The first anime movie of "Space Brothers" refreshed my memories of this long, almost 100-episode series. I can still say with a clear conscience that it's one of the best anime I've ever seen. I don't know any cartoon or even an acting series that would be equally honest about presenting issues related to space. The plot of "Space Brothers" is relatively simple and not really revealing - two brothers want to become astronauts. The way to achieve this goal is unusual because we see a fairly faithful representation of the entire recruitment process and then training for an astronaut. If we combine it with a successful life story, add wonderfully written characters to it, and then combine it all, we'll get unique anime. Sure, I don't like everything about it, but it has what I always care about, which is a good story. The music and visual side is on the right level, it doesn't beat the rhythm while watching, but it's also not worth expecting fountains. This is not the essence of this fairy tale.
Returning to the main motive, as it is usually said in Poland - "You won't whip the shit" and it looks similar in terms of training for an astronaut. Not only is this one extremely rigorous and ruthless, but you still need to be careful at every step. Any symptom of incompetence or weakness (especially at later stages of training) is noted and may affect the participation in the mission. Space doesn't forgive mistakes, so you have to have nerves of steel, be able to use everything you have on hand, as well as be in good physical and mental shape. During the whole training, we can see that each, even seemingly senseless stage has its logical justification and is a valuable lesson for our heroes. Everything has its meaning here - responding to fatigue, work in stressful conditions, willpower and will to live, lung buoyancy, resistance to harsh and changing working conditions, staying for a long time in an enclosed area and ... dozens of others that I did not mention here.
The way the story is presented in SB can be compared in its own way to "Batman TAS". Who watched the classic fairy tale with Gackiem probably remembers a rather characteristic and generally rare narrative. The fairy tale is ideal for both children and older viewers. The child will be excited by what he sees, and adults will immediately notice a subtlety in showing more difficult and even more brutal moments. Add to this a mature and consistent approach to the characters (which are no less as in "One Piece" or "Legend of Galactic Heroes"), as well as an unusual network of connections between everything. Everything goes from point A to point B, one follows logically from the other, but we are still surprised by the attention to the smallest details and the creativity of the creator. Considering their magnitude, it is good that the mangaka adopted the atmosphere of the story. Thanks to this, we are not overwhelmed by events or excessively complicated topics.
When it comes to "Space Brothers: Zero", I don't have much to write about except standard repetitive phrases. Throughout the screening, I felt like I was just watching one super-long episode, which is mainly dedicated to the past of Hibito and his US colleagues from NASA. We can see with our own eyes an event that has left its mark on some characters and what their gray everyday life looked like. In the case of Mutta, we will not learn anything particularly interesting, most of the things could have been guessed or seen with our own eyes in the television series. There are also interesting stories written, thanks to which it is easier for us to identify with it.
The movie did not cause me much excitement, but I still enjoyed the world. This is due to fictional reasons, we know most things from the TV series, so the story is not so surprising, but does it bother you in any way? I don't, although it probably results from the large role of Hibito, which I just love. Here he got enough time and met his fumbler from the time he was in mommy's tummy ...: D. Is it worth watching "Space Brothers: Zero" when we don't know the original? In my opinion, rather not, it's better to watch after the end of the anime or the first 50 episodes. However, if you ask if it is worth spending time on the 99 episode series, then ... go watch, thank me later.