Space Brothers (manga)

In the summer of 2006, Mutta Nanba and his younger brother, Hibito, witness what they believe to be a UFO, which flies off towards the Moon. Hibito decides he will go onto the Moon whilst Mutta decides he will aim for Mars. Nineteen years later, in the year 2025, Hibito has become a fully fledged JAXA astronaut assigned to go on a mission towards the moon. Mutta, on the other hand, has not been so successful in achieving his dreams. As Mutta eventually recalls his past ambitions, he receives a letter stating he has been accepted to join a JAXA training program for new astronauts. The series follows Mutta as he seeks to become an astronaut and achieve his longtime dream just like his brother did.

By June 2026, the manga had over 35 million copies in circulation.^[24]

Allen Moody of THEM Anime Reviews awarded the anime series 4 stars out of 5, writing: "The stupidity of the accidents, the padding, the racism (intentional or no), the weak attempts at humor, and some annoying traits of the lead combined to make me subtract one star from what is otherwise yes, a genuine epic, and often a solid drama as well."^[1] The first part of the show, up to episode 51, also received several reviews from the Anime News Network, where it received B+ and B scores, with reviews calling the show "consistently fun and successfully sentimental" and praising it for its "hearteningly optimistic" style, "grown-up tale of pursuing dreams", "attention to technological and scientific detail"; and "great cast", while criticizing the stretched plot, particularly the overly long training arcs.^{[25][26][27][28]}

In The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, the series is described as "a celebratory chronicle of "ordinary" people achieving extraordinary dreams, and likely the longest, most uplifting and realistically detailed work about near-future space exploration ever made."^[29]