Uchuu Kyoudai

Sorry, but which one is this? The only thing I am certain about is that Black Jack probably doesn't appear.

I think it's One Liter of Tears

I just realized that this guy

 

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Looks a lot like the guy from Armageddon.

 

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And both were in charge of the jet plane training too.

Some of the character in the manga look like the actors in Armageddon, like the old man at Jaxa who help Mutta a lot

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, he looks like Dan the flight director in the movie. 

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And there're some more, but i couldn't remember who.

I just realized that this guy

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Looks a lot like the guy from Armageddon.

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And both were in charge of the jet plane training too.

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Sensei....watashi no byoki de...sekisuishonohenseisho desu ka?

Sorry, but which one is this? The only thing I am certain about is that Black Jack probably doesn't appear.

Noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

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Sensei....watashi no byoki de...sekisuishonohenseisho desu ka?

noooo.. don't remind me of this show.

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Sensei....watashi no byoki de...sekisuishonohenseisho desu ka?

They telegraphed this thing with Sharon way too early. Amanti's psychic predictions really need to disappear... Just imagine if before Hibito's accident on the moon it had been predicted by her. It would have totally destroyed the sudden tension when they fall into the crater, you would have been expecting it.

I feel like every major plot point from now on will be previewed on "Ask Amanti!". As a result I'm finding it hard to care at all, which is weird because Sharon is a pretty likeable character, but it's because I'm already expecting everything that's happening. I think this would have had more impact if Sharon had just showed up to greet Mutta and company (no predictions and no previews with her dropping stuff all the time or at the very least a much subtler preview), then Serika noticed the phone, asked a few questions and worked it out.

Hopefully we'll get some good character development for Mutta at least.

I find it more likely that after hearing the news regarding Sharon, Mutta will go into his information absorb mode and ace everything instead.

Indeed, koro koro Mutta inbound.

@kendama

I don't really see the pico and vince bar scene to be forceful, it's kinda like reminiscing, which is still used in some newer series (ie, mentalist) albeit not necessary in a bar.  I might be a cold hearted bastard, but find the story of inspiring than forcefully making me sad.  I see it as a shortcut into establishing why the two are like that.  Although this might be me from reading too many LNs (they do this, alot, like, alot alot) as being to exposed to the CJK obsession with nostalgiaesque devices.  

@Sharon

I'm thinking she got either Serika's dad's disease or huntington, either way, queue the countdown for the sudden heart drop in the next few chapters.

Well, now that I'm in the business of clairvoyance regarding this series, let me see… I believe Sharon's condition will make a trainwreck of Mutta's mind. He will be unable to learn everything about the T-38, will get a low grade on his test and will start falling behind the others.

 

Hmmm… what next?

 

Ah, yes, while Sharon's condition deteriorates, Mutta will find his motivation again, and will be helped with the T-38 by Deneil Young. Of course, this will turn to his advantage, because Young will teach him something the other trainees won't learn from their younger instructors.

 

Oh well, not that this makes me any less eager for the next chapter.

I find it more likely that after hearing the news regarding Sharon, Mutta will go into his information absorb mode and ace everything instead.

Damn, I guess it's confirmed who's getting sick... but being seriously ill doesn't always mean death, so there's still hope.

On the more awesome side, it was really neat to see the James Webb Space Telescope featured here. I love when they feature real life projects in the manga.

Well, now that I'm in the business of clairvoyance regarding this series, let me see… I believe Sharon's condition will make a trainwreck of Mutta's mind. He will be unable to learn everything about the T-38, will get a low grade on his test and will start falling behind the others.

Hmmm… what next?

Ah, yes, while Sharon's condition deteriorates, Mutta will find his motivation again, and will be helped with the T-38 by Deneil Young. Of course, this will turn to his advantage, because Young will teach him something the other trainees won't learn from their younger instructors.

Oh well, not that this makes me any less eager for the next chapter.

@falconbane:

Actually, I quite like emotional development in a story. (And I am not very young. More like, firmly within the seinen demographic.) In literature, for example, I find deep, psychologically rich novels like Eliot's Middlemarch engrossing.

That's why I said I loved the tension in the rock-paper-scissors game: Furuya's behaviour - his restrained despair and sadness - were beautifully done. I also liked Pico's bacstory involving the parachute development.

And I don't mind a detour... provided it actually contributes to the story.

What I don't like is when the author forcefully breaks the mood for breaking the mood's sake. Instead of letting me feel the emotion, he tells me which emotion I ought to feel. Like introducing a tragedy without making a point of it.

I understand what you mean by establishing a connection with real life, but in real life there is no plot: things just happen, and there is no point. In art (and I consider manga a form of sequential art), I adhere to the belief (not universal) that the narrative is supposed to have a point or to illustrate something. Even if the point is just entertaining.

I feel that things like Vince and Pico's adolescent tragedy and now Sharon's incoming illness were designed not to develop the characters, but explicitly to make us feel sad. It's as if the author wanted to manipulate our emotions. I find this device cheap, because it disturbs the smooth progression of the story. If the story progressed to a point where Mutta and Hibito stand together on the moon, or Mutta reaches Mars, and Sharon is there, healthy and happy, to greet them in their return, I would be much more touched and uplifted than by a tragic journey of bereavement and emotional healing on the part of Mutta and Hibito due to losing Sharon. And it would be more in keeping with the story, in my opinion.

In any case, let's see what will happen. Maybe my criticism is premature and in the end, the mangaka will be able to develop the Sharon plot in a credible, consistent way.

Noooooooooo stop raising the death flag for

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our sweet lil sharon

Hmm it's confirmed though.

Noooooooooo stop raising the death flag for

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our sweet lil sharon

I really love this series, but the author is prone to emotional manipulation sometimes.

 

By emotional manipulation I mean when an author stops the smooth progression of the story, makes a detour and shows us something designed to change the mood, telling us: "Here you are supposed to feel (insert emotion)".

 

More often than not, the detours serve little purpose relative to the development of the main characters.

 

The most recent example was the childhood story of Pico and Vince. What was the point of it? I think Pico was emotionally dense enough in a way that was perfectly tied with the story - his enormous stress over the parachute affair - and there was little need to design a glaring rip-off of the October sky movie (minus the death). And Mutta never learned of the story, so it was clearly told to impress the readers rather than to develop characters emotionally.

 

Now this thing with Aunt Sharon (if it is not a red herring). Need things be so tragic just to counterbalance the general light mood of the story? Why must a slice of life manga necessarily include tragic loss? It is perfectly reasonable to tell an exciting story without this kind of device. Space Brothers has been doing precisely that till now. We have had plenty of authentic, genuinely strong emotion without resorting to tragic death out of the blue (the key words are out of the blue: Serika-san's father's death motivated her and, although tragic, helped build her character and supply her with motivation). The rock-paper-scissors decision in the end of the third selection far surpasses, in my opinion, any contrived character death.

 

I will enjoy this thoroughly until the very end, I'm sure, but I'm a bit stung that such a wonderful storyteller as Chuuya Koyama falls prey, every now and then, to the easy temptation this kind of emotional plot contraption.

This is one of those hit and miss thing in storytelling, I would probably agree with you 10 years ago, but as I got older, I'm prone to enjoy these little detours in far east media.  I still can't stand the BS shown on the dramas, but I've been seriously enjoying it after I learn to get into the mindset of the older generation (as in, ppls can be my grandparents). 

There are two general types of storytelling that I've noticed, one tends to focus on the story and protagonist (more often seen in western media and games); the other is to focus on the world and the protagonist just happens to be the focus (more and more often in k and j media), as in, if the author wanted, the POV can switch to another character and the story can still be told in the same manner.  The manga and LN medium have really swung toward the "worldview" in japan and korea for the last decade+ (ie. zero no tsukaima, FMA, ratman, adachi's newer works, the ; series, a long list of series with enterbrain, naver's various series, future diary, blade dance, one piece, 12 kingdoms, kingdom, FMP, PSME and sequel, horizon, etc...).  There are still some that focus on the protagonist and story, but they are often in the drama and adventure genre.

Demographic also play an important role as well, ie.  Seinen is pretty much a genre pioneered in the far east.  This is due to declining birthrates and advancing age medians (thus, reader median, aka customers, have been advancing in age).  As a result, the works have been creeping up on the age of targetted audience.  It's not often that someone young doing really well career-wise and get slammed by some really random shit hitting the fan (it's more likely as one gets older).  As in this case, reader empathy and interest is really dependent on the individual's life experience.  The mangaka is playing this card really heavily, which can alien parts of the audience.  Younger viewers will see it as detracting from the story while more mature viewers can really emphasize with the character cause sometime similar probably happened to them too.

Nonetheless, I am glad you are able to enjoy the series without needless bashing (like those seen on the kimi no iru machi) as your reasons are perfectly normal, understandable and well defined.  We might be in for a rough roller coaster ride though, but this series has been all about the feels, be it high or low, either way it's going to be fun

Nooo! leave our Sharon alone, damn you author! Don't you dare!

 

...or maybe Sharon is just a red herring and it'll end up being Apo.

I'll quit reading the manga if it's Apo

Could be azuma dieing...

I can't word that any better so I'll just quote you for the truth.

Thanks, that's very kind.

From the looks of the last chapter, we are in for quite the emotional roller coaster.

If my guess is right, Aunt Sharon is going to develop the same illness that killed Serika's father.

And then it will become a race against the clock for Serika to go to the ISS, experiment with drug crystallisation, find a cure and minister it to Aunt Sharon.

... in the process bringing Mutta and Serika closer to each other and proving the point that astrounauts and astronomers can work together.

Expect lots of emotional moments including Mutta, Hibito, Serika, Aunt Sharon, the astronomer with the white mane of hair and of course Vince, the astronomer-hater.

Frankly, I could do without this, but if managed right, it can have a good effect. But if she dies, what will the point of this detour have been?

I really hope I am wrong, though.

Clumsy, seriously ill or rats in your apartment. 

I really love this series, but the author is prone to emotional manipulation sometimes.

 

By emotional manipulation I mean when an author stops the smooth progression of the story, makes a detour and shows us something designed to change the mood, telling us: "Here you are supposed to feel (insert emotion)".

 

More often than not, the detours serve little purpose relative to the development of the main characters.

 

The most recent example was the childhood story of Pico and Vince. What was the point of it? I think Pico was emotionally dense enough in a way that was perfectly tied with the story - his enormous stress over the parachute affair - and there was little need to design a glaring rip-off of the October sky movie (minus the death). And Mutta never learned of the story, so it was clearly told to impress the readers rather than to develop characters emotionally.

 

Now this thing with Aunt Sharon (if it is not a red herring). Need things be so tragic just to counterbalance the general light mood of the story? Why must a slice of life manga necessarily include tragic loss? It is perfectly reasonable to tell an exciting story without this kind of device. Space Brothers has been doing precisely that till now. We have had plenty of authentic, genuinely strong emotion without resorting to tragic death out of the blue (the key words are out of the blue: Serika-san's father's death motivated her and, although tragic, helped build her character and supply her with motivation). The rock-paper-scissors decision in the end of the third selection far surpasses, in my opinion, any contrived character death.

 

I will enjoy this thoroughly until the very end, I'm sure, but I'm a bit stung that such a wonderful storyteller as Chuuya Koyama falls prey, every now and then, to the easy temptation this kind of emotional plot contraption.

I can't word that any better so I'll just quote you for the truth.