Monday, April 9, 2012

Spring 2012:Space Brothers: Episode 1

Summary

Mutta, the older brother was born unlucky, while his little brother Hibito was born lucky, On one fateful day, they see a UFO and promise that they’ll one day go into space. Years later, and Hibito is going on a mission to the moon, while Mutta is fired from his job and living with their parents, giving him an opportunity to chase after his childhood dream.


Review:

“An older brother must always stay a few steps ahead of the younger.”

Some things are just universal. Siblings all over the world compete with each other, and older siblings feel the need to prove themselves. Well I’m sure some don’t, but I certainly can relate to that need to be better than your younger siblings. 

This is not your typical anime fare here. This is not anime you’ll be seeing at your high school anime club, and I can guarantee that no one will be cosplaying these characters. But what this episode does have is lots of heart, loveable characters and good writing. In fact, this is probably the most perfect first episode I’ve ever seen for a series.

By now, it might be obvious I have a taste for realistic, low-key series. The more realistic an anime is, the more engaged I get. This series is about as realistic as it gets. There is no melodrama here, and characters react in very real ways. Mutta realizes he has overstayed his welcome when his parents give him less strawberries for dessert, and they immediately give him more when he promises to get a new job. When he realizes he has been black-listed by his former boss and no one will give him a job, he eats away his sorrows in a McDonalds and tries his best to maintain composure (he fails). 

This is the story of real human being, struggling with issues of real life. The inability to catch up to someone more talented than you. the innocence of childhood dreams, and the bitter adult cynicism when looking back on those “impossible dreams”. The crippling fear of failure, holding you back even though every single person you know believes you can do it. All of these play a role here, and anyone who has ever identified with these problems will be sympathetic, and encouraged by  Mutta’s story. There is no doubt in my mind that Mutta will end up in space by the end of this series, but that’s exactly why I want to see the rest. Because I want to believe that an impossible dream can be one day reached.

I would recommend this series to absolutely anyone, anyone who’s ever not been good enough, for themselves or others, anyone with a big dream and wants to believe that an impossible dream is not truly impossible.  

No comments:

Post a Comment