Review of A Place Further Than The Universe

How would I describe this anime in 5 words? Realistic. Hilarious. Dramatic. Journey. Incredible. It's amazing how one place, Antarctica, while being desolate, barren, and harboring little variety of life forms, has the potential to unite 4 school girls who seemingly had nothing in common, to fulfill a common and yet tough objective: Find who they are and challenge their characters' limits, right before a crucial moment of their life, adulthood. A cast consisting of only females might remind you of some other anime in the context of "cute girls doing cute things" but I can assure you, that as far as I'm concerned, this anime isunique. This journey is an epic one and for sure isn't going to be easy for our girls. But let's take a better look at them.

The strength of this anime's writing lies in the chemistry these 4 girls have. Reading the synopsis, one cannot imagine how they'd fit together and succeed in their journey. Mari is your typical high school girl. Shirase is energetic, almost bombastic and sometimes acts or speaks before she thinks. Yuzuki is polite, and not too talkative. Hinata is very curious and often strange, but smart. And yet, it's exactly the differences in their backgrounds and personalities that somehow offer an outstanding experience to the viewer. The anime is full of hilarious conversations and exchanges between the girls, never ceasing to deliver interesting dialogue. From small wordplay to visual gags, you're guaranteed to laugh a lot. The comedy is well balanced by a healthy amount of drama which to me didn't feel forced at all and was pretty much a given, considering the nature of the adventure. By the end of their journey, every single character will be polished and have received a respectable amount of development, especially in respect to the number of episodes. It's a given that you'll find at least one girl relatable, because their personalities are pretty much the definition of "plausible".

Speaking of the journey, it's amazing how realistic it is. After searching a bit, I found out that the production team took actual photos from inside the expedition ship as a reference and interviewed crew members regarding the living conditions and the various tasks they have. And it shows: There's not a moment in the anime where you feel like you're watching something other than four 17 year old girls trying to reach Antarctica. Their bodies as well as their minds are constantly challenged. Life on the ship is hard, and so is getting accustomed to Antarctica.

As for the art, I adored it, every single character was well drawn, the ship and its interiors have an incredible amount of detail, and Antarctica was realistic enough for me. The OST is incredible as well. I never skipped the opening or the ending song, and the fitting insert songs were used in such tense or dramatic moments, I was on the verge of tears. The ending song in particular fills you with energy and happiness, and its lyrics (somewhat of a rarity) fit almost 100% with setting and the content of the anime. It has become one of my favorite songs.

I also want to point out that the anime is very well animated. Madhouse is known for the quality of its animation, but they outdid themselves in this project. This is apparent during the running scenes where the motion looks really fluid.

At a glance:
Story 10/10
Art 10/10
Animation 10/10
Sound 10/10
Character 10/10
Enjoyment 10/10

Overall, I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed watching this anime. It instantly landed right on my favorites list. It's an epic journey full of encouraging messages and vibes which are invaluable to me and really aided me emotionally. Guaranteed, this won't hold true for everyone, but I felt like I had to point it out. After all, a review is meant to provide a personal take on an anime, and I hope this small wall of text will help someone in deciding whether to watch this masterpiece or not.

As a final statement: Think of Antarctica as not the objective per se, but rather the means to achieve that objective. Now that I think of it, everyone has their own "Antarctica" they want to reach, just like Mari, Shirase, Hinata and Yuzuki had their own reasons to go there. Antarctica meant something different to each one of them. So.. what's keeping you back? Work on conquering your own "Antarctica" like these 4 fantastic girls did!