Space Brothers - Episode 78

Hibichov... err, Hibito... has seen Olga's clumsy first steps into ballet, followed by the finished product and rising star that she is now.  But how did she come to reach these heights of her talent?

It's something for Hibito to ponder as he finds Olga hanging out with him, heading out on a "date" with him where he ends up buying her coffee and boots.  Unfortunately, her father won't divulge part two of the "Olga story" on DVD, leaving him guessing - not that he really has time for such things as thoughts return to his rehabilitation.  To that end, Ivan seems to have come up with a fun but decidedly odd system to slowly but surely cure Hibito of his panic disorder, starting out with sunglasses and moving onwards and upwards towards a final goal of wearing that pressure suit once more.

Unfortunately, it seems that this might not be the best moment to start a slow and gradual spell of rehabilitation, as the higher-ups at NASA have caught wind of Hibito's problem and have no patience in waiting for a resolution to it.  Instead, they send news of Hibito's issue and their recommendations to JAXA, with a view towards pushing the astronaut sideways into a dead-end "safety advisor" job; effectively giving him the boot in a way that won't cause a public outcry given their subject's popularity in the media.

For all of my frustrations with recent episodes of Space Brothers, this felt like a return to more solid fare - daft though Ivan's plan for Hibito is it has at least brought a solution to his issues into focus, and the new pressures of NASA's actions have brought some much needed tension in the midst of that levity.  Once again, I'm interested to see where this story arc is heading, and that's most certainly good news.