Amazon
Japan has listed the cover of volume 45 of Chūya
Koyama's Space Brothers (Uchū Kyōdai) manga,
announcing that the series will officially conclude with volume 46.
Volume 45 is scheduled to be released on July 23, Japanese local
time, which is equivalent to July 23 in Spain (UTC+2).
A
closure announced in advance
Back
in January 2022, Koyama had reported that he planned to start the
final arc of the manga that same year. Later, in December 2022, he
confirmed that the story had entered its final phase, with the outcome already
in preparation.
The
story of a promise between brothers
Space
Brothers tells
the life of Mutta and Hibito, two brothers who during their
childhood made a promise: one day they would travel to space. Over the
years, Hibito manages to become an astronaut, while Mutta fails
to follow that path... at least not until his fate changes unexpectedly.
A legacy
that goes beyond paper
The manga
began serialization in Morning magazine in 2007,
and has been recognized with major awards such as the 56th Manga
Shogakukan Awards and the 35th Manga Kodansha Awards in
the overall category, both in 2011. In addition, the work inspired
an anime series broadcast between 2012 and 2014, as well as a
live-action film in 2012 starring Shun Oguri and Masaki
Okada. Volume 29 even included a special edition DVD of
the animated film Space Brothers #0, whose story was written by
Koyama himself.
At the
time, Crunchyroll streamed the anime simultaneously with Japan
and published chapters of the manga as they were released in Japan, until January
2023 when it withdrew the titles licensed by Kodansha. For
its part, Kodansha USA Publishing continues to digitally
distribute the compilation volumes in English. The company Sentai
Filmworks was in charge of bringing both the anime and the film Space
Brothers #0 to North America.
With volume
46 already confirmed as the end, Space Brothers fans are
preparing to say goodbye to one of the most endearing stories about dreams,
brotherhood and space.
