Review of A Place Further Than The Universe
I love this show and I want everyone to go and see it. There is my short recommendation. Cause yeah.... it is going to be a long one. I came seeking a CGDCT slice-of-life and I found an energetic, friendship and duty focused, dramedy filled with adventure and youthful wonder. So how did a show about a group of girls wanting to go to Antarctica get all these tens? let me try to briefly run through it. The story can be simply explained. Four high school girls want to go to Antarctica. However, as the the early story unfolds, we learn that each has theirown completely different reasons for going. There's the girl that wants to do something before she graduates high school. The idol girl that wants to escape from her cocoon in the entertainment biz. One whose reason is explained a little later in the show. And the girl whose mother was an Antarctic explorer. Through the show we get to see these girls grow and overcome their comfort zones as well as rise up to the challenge of going to Antarctica.
The art direction and animation in this show is very well done and has a nice polish. The art team had their work cut out for them due to all the locations that these girls go to throughout the show. It is not just a couple houses, bedrooms and a school. There are also several scenes, like one in ep. 2 where there is extremely well animate motion and running. So much so that the MC herself says how the "motion" was fun.
The sound in this was so good that I went out and tried to find the music after a few eps. Which does not happen often. The way music is used in this show is almost like a action anime. It slowly builds up and by the end of the scene you are either pumping your fist in air or you are on you couch crying.
The 4 main characters, like I said, are pretty well fleshed out. The title of "best girl" can defiantly shift from episode to episode, hell even scene to scene. And it is not just these four. As the show goes on, a huge cast is introduced and we get to learn varying amounts about them. A few get almost as much character development as the main girls.
This is the first anime that I have ever cried during. I have had tears weld up and my eyes get watery before, but there was one ep. here where I was full on crying. There is a tonal shift around 7 or 8 where the show stops being a comedy, with a few dramatic elements, and shifts to mostly drama, with a little comedy sprinkled throughout. It is is a little hard to adjust as the viewer but luckily, I think, the show sticks the landing.
Overall, I would highly recommend this show. I think it is the first none action or already legendary shows that I have given a 10. Any fault I had with the show was usually dismissed by several 11/10 eps. that the show had to offer. I hope that it will get noticed more and receive the praise it deserves. Now, if you will excuse me, I kinda want to go back and rewatch it.