This episode was well worth the wait; best episode of the series so far.

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To say that the last stretch of episodes for Uchuu Kyoudai have been great is an understatement and topping them would be a tough feat, but episode twenty-two accomplishes that with such ease. If you thought the last couple of episodes were suspenseful, this episode was even more so after the revelation of who the two selected members from Team A would be—who it turns out were Nitta and Serika. Despite Fukuda, Furuya and Mutta failing to win at rock, paper, scissors, it was a completely refreshing experience to watch them accept their loss with grace and immediately come together after the third exam to celebrate and congratulate their fellow teammates for moving on to the next phase in Houston. To this point in the series, that was the best feel-good moment… until the end of this episode, but more on that later. 

As was hinted at before and during the third exam, JAXA had decided to include an additional two candidates from the third exam to accompany the six selected members on the next phase in Houston. It’s revealed that one of those named is a woman who Mutta deduces as Kitamura of Team B, leaving only one spot left for the remaining eight men. Here’s where the suspense kicks in once again as you’re left wondering who it’s going to be, especially with a candidate like Makabe still around. Once again as an audience you’re just left completely conflicted with who to root for because this series has taken its time to develop some truly great characters like Fukuda, Furuya and Makabe. They all have their own dreams and goals and, I daresay, that this seinen series proves itself to outperform most shounen series in giving you characters to care about to root for their success.

And finally you have the big reveal at the end of who the final candidate is, and I have to say that this moment topped the previous best feel-good moment just minutes earlier in the very same episode. This episode makes you feel so much for these characters. Sure, these characters are disappointed, but they’re still happy regardless of the outcome because they’re all able to see past themselves, and though their dreams have been sidetracked, paused and so forth, they are still able to look past that and support the people who have become their friends in achieving their dreams. 

Simply put, this was the best episode of the series hands down. I cannot praise this episode enough; it was beautiful, it was a non-stop parade of feel-good moments and the sense of accomplishment that Mutta feels in getting that much closer to achieving his childhood dream with his little brother is just icing on the cake. 

GO Rating: 4.5/5

The brothers move one step closer to achieving their dream!