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Space Brother Collection 8 (anime review)

space-brothers-collection-8Title: Space Brothers Collection 8

Director: Ayumu Watanabe

Music By: Toshiyuki Watanabe

Studio: A-1 Pictures

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Release Date: March 26th, 2016

Format: Blu-ray / 11 episodes / 275 minutes

Genre: Sci Fi, Slice of Life, Action, Drama

Age Rating: TV 14

Overall Personal Grade: A

Synopsis:

The single most important element of any mission is trust: trust in your equipment, trust in your crewmates and support team, and trust in yourself. As the trajectories of Mutta and Hibito’s careers continue to alter dramatically, self-doubt and lack of trust become the deadliest of enemies. Once the rising young star, Hibito must now undergo round after round of grueling tests in order to prove that he still has the right stuff for the space program.

Meanwhile, Mutta has never been working harder, continuing to prepare for his own mission to the moon while serving as Vince’s backup. But Mutta’s team is still incomplete, and Chief Butler has yet to assign a captain to the CES-62 backup crew. Will the unexpected new addition to the roster change everything? Get ready for a rendezvous with destiny as the brotherhood of space meets its greatest challenge in the eighth interstellar collection of Space Brothers!

Commentary:

The end of any series is always bitter sweet because you have invested so much time, energy and emotion into watching it. Space Brothers is no different in fact it may even be more emotional just because the series is 99 episodes long. Of course there will be calls for it to add another season, but in many ways I think it ended perfectly. My imagination filled in many of the questions left at the end and played out several scenarios that would make the story even better.

It is no secret that I found Space Brothers to be a top notch series and something the entire family could spend hours and hours watching with great delight. I realize that most anime fans will not give this series the time of day because it doesn’t have blood spattering or bouncing boobs in every scene, but for those who are looking for solid entertainment and a story you can enjoy then Space Brothers is for you.

Overall Grade: A

As I mentioned above, I think this is a series for the entire family. There is something for everyone. Thinking about prime time TV I could see Space Brothers filling a 7 PM slot and also finding a lot of families sitting down every week to get their dose of these two brothers trying to make their dreams come true. The series has it all, excitement, action, disappointment, attraction and even simple family fun. I am sorry to see it end and would like to know what the creator would do to fill in the open questions. The funny thing about leaving so much unanswered it that it is a very Zen thing to do. Life is full of unanswered questions and there are many possible directions to follow when traveling down any path which is why I found the ending of this series so poignant.

Giving an A to just this set of episodes is a true of not just Space Brothers collection 8 but of the entire series. I highly recommend Space Brothers to everyone and tell them to leave the world of fan service and extreme violence behind for a great story of dreams and struggles that can be applied to all of our lives.

 

Space Brothers Collection 6 (anime review)

space-brothers-collection-6Title: Space Brothers Collection 6

Director: Ayumu Watanabe

Music By: Toshiyuki Watanabe

Studio: A-1 Pictures

U. S. Distributor: Sentai Filmworks, Section 23

U. S. Release Date: December 1st, 2015

Format: Blu-ray / 11 episodes / 275 minutes

Genre: Sci Fi, Slice of Life, Action, Drama

Age Rating: TV 14

Overall Personal Grade: A

Synopsis:

Taking a makeup exam after learning the test results of Sharon’s condition, Mutta stands on the verge of achieving the first major step on his journey to the stars: officially becoming an astronaut. But the written test is only a prelude to the most hazardous trials of all.

Strapped into the seat of a T38 jet, flying faster than the speed of sound, and learning to fly on instruments only, a single mistake on Mutta’s part can mean instant disaster. On the positive side, if he’s going Mach 1 when something does go wrong, Mutta probably won’t have to worry about it very long. It’s time to kick in the afterburners and aim for the stars in the sixth spectacular collection of Space Brothers!

Commentary:

Following much of what makes Space Brothers great collection 6 provides a great deal of remanicence and flashbacks to things in Mutta’s life that made a real difference. Simply put, these reminders of the things that make us all so very human is at the core of this series and what makes the series special. I can’t say that the series is classy or full of over the top drama. What it is is touching and inspirational. I love that fact that luck does fall there way sometimes, but both brothers must use their natural intellect to work though their issues. Mutta in particular, he comes across as someone who should be a desk jockey and in the end he proves himself over and over again.

Overall Grade: A

As Space Brothers progresses we really do begin to understand that booming an astronaut is just like becoming a musician or artist or doctor or even the top salesman. It take drive and a serious of mind that pushes everyone to become more than they think they are. Space Brother also does something that is very unique in the world of anime. It doesn’t preach. It presents the events as they unfold and lets the viewer get what they may from it.

Space Brothers is a series that will end up being overlooked in the U. S. because it doesn’t gush blood or class enormous boobs and panties at you. It gives you a set of characters that could easily be regular people with a very defined purpose in life. This series should be required viewing for every 10 year old boy and girl. Who knows maybe they will absorb something from it other than how cool it would be to go into space.

Space Brothers collection 6 makes it very easy to want to see collection 7. I would love to see this series packaged as one set and sold at a price everyone could afford. That way even more people would be willing to watch.