Uchuu Kyoudai: Space Brothers

[Buffalobiian]

HorribleSubs - Episode 15

[enkoujin]

Great strategy by Fukada to even out the playing field.

He definitely knows that he's at a physical and mental disadvantage against his younger counterparts. He probably felt even worse off when Furuya broke his glasses and misinterpreted it as malice from him doing so. Thus, Fukada struggled with his daily tasks and by creating chaos, he can shift JAXA's attention from the physical and mental tests to the negativism/reactions of the individuals during a crisis.

In any case, it seems here that culprits have an advantage in crises like these because they won't be susceptible to confusion and the psychological attack of mystery. Again, a very effective psychological warfare tactic. This hypothesis would completely break down if JAXA caught Fukada doing this of course (even with the lights out).

However, it is plausible that JAXA could have previously talked to three individuals before the third exam and told them to sabotage their teams for some reason... I really don't see any reason why Kenji's B group would have some person setting their alarms in the middle of the night, though.

Lastly, it's sad to see that we aren't seeing what kind of conflicts/situations group C is getting into even though there are no protagonists or notable side characters in there. It'd be nice to have some brief updates on them.

[Buffalobiian]

However, it is plausible that JAXA could have previously talked to three individuals before the third exam and told them to sabotage their teams for some reason... I really don't see any reason why Kenji's B group would have some person setting their alarms in the middle of the night, though.

The entire thing feels like a test, but I find it hard to understand why Jaxa would so this. For one, each test is different when there's no need for them to be since the groups are isolated. Also, having one person performing such a task means that it unfairly disadvantages them because they're not being tested, while if they were caught in the act they could be ostracised unfairly by the group for the remainder of the exam.

I honestly thought Nanba was just going to take it up the ass for Serika the team at first.. but he came up with a nice story to play it off (if only for a little while).

[Buffalobiian]

HorribleSubs - Episode 16

[enkoujin]

The episode did hint that the doctor or JAXA was trying to get Furuya (chimpanzee researcher) to turn on the alarms. It's also no coincidence that Kenji's Group B also had a tampered clock as well. There's definitely a relationship here because there's no way these two same groups have had the same chaotic incident (also would explain why they somehow were given alarm remote controls that beeped in all directions instead of regular alarms).

I'm definitely sure that JAXA somehow convinced these individuals to sabotage the team. I think JAXA already started narrowing down the members of each crew or are nearing to and are blackmailing the culprits into agitating the team for extra points or because there's already a zero chance of Fukada or Ya-san becoming astronauts... Fukada is simply too old and useless without his glasses, Ya-san has a tendency to be really annoying and hard to deal with and that Tomii (rubix cube dude) is too introverted to be a good candidate.

As for Yamato (dude who hates Kenji), that guy's an asshole. Surely, the point system has failed group B in this situation with all this paranoia. I can't wait to see him break under pressure and lose his candidacy, though, but it's also possible that Kenji might resign under his own fears of leaving his daughter alone.

Lastly, anyone thinking that Serika may have hurt her chances with the food? I thought it was pretty careless to misuse food like that by giving everyone above average portions... I'm not too sure about how much food astronauts are allowed to bring up there, but I don't think they would ever send people up there with monstrous appetites/metabolisms.

[Buffalobiian]

The doctor's definitely giving out orders, but I wonder if it really is blackmailing or if it's just instructions for the test. You'd think that accepting the blackmail would be instant fail since you lack integrity.. but maybe you're right, and that their envy of those who are better candidates lead to them being called the "green" ones by JAXA.

Serika... yeah, not being able to ration properly against your urges is a pretty big flaw. Imagine if it was with oxygen.

[shinta|hikari]

Serika is too excellent a candidate to fail because of that. She is even skipping meals to make up for it, so that means she has learned her lesson at this point. Failing her would not benefit JAXA any.

[Buffalobiian]

Oh, she's not going to fail, but this incident just won't reflect positively on her I think.

[Buffalobiian]

HorribleSubs - Episode 17

[enkoujin]

I think Mutta's ability to notice these small things is really giving him an edge over his competition. Detection and prevention of catastrophes is an excellent ability to have for any prospective astronaut. Small things that go unnoticed or ignored really do snowball into avalanches.

I wonder if Mutta's beats per minute levels will affect, if at all, JAXA's evaluation of his candidacy...

Lastly, any speculation on what Mutta's green card is? There's a possibility that it might have something to do with doing something to each women on each team. However, it's more plausible if he had to break all the lights to simulate cases where all electric power will have to be diverted to mechanical maneuvering during landings, start a fire/hazardous incident inside the ship to simulate a crash or hardware malfcuntioning or possibly dump all the water to simulate a bacterial contamination of their water.

[Buffalobiian]

I wonder if Mutta's beats per minute levels will affect, if at all, JAXA's evaluation of his candidacy...

Not at all. I think that as long as it's a healthy reaction it's fine. At least JAXA's top leaders are as perceptive as Mutta is.

As for Mutta's green card, I don't think he'll get one. The subs said that Team A had survived the green cards as if they were over already. Plus, their effectiveness diminishes the more you use them since everyone starts learning of their existence.

[shinta|hikari]

Serika is so moe. I generally hate airheads, but she is the exception.

[enkoujin]

[HorribleSubs] Space Brothers - 18 [1080p].mkv
[HorribleSubs] Space Brothers - 18 [720p].mkv

[Buffalobiian]

Ka-pe!

I'm very glad Makabe could get back on his feet. I can totally understand how he just didn't care if everything fell apart to shits after all the effort he put in. The very fact that "Kape!" helped him back up means that the asshole can't use the family card against Makabe now neither since Makabe knows his family is cheering for him to succeed here.

Describing my feelings in one word: heartwarming.

Hilariously, the final green card assigned to Mutta was more of a test for him than it was for the rest of the team.

[shinta|hikari]

I just hope the monkey and the jerk in Makabe's team fail, permanently. While ability is important, team work is also key. Those two fail immensely in that aspect.

[Buffalobiian]

HorribleSubs - Episode 19


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lol.. Serika...

I don't like the idea of Asshole being nice for once after the past 2 weeks of picking on Makabe so that it'll end on a nice note. I'd rather he be an asshole all the way through which is followed up with the deserving results (be it failing to be nominated/shunned by the group or whatever).

Even if he understands that all the stuff-ups were due to green cards, he's been bitter about Makabe "getting ahead" of him since the very beginning - and that feeling shouldn't be erased simply by knowing about the green cards. That's unless he now feels tired or sees that his actions are futile because Makabe has pretty much won the group over.

[Buffalobiian]

HorribleSubs - Episode 20


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Huh? So you play that with everybody at once until you had a match with clear losers and winners?

I would have thought to play it tournament style, but this sounds more fun.

[enkoujin]

Director(s) did a pretty good job with the preview; there aren't any clues as to who won or lost the rock-paper-scissors game. Then again, like the sports medicine dude said, JAXA's not necessarily picking the candidates chosen by the team.

I don't know why, but the last three episodes have been pretty dull; it's a good thing this exam ends next episode.

[Uchiha Barles]

I don't even know how you play rock paper scissors with more than two people at a time, though I guess the goal was to randomize who wins or loses. A lottery system would've been simpler.

[Buffalobiian]

You play repeatedly until you have something that shows clear winners/losers.

For example:
1 rock, 4 sciccors
3 sciccors, 2 paper

The losers sit out while the winners play for the top and 2nd spots. In the case of the first example, the winner already secured 1st and the rest play for 2nd.

That's what I ended up with.