Title: Space Brothers Collection 4 on Blu-ray
Director: Ayumu Watanabe
Music By: Toshiyuki Watanabe
Studio: A-1 Pictures
U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23
U. S. Release Date: Aug. 4th, 2015
Format: Blu-ray / 13 episodes / 325 minutes
Genre: Sci Fi, Slice of Life, Action, Drama
Age Rating: TV 14
Overall Personal Grade: A
Synopsis:
In the unforgiving vacuum of space, the difference between life and death can boil down to a single bad decision or a millisecond of delay. And when the nearest help is as far away as another planet, the only one you can trust to save you is yourself. This lesson is driven home in the most brutal fashion possible as a series of accidents strand Mutta’s brother Hibito and another astronaut on the lunar surface. As Hibito fights to keep his injured companion alive, Mutta must join a team of scientists and fellow astronauts as they struggle to find a way to locate and save their friends before their critical oxygen reserves run out.
And if that wasn’t enough of a test, Mutta’s entry into JAXA training becomes its own ordeal when he and his fellow trainees are dropped into the survival test course on an accelerated schedule. Foraging for food and facing wild animals on one planet, and fighting for one’s last breath on its satellite, two brothers worlds apart find common ground in the fight to stay alive!
Commentary:
In my past reviews I have given high praise to this simple series and now I must heap even more love its way. Space Brothers is beginning to show me why it managed to become a solid and beloved series in Japan. It doesn’t have any dark, magical battling large breasted women going around causing mayhem nor is it a slow smoldering love story that bring agony and ecstasy to every episode. Space Brothers is a straight forward story of hope and success along with a view of family life that is all too often ignored just because it seems to be unreal.
Space Brothers may be set with a plot that is somewhat unrealistic, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t giving us a view that is somewhat realistic. The real story is not about these two brother who are striving to be astronauts, but rather how life can be challenging and rewarding even if it throws some curveballs your way.
Overall Grade: A
Space Brothers Collection 4 gives us some drama that high tens the story and brings us out of a easy lull that we had fallen into. There is also some additional character development that is long over due. These new developments help make more of these new astronauts even more likable. There are also a few new characters introduced that add a slightly different flavor to the story, but I have a feeling that they will end up becoming much more important as things go on.
Space Brother is a real hit for me and if you are looking for something that is easy to watch and even easier to get sucked into then you need to check this series out. It may not be flashy or overly slick, but the real backbone to any anime is the writing and story line. Space Brothers is a winner in both categories and needs to recognized as a wonderful series for what it is.
