Space Brothers: Number Zero (宇宙兄弟＃0)

August 28, 1993.

The world cup final qualifiers.

Giving up a goal right when victory was already within reach, Japan lost their chance.

The infamous tragedy of Doha.

As the entire nation let out a deep sigh of exasperation

and the carbon dioxide concentration within the country rose by approximately 2%,

right at the moment some old dude somewhere heaved a sigh that reeked of alcohol...

I was born.

3 years later, 1996.

Nomo pitched a complete game shutout in the Majors, a day of glory.

Lake Biwa

Then, hit song 'Iiju Rider' singer Okuda Tamio went fishing for vacation and couldn't hit a single catch.

Ah.

After persevering for two hours, the words spontaneously fell out of his mouth.

"Being bored's just fine too."

That moment, my brother was born.

And on June 11, 2006...

At the height of the World Cup in Germany, when the entire globe was drowning in the football craze...

Illustrated Encyclopedia of Plants

I'm going ahead, Hibito.

My brother and I were...

Hm?

Did Mutta just leave?

Moostah

Moostah~

Hibito, Mutta just left.

No biggie. The clock hasn't struck 9 yet, has it?

Will they be able to grab victory? Fight on, Japan!

Germany World Cup

Oh! Oh no, Hibito!

Huh?

What is it?

The common dandelion.

It grows even in places like these, huh. That's some survivability.

The common dandelion. Often simply called dandelion, its name comes from the French dent de lion which refers to a lion's tooth.

It was named such because its jagged-edged leaves are said to resemble a lion's teeth...

What? So it's not because it looks like a lion's mane?

Well, no matter.

Mu-chan!!!

Ah.

Hibito, you little-

Hurry up, Mu-chan! Our clock was late!

What?! For real?

Mu-chan, what're you doing? We'll be late for the tournament! Hurry!

Huh?

Hey! Wait up!

Plastic Bottle Rocket Tournament

Registration

I'll go first.

An older brother must always stay ahead of his younger brother.

Write your name here.

That is the duty of an older brother.

Namba Mutta

Alrighty.

So? Will the Namba brothers take the trophy this year?

Oh yeah. This one's in the bag... I think.

Well, I'll be looking forward to it then.

Write your name legibly, Hibito.

The performance of your rocket's gonna be proportional to the readability of your handwriting.

Yay, done!

It's good to go.

Thanks!

Namba Hibito

Ah!

What the heck is this?

Yay!!! I got perfect 100!

Whoo! Alright!

Yay~!

Oh no, Mu-chan! Look!

What now?

My rocket's missing a fin!

It was right here a moment ago!

What?

Seriously? This is why I told you to staple it on!

Really, you do everything too crudely.

Oh! Knew I could count on you, bro!

Participant numbers 95 to 100, please take your positions.

Oh crap, it's our turn!

Sp

ace

Go!

Bro

thers

Go!!!

a

waa

Wow

t

itsumo to chigau FEEL SO GOOD

This is different from usual, it feels so good

h

kuuki ga yomenai FEEL SO GOOD

Can't read the atmosphere and it feels so good

Space Brothers

Space Brothers

j

yomu kuuki ga nai

'Cuz there's no atmosphere here to read

P

shiranai koto darake nazo darake

Unknown things all around, mysteries abound

Altitude: 74,400. Everything looks good. First stage booster jettison in 15 seconds.

e

L

FEEL SO MOON

I feel so moon

Ten-second countdown.

Jettisoning in...

Ten...

Nine...

Eight...

C

z

tsuki no sabaku de kimi to DANSU

Dancing with you on the moon's deserts,

Seven...

Six...

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

Jettison.

6

usagi ni makezu takaku tobu no sa

I'll take a leap higher than a rabbit's

Second-stage booster ignition.

Fifteen seconds until booster engine cutoff.

2

tobu no sa

I'll fly

2

2021 AD-

Johnson Space Center Texas, United States of America

What can I say? The launch went beautifully.

This launch's RS-5 cargo includes the STR, also known as the beetle, a moon rover.

This is the machine you'll be working with the most when you, our new astronauts, go to the moon in the future.

The environment inside is controlled, so you can take of your space suits and drive around the moon wearing a polo shirt and shorts.

Everyone from ASCAN group 22, keep imagining this with me until the day you actually get to work on the moon.

Well, then. Let me introduce your new training instructors.

Please give them a round of applause.

Eddie Jay.

I'm Eddie Jay. Let's have fun.

And his younger brother, Brian Jay.

Woah, it's really him! So cool!

Yo! How's everyone doing?

As you all know, these two are now true American heroes. They're legendary astronauts.

You're really lucky to have them as your instructors!

The Jay brothers...

They really do exist!

Astronaut brothers, huh...

So, what do you think? Eddie? Brian?

Namba Hibito! Are you here?

Yes! That's me!

Yo! I've heard lots about you.

The youngest astronaut candidate ever picked by JAXA to date...

And then you went on and got the lowest score on the flight training written examination.

Well... Yeah...

On your profile, you've listed your own brother as one of the people you respect the most.

What does your brother do?

Right now, my brother is...

preparing to become an astronaut.

Tokyo, Japan

Even in space, I sweat.

You haven't been to space yet, have you?

Oh! I'm so sorry!

No problem. Didn't hurt a bit.

Holy cow, what a beauty!

If it's her... I sure wouldn't mind getting stepped on again...

Huh? How?

Like this.

I don't get it.

How do you mean?

That is, it can be similar to a game controller.

Actually, I have a sample-

Huh? Are you stupid?

If you make the steering wheel similar to a game controller,

people will drive recklessly as if they're playing games and accidents will increase.

Seriously, this is the only idea you came up with 'cause you just play games all the time.

No, the game controller is just an example...

The main idea is to make an electronic driving control system and there are other-

Alright, alright, that's enough.

Your ideas are always so out there, they just don't make sense to me.

Well, it's also said that the ideas of geniuses are too far ahead of their time for anyone to understand.

So, I suppose we can't just completely write him off.

What?

Do you mean to say that... Namba-kun is a genius?

Not really. But well, they also say that there's a very fine line between genius and idiocy.

We can't really say for sure whether he's a genius or not.

That's right. This guy's an idiot.

If I had to pick, I'm certain he's an idiot.

Well, I suppose he could be.

Although we can't say that for sure.

Anyway, all your ideas are nothing but science fiction.

Electronic control systems and making engines out of carbon...

No one cares about your futuristic delusions! Try to be more realistic!

Bringing miracles into tomorrow's cars. Miracle Car Corporation

Yes. You're absolutely right.

Is Namba crying?

Well, he did work overtime everyday for that proposal.