Review of A Place Further Than The Universe

This is my first time write a review on MAL and the first anime that i write review is Sora Yori mo Tooi Basho or A Place Further than Universe If we see the visual and promotional video from this series, most people would think this is just another Cute Girls Doing Cute Things (CGDCT). But in the end this series went well beyond my expectation. It remains as Slice of Life (SoL) combined with the Adventure genre. But unlike the recent SoL anime which is mostly filled with comedy, romance and cute girls, Yorimoi manages to provides an interesting storyline, a good character development andbe able to touched our feeling.

STORYLINE : 9/10
Speaking of SoL anime, generally we will not find significant story and character development, especially when it is CGDCT. What we find is cute girls with a funny behavior in doing something plus the comedy element in it. But this anime is different. The main focus in this series is friendship. Each character has its own reasons for going to Antarctica, a reason that actually makes them meet when they never knew before. Indeed this series tells about adventures of the four main characters to Antarctic. But adventure is not always about finding and reaching something. /most important thing is the experiences that occurred during the adventure. The experiences that ultimately affect them to face their individual problems. This series still has a comedic element that is light and not excessive like any other SoL series, but what amazes me is this series can make us feel sad and cry when most of SoL series is made to make the audience enjoy.

DIRECTION : 9/10
The director of this series is the director who leads No Game No Life project, Atsuki Ishizuka. Viewed from the direction, I can conclude it in a sentence. this series can make us smile and laugh at the beginning to mid-episode, then slowly touch our hearts to be able to make us cry before the episode ends. Not many series are able to make transition of the atmosphere consistently in every episode. The thing I appreciate was presence of various foreshadow elements that are executed intelligently. At first we would think it was just a conversation or a casual scene, but it was all set to amplified the story in the final episodes. I also love the way they used background sign to supports every comedy in the story. Educational elements about the importance of expeditions to Antarctica is well presented. To me, this series has an incredible direction for a SoL series.

CHARACTER : 9/10
In a CGDCT series, we usually love a character because of some things like beautiful looks, silly but cute behavior or interactions between them that are very funny. But what makes the characters in this series loved is the development of their character and how they deal with each other's personal problems. Kimari who looks the most "stupid" but always able to keep the other characters to remain optimistic. Shirase is very nervous when in front of the camera but will be a straightforward person when expressing his feelings. Hinata is sometimes too wise but full of energy in their journey and Yuzuki who can I say the smartest among them but always confused with matters relating to friendship. These things are reinforced by the presence of classy voice actress like Inori Minase, HanaKana, Yuka Iguchi and Saori Hayami who were able to play the character well.

ART : 9/10
This anime is the original series from Studio Madhouse. We all know that Madhouse is one of the best anime studios in Japan. In this series even Madhouse works very well. Character design and light color selection are perfect for the SoL series. The existence of white color as a reflection of light reminds us to Tsuki ga Kirei art. But when it comes to background, Antarctic landscape, and scenes that have many movements. Madhouse delivers the same quality as when they made the action anime series. One of my favorite scenes is the running scene on episode 2. Not only because the running scene has good animation, but the use of the background in provides the energetic atmosphere in the scene. 3D CG looks pretty neat so it does not look strange when combined with 2D images. In general, the animation in this series is executed well.

SOUND : 8/10
Sound became one of the things that made this anime good. The opening song is good, but I prefer the ending song that really describes the energy of the four main characters in this series. The thing that makes the story in this series so strong is the use of proper insert songs. Insert songs are always played towards the end of the episode and in that moment our hearts will be touched. However, because it only has 4 insert songs and is used more than 1 episode per song, there are some scenes that feel repetitive. Sound effects are also executed well.

Overall, I am glad not to miss this anime. This series is a refresher for the SoL genre that has only recently been filled by comedy and cute girls anime. This series proves that the SoL anime is not just about enjoyment and comedy, but also can provides an interesting storyline, good character development and on the one side can make us smile but on the other side can make us shed tears. If you're a fan of SoL anime but need an interesting and significant storyline. This is for you.