Review of A Place Further Than The Universe

“It takes a few minutes to reach space, but it takes days to reach the Showa Station. It’s farther than the universe.” - comment by Mamoru mohri (japanese astronaut) when he was invited to japanese antarctica station. Have you ever had a dream? a dream that sounds totally ridiculous when spoken about- an impossible, absurd dream? comes shirase with her totally ridiculous aim of going to antarctica. in her school & class she's mocked for it. that's where Sora yori mo tooi basho (yorimoi here on) starts with the premise of 4 highschool girls going to antarctica. I know, sounds totally ridiculous premise for a storyat first. but yorimoi plays it so strong & turns this into one of the finest anime about adventure, coming of age comedy- drama and the symphony of youth.
Some mistake this as moe CDCGT series at first but quickly the difference becomes clear. the series moves with a definitive goal with a side story surrounding a character each episode to come soaring as a whole. Kimari is a girl who feels as if she's wasting her youth and not having achieved anything significant. shirase is potrayed as a girl crazy about antarctica as her mother was lost there some 3 years ago. Hinata is a girl who should be in school but is working in convienience store. yuzuki - a rising teen idol who is always at distance, has trouble socializing and as a result has never experienced genuine friendship.
these are the central 4 goofballs who come together each carrying a purpose of their own and take on this journey - The spiteful shirase, timid and awkward yuzuki, the philosopher hinata (you'll see) and a cheerhead kimari . what really makes this anime so good to follow is the friendship & chemistry they build. in a lot of anime sol cgcdt titles we see girl groups that work in 2 or 3 and then come whole but with yorimoi each girl is just as easy with anyone other, making yorimoi easily have some of the best character cast in its genre. Each girl with their own personality & aspirations is what ties them together so good.
The director Atsuko ishizuka really shines with this series. the character interactions and their quirks are very realistic and relatable as ishizuka was inspired by her own highschool friends. Her visual direction is also stellar, with simple framing to convey these girls grand undertaking or to shoe their mental space with the surroundings, to the amazing use of visual gags through backgrounds and rhythm. The comedy in this show is just effortless excellence, and all the other moody moments also come with tons of confidence and flair. all of this with great production from studio madhouse to execute it really well.
The anime also makes great use of insert songs and backlighting to highlight pivotal moments in each episode. the accompanying bgm is also good to the mood and thrill of this series.
I've said about the friendship aspect of this series but what makes this series remarkable isnt just limited to that - its handling of youth and adolescence, anxiety and insecurities but also sensitive issues such as grief and death.
i've praised the series a lot upto now but it isnt perfect per se. the aforementioned insert songs, a little heavy handed drama etc might make this show seem a little too cheesy, sappy, forced or generic (or the dreaded word, MELODRAMATIC) but it's still worth a watch because of it's sincere intentions . some of the issues dealt in this series can be really relatable and hit too close to home. It's a really enjoyable watch as a whole that might just leave you with something extra.
But just what is it that shirase will find in antarctica, at the end of her journey?
at the end of the day this anime might focus on 4 girls' journey to antarctica... but antarctica isnt just a figurative goal for us viewers. It implores to ask some questions to ourselves - what is your dream? how much is it worth? how far can you go to achieve this?
the anime might leave you nostalgic with it's youthful notion and struggles but that just might be what you need as well.
no matter how hard or impossible, what have you done for your own dream? how earnestly have you tried?
because that's how you find your own place that's further than the universe.
I personally rate this show as 8.5/10 because you know, we aren't exactly dealing with some ground-breaking concept of a show here and it could've been done better (maybe) , but i'll be generous here and give this special show a 9 that stands out for it's execution & heartful message. studio madhouse adds another gem to their always ever growing list of classics.
here's to us finding our own place further than the universe.