Review of A Place Further Than The Universe

A decent cast with a unique plot that was unfortunately weighed down with pointless pseudo-drama and overstuffed with cuteness. Anyone watching this show expects a cuteness overload and plenty of slice-of-nothing-happens, which is completely fine if done properly. However; A Place Farther than the Universe reaches for something more complex and story-driven, but falls short on delivering any engaging drama. The story and genre are at odds with each other; it strives to have dramatic tension between characters, but also wants to beat you over the head with cuteness and positivity. The result is a boatload of forced drama caused by characters being too nice toeachother, or some external event which conveniently soaks up all the blame, which gets resolved in 10 minutes and has no effect on the overall story or characters. Afterwards, one of the characters will recite platitudes about how "the world is filled with people living their lives" or "you just have to try your best and see what happens!"

The show isn't without its strengths: the characters are genuinely likeable, though impossibly naive, and the plot - however thin - is real enough to keep the show focused. The friendship of the main characters feels organic and justified, and the different dynamics between each character are consistently entertaining.

It fails with its weak conflicts and generally slow pacing. There are way too many obstacles on the road to Antarctica that come out of nowhere and amount to nothing, while the major dramatic plots are too simple and predictable. There's too many preachy moments of characters waxing philosophically on mind-numbingly generic life advice, and there's also a consistent undercurrent of sexuality that betrays the innocence of the show, with highly-animated boob physics and lots of "generous" camera angles... which comes off as a bit cheap and manipulative for a show that tries so hard to project an image of pureness and good.

In all, it's not a bad slice-of-life show and it delivers on cuteness and some genuine bonding moments, but the dramatic elements that supposedly elevate the series to something more than just an episodic SoL are just too bland and heavy-handed to take seriously.