Review of A Place Further Than The Universe
When ones feel like they want to do something that fulfill their youth and don't want to regret about the destination they couldn't reach, what will they do? Form a string band, fall in love, play sports, etc. The girls decided to head for the journey, to Antarctica. Story: What and how much does it take to head for Antarctica? This may be a little bias. But for me, Yorimoi contains easy-to-digest and remarkable story comparing to other Madhouse series and movie animes. So I have to say (in my personal opinion) that this may be one of the best Madhouse's animes. First of all, ones whotold us the story are high-schoollers. That means audiences around this age could catch up conflicts and circumstances happened to the girls and understand how things go. Example, having a misunderstanding with best friend, the scare of taking a step forward, the disappointment in oneself, etc. Secondly, the story easily grew step-by-step. That is the steps to go for the journey. Just like a fixed process
1) making a decision "Ok, let's go"
2) preparation (money, time, experiences)
(2.1 have friends? ask them to go with you)
3) departure then arrival
4) enjoying the journey
5) going back home
But what makes Yorimoi so special are things happened in and between those process which beautifully told us about the background of the main characters and the whole story. (can't say cause they're heavy spoilers) However, I think the most important thing for Yorimoi's story is the concept of any big journey. That is "leave everything behind and go." This concept exactly affected ones daily life as well as family, friends, school, career, or even part-time job. So, how the girls cope up with these kind of problem is spectacular and somehow yearning.
Characters: 4 high-school girls
I think the reason why it must be 4 high-school girls is symbolism of girls. Those are "innocence, naivety, and purity." The girls' characters were differently outstanding in their way and surprisingly fitted each other. The development of each girls was sometimes painful but impressive along with "innocence, naivety, and purity." Even though they sometimes hid something from audiences, they finally always expressed it with their overwhelming emotions and that made the friendship between them become stronger as well as the bond with audiences. As previously mentioned, the emotions and expressions of the girls, whether in positive or negative ways, were so beautiful and made the story attractive and unforgettable.
Animation: simply beautiful, not perfect, but imperfection is perfect
Unlike KyoAni which is usually epic and splendid, or A-1 anime characters which are sometimes seen as doppelganger in another one, though the characters were drawn easily, Madhouse expressed the girls' feelings and actions lively. Example, the girl's tears are not only drops of water from eyes but audiences can also feel her grief, pain, hesitation, as well as, impressiveness. However, other parts (except characters) were made very well. We could see the sky full of stars, the aurora, the Antarctica white plain, or even the enormous ice-breaker.
Soundtrack (including OP & ED): decision
Soundtracks in Yorimoi always took an important and obvious role in the end of each episode. That is "transition." When it came to the conclusion of the conflict, the intro faded in and something changed such as characters' decision, feelings, even the way the story goes. This could bring audiences along the journey strangely. Anyway, for me, what makes the anime more and more impressive is the opening song especially the ending song. Not only a easy-to-listen melody, but the songs are also meaningful and say welcome and goodbye to audiences very well in every episodes.
Misc
- CV: 4 main characters - maybe top-rank voice actors (GOD GOD GOD)
- the title: The distance from earth surface to exosphere (the outermost layer of earth's atmosphere) is about 600-10,000 km. But the distance from Tokyo to Antarctica is about 14,000 km. So we can clearly say that the place is really further than the universe.
Summary: "Sora yori mo Tooi Basho" is the worth-watching anime and for me it's one of the best seasonal animes I have ever watched. So I would be so glad if someone would be interested and go watch the story that leads to the Antarctica.
さあ、旅に出て、世界の最果てまで行こう！
Score: 1 million yen/10