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Old 2012-12-02, 08:01   Link #681
Guardian Enzo
Seishu's Ace
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Join Date: Dec 2005
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Not a great turn of events, really. There was zero suspense - it was a foregone conclusion how the ep would end - and TBH I find Kenji pretty boring. He's nice, great wife, cute kid, super Dad, etc. I'm sure he'd be a great guy to work with but I don't find him especially interesting to watch, and it doesn't seem like we really learned anything essential about him in 20 minutes of flashbacks.

What's more, I hate to see the whole Mutta experience being milked for a minimum of another week. I think patience should be rewarded, and it's time to end the torture and let us see Mutta start living out his dream.
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Old 2012-12-02, 09:00   Link #682
cyth
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I'm just going to skip every episode from now on until they get to Mutta (and Mizoguchi), this is just terrible.
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Old 2012-12-02, 09:24   Link #683
Kirarakim
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Originally Posted by cyth View Post
I'm just going to skip every episode from now on until they get to Mutta (and Mizoguchi), this is just terrible.
I might actually hold off too. I have finals now so taking a break from Uchuu Kyoudai until they can tell me Mutta passed might make the most sense.
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Old 2012-12-02, 10:10   Link #684
Kanon
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That was to be expected, but it's still not a good move to have each phone call last an entire episode. It's not the best time to explore everybody's backstory. I hope they will only be doing that for Makabe and Serika. On the other hand, I'm interested in learning more about the other characters... that can wait until later though.
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Old 2012-12-02, 10:47   Link #685
SeijiSensei
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It seems pretty apparent that the next episode will focus on Serika. I expect we get to Mutta again in the episode after that one.

I rather liked this episode because of its "feel" even if there wasn't much drama. Kenji's daughter seems to have adopted his hair style, though being a girl, she "naturally" has to have a curl. I wonder if Dad uses that disgusting hair gel to help her get the right look.

I agree that Kenji is the least interesting of the bunch, certainly compared to Mutta and Serika. I suppose Kenji is the character who is designed to give Japanese salarymen someone to identify with even if they never climb Everest or go to space.

Do Japanese people like the Makabes own their apartments in a condominium arrangement, or are they mostly renters?
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Old 2012-12-02, 12:03   Link #686
Gooral
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I for one loved this episode and didn't find it boring at all. I disagree that Kenji is an uninteresting character, IMO he's much more interesting than glutton Serika whose mind is only about food (seriously, her gastric problems stopped being cute like 20 episodes ago, whenever she appears you can be 100% sure that she will mention food one way or another) and sometimes about finding a cure. Typical tragic past and a motivation resulting from it don't help either. But I don't find her boring either and I like her still, just not as much as some other characters (my favourite so far is Yasushi Furuya - not counting Mutta of course).

Anyway, I really liked this episode since it has shown some background on Kenji. Yes, there was no revelation there (such as a father who was a doctor who failed to find a cure so his offspring decided to continue his work) but that's precisely why I liked it. Space Brothers is at it's best when real life is shown and that's exactly what we got served. Seeing how he met his wife and her support for the dream of the person she loves was touching and brought an optimism to the show. I definitely preferred it than the alternative where we would have some forced drama and a divorce maybe, the tone of this show IS optimistic and that's why I love to watch it.

I also wasn't sure whether Kenji would be chosen or not, the way things were set up it could go either way. And I really liked how this whole scene was directed and the question Kenji asked, i.e. why doesn't he get to the relevant point? That's so typical for a clerk to start a long speech even though only the end result is interesting. They're like born sadists. And of course Kenji couldn't just tell him to cut the crap already and cut to the chase. I think that anyone could identify himself with Kenji at that moment.
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Old 2012-12-02, 12:07   Link #687
Kirarakim
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I don't think the issue is they had an episode focused on Kenji. I like when they focus on the other characters.

I think the problem is these episodes are not just being used to develop the supporting cast more but to drag out the exam results and I see really no point of that.

I think it would be much more satisfying to give us the results and then go into these flashbacks.
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Old 2012-12-02, 22:26   Link #688
SeijiSensei
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I knew the Uchuu Kyoudai manga was popular in Japan, but I had no idea it was this popular:

#4 5,413,899 Space Brothers (Uchū Kyōdai)

Does anyone know if the anime will cover the entire manga series? We're about three-quarters of the way through this season. Where would that be in terms of the manga?
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Old 2012-12-02, 22:35   Link #689
Kirarakim
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I was under the impression that this was only going to be a 4 cour series. That being said I don't think I have seen an official episode count so that information could be wrong.

edit: Also watched the latest episode after all and enjoyed it more than I thought I would. I guess since I was prepared to not get all the results I just sat back and enjoyed Kenji's back story which I didn't find boring at all.
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Old 2012-12-02, 22:59   Link #690
Rahan
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There is a couple of chapters from Volume 7 left to animate. Volume 19 came out 2 months ago.
It can easily go for another whole year (or perhaps even 2 if the mangaka keeps producing 3-4 volumes / year), if the producers want to.

But yeah, it was first advertised as a 4 cours / 48 episodes show.

Now, it is successful and there is a lot of material left, so why not continuing it ?

Last edited by Rahan; 2012-12-03 at 00:28.
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Old 2012-12-03, 02:22   Link #691
BBOvenGuy
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I've fallen behind again... just got to Hibito setting foot on the moon. Obviously, he went to the Pete Conrad school of first words on the lunar surface.

Spoiler for Apollo 12 history:


Actually, several of the Apollo astronauts had the same feelings of exhilaration as Hibito. The creative team for this show really captured it well.
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Old 2012-12-03, 09:49   Link #692
GoldenLand
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I thought this episode was great. It's a pity we don't know yet about how things will be for Mutta (although really, does anyone think there's any realistic chance that the main character won't pass?) but the episodes leading up to it are so well made.

With episodes like this one, I think that the slow pace of the series really shows its worth. The series could have been so much faster; we could have received this episode with Kenji and his reasons for wanting to go into space much, much earlier in the anime, and it could have been condensed into a shorter time. But I don't think I would have cared so much about it if it had. It would have been a "Kenji's a great guy, he's bored of his work for the following reasons and he wants to go into space and be free, whoosh, he has succeeded" thing, which would have made it hard to empathise with him as a character.

I like the way that Kenji's reasons for wanting to go into space were gone into in so much detail. He's the adventurous type who likes to visit new places, and to him, space was the last frontier and represented freedom and an escape from a drab but comfortable cage.

Another thing I liked was that Yuki was the one who encouraged Kenji to go into space. If it had been just him, then it would have felt partially sad having him leave his family that way. But, as we were shown in detail, going into space would be good for Kenji, something that fits with the personality that Yuki fell for, and Yuki knows it. The thing I'm curious about is how Kenji is going to feel when he has to quit being an astronaut (eventually, I mean, the way they all would have to).

The way that even Kenji dragged out the answer at the end of the ep was a bit annoying, mind. Anyway, next week is Serika! That should be interesting. They should have something good in store for us there, because we already know a bit about her motivations and background, and re-hashing it 100% would be a pain. The timing of having the other candidates before Mutta is a bit of a drag, but it does help to add suspense to whether the other candidates will pass.
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Old 2012-12-03, 10:47   Link #693
SeijiSensei
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I like how the staff includes these little references to movies about space travel. In this episode we have a quick tribute to Kubrick's famous "acid trip" sequence in 2001.
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Old 2012-12-03, 19:53   Link #694
GDiddy
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Holy Cow they are going to drag this out so we see everyone that Mutta's close with get accepted before he does aren't they?
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Old 2012-12-04, 09:51   Link #695
MeoTwister5
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I also chime in with saying that I liked this episode and its focus on Kenji. He represents those people who really feel contained, like they're being holed up in the wrong place doing the wrong thing, always having asking that very troublesome but extremely question.

"Is this all that there is for me?

I'm sure that a lot of us have asked that question during the times we realize we've been in the middle of the same daily repetitive grind day in and day out, those moments when we realize that there's still something out there we want to be, something we want to accomplish. Something new out there we want to see and discover.

That's precisely the adventurer's spirit Kenji shows, that has been in the heart of every great adventurer who refuses to be confined in a small room when there's a whole universe out there to discover.
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Old 2012-12-04, 14:21   Link #696
cyth
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Well, the episode didn't just reject the boring routine, but also the uniformity of Japanese working class. Given how the show has basically put the U.S. on a pedestal, which is just about the complete opposite from Japan, the script screamed resentment toward Japan, how some things like the A set and B set and soy sauce are things you have to be content with in Japan.
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Old 2012-12-05, 02:18   Link #697
lordblazer
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kirarakim View Post
I don't think the issue is they had an episode focused on Kenji. I like when they focus on the other characters.

I think the problem is these episodes are not just being used to develop the supporting cast more but to drag out the exam results and I see really no point of that.

I think it would be much more satisfying to give us the results and then go into these flashbacks.
This is when really Japanese shows start to lose their western heck even non-western-non-japanese audience. It's a pointless kind of foreplay that can have a viewer flame-quit in a heartbeat. I hope they limit this to Kenji and Serika.
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Old 2012-12-05, 06:08   Link #698
Gohan78
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I liked this episode. It's a bit annoying that they will keep us in the dark about Mutta's result for at least another two weeks but I am sure he passed, so I am not exactly on the edge of my seat...
Kenji is a character that we didn't really know until now. We knew she had a lovely family but we never knew his motivation to become an astronaut, so this episode was very welcome.

If I had to cut something from the show, it would be the episodes about Hibito's launch. I am not fond of Mr. Perfect Hibito in the first place. It didn't help that we got a whole episode of Mutta and a disgusting old man watching the rocket's contrail until it dispersed.
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Old 2012-12-05, 09:47   Link #699
cyth
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Originally Posted by Gohan78 View Post
If I had to cut something from the show, it would be the episodes about Hibito's launch. I am not fond of Mr. Perfect Hibito in the first place. It didn't help that we got a whole episode of Mutta and a disgusting old man watching the rocket's contrail until it dispersed.
I wasn't happy about those episodes either. Sure, they were heartwarming and character development blah blah, but honestly the show lost a lot of steam by doing that.
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Old 2012-12-05, 21:19   Link #700
hyperborealis
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I'm with the yea-sayers on this episode. I loved Kenji's passion, his desire to break the limits of ordinary life. I loved his daughter--whoever did the animation for her clearly knows just how small children behave. And the depiction of Kenji's courtship with his wife was remarkably particular and true to life--I shouldn't wonder if some of that was hidden autobiography. The show's achievement of realism is a testament to high-level imagination at work in this show. As a viewer, I feel I am there, with the characters as they live their lives. That sense of immersion is the point of the show, and not the overall narrative, which we all have a pretty good sense of anyway.
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