Okay okay, so that isn't the actual reason - rather, we join Hibito in Russia as he seeks to overcome his panic disorder as it relates to wearing a spacesuit, in the hope that a change of scenery will do him good. Once there, Hibito finds himself in the charge of a Russian hero, Ivan Tolstoy, who spends most of the episode reinforcing Russian stereotypes as he tries to help out Hibito by ensuring that he's never alone and plying him with drink at every opportunity.
If anything, however, it seems as if Hibito's condition has only worsened, to the point where he can't even walk across a room whilst wearing a spacesuit. It's a deeply depressing situation for Hibito, and one that leaves Tolstory's daughter Olga deeply unimpressed - as a huge fan of the Mr Hibbit anime, this teenager finds it hard to believe that this sullen man is the inspiration for the courageous and energetic rabbit she adores. Regardless, it seems that Hibito is in no mood to discuss his lunar adventures or anime career right now...
Ignoring its casual throwing around of Russian stereotypes (okay, they're so in your face they're kind of hard to ignore, even more so than the show's assumptions about Americans), this week's Space Brothers was a bit slow-going - by necessity perhaps, but there wasn't really all that much to chew on besides the obvious ultimate direction of this particular story arc, revolving around Hibito and Olga as it clearly will. Hopefully it can put some flesh onto the bones of its new characters over the coming episodes, as right now all it seems to have done to characterise them is to tip some vodka over them all, which is surprisingly lazy for a show that revels in its strong characters for the most part.
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