Space Brothers - Episode 88

After wishing us a Happy New Year (they say it so I don't have to), it's time for Hibito to face his fears... quite literally.

Although all of his slow but sure training has been a success, leaving him ready to face a final test in the EVA suit which will decide whether or not he can return to duty, all of this hard work seems to have been destroyed in a moment as Hibito finds himself in the midst of a nightmare surrounding that test which leaves him having a major panic attack whilst travelling in a taxi.  With the test in question closing in on him and seemingly no other options left to him, Hibito simply isn't sure what he should do - perhaps it's time for him to finally take on the advice given to him by a number of others and talk to his brother about the whole situation?

Thankfully, this time around Hibito listens and duly calls Mutta out for a meal, a drink and a chat, wherein he reveals all of his problems and how they came about.  For all of his faults, Mutta is a surprisingly safe pair of hands in this kind of situation, and rather than making a big deal out of it he simply spoils Hibito by paying for his meal and drinks (well, in theory anyway) before dropping a couple of memorable comments - first, advising Hibito to associate his PD (Panic Disorder) with something else entirely; in this case an anime named Pretty Dog.  Secondly, he suggests that Hibito's panic attack caused by a nightmare is proof that it isn't wearing a spacesuit that's his problem - a consideration that might just put Hibito on the right track in itself.

Having watched the treatment of Hibito's panic disorder with a keen interest, I genuinely enjoyed finally getting to see Mutta's take on it - it's the kind of thing you might have expected to be dragged out over a number of episodes with lots of drama and hand-wringing, but instead it's dealt with via a turn of beautiful simplicity, and a suggestion to both recognise the true cause of the panic attacks (i.e. not tying it to a physical thing) and to deflect the onset of such attacks by ignoring the feelings they cause and thinking of something else.  Not only does it make for a good end to the episode, it's downright good advice for dealing with panic attacks and anxiety in itself, giving some further credit to Space Brothers for the way that it handles real-life issues at time within the series.