Space Brothers - Episode 45

Hibito may be safe and sound, but there are still plenty of important questions for Space Brothers to tackle this week.  Questions such as "Which colour Power Ranger would Mutta be?"

I digress a little however, as first and foremost this episode kicks off with Mutta paying a visit to Aunt Sharon, who is more than a little shocked to learn just how close Hibito came to death on the Moon - a fact which is yet to be revealed to the public.  However, there is happier news for Sharon to recount to Mutta, namely the fact that go-ahead has been given for a telescope to be built on the Moon, both fulfilling a long-term dream of Sharon's while also offering the opportunity for Mutta to fulfil a childhood promise that he would be involved in the construction of that telescope - something which now genuinely seems to be possible.  For all of her professional interest in a lunar telescope, there's also a far more personal reason for her to be invested in its construction too....

From there, we return to JAXA for an important moment in the fledgling careers of our new astronauts - getting hold of their first (and hopefully not only, as that would make washing day a nightmare) JAXA jumpsuits.  Sadly, they only come in one colour, but that doesn't seem to deter the group of newcomers as they're told to prepare to head off to Houston and clearly what will be the next phase of the series as they find themselves working with (or against) other astronauts from across the globe.

After the adventures on the moon of late, anything that Space Brothers does is going to be something of a comedown, but there is still a fair amount to admire within this week's episode.  I particularly love the way that the show effortlessly mixes the grandiose nature of space exploration with the intensely personal - Sharon loves space and discovering more about it, but that there's still one tiny asteroid which means more to her than anything speaks volumes about what the series does so well, as does the thrill brought about by the simple receipt of a JAXA uniform.  We've also now been set up for an interesting shift back to the rivalry and intensity of training as we move back to Houston - something that the series will hopefully find a fresh take on having already tried its hand at similar scenarios a number of times up to this point.