Review of A Place Further Than The Universe

I’m gonna try my best to write a review about my favorite anime without sounding like some crazy fanatic. Keep in mind, I’ll probably fail miserably. Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho (or Yorimoi for short) came to me as the best surprise ever when it first aired a year ago (winter 2018). When it was first announced and I got my first impression of it, I figured it would basically be something along the lines of “cute girls doing cute things in Antarctica”. While this alone already sounds appealing (at least I think so), Yorimoi ended up being so much more. Story The story of Yorimoiis pretty simple: four girls travel to Antarctica. It’s really simple, and if you ask me, it doesn’t need to be anything else but that. If you ask me, much of the appeal of the story comes not from the fact that they are traveling to Antarctica, but from the reason to why they are traveling in the first place. Throughout pretty much the whole entirety of the anime, it’s got this laid-back atmosphere that welcomes you to just sit back and enjoy as you watch the characters work towards their goals.

Characters
Yorimoi is an adventure anime. If you ask me, the most important thing in any anime is the characters, and this is especially important if the story is supposed to be told as an adventure. If the characters are boring, you end up not caring, and very few want to go along on an adventure with characters you don’t care about. Yorimoi really nails the characters in my opinion. There is a reason for caring about every main character. The main characters are all interesting in their own way, and although the obstacles they face throughout the story might be considered minor (at least some of them), they are all relatable, which again makes the characters themselves more relatable as well. This, as well as the fact that all the characters are hilarious when interacting with one another, is what I think makes the characters the strongest selling point Yorimoi has to offer. Also, they’re adorable.

Art and animation
Yorimoi’s art style felt really unique and refreshing, at least in my opinion. It fits excellent with the kind of anime this is, as well as not reminding me of anything I’ve seen before. If I was to pick one favorite thing about Yorimoi’s art and animation, I’d say it is the hilariously over the top facial expressions the characters will make in different situations (both funny and emotional). The art and animation isn't perfect, but it's real close.

Soundtrack
The music found in Yorimoi might be among my favorite from any anime out there. The whole soundtrack is great, but I want to talk especially about the opening song (“The girls are alright” by saya) and the ending song (“kore kara kore kara” sung by the main cast). Mostly because these are the ones you’ll probably remember. A good opening is in my opinion an opening which makes you want to see the episode, and a good ending is an ending which makes you look forward to the next episode. The opening and ending did this perfectly for me, at least when I watched Yorimoi while it was airing. The combination of the catchy music and the animation made it so. The rest of the soundtrack, together with the opening and ending is always what inspires me to watch this anime again. You know a soundtrack is good if it can draw you into watching the anime again.

Overall
Overall, I think the best thing about all of Yorimoi for me was how relatable it was. If I was to pick one sentence to describe it, I’d say it is an anime about getting the most out of your youth, which is a feeling that I, and probably many others, can easily relate to. The character Kimari wants to get the most out of her youth, and watching her, as well as the other characters take the first step to start an adventure makes me want to do the same. I’ve wanted to write a review about Yorimoi for a long time now, and if you’ve made it to this point, I hope you’ll consider watching Yorimoi. Hopefully you’ll enjoy it as much as I did.

Score: A true 10/10