Space Brothers)

[cyth]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Spoiler for Ep26:

Well, can't say I'm too surprised that the first interview was a fake. This test has had quite a few surprises and tricks along the way. It makes sense anyways that they wouldn't decide something so important with an interview like they did earlier. I did find it funny that in an attempt to mirror the loose screw trick, the whole chair ended up going.

Mutta is actually rather lucky that this is the real interview. Had a chance to recover so he's not fighting through leg pains.

I'm really not worried about Mutta and Azuma. I think both have some things in common and that he's not actually holding anything against Mutta. I'm not sure exactly how this whole trick interview works in terms of them making the final decision, but even if Azuma comes out without a glowing review of Mutta people would just assume it's a biased one and probably wouldn't let that make the decision.

Either way I think this should be fun to watch. It does prove why Mutta's got such good chances. He may have some strange luck, but he's extremely observant. He knows plenty about guys who weren't on his team. Also you can feel the honesty in his responses as to the best astronauts. Not labeling himself as the best option, but also giving himself credit as to wanting it the most. Think that observation will give him an edge since you want someone on your side that will catch the small details.

Also proves why that jerk from Kenji's team will have problems. I'm almost glad they let him get this far if we see him go down from this. He's just far too self-centered. He doesn't want to hang out and interact with these astronauts and doesn't seem willing to experiment with the food. Now personally I can't hold those things too much against him since I'm not good in either respect. But if you are going into space and living in another country in the meantime, adaptability and the ability to interact with others would seem to be fairly important.

Again looking forward to seeing more next week.

Spoiler:

Actually, I think Mizoguchi noticed something was off about the interview. As one of the astronauts said: "Would I trust this person with my life?" Mizoguchi being cautious in this situation might be reason enough for them to pick him over others. At this point in time, I actually think he's the prime candidate to be chosen.

[ookamigirl]

So mom & dad came to visit their sons.
The final interview is here!
Mutta was a victim of a practical joke again...
His reaction to the whole chair thing was just weird.
The interview itself was nothing special though.
Seems like the party/dinner was the real test.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by cyth

Spoiler:

Actually, I think Mizoguchi noticed something was off about the interview. As one of the astronauts said: "Would I trust this person with my life?" Mizoguchi being cautious in this situation might be reason enough for them to pick him over others. At this point in time, I actually think he's the prime candidate to be chosen.

Spoiler:

Will have to agree to disagree on this one. I think he's at the back of the pack or at the very least near it. I wouldn't trust someone like that with my life. If I did it'd only be because we were stuck in space together and saving me would mean keeping himself alive. It goes back to that last test. This guy makes things competitions and doesn't get along with others. Not someone you want to spend a very long time with in space.

I'm sure he did notice something, but too late. Think someone who doesn't know a thing about the others around him by now isn't someone who's a prime candidate. Need to be able to work with these people and to a reasonable degree know what makes them tick.

It's not over for him yet, but think he's definitely in a bad position.

[Guardian Enzo]

I agree with FlareKnight on Mizoguchi. I don't think it's a deal-breaker, but I would assess that their respective reactions to the question cast Mutta in a better light than Mizoguchi. Mutta was honest, and demonstrated his observational skills. Mizoguchi comes off a little bit false, and arguably too cautious.

[Kanon]

I also have good hopes Moziguchi is going to fail that final test. An astronaut has to look out for his teammates, something Moziguchi hasn't done at all. They're eventually going to notice he is way too self-centered.

Mutta, on the other hand, should be at the top of the list. You can easily see he loves people and his great observational skills are also a big asset for him. I believe he's exactly the kind of person they're looking for.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Let's imagine you're on a mission. You've been injured in an accident and knocked unconscious. Who would you rather have on the crew?

Mutta: Wait, we can't give him drug X -- he's allergic to it. We need to find a substitute.

or

Mizoguchi: Wossisface is such a slacker. Just inject him with something so we can adhere to my carefully laid out time table.

[ThereminVox]

Spoiler for Episode 26:

I also get the feeling that Mizoguchi will turn out to be too cunning for his own good. He's a bright guy, and figured out that this is the real test. From the look on his face, I think he realized that he has an opportunity to sabotage the competition. If that's the case, however, I think JAXA will see through it. Mutta's clearly kept his companions in mind in every situation, so badmouthing him probably won't get Mizoguchi very far.

A shame if that's the case, though. He's a good source of conflict while still being believably qualified, and I'd like to see him fleshed out more in the next part.

[cyth]

I seriously don't think Mizoguchi is as bad as you guys seem to think. JAXA wouldn't accept his team's decision for Yuri and himself to advance if he were that self-centered. I mean, this is serious business, JAXA had been monitoring the guy's mental state all along. Surely they would have stepped in if they saw him as an inappropriate candidate that could hurt future missions.

Nitta was introduced to us as a jealous nonbeliever, but he turned out to be a pretty cool guy. Now the series is trying its hand with Takio, trying to portray him as a tightass that won't pass Mutta no matter what, as he is supposedly holding a grudge against Hibito. I didn't believe that premise for a second. Takio has visited space, he must have a solid state of mind. Honestly, I thought it was below the series to try the same hand again. Now here comes the big bad Mizoguchi that's going to ruin everybody's fun. I think it's the most obvious red herring to date. You can easily notice that there are no true antagonists in this series, except bad luck. All of the astronaut figures have turned out to be cool people in the end. I seriously don't know why the series is even attempting to make Mizoguchi look like a bad guy at this point.

Think about this for a second: the real winner on Team A was Mutta, as he was able to convince JAXA on his own merit. If Fukuda got lucky at Rock Paper Scissors, JAXA would've had doubts about him. Heck, they still might have doubts about Serika or Nitta, even though they said right before the beginning of the second exam that any one of the candidates was fit to become an astronaut. Circumstances have changed and made that statement invalid because JAXA got to probe their mental state and daily interaction for two weeks.

While Mizoguchi's selection approach wasn't the most appropriate for what they were doing, it had legitimacy because the rules were clear from the start. One might say Team A had a system as well (Rock Paper Scissors), but this was decided at the very last minute. Team A believed that as time passed, they would be able to discern naturally who gets to advance. They couldn't agree on that because they didn't anticipate they would be making a very close call, so their system was fundamentally flawed. Instead of forcing themselves through a vote, Mutta threw the original premise out the window! Compared to that, Mizoguchi gets mad props for being consistent. He made sure the original selection approach was carried out, even when one of the members received a green card to destroy the score board. This convinced me Mizoguchi has the integrity to qualify for the job, and even though JAXA and NASA might have some doubts about him, I doubt those are about his self-centeredness.

[Kirarakim]

I think there is definitely more to Mizoguchi than meets the eye and he just might pass to get us to see that (how many do pass in the end?)

However I will say Mizoguchi's tactics against Kenji (making him think he could die & leave his family) were pretty low, certainly worse than what any other character has done. So I will be interesting to see how they convince me he is a better guy than he seems.

Now Azuma, I am sure will judge Mutta fairly. I think everyone has him pegged wrong. But he is different for me from Mizoguchi. We saw how Mizoguchi acted, we are judging Azuma only by what others have said.

[Rahan]

I didn't see anything hinting Mizoguchi figured out what was going on.
Actually, from the episode, I was under the impression both him and the mustache guy would be eliminated. Since one candidate forfeited, we would get 6 astronauts. Looks about fine to me.

I don't see anyone else failing because the other characters aren't even developed enough for that. We don't know enough about them to understand why they failed.

[vansonbee]

Just watched the episode after Resident Evil 4.

I hope Mizoguchi does not get cut after this secret interview, because it will be great to see him as recurring cast getting slam for his bad habits and Mutta getting the green light from JAXA.

[Utsuro no Hako]

The problem with Mizoguchi isn't that he's an uptight jerk -- he is, but that's not a disqualifying offense -- but that he has no curiosity. Here he is in a foreign restaurant, but unlike the wasabi beef guy, he has no interest in trying the food. He's surrounded by people he might spend the next several years working with, possibly even living with in a cramped space ship, and yet, despite having multiple opportunities over the last few days, he hasn't bothered to learn one thing about them. If it were the Rubik's Cube guy, we might write it off to shyness -- but then, I suspect he would've learned something about the others through observation -- but not so with Mizoguchi. He's not taking part in the party because he has no interest in learning anything from the situation.

[SeijiSensei]

Has anyone seen an American roadhouse-style restaurant with no tables? I haven't been to Texas in quite a while, but I'd be surprised if there are restaurants in that state like the one depicted in this episode with no tables anywhere.

I also didn't see the mandatory large-screen TVs depicting sporting events either. The bull and heifer over the doors to the restrooms were cute though.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Has anyone seen an American roadhouse-style restaurant with no tables? I haven't been to Texas in quite a while, but I'd be surprised if there are restaurants in that state like the one depicted in this episode with no tables anywhere.

I also didn't see the mandatory large-screen TVs depicting sporting events either. The bull and heifer over the doors to the restrooms were cute though.

What threw me were the glass Coke bottles -- even if you find a restaurant that doesn't serve fountain sodas, what are the odds they'll be offering Mexican Coke?

[Guardian Enzo]

Originally Posted by SeijiSensei

Has anyone seen an American roadhouse-style restaurant with no tables? I haven't been to Texas in quite a while, but I'd be surprised if there are restaurants in that state like the one depicted in this episode with no tables anywhere.

I also didn't see the mandatory large-screen TVs depicting sporting events either. The bull and heifer over the doors to the restrooms were cute though.

I got the feeling that JAXA had rented out the place for the night, and asked it to be set up buffet style.

[vansonbee]

Originally Posted by Utsuro no Hako

What threw me were the glass Coke bottles -- even if you find a restaurant that doesn't serve fountain sodas, what are the odds they'll be offering Mexican Coke?

You caught that. Yup, only in Mexico or Vietnam (that i know) that I know serves via bottle.

But this series take place way after 2012, so anything possible can happen

[Doria]

Some restaurants where I live in the US (Los Angeles) serve Cokes in bottles, if you order one, but those may be foreign restaurants, although the text on the bottles is in English. Not sure if this is really applicable to other parts of the US, though.

[Rahan]

What, they don't sell those bottles in the USA anymore ? And I found so much of them in the Fallout games ...

In france, they are getting hard to find for an individual, but it's the standard way Coke is served in bar and restaurants. (junk / fast food restaurants serve fountain Coke or sell the same cans you can get outside from a vending machine for not even half the price though)

Also, I agree it definitely looked like the whole place was rented.

[Utsuro no Hako]

Originally Posted by Rahan

What, they don't sell those bottles in the USA anymore ? And I found so much of them in the Fallout games ...

Coke manufactured in the US only comes in plastic bottles, but Mexican Coke still comes in the glass bottles. Since Mexican Coke uses cane sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup, there's actually a market for imported Coke, but most stores don't carry it. I wouldn't expect to find them in restaurants or bars -- other than pizza and sub shops, most places use fountains because the CO2 and syrup is far cheaper than bottles (seriously, the disposable cups at McDonalds cost more than the soda) and can be stored in a space the size of a broom closet instead of taking up a large chunk of the the cooler.

[Quadratic]

Originally Posted by cyth

I seriously don't think Mizoguchi is as bad as you guys seem to think. JAXA wouldn't accept his team's decision for Yuri and himself to advance if he were that self-centered. I mean, this is serious business, JAXA had been monitoring the guy's mental state all along. Surely they would have stepped in if they saw him as an inappropriate candidate that could hurt future missions.

While Mizoguchi's selection approach wasn't the most appropriate for what they were doing, it had legitimacy because the rules were clear from the start. One might say Team A had a system as well (Rock Paper Scissors), but this was decided at the very last minute. Team A believed that as time passed, they would be able to discern naturally who gets to advance. They couldn't agree on that because they didn't anticipate they would be making a very close call, so their system was fundamentally flawed. Instead of forcing themselves through a vote, Mutta threw the original premise out the window! Compared to that, Mizoguchi gets mad props for being consistent. He made sure the original selection approach was carried out, even when one of the members received a green card to destroy the score board. This convinced me Mizoguchi has the integrity to qualify for the job, and even though JAXA and NASA might have some doubts about him, I doubt those are about his self-centeredness.

I agree Mizoguchi isn't a bad guy (though his protrayal does make him a bit of an asshole). He has an impersonal view on his peers and follows through the rules no matter what (ok, we're not completely sure how far he's willing to go).
Mutta is the opposite. His observations gives him a person insight on his peers, and lead his team to adapt to the situation as it arised (food shortage -> noodles, the selection process -> RPS). Even better was these adaptations brought them even closer together.

The question is, who is the more preferential person? A person who won't budge on the initial rules placed, or the person who adapts to changes (and positively)?

The battle of leadership between Mizoguchi and Kenji was also probably the greatest example of why the impersonal approach failed. On the ever changing situation, the team was became more and more distant as time passed on.
It wasn't until Kenji took over and brought them closer together (excluding Mizoguchi).
While Mizoguchi is still a good candidate because of his systematic approach, his biggest failure is that he hasn't learnt anything from the time being in the capsule.
A good leader learns from past mistakes. Being too impersonal lowers morale, and he should've learnt that by now.
The question of "What's Nitta like?" is a really a question of: Have you learnt that you need to learn about your peers?
His response was clear: I still don't know anything about my peers.

He's destined to lead his team like the capsule test again.