Space Brothers Blu-Ray Collection

As children in 2006, brothers Mutta and Hibito Nanba looked up at the moon and made a pact: they would both become astronauts. Hibito kept the promise. By 2025 he is preparing to become the first Japanese astronaut to walk on the moon. Mutta, meanwhile, has just been fired from his automotive engineering job for headbutting his boss — an incident that went viral — and has moved back in with his parents at 32. Then an application to JAXA arrives in his name, submitted by his mother without his knowledge, and Mutta finds himself in the running for the most competitive selection process in Japan. He is not the most obviously qualified candidate, not the most naturally gifted, and regularly outpaced by competitors with seemingly superior credentials. What he has is a specific kind of lateral intelligence, an instinct for the problems that matter, and a stubborn refusal to stop moving forward — one episode at a time.

Space Brothers is a 99-episode series produced by A-1 Pictures, directed by Ayumu Watanabe, and based on Chūya Koyama's ongoing manga serialized in Morning magazine — a work that has sold over 20 million copies in Japan and remains one of the most acclaimed seinen series of the 2000s–2010s. The series is notable for the extraordinary depth of its research into actual NASA and JAXA astronaut selection and training processes — consulting with real astronauts and space agencies throughout production — and for its genuine emotional intelligence about adult ambition, failure, and the specific difficulty of chasing a dream you abandoned. A feature film prequel, Space Brothers #0, was released in 2014.

No English dub was produced for any home video release. Released in North America by Sentai Filmworks across eight Blu-ray collection volumes from February 2015 to April 2016. 

Notable Staff & Voice Talent

Director: Ayumu Watanabe
Original Manga: Chūya Koyama (serialized in Morning, Kodansha; 20+ million copies sold)
Series Composition: Makoto Uezu (eps 1–20) / Yoichi Kato (eps 21–99)
Studio: A-1 Pictures
Music: Toshiyuki Watanabe (Now and Then Here and There, Great Dangaioh)
Opening Themes: "Feel So Moon" by Unicorn (eps 1–26) / "Eureka" by 9mm Parabellum Bullet (eps 27+)
Ending Themes: "Small World" by Rake (eps 1–26) / various artists (eps 27+)

Japanese Cast:
- Hiroaki Hirata as Mutta Nanba (WXIII Patlabor Movie 3)
- Kouki Uchiyama as Hibito Nanba
- Maaya Sakamoto as Sharon (Escaflowne, Magic User's Club TV, Nightwalker)
- Houko Kuwashima as Serika Itou (Gate Keepers 21, Ceres: Celestial Legend, Z.O.E. Dolores I, Kaiba)
- Keiji Fujiwara as Ozzy (Birdy the Mighty, Mahoromatic, Kaiba)
- Akio Otsuka as Brian Jay (Hyper Police, Night Warriors, WXIII Patlabor, Inuyasha films)
- Kikuko Inoue as Mutta's Mother (Tenchi Universe, El-Hazard, Gate Keepers, Oh My Goddess!, Noir, Saint Tail)

Blu-ray Collection Breakdown (Sentai Filmworks)

- Collection 1 — Episodes 1–13 (February 24, 2015)
- Collection 2 — Episodes 14–26
- Collection 3 — Episodes 27–38
- Collection 4 — Episodes 39–51
- Collection 5 — Episodes 52–64 (October 20, 2015)
- Collection 6 — Episodes 65–77
- Collection 7 — Episodes 78–90
- Collection 8 — Episodes 91–99 (April 26, 2016)

Blu-ray Features (All Collections)

- Clean Opening & Closing Animations
- Subtitle Only — No English Dub Produced
- Sentai Filmworks Previews

Spoken Languages: Japanese Audio Only, English Subtitles

Edition Details

Japanese Title: 宇宙兄弟 (Uchū Kyōdai / Space Brothers)
Runtime: ~2,475 Minutes (Complete Series, 99 Episodes, 8 Collections)
Director: Ayumu Watanabe
Blu-ray Release Year: 2015–2016 (U.S. Release, Sentai Filmworks, 8 Collections, February 2015 – April 2016)
Original Broadcast Date (Japan): April 1, 2012 – March 22, 2014 (NTV)
Publisher: Sentai Filmworks
Rating: 14+
Region: Region A (North America)
Note: Subtitle only — no English dub produced. Based on manga with 20+ million copies sold in Japan. JAXA and NASA consulted during production. Feature film Space Brothers #0 (2014) also available separately.
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Slice of Life
Themes: Astronaut Selection & Training, Adult Dreams Revisited, Brothers' Pact, NASA & JAXA Authenticity, Overcoming Failure

Media assumed VG+ unless otherwise noted.