Forum - View topicSpace Brothers (TV).
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11391 |
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Even if they don't see it as racist, and they probably don't, being called a monkey or a gorilla is still an insult, at least if Gintama and dozens of other series are any indication. They could have made Buddy a bull or a rhino or any number of other animals humans see as muscular, if muscles was the only attribute they were going for. Also, the title of the next episode suggests that he might not accept. If not, that should also be an interesting development. |
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ookamigirl
 Posts: 2274 Location: Croatia |
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#70
spoiler[Mutta sure had to make a hard choice. It's always difficult to choose between a great opportunity and the thing you really want. Maybe he was being too selfish this time... Any other astronaut would be happy to get a chance like that. Guess all is well that ends well ^^ at least for Serika. Mutty might have gotten himself in a tough spot with his decision.] |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11391 |
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Ok, first off why is Conan doing the intros now?
This episode was pretty predictable, except for the last part, which was delicious irony.  But if Mutta was a girl they'd never get anything done there, at least Peter wouldn't. Does anyone else think Harold looks like Harold Ramis? I feel like Peter's supposed to look like someone too, but can't place him.
spoiler[Yay! for Serika.] Brought a tear to my eye, it did. And it's nice to see Dr. Asimov/Butler back again.
spoiler[As for the buggy design, it seems like it would be simple enough to add radar to stop the buggy or at least sound an alert if it did not sense a surface 10 feet ahead or something like that. It could be mounted on the roll bar on top to get an angle downward. I never understood why it wasn't part of the original design, except for drama. Falling off a cliff just seemed so contrived when a) they should have complete maps of the surface anyway, and b) when you can't see into the absolute blackness of shadows you need "eyes" that can tell you if it's a pothole or an abyss.] We have that tech now, they certainly would have it fine tuned to a lunar application in 2025 or whenever this is. I wonder what Mutta will come up with. spoiler[Probably an airbag bubble deployed if the angle of the buggy is off 60 degrees from vertical. I imagine it will somehow relate back to their drone buggy design.] |
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Merida
 Posts: 1945 |
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Well, i'm glad Muttaspoiler[ decided to pursue his dream, even though watching him undergo training for the ISS might have been interesting, too.
I'm a bit miffed about him 'giving' his position to Serika, though. I would probably have liked it better if Serika already had been the next in line, but getting a position not because of her own effort but because a guy who has a crush on her vritually hands it to her on a silver platter is kinda lame...was that supposed to be romanctic?] |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11391 |
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I didn't take it that way. They laid out good reasons why he made his decision that were all about his goals. spoiler[Recommending her was basically an act of friendship and camaraderie more than romance.]
It is a tad annoying thatspoiler[ she wasn't considered first, since they surely have records from interviews and applications about where the different candidates' interests lie, and their motivations and goals for joining the program. It makes no sense to send a guy who's not interested in the ISS there when you have presumably equally qualified candidates whose primary reason for being there is a desire to go to the ISS. Also, as a doctor, she has far and away better qualifications for the work that goes on there than Mutta does.] But I don't see how that could have played out without practically writing Mutta out of the script for awhile.
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trilaan
 Posts: 1055 Location: Texas |
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I just watched episode 70....why is Mutta working with the Ghostbusters? o.0
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11391 |
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Thank you! I don't know why I couldn't see it even after noticing Harold. Derrr...
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trilaan
Posts: 1055 Location: Texas |
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Ya welcome.
I love good Western pop culture references in anime.
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Banken
Posts: 1280 |
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yuna49
 Posts: 3804 |
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By now you should have noticed that this show is full of such references, starting with the ping-pong ball sequence in the early testing that is taken from The Right Stuff. The scene where Mutta sits in the back yard of their house in Houston and covers the moon with his thumb is from Apollo 13. The names of Hibito's fellow moon travelers are based on the names of rock stars. I kept waiting for "Crosby Stills" to join "Deneil Young" somewhere along the way. When it comes to "Buddy Gorilla" though, you have to wonder how this managed to make it all the way to television. From Koyama's editor at Kodansha's Morning to the production staff at A-1, the portrayal of an African-American as a gorilla apparently raised no red flags. I have often been amused by this show's depictions of American cultural symbols like the Texas roadhouse, but the stereotyping of characters in this show can be hard to take. Amanti is portrayed as the classical "Indian mystic" capable of fortune telling. I notice she has not appeared in recent episodes; apparently she has fulfilled her limited purpose. I wonder if anyone at Kodansha or A-1 pays attention to discussions like these. Do you suppose they even know that there is a contingent of American viewers who are disturbed by the Buddy Gorilla material? |
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Banken
Posts: 1280 |
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Mild casual racism is prevalent in Japan.
You're just now realizing this? |
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yuna49
Posts: 3804 |
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No, not at all. I'm reacting more to how entire publishing houses and television production companies seem so blind. Many people must have signed off on Space Brothers along the way, yet the Buddy Gorilla image apparently occasioned little concern. I'll admit that I was first taken aback by the depiction of Elean and Samantha in Baccano! Yet there are certainly less racist African Americans in anime, like Lewis in Blood+ or Dutch in Black Lagoon. There's also a surprising scene in Kids on the Slope when Sentaro confronts a drunken racist American in a jazz club who objects to the performance of "coon music." It's the single most anti-racist event I've ever seen in an anime, at least as it concerns African-Americans. Of course, it's also in a show which pays tribute to many black jazz greats starting with Art Blakey in episode one. |
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walw6pK4Alo
 Posts: 9322 |
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They probably wouldn't care even if they were. An nearly ethnically homogenous society, where everyone is expected to conform and not make waves, I can see how they'd ignore plights of other ethnicities and races. It's too few people in Japan for them to really care about or possibly even take notice of. Like, I'm sure even blackface portrayals could even make it to air without many people noticing or giving a hoot. |
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Gina Szanboti
Posts: 11391 |
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That's actually not an unfair depiction considering Baccano! is set in the 20s in America. You wouldn't see anything more sensitive from American animation of that era, and you could find a whole lot worse. |
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Banken
Posts: 1280 |
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...you've never watched Japanese TV, have you?.... |
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