Take A Pick Tuesday - Space Brothers

Take A Pick Tuesday: Space Brothers

 

Have you ever stood outside at night, even in the crowded cities that had skies to indifferent to show the night, hoping they would give you a rare view of stars and the moon, to look up and wonder, to look up and hope. We know so much about them, we can fear them at times but always there is something about looking toward them, sometimes they ride on our dreams, sometimes they are the destination for our dreams.  Well if you recall that feeling or maybe now or have always wanted such a feeling then I can easily recommend Space Brothers.  Parts that make it up, the parts funny, the parts inspirational and all parts wonderful it looks at what it is to dream, big, big enough to take you beyond earth, beyond anything you could imagine.

 

    The story is about two brothers whose childhood dream it was to go to space. They witness something strange once when they were younger, recording the sound of animals at the time, which helps them decide that they want to explore the vast unknown. When the younger brother Hibito decides that he wants to go to the moon and beats older brother Mutta to the punch of declaring it, Mutta says he wants to go to Mars. Because an older brother must always be ahead of his younger brother. Though both settle on the notion of going together as brothers to the moon. Fast forward to them as adults and things didn’t go as it seemed it should since that faithful night. For Hibito he indeed became an astronaut as he is set to be the first Japanese Man on the moon. When asked in a press conference the reason why he wanted to go, he says it had been a shared dream that both him and his older brother had shared.

 

       So where is Mutta, you can say he strayed from the path a bit and ended up working for a company where he designed cars, in fact he was a star designer until he head butted his boss. Of course this meant he lost his job, although to his credit had been because his boss was mocking someone in the newspaper and that person happened to be his little brother. Having done it though had caused him to be blacklisted from every company, so he returns home to reevaluate his life, wondering what happened to the dream he had of going into space. When had he stopped believing it was possible?

 

      When his brother catches wind of his predicament an opportunity would arise unbeknownst to Mutta, an application for the astronaut candidacy exam would be sent with his name by his brother and mother. Soon he would be accepted to part take in it at JAXA and would be constantly tested to find the resolve to believe in himself, in why he wanted it and learn that if you have a dream than you should truly never let go of it. Right away there is a special feeling about this show, just like explorers that go to the stars, you feel something moving in the show, this wonder, this hope.

 

   Having dreams in life is shown as being an important single driving force  and how it moves people no matter what is going on in their life and of course no matter the consequences.  Mutta is an extremely human character, funny as is the show at times, very often actually well balanced with it's touching moments, he dismisses any notions of the perfect anime character, and if anything he’s the perfect human being flaws and all. He’s him or in some ways us, which is special when a character like that shows up in any medium, tall skinny and with an afro alongside his 5 o'clock shadow and funny face expressions that go so well with his usually well dressed ( mostly in a suit) appearance.  His humorous nature goes well with his touching relations to many of the other characters as it is for his brother, capable of love despite what self-desire finds at times or how inconvenient how he might wish otherwise, he is unable to resist the urge to sacrifice it for others. Having to go over it at times in consideration and at times to throw caution to the wind is part of what makes Mutta Namba such a compelling character.

 

      As much as Mutta underestimates himself he is underestimated by others even more, not all, there are friends he makes, certain ones whose friendship grows through the series to be something powerful, something that has meaning to you but instead at times the people that have to make the decisions that could allow him to continue or fail will be the ones that find something they believe they should underestimate him for. Even though there is someone and really there always has to be someone, that can see the great things he can be capable of.

     Though he’ll wrestle with it regardless of what he can accomplish  occasionally he’s allowed to be proud, as well as believing he is more than someone who is in his brother’s shadow. If that was true  that he lived in his brother's shadow than no one told his brother, who idolizes him openly even though to each other few emotions will be exchanged when they are apart, in each other’s thoughts you will see a bond like no other. Still what makes Mutta so special is what makes other people root for him, sometimes waiting for him to step up to the plate, sometimes to knock it out of the park.

 

    Hibito is indeed an accomplished person though what makes his character so interesting is he really doesn’t think much of it, he has that wonderful desire of just going to the moon. So it seems to us he can do anything, even though he seems to think more of Mutta, his fellow astronauts, those living and those that passed and the astronomer that was a mentor to both him and Mutta, Sharon. A character who is a mother figure, a teacher figure and a core reason for their desire to go to the moon. Even if it was Mutta's declaration to her one time that it was just him and Sharon, that he would help with her dream of building a Sharon Telescope on the moon to allow astronomers to see further into space, to see places they never could before.  There were plenty of moments between Sharon and Hibito or both brothers share with her that keep it as one of the constant motivations for them in their aspirations and hope.  Even so Hibito  has many things that haunt him, that drive him, that will come to cause him to doubt himself and the great dangers that comes with such a dream are ones he has to face, at times alone. At  times when he believes he is alone will be the times he faces it with many others. 

      It’s interesting how they introduce pieces of it to you later on giving you a complete picture of the character who could go do something when he was younger and not realize how dangerous or how great it was he managed to do. Also Hibito garners a lot of attention for what he’s set to do but he hardly think about it, it’s a little beyond him though he puts up with it, you’ll see astronauts who despise the attention all together and some that were born for it. So for someone who is already getting rooted for you'll find yourself surprised when it is you're rooting hardest for Hibito and it's a great feeling when you're doing it.

 

 

Space Brothers works closely with JAXA and NASA and it shows, considering it’s probably the closest to accuracy in a anime you’ll actually get about space. I mean the show managed to give the first voice over from space for crying out loud when an astronaut used his actual voice for his anime version. They managed to record his voice despite him being on the international space station. The exams Mutta will have to go through along with other characters he’ll befriend and you’ll also root for will show how intricate the process can be.

    The grueling choosing process is fascinating as it is at keeping you on the edge of your seat, as it is for some of the people choosing the candidates, their personal connection with the agency, of their younger life, of space, even to characters like Mutta. Sometimes it feels downright unfair and sometimes it feels the exams never really end and let's face it when you're sending people to space and choosing which ones will go of course it won't.

 

 

       While they may be rivals you hope for some of them to be together at the end though you really won’t be able to tell who it will be. Mutta even has someone he falls for, Seki Itho who like him has an important reason in why she wants to go to space, to be exact, her desire to reach the International Space Station, her explaining it to you at first is more than enough reason to root for her but actually seeing the reason later on is enough to break your heart. Many of the character’s dreams are like that and the show knows how to lay out drama and complexity, whether happy or sad it’s easy for so many episodes to bring a tear or several tears to your eyes. Seki like Mutta is extremely intelligent, she’s also athletic, with an appetite to match, despite all her reasons you can see quite often that what she’s going to eat is equally important to her. There's even a scene where she's doing work and by her desk or pictures pinned up of food. Can’t say I blame her.

 

     If anything Mutta seems to remind Seki of her father, one early scene that came shortly after introducing the character is when she sees him looking at the space suit in the glass case, trying to see his face reflect off the helmet as if he was in the suit. It reminded her of what her father had done and later he’d catch her trying to do the same. There’s so many of these scenes I truly wish I could write about all of them. You have other characters like Kenji who keeps shaking Mutta’s hand, someone with a wife and a little child and whose reason though coming from another direction is just as important, a life where he dreamed of something more when going through every day with work he didn't want to actually do, wanting to trade dismal grey skies and settings for a place closest to space where his mind can truly be appreciated. Though the cost of even reaching being an astronaut shows quite often, even in the most simplistic of ways, time. In Kenji's case if he goes to space along with training he could miss several years of his child’s life and even the testing and preparation for such a thing can show the effects on his child and the strain it could put on his wife.

 

      The exams at JAXA can seem a little impossible at times for other reasons, especially one reason in particular, when you’re kept in the dark of what it is that actually want out of their candidates and be warned even when it seems like they’re not being tested, they’re being tested or are they? Yup it’s long road if you can even get there, that’s why it’s so important for all of them, Mutta included to find reason in why they are doing it. Even at his lowest Mutta can find it, when he goes to visit Houston Texas where NASA is and Hibito is training.

      Between foiling a robbery of a man with an extinguisher accidently and befriending an important little character who also happens to be a little dog named Apo short for Apollo, he’d find why it is he wants to pass so much. In himself, through his friends ( astronauts that work with Hibito and others at NASA, as well as a kind couple that are his brother's neighbors). Even if it seems like a snowball’s chance in hell. It shows Mutta might still have untapped qualities you’re unaware of, such as his internal clock, his precise attention to detail of which Hibito is the opposite of.

 

Being as informative and legitimate as they can about space, the show doesn’t shy away from the danger and risk of space travel.  Some you see are devastating to see even if they are in the past, others happening during the present or enough cause for you to become a nail biter. When not scaring the pants off of you they also show some interesting ideas. Now I’m not caught up on all the things NASA has developed but the show brings interesting answers to the predicaments that astronauts have to face, such as a way to map out the moon in order to avoid craters which normally would be impossible to completely avoid. While developing this with budget constraints, even the questions of flying cars, their practically and what certain ideas like those could actually offer are brought up.

     As well as recreating a space station or adding to it's construction during training under water, developing a way for light to come into the station through panels. As well as various other solutions to issues that they have to face, perhaps making rechargeable stations for vehicles, to allow them to go further as well as other small adjustments that could mean life or death for any of them, Trust me though most of these are brought up in unexpected ways. It also shows you answers to everyday problems  where the answers might lie in places like NASA, who find them while trying to solve the questions so few ask but need to.

 

    There are also various training exercises in preparation or such emergencies even with the risk of dying and shows hazards, it seems to comfort the hope that you won’t find future scenes that knock around the idea of hope that is such a powerful theme around your head like it’s bruised and defeated.  You even get to watch the majority of the decision making well beyond JAXA, we’re talking in NASA too, and also obstacles even when you reach being an astronaut like the allotted time you may have to wait to go on a mission.  Yet despite all of this it’s like Sharon says hands to her chest, you think on what would be the most fun to do. You’d be surprised how the concept helps you to hang on to your dreams.

 

    All of it is worth it for the breathtaking scenes of takeoff or landing, everything you seen in the show bottled up in that moment, shook up and let out like lighting and fire. They are beautiful, quietly intense, sometimes epic scores that capture the moment, having their chance to add to something even more momentous, exhilarating, and even terrifying. With everything at stake you’ll be relived if at least some of what happens goes alright. If nothing else you’ll get a profound respect for something that if often overlooked in our daily lives, things that places like NASA mange to do. Asking what the point in anything is would be ridiculous to people in that line of work, it would be to discover. The moments are countless and whether watching it again or thinking about it will drive out the moments you first felt when you watched it.  Space Brothers is definitely about the journey but in a different sense than you’ve seen, a vivid and detail account of the steps take to pursue a dream and once having it to go further.

 

    What seems like crushed dreams or really them taking various forms proving they could never die. Taking form they shape us and it shows in how detailed the characters are as is the story, everyone has their reasons. This is one of those shows that ends and you say I don’t know what to do with my life although, it might ask you to push for your dreams once it comes into focus. Just as soon as you’ve absorbed everything from the series and there is plenty to observe. It’ll forever keep that feeling that when you look up to the stars no matter what’s happening anything is possible and that is a beautiful thing indeed. If you don’t believe that then you’re the one that’s going to have to face Apo.

A Podcast Companion

https://soundcloud.com/rats-on-a-plague-podcast

*Need more otaku time, well for more ideas why not hop on to the newly minted podcast Rats On A Plague Ship. A podcast that speaks on all matters of geekdom with yours truly and my fellow co-host Sal Almaraz. The true cure to when the hours feel like they drag!

Take A Pick Tuesday - Psycho Pass

                Take A Pick Tuesday: Psycho-Pass

 

 

 

You ever get a little paranoid, who doesn’t these days, a little paranoia is good for the soul but if you’re clutching George Orwell’s 1982 in your hand then you might want to watch something potent, plausible and fantastically done. Of course I’m speaking of Psycho-Pass which raged through like a beast, drawing in leagues of fans watching it, myself included managing to win over critics for the most part. In a future Japan there lies the Sibil System in which police arrest, investigate and hunt down cases with high psycho-passes, something measured by devices that allow them to read how much stress you’re under, the type of frame of mind you’re in and could make you a dangerous criminal that must be arrested or even killed. Along with the investigators there are those that are used like hunting dogs called Enforcers, people who had been arrested with high psycho passes that agreed to help the police, provided they know that those they assist have the ability to kill, injure or call them back if they choose so.

 

     We enter with Akane Tsunemori who is new to the force and quickly finds how her judgment of individuals bangs heads with both the way these forced hunting dogs may pursue a criminal as well as the Sibil system. Including the judgment of one of the Enforcers Shinya Kogami or as I like to call him, Kogi for short, which was ironic considering her interest would lie with him the most. Kogi has keen institution which starts to make you wonder immediately about his past, especially once they start to deal with strange cases of killers and strange cases involving psycho pass readings.  Could it be that she may find her way of thinking is understood by Kogi, if so than what is it he knows as certain cases begin to connect and what great secrets may lie underneath once this is pursued. In this world it’s debatable if people are truly free or not, technology is certainly a believable couple of leaps from ours.

      Every necessity advanced is something that can be seen a plausible leap for us, such as being able to change the design of the house by a simple touch from a hologram screen, to the outfits worn, and communications taking and yet another interactive step forward. This technology would also come along in her cases as well, with the dominators that allow the proper police in her unit to measure the crime coefficient of suspects and take necessary action. Whether to set to injure or stun or kill, the dominators are these elaborately designed guns, large that pack a mighty punch, we’re talking when set to kill bodies ending up in pieces. Of course it has to be authorized as well even so though the weapon itself is built in with the Sibil system so it can have its prejudices as well as its weaknesses.  Each person they look for is different, some seem more innocent than guilty and some seem exactly what they’re hunting for, the differences in these cases as well as how certain characters are connected with people with high psycho passes is one of the strong aspects of the show and one of the hardest to pull off for a show. However much of it is not as it seems. They go into interesting detail even well-educated professors with voiced opinions and musicians that do not play music according to government protocol have to live in danger for being hunted for their high psycho passes or soon to be ones, naturally there are also those that are against the system established.

 

     The show does everything right in how it gets in the mind of the main characters, as well as the criminals allowing you to feel that you’re almost in the Sibil System. One of the most interesting things to me at least it how can a person function in this sort of society, it seems the way we would consider a normal lifestyle is by living on the outside. The interesting thing is you feel you get a peek into what might be a normal life through Kana when she is with her friends, which isn’t often, she seems sort of disconnected as she becomes closer with her work but the most dangerous thing is when the lines are blurred. Akane Tsunemori of course has an interesting development of a character, not even from the beginning does she seem like a helpless character even as she’s trying to understand the world.  I love her design to, the wide eyes and sometimes the expressions on her face help to make her an interestingly designed that departs from the average main protagonist of a show and the world around her really makes her who she is as it does for all the other characters. The slickness in the animation can be attributed to the dark colors used to make the backgrounds, the city and the mood.  

There are of course the murders they investigate, almost always they are people that are living under the nose of everyone else. Who they are can be very misleading, probably one of the most brutal is a school girl who befriends and takes other female classmates as lovers and kills them turning them into sadistic works of art. Interestingly enough not long after being aired, the show would get a re edit which would change the episode count to 12 hour long episodes. When it was aired in Japan in this format, a similar murder happen in which a sixteen year old school girl had cut up her classmate which forced them not to air the episode since the people behind the show found it would inappropriate considering the similarities in the case. What’s eerie was this episode had already been aired in it’s 30 min format way before that.

 

 I wish I could say that it was giving away something by telling you that but it’s not, it’s merely the premise and details of the case. Right away you’d wonder how come people like this couldn’t be found in such a fool proof system that rules every aspect of life but even then, it’s much more complicated than that.  Kogi like Kana is a lovable character you can’t help but root for and a total badass who is serious but not emotionless, neither is he cruel and you find out why he is so similar to some of the others. While he has the tough guy look, cigarette and six pack and all there personality that lingers which makes the character so interesting shows in his design, like all the others there's no extravagant hairdo, dark hair slightly spiked, dressed like an inspector even if he is an enforcer just begging to see what lies under the surface. This along with his growing concern for Akane and his kick ass fighting style make him more than an effort to be cool instead they make Kogi the definition of cool. There whole group are likable but you may find frustration in the first season with their head, that seems to go against offer of insight into an investigation, he follows the book as firm as he does because often it is the investigators that are victims of the system just as much as everyone else but it becomes clear that even that is not a guarantee.

     The apparent questions and flaws with the society might be the very threat that could be looming behind everything they’re investigating. Psycho-Pass puts everything under the microscope and they know how to do it well, clearly inspired by certain films with similar themes and another thought provoking future dystopian type story Ghost In The Shell, it manages to not only be inspired but also do something unique and individual to itself in a series.

 

      Psycho-Pass know it has to examine the obvious, a perfect world as a solution that is as dangerous as a flawed one but they manged to take it further than that, using the concept as merely a building block as they explore human nature. Look at the people in this sibil system world and what you see is people that are victims waiting to happen, why you might ask well it is because no one is supposed to have anything to fear in this society. How would they know what a threat is until it was too late, sure fear can play on some awful things but being aware of danger and the darkness that hides behind people is  something anyone should caution to do in public. It’s common sense to us which is not in that world, one that has left much to be obsolete in many ways, the police in the many ways that an investigation would need to have been carried out, in all the things that make our society what it is, as well as for those that are out of place. If there are no place for certain ones how could the system control them?

    Psycho Pass asks these questions, the results can be horrifying at times as often as they could be enlightening on what builds the concept of dystopian futures and the value of what we keep in our minds for none to see, an impossible thing in many ways in this world. Why and how do we accept this and when do we start to question is, isn’t humanity’s existence always to question? Every culture in the world has a different way in how they react to things emotionally, what are acceptable reactions, what would be out of place and uncalled for and yet could any culture really live desensitized instead be arrested or allowed to be killed, just because it’s a necessary evil. Those are enough reasons to love the show but you have so many others, the characters, chemistry, connections and complexities, the animation is so slick looking, without it sounding strange the show maintains this sense of sexiness in the way everything is designed, backgrounds included, they also have spectacular animation sequences for the openings and endings credits of the show. If there was a need for incentive to watch the show it’s a very available show with the seasons available on multiple digital outlets, both  being distributed by Funimation and the movie having just been released in January.  Psycho –Pass is an addictive watch filled with questions and answers and the very thought of what they mean, it’ll leave you questioning and entertainment  reaching new highs of what you can enjoy from a series. If you're anything like me you'll enjoy it enough to find you are unfit to fit into a Sibil system run country.

The Works of Yoshihiro Tatsumi

The Works Of Yoshihiro Tatsumi

 

Often referred to as the father of alternative manga or Gekiga, Yoshihiro Tatsumi’s passing leaves a real gaping hole in the manga and comic world altogether. Like other greats of his generation, he managed to help forever change manga, showing a darker side to it, one often with sinister undertones, flirting with noir and real human drama. It's easy to see how deep an impact Tatsumi's works have made today.

       Manga had been around a while when Yoshihiro Tatsumi would begin his career in the field, although he would open it wide, leave space for a deep, adult pondering existence come to life. His career would be in good company as other legends such as the God of manga Osamu Tezuka would broaden the craft of comics plunging into dark and elaborate stories. Often Tatsumi's short works would depict stories of greed, violence, sex, betrayal and lies. He would find influences in Noir and Anti-hero related characters in both books and films, something incorporated in stories as he depicted his country with a critical eye for detail, adding perspective on something other than what could be found in usual stories whether comics or novels especially those from the west.

 

 

      In the beginning many of YoshihiroTastumi’s works were short contained stories but even then they would often be dismal views of humanity, hopeless character that fell through a hole of their own wickedness or were simply devoured by the true essence of the city. One of his longer stories Black Blizzard shows a pianist who was wrongfully imprisoned shackled to a murderer, now on the run after a train was derailed from an avalanche, both on the run, the story definitely pays home to noir films and books that had come to influence his work. In the story you see the contrasts to them and yet the circumstances are the same, it’s a great insight into the way Tatsumi made his characters, defeated individuals, wicked or innocent many would crack under the pressures of modern life. It is something you will see in many of his stories, all having the same gritty feel whether it had to do with themes involving crimes or more of a psychological downfall for those that tried to live in the Tokyo that Tatsumi now found himself living in.

Often people put Tatsumi’s works on a separate genre than other manga, many who don’t read manga in America but recognize his works would say how different it is from the manga aimed at younger audiences or less adult, outside of the themes that Tatsumi’s works represent, if they only knew. In fact manga has indeed been influenced by this Geigka style and if those that normally don’t read manga explored they would see it was such, how even manga that they believe are aimed at younger audiences maybe because a particular appearance it has could have complex adult themes, themes that he helped to introduce into manga. As mentioned before it is true that his path into drawing and writing would be much like Osamu Tezuka whose early works such as Astro Boy would give ways to dark themes and showcase his versatile and intricate storytelling. What may vary in their storytelling is that the destined self-destructive characters that are males and the mocking aspects of women is what some may say lead to a story without a particular moral.

 

      More like a voyeur into the everyday life that exists, Tatsumi might not have said as much but it could very well be this is how life has become. An indeed the pressure of life in Japan after the war was great, old values and the progression into a new age for the country can be seen in the dark conscience that lies within as they fought for domination.  So it’s easy for people to look at Yoshihiro Tastsumi’s works and find that they are a far cry from the manga that they see line the shelf. Perhaps because what’s on the surface calls to them like American works, influences that Tatsumi had but it is also a gateway for comics from Japan, as reading his works may give you an insight you couldn’t find in historical books or textbooks. In fact many manga that show insight into culture in Japan or capture stories in that light, Seinen and Geigka had Yoshhiro Tastumi’s influence to thank for it definitely. It is often for this reason that his voice has always demanded attention in the story telling.

     In another work Hell,  one of my favorites, a photographer who does the unthinkable to keep a secret hidden of an image he took of a imprint of ash seared into the wall of what seems at first as a son comforting his mother but he would discover was actually the son killing his mother. That story had been one of my first introductions to the author and has lingered in my mind ever since. There are many of other stories such as these that come from works like Abandon the Old In Tokyo, Goodbye, and The Push Man and Other Stories. Other stories that showcase the themes of sex, frustration, greed, and lies. His main characters that were male had usually an unimpressive appearance to them or sometimes they simply captured the average man’s appearances, the individuals that lived in this world.

 

    Anyone who has frequented the comics/manga area of a bookstore or an anime/manga/hobby store would have seen his most famous work in the United States and that would be the wonderfully behemoth sized autobiographical “A Drifting Life.” A book that Yoshihiro Tatsumi wrote and drew of his life as a mangaka for decades. In fact for those that would feel that they couldn’t absorb the perspectives and meanings of the artist and his struggles may actually want to read his other works and perhaps they would see why some find it to be a wonderful capstone to his great career. 

     I say this because some tend to find it hard to read the stories whether it’s the fantasies of these working class man of the women that seem like mere sexual objects or how the woman may seem manipulative and at other times down right disturbing and yet Tatsumi had that way of penetrating the brain to reveal the things that aren’t so nice in our minds at times, many should remember what he was trying to capture post Japanese culture, he enjoyed the grittier side of stories and the most psychological, exploring an aspect that many hadn’t in this form of comics. Somehow A Drifting Tale seems to be able to show another side of his talent, even as it showcases his struggles there’s something inspiring to be found when reading it. Harnessing the other aspects of the human mind and heart.

      Yoshihiro Tatsumi was for many readers, my self-included, someone who illuminated not only the city of Tokyo and Japan in Post War Japan but one of the aspects of the human heart and psyche. It helped to give an insight into life today and has not become irrelevant but only more relevant with every passing year. Whether a gritty or sexual tale or the desperation of a stranger that would have gone overlooked otherwise, even if from someone who isn’t always a morally redeemable character much like his protagonists,  it shows a storytelling that will open your mind to what comics and manga can be and showcase how great a genius Yoshihiro Tatsumi was.