Space Brothers - Episode 5

Thanks to a bit of a breather before the next round of astronaut training and testing, Mutta is able to fully enjoy the hospitality of his older brother courtesy of NASA's family support programme - thus, it's off to America we go!

Upon arriving in the area, Mutta wastes no time in making a new friend in the form of a dog called Apo - after an "enjoyable play session", we eventually learn that this dog does in fact belong to Hibito.  With the two brothers reunited, we soon begin to learn a little more about them, as we see Mutta's attention to detail come to the fore (a recurring theme within the series) while Hibito is obviously highly intelligent but tends to gloss over small but important details.

Perhaps more importantly however, Hibito suggests that he's rather frustrated that his brother seems to have no real drive to challenge him in his race to the moon, observing that he's really no fun any more as a result.  It's a pretty minor tiff all things considered, but it's enough for Mutta to avoid visiting NASA the following day as he ponders his history with his brother and how Hibito has overtaken him.  It's a discussion with one of Hibito's neighbours which puts things into perspective for him however, effectively pointing out that everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses, and thus everyone is missing something that another has in terms of ability - in short, Mutta isn't so much falling behind his brother as simply traversing a different path.  It's enough to reinvigorate Mutta's attitude... but is it too late for him?

I'll be the first to admit that this week's Space Brothers is kind of cheesy and saccharine in the way it goes about its business, and more importantly in the way it reveals Mutta's life lesson for this week - despite this however, I feel that I can't be too harsh on the series, mostly because I continue to really enjoy it.  Even when it's being a little obvious at making its point or tugging on heart strings, following Mutta's journey and the trials and tribulations it entails continues to be genuinely entertaining, feel-good stuff, while offering a little pause for thought about your own life to boot.  It's the kind of series that may not live long in my memory once it's over, but I'm happy to make the most of it and what it's trying to do while it's around.