The BEST episodes of Space Brothers season 1
Every episode of Space Brothers season 1, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Space Brothers season 1!
One night in 2006, when they were young, the two brothers Mutta (born 1993) and Hibito (born 1996) saw what appeared to be a UFO heading for the moon. They decided that night to both become astronauts and travel out into space. In 2025, Hibito has become an astronaut, and he's going to go to the moon. Mutta ended up following a more traditional career path with an auto development company. However, Mutta just ruined his career through a violent altercation with his boss. Now, not only has he lost his job, he appears to be blacklisted in the entire industry. Maybe this is a rare opportunity for Mutta to once again chase his childhood dream and become an astronaut like his little brother!
#1 - The Worst Possible Punishment
Season 1 - Episode 20 - Aired 8/12/2012
As the last day of the exam arrives, the teams are told to do what they want for the rest of the day before deciding on thier selections, so Team A decides to clean up the place. As Team A struggles to decide on a method of choosing two astronauts, Mutta recalls the advise Sharon gave him and suggests they decide via a game of rock, paper, scissors so that everyone has a fair chance. As Yasushi accepts to this, he shows off his recordings of everyone's scores, revealing he's been in a last place. Mutta reveals that he got the idea to use rock, paper, scissors from Yasushi, and he agrees to go along with it.
Watch Now:Amazon
#2 - The Day Before Goodbye
Season 1 - Episode 19 - Aired 8/5/2012
As the exam approaches its final few days, Kenji gets to know his teammates better, which Hoshika musing that he didn't give Kenji a green card earlier in order to test his leadership skills. Meanwhile in Team A, as Mutta reveals they don't have any food left for tomorrow, he manages to gather some ingredients for making udon noodles. Remembering how he learnt it from Sharon along with Hibito, Mutta gets everyone to make udon together. Having not had anyone share his interest in space whilst he was in school, Mutta becomes pleasantly surprised when everyone else becomes surprised over how he knows Sharon, and they spend time talking about space together. The mood soon heavies when they are reminded they still need to choose two people to become astronauts.
Watch Now:Amazon
#3 - Eleventh E-mail
Season 1 - Episode 38 - Aired 12/23/2012
Upon arriving at the conference building, Mutta meets with some of the unsuccessful applicants before heading to the main hall, where he is greeted by Serika, Kenji and Reiji, along with Team B's Ena Kitamura. As Hoshika gives Hibito the news of Mutta's success, Mutta manages to get through the conference without messing up. As the gang get together following the conference, Naoto joins them in celebration whilst Yasushi sends Mutta various texts congratulation him, explaining how he was always rooting for him.
Watch Now:Amazon
#4 - Hibito's Choice
Season 1 - Episode 42 - Aired 1/27/2013
Hoshika tells Mutta that Houston will be able to tell if Hibito moved if he fires his remaining flare. Meanwhile, Hibito, who has less than twenty minutes of oxygen left, decides to use his last flare as a makeshift fireplace to provide Damian with some neccessary heat. Hibito eventually reaches the top of the crater and exposes Damian to the sunlight, but becomes stressed when he can't communicate with anyone. Meanwhile, Houston learns of their location, which was at the point Mutta predicted, and learn that Hibito has less than ten minutes of oxygen remaining. After making sure Damian is properly shaded, Hibito decides to take a walk on his own, preparing to walk into the ravine again so he can see the stars once more. Just then, he spots the flash he saw earlier and decides to investigate it, discovering it to be a small astronaut figure left behind by Brian.
Watch Now:Amazon
#5 - My Shining Star
Season 1 - Episode 2 - Aired 4/8/2012
With his mother's assistance and Hibito's encouragement, Mutta has been accepted for the New Astronaut Selection Exam. However, unsure of his next step, he visits Sharon, who works at a nearby observatory. After receiving advice from Sharon, Mutta is finally able to make up his mind.
Watch Now:Amazon
#6 - Brian
Season 1 - Episode 43 - Aired 2/3/2013
Hibito reminisces about Brian, who was something of a mentor to him. Checking the back of the figure, Hibito finds a picture of a young Brian with his brother, realising Brian left the figure there so both brothers would eventually stand on the moon together. The oxygen reserves in Hibito's suit soon runs out, putting Hibito through pain as he gasps for oxygen before almost losing consciousness. Just then, the oxygen producing drone named after Brian arrives on the scene, allowing Hibito to obtain some oxygen in the very nick of time.
Watch Now:Amazon
#7 - Trapped Rivals
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 6/10/2012
Arriving at an undisclosed location, the applicants are shown footage of the last moments of a group of astronauts before they died due to a chute failure upon reentry, in order to determine their willingness to continue with the exam. After everyone agrees to continue with the exam, the group is split up into three teams with each team spending two weeks together in a sealed environment before determining which two of them would make the best astronauts. Mutta is placed in a team with Serika, Reiji Nitta, Naoto Fukuda and Yasushi Furuya. The first assignment involves figuring out what the current time is, where Mutta comes up with a surprisingly precise answer.
Watch Now:Amazon
#8 - Running Bus
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 6/3/2012
Before heading off to JAXA for the third exam, Mutta visits Sharon who tells him not to worry about not having a reason to go into space like Serika and Kenji has. As the exam begins, the applicants board a strange bus supposedly heading towards a top secret facility, with only Kenji noticing there are cameras onboard. An hour into the journey, they begin an exercise in which each applicant spends ten minutes talking to each other. Afterwards, they are asked to fill in a survey ranking everyone's potential to be an astronaut, followed by a meal and a rest before the bus arrives somewhere.
Watch Now:Amazon
#9 - Two Men in the Park
Season 1 - Episode 37 - Aired 12/16/2012
As Mutta becomes anxious about whether he has enough luck to pass, Hoshika decides to share the load of revealing the results. The first person he calls is Mizoguchi, who is shocked to learn he has failed as he was always the top in everything he did. When asked why he failed, Hoshika explains it is his lack of depending on others that caused him to fail. Afterwards, Hoshika asks Mutta to meet him at the park, where he personally reveals that Mutta has passed his exam. Hoshika then takes Mutta straight to the press conference.
Watch Now:Amazon
#10 - Eighty Minutes to Live
Season 1 - Episode 41 - Aired 1/20/2013
As NASA discusses rescue operations for Hibito and Damian, Azuma suggests that they send remote controlled probes to assist them whilst the other astronauts wait for their buggy to be charged. Although Hibito recovers from his fall, Damian informs him that his main oxygen tank has been punctured, leaving him with just eighty minutes of oxygen remaining. Despite this, Hibito resumes his attempt to rescue Damian, managing to reach the probe and reactivate it. Meanwhile, Mutta, having just heard the news, arrives at JAXA and gives them some input based on how he feels Hibito would act, though this advice is ignored by NASA.
Watch Now:Amazon
#11 - Broken Glasses and the Sole of the Foot
Season 1 - Episode 14 - Aired 7/1/2012
As Naoto recalls how his work in developed a manned spacecraft alienated him from his family, his glasses get broken when they are accidentally stepped on by Yasushi. Despite his reduced visibility, Naoto becomes determined to not let it stop him. After Yasushi hears from Serika about how Naoto quit his job in order to get a chance for astronaut selection, he swallows his pride and asks mission control to order new glasses for him.
Watch Now:Amazon
#12 - Et Cetera in My Head
Season 1 - Episode 6 - Aired 5/6/2012
As Mutta arrives at the Johnson Space Center to observe Hibito's training, one of the JAXA judges brings up the reason Mutta was fired from his previous job. As Hibito appears on a television show that night, Mutta is surprised when Hibito starts praising him. Just then, Mutta receives a call from his former workmates informing them of what his former boss had told JAXA. As Mutta becomes convinced he has lost his chance of becoming an astronaut, one of the other JAXA judges, who had been observing Mutta and Hibito's constant visits to JAXA, meets up with Mutta's former workmates to get the whole story.
Watch Now:Amazon
#13 - The Culprit is in the Room
Season 1 - Episode 17 - Aired 7/22/2012
As Team A searches for the mysterious alarm, Mutta notices some strange behaviour in Yasushi. Haven't been reminded about the cameras by Naoto, Mutta believes JAXA is behind these incidents. He recalls what he learnt whilst visiting Houston, in which green cards are given to astronauts in training instructing them to create problems. Thus, Mutta correctly deduces that both Naoto and Yasushi had been given green cards ordering them to break the clock and set off the alarm. Later, Serika confesses about the food shortage to Mutta, who mistakenly believes it to be another green card order.
Watch Now:Amazon
#14 - A Long-Awaited Glimpse of the Sky
Season 1 - Episode 21 - Aired 8/19/2012
After Team A decide their selections after one round, the third exam comes to its end and Team A is met with applause from the staff. Upon venturing out into the open sky again, the applicants discover they had been at JAXA the entire time. As Mutta and Keiji discuss how those who weren't selected may still have a chance, Yasushi, who lost out in the match, visits a much-admired professor, Hiroto Baba, who shows him his newly designed spacesuit. Whilst heading for a celebratory meal with the rest of Team A, Yasushi recalls how he got interested in space, but was troubled that he was too short to become an astronaut. This led him to admire Baba when he invented a smaller spacesuit which lowered the minimum height requirement to become an astronaut.
Watch Now:Amazon
#15 - Let's Talk About Space
Season 1 - Episode 15 - Aired 7/8/2012
As the JAXA staff decide to order Naoto new glasses as per Yasushi's request, Hoshika steps in to observe the exam. The next day, as Team B is put on edge when an alarm starts going off in the middle of the night, Team A discovers their clock has gone missing, later finding it smashed. The applicants are soon tasked with completing a blank puzzle within three hours. As the situation in Team A becomes tense as Yasushi accuses Serika of breaking the clock, Mutta tries to calm the situation by having everyone talk about space, getting them to consider JAXA broke the clock so they could learn to depend on their own sense of time whilst hiding the fact he saw Naoto break the clock.
Watch Now:Amazon
#16 - Painful Interview
Season 1 - Episode 26 - Aired 9/30/2012
As the day of the final exam arrives, Nanba is hindered by aching leg muscles due to all the squats he did the other day. After entering the interview room and meeting the examiners, including Azuma and Soichi Noguchi, Mutta sits down only for his chair to break due to a combination of a screw loosened by one of the examiners and Mutta's tenseness in hiding his cramps. After the interviews end, the candidates have a celebratory meal with the examiners. Unbeknownst to the candidates, the interview was a decoy intended to drop their guard as the examiners make observations outside of an exam environment. As Mutta is secretly probed for his observations on the other candidates, he comes face to face with Azuma.
Watch Now:Amazon
#17 - My Name Is Itou Serika
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 6/17/2012
Mutta comes up with a method for his prediction, hiding the fact he had simply noticed what time it was when he left the bus. As Serika's hunger keeps her up, she recalls when she asked her father what the meaning behind her name was. The next morning, as the teams have to decide how to handle the food supply, they also discuss how to go about deciding which two candidates to pick to be astronauts. After everyone on Team A introduces themselves, Serika decides to let Mutta call her by her first name.
Watch Now:Amazon
#18 - Alarm, But No Clock
Season 1 - Episode 16 - Aired 7/15/2012
After the puzzle challenge ends before anyone manages to complete it, Mutta confronts Naoto about what he saw, but he only tasks him with finding out the reason why he broke the clock. Meanwhile, Team B continues to be plagued by the mysterious alarm, which is secretly being controlled by one of the participants, and soon find their clock has been tampered with as well. Meanwhile, as Serika grows concerned that she's used too much food for cooking, with not much left for the remaining four days, Team A is soon given their own alarm problem.
Watch Now:Amazon
#19 - One Question
Season 1 - Episode 27 - Aired 10/7/2012
As Mutta decides to converse with Azuma, he asks him a question that another astronaut previously asked him; "Are you prepared to die?". Mutta gives an honest reply that he would try to survive if possible, which is similar to how both Azuma and Hibito answered the same question. As Mutta and other candidates head off to Florida, he recalls how he and Hibito spent months trying to get footage of the UFO they say, since noone else saw it due to the Zidane headbutt incident. Upon arriving in Florids, Mutta and his parents go to see Hibito, giving him a DVD of the footage they filmed together to take to the moon with him.
Watch Now:Amazon
#20 - Next to Hibito
Season 1 - Episode 4 - Aired 4/22/2012
After a long week, only the final interview remains in the second JAXA exam. Mutta is drawing attention as Nanba Hibito's older brother, but he insists he won't spend his entire life as Nanba Hibito's big brother.
Watch Now:Amazon
#21 - Ka-pe! Kenji!
Season 1 - Episode 18 - Aired 7/29/2012
After a few more green card related incidents, Mutta is given his own green card, prompting him to make random noises throughout the day. Meanwhile, as Team B continues facing issues, Kenji is put under pressure when he is told to withdraw from the selections, feeling he has done nothing to improve teamwork. As Kenji seriously contemplates withdrawing, he recalls what his daughter said to him, realising she was telling him to do his best and regaining his confidence.
Watch Now:Amazon
#22 - Father, Son, and Mutta Claus
Season 1 - Episode 23 - Aired 9/9/2012
Mutta takes up a part-time job as a shopping mall Santa to earn some money before his trip to Houston. Meanwhile, Yuri Teshima, one of the candidates from Team B, shows his father his passion for extra terrestrial life. As Mutta hears from JAXA about when he is to depart for Houston, he learns that Kenji was in fact chosen alongside him, as Yuri had decided to turn down his application to pursue a career in marine biology. Sera visits her father's grave, leaving a diary of everything she got up to in the past year, whilst Mutta visits Kenji. With the final exam in two months, coinciding with Hibito's mission into space, Mutta decides to head to Houston ahead of schedule.
Watch Now:Amazon
#23 - Night Before Launch
Season 1 - Episode 29 - Aired 10/21/2012
The Mars V rocket containing parts for the construction of a moonbase is successfully launched into space. On the night before Hibito's launch, Mutta is visited by his mother, who expresses her concerns about the launch. On the morning of the launch, NASA reports a 60% chance of the launch being postponed due to the weather, but Hibito remains optimistic that the launch will go ahead. As Mutta and Kenji visit the news center for updates on the weather, a kid with a punk hairstyle sets Apo loose.
Watch Now:Amazon
#24 - A Private Place
Season 1 - Episode 32 - Aired 11/11/2012
As the candidates celebrate Hibito's launch, they are informed they will return to Japan and will hear of the results a week after Hibito lands on the moon, though Mutta opts to stay in Houston until Hibito lands on the moon. Later on, Hibito gives an interview aboard the Orion as it makes his journey to the moon, which is broadcast across Japan. As Mutta spends time with Jennifer, she shows him Azuma with his family. As Mutta goes to greet them, Azuma shakes his hand and invites him to join them, where he learns more about him from his wife. Later that night, Azuma recalls the pressures her faced from the press after orbiting the moon and how it was Brian Jay who reccomended Hibito be the first to walk on the moon.
Watch Now:Amazon
#25 - Living Stone
Season 1 - Episode 51 - Aired 3/31/2013
As Mutta and Nitta head back to camp, discussing their relationships with their respective brothers, Kazuya looks up information about the astronauts, finding a video interview with Nitta. In the video, Nitta explains how feelings that you may not belong in this world can help drive you to go beyond it, stating some of the things Kazuya taught him when they were younger. After returning to camp, Nitta explains to the others about his brother whilst Mutta once again worries about Amanti's prediction. As a starstorm flies above the desert, Kazuya starts to venture outside his own little world.
Watch Now:Amazon